Chapter I

POLITICAL, SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS AND OTHER CONDITIONS IN SWEDEN,
1611–1660.

I.

The beginning of the seventeenth century marks a new era in Swedish history. The constructive statesmanship of the great Vasa (whose fruits were wasted by forty years of misrule) lived again in the famous Carl IX and in his more famous son, and during their reigns Sweden took first place among the powers of northern Europe.

The first sixty years of the century was an epoch of war. When Gustavus Adolphus ascended the Swedish throne in 1611, the armies of his country were engaged against three nations, Denmark, Russia and Poland. The King was anxious to conclude peace with Denmark, but this was refused and hostilities continued. The enemy, however, had the advantage and was able to impose hard terms in 1613, when the two belligerents were finally tired of the useless and bitter warfare.

The King could now send more troops to the aid of his generals in Russia, and in the summers of 1614 and 1615 he went in person to lead the operations there. In February, 1617, the Russian war also came to an end by the treaty of Stolbova, where peace negotiations had been in progress for nearly a year and a half. Through this treaty Sweden acquired the territories of Ingermanland and Kexholm; and Gustavus Adolphus won two of his foremost objects,--Russia was pushed back from the Baltic, and a natural northern boundary for Finland was secured against the Cossack hordes.

Poland, having lately renewed and firmly established the Catholic religion, was ruled by a King of the Vasa house, who had a legal right to the Swedish crown. She was the leading European power in the East and the standard-bearer of Catholicism against Turks and heretics, and hence a natural enemy of Sweden; and finally she possessed territory and harbors, that had to be brought under Swedish control, if the dream of making the Baltic a Swedish inland sea should be realized by the statesmen at Stockholm. There were therefore various circumstances that might provoke hostilities; but the immediate cause of the war was Sigismund’s pretentions to the Swedish throne, and his continuous refusal to recognize Gustavus Adolphus as the lawful king of Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus therefore determined to attack the enemy in his own country, and in the summer of 1621 he set sail for Riga with a fleet of 148 warships and ten yachts, carrying about 14,000 selected soldiers on board, some being mercenaries from Scotland and Holland.

The brilliant campaigns that followed under the King and his able generals arrested the attention of Protestant Europe, and many of the new faith called upon him to become their leader against the Catholics. He expressed his willingness to champion the Protestant cause, and presented a comprehensive plan of operations, while conducting diplomatic conferences with the representatives of England and Holland to the same purpose. But King Christian of Denmark, always jealous of his northern neighbor, also offered his services in the pending struggle and, as his conditions were more moderate and his demands on the allies less exacting than those of Gustavus Adolphus, he was chosen to be the Gideon of the Evangelical Union in its fierce combat with the Catholic League.

The Swedish army and navy (both of which had been re-organized and largely increased) were therefore not yet to be used against the imperial forces. Gustavus Adolphus, hoping for more favorable times, went to finish his Polish war, and, after several victorious expeditions through which Sweden gained many advantages and extended her territory, a six years’ truce was concluded at Altmark in 1629.[1]

King Christian, who in the meantime had lost his battles with the veteran Tilly, was forced to withdraw from the field. The time now seemed ripe for action. England and Holland were willing to submit to the plans of Gustavus Adolphus. The Protestant princes requested him to become “the defender of their heritage”, and Richelieu advised him to take an active part in the contest. He negotiated with England, Holland and France, but with little result, as they gave evasive and indefinite answers. He was now fully determined, however, to enter the lists--it was a case of averting a future danger from his own kingdom--and in the autumn of 1629 he called a meeting of the council of state. This session became a turning point in modern history. It was decided that Sweden should take an active part in the Thirty Years’ War.[2]

After large preparations Gustavus Adolphus set sail for Germany in June, 1630, with a picked army of about 13,000 men. He at once turned the tide of events. He rescued the Reformation and raised Sweden to a first class power in European politics, but his brilliant career was cut short on the memorable battlefield of Lützen in November, 1632.

The government was now placed in the hands of “the five high officers of the kingdom”, until Christina became of age, and the war went on. Success continued for a time to follow the Swedish forces, but the spell of invincibility deserted them at Nördlingen in 1634; and the two following years were dark and full of trials for the Swedish leaders, interrupted only by a few brilliant achievements of Johan Banér. Gradually, however, the sky brightened. Swedish statesmen like Oxenstierna and Brahe and Swedish generals like Banér and Torstensson wrought success of what appeared to be disaster.

Denmark had kept aloof from an active participation in the Thirty Years’ War since 1629. She had seen the increasing influence and power of Sweden and her growing commercial interests and far reaching plans with envious eyes. Only one-third of the Swedish export and import trade, it was true, for the years 1637–1643 was carried on Swedish vessels; but Swedish ships had been sent to other continents, the Swedish flag was waving over possessions in the New World, and indications were that the mastery of the Baltic would soon pass over to the power lying north of Öresund. King Christian IV endeavored to assert and sustain Danish supremacy in the Baltic and Danish jurisdiction in the Sound. A heavy toll (amounting to over $3,000,000 in 1639) was collected from vessels passing through the Strait, a large part of which was levied on Swedish merchandise. Besides, Swedish vessels were often confiscated, and the Danish king conducted a regular warfare in everything but in name against his neighbor. In the peace negotiations of Sweden, Denmark also played the false friend.

But the opportunity for which Oxenstierna had been waiting was come. Denmark was to be attacked and the Swedish sword was to make an end of Danish interference. The Swedish navy, which had been greatly increased and splendidly equipped through Fleming’s efforts, was put in readiness, troops were mobilized and other preparations were made, the real object of which was kept so secret that not even the Swedish representative at Copenhagen knew the intentions of his government. In the spring of 1643 Lennart Torstensson, who was employed against the imperial forces in Germany, was ordered to take his army by forced marches into Denmark, that he might deliver a decisive blow, before the enemy had time to make necessary preparations. The plans were eminently successful, the Swedes being victorious on both land and sea, and in the autumn of 1645 the Danes sued for peace. The treaty, signed at Brömsebro, gave to Sweden the districts of Jämtland and Härjedalen and the island of Gothland.

The Swedish troops could be sent once more against the imperial armies, and after various campaigns the Thirty Years’ War was finally brought to an end in 1648 through the treaty of Westphalia. Sweden was compensated by German districts in the north and a money indemnity.

About a year before the termination of the Danish war (December, 1644) Queen Christina, being of age, came to the throne. During the first years of her rule she took interest in the state business, but she soon tired of the arduous duties. Her mind reverted to literature and arts. She collected books and art treasures, she called famous foreigners to her court and she sought to establish learned societies. The splendors of her court were far in excess of the resources of her kingdom. Pageants, court ballads and festivities of every description drained the treasury and occupied the time of the Queen. Gifts in estates and privileges were showered on favorites without number or discretion. Soon the five million R. D. paid to Sweden through the Westphalian Treaty were gone, and five million more had followed, leaving the nation in great debt. At last conditions became impossible. In 1654 she resigned her sceptre to a stronger hand, and joined the church against which her father had fought.[3]

Carl X now grasped the reins of government. But King Casimir of Poland, who pretended to the Swedish throne, would not recognize his title to the crown. Carl was therefore forced to declare war. The Swedish treasury was empty, and the two leading parties, the nobility and the commoners, were pitted against each other in a social struggle; but the diet in 1655 granted the King permission to begin hostilities, and voted funds for his use. There was great enthusiasm over the war in Sweden. Wealthy noblemen contributed large sums to the war-fund from their own means; foreign soldiers flocked to Sweden to enlist under her victorious banners; and soon Carl X was able to move against his foe.

A period of almost incessant battles and sieges followed. Few men in history have given greater surprises to their age than Carl X; few, perhaps none, have accomplished equal results with the same means and in so short a time. In twelve months Poland lay bleeding at his feet, destined never to regain her former power. Russia, Austria and Denmark attacked him almost simultaneously, but by a march over a frozen sea, one of the greatest feats on record, he led his army into the heart of Denmark, compelling this power to sue for a peace, that gave to Sweden the most valuable territorial acquisition in her history. The great warrior king, however, soon broke the peace, the total annihilation of Denmark being his aim, but fortune failed him for the first time. Cromwell, on whose influence he had relied, died, changing the attitude of the commander of the English fleet; France fell off, the Netherlands took sides with the enemy, and the Danish people were aroused to fight for their existence. In the midst of tremendous activities, the King became ill during a diet in the beginning of 1660, and on the morning of February 13 he died, at the age of thirty-eight.

II.

Through these wars and through her efforts to extend her power, her commerce and her trade, Sweden came in contact with the outside world to a degree unknown in her previous history since the Viking age. Swedish statesmen wove a network of diplomatic connections, which brought their country in touch with almost every important nation in the world, and the government at Stockholm stretched the webs of its diplomacy to Holland, England, France, Russia, Spain, Portugal, the German States and even to Venice, Italy, Persia and Turkey.

Sweden’s political and commercial relations with foreign countries concern us little in this treatise except those of Portugal, Spain, Denmark, England and Holland. Those of the three former nations will be touched upon as occasion demands, but those of the two latter (being the most important for an understanding of the commercial and political successes and failures of the Swedes during this period) need a brief sketch here.

England’s policy towards Sweden was generally one of friendship. To the English of this period, “Svecia was a kingdom rich in gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, fruit, cattle, and exceeding increase of fish of the rivers, lakes and sea.” In 1620 one G. Vischer (?) proposed to hire in “Swedland ... men skilful in making pitch, tar, potash and soap-ashes” for the Virginia settlement, and Swedish cannon and iron works soon acquired fame among the English. Several English representatives were sent to Stockholm, Spens acting as a minister for both nations, and Swedish ambassadors went to London. But Swedish ships were often captured by the English, leading to complaints and complications. In 1653 Whitelocke was sent on his well-known embassy to Queen Christina. An alliance and a commercial treaty was effected in the spring of 1654, later ratified by the Protector and the Queen. In the beginning of 1655 Coyet set out for London with instruction to work for an increase “of the good confidence, which existed between both nations”, and for an agreement upon the limits between New Sweden and the English colonies.

In the summer of the same year George Fleetwood, the son-in-law of Cromwell, was sent to England on a secret mission, and on July 28 Christer Bonde made his brilliant entrance into London with his 200 followers. In this manner the friendship with England was established and continued, and no danger threatened the Swedish possession across the ocean from that direction.

Of foreign nations, except the immediate neighbors, Holland stood in closest connection with Sweden. From Holland, Sweden received many of her best and most useful citizens. Dutch soldiers served in Swedish armies, and Dutch captains and skippers commanded Swedish ships; Swedish students went to Holland to study commerce, and Swedish scholars gained inspiration from Dutch teachers; Dutch money helped Sweden to support her armies and found her commercial companies and Dutch brains developed the industries of the country, and from Holland came the first impulses for successful transatlantic trade.

The political relations between Sweden and Holland were friendly as a rule before 1655. Sweden had constant representatives, correspondents, consuls and residents in Holland from an early date. Dutch embassies were sent to Stockholm and Dutch diplomatic agents resided there at various times. Several treaties were made between the two nations (1614, 1618, 1633, 1644, etc.) and in 1638 and 1639, the years that mark the beginning of the colony on the Delaware, the States drew closer to Sweden. In 1644 and 1645 Holland proved a fast friend, but the friendly relations were soon to be severed.

Holland and Sweden reached their highest political importance about the same time, and here lies the explanation of their estrangement. The Dutch became jealous of the rising power of the North. In the beginning of the century the Dutch controlled the shipping of the Baltic, half of their enormous merchant fleet sailing on its waters and over two-thirds of the Swedish imports and exports for the period 1637–1643 were carried on foreign ships, the majority of which were Dutch. Swedish statesmen, however, endeavored to wrest this supremacy from the Hollanders, and through their efforts Swedish commerce and shipping increased greatly. Sweden soon became the leading power in the north. The States, fearing this supremacy, sided with her enemies and ruined many of her great plans. When Sweden stood almost ready to weld the three Scandinavian nations into one and make the Baltic a Swedish inland sea, Holland interfered, crushing her last hope of success. The Swedish colony on the Delaware passed over to the Dutch, and the Swedish possessions in Africa (1648–63) were captured by the same people. The Dutch now often seized Swedish merchant vessels, and for about half a century they did much damage to Swedish shipping and commerce.

III.

In this period Sweden developed a highly organized military system--in many respects the best in Europe--and the machinery of state was perfected to a degree not attained by any other European power at this early date. The government of the King lost most of its patriarchal features, and the division of labor became the watchword of the period. The military affairs of the nation were placed in the hands of the College of War, the management of the navy was assigned to the College of Admiralty (fully organized in 1634); the College of Mines (organized in 1637) superintended the mining industries; the re-organized financial system was given into the charge of the College of the Exchequer (_Kammarkollegium_, organized in 1618). “A general collector of customs”, aided by 110 assistants headed the customhouse service and an inspector superintended the surveying of the country (these two departments being branches of the _Kammarkollegium_).

Finally a Commercial College (which has special bearing on our subject) was established to regulate, control and encourage trade.[4] The first plans for such a college were presented to the council of state in the autumn of 1637. Its special function should be to supervise, increase and extend foreign and domestic trade. Klas Fleming was appointed president, and Johan Beier, who for years acted as treasurer of the New Sweden Company, was made secretary. But the college was soon dissolved, and several attempts to re-organize the same failed. In 1651, however, it was definitely established as a department of the government with salaried officers and servants, and two years later, when Erik Oxenstierna became its president, the New Sweden Company and colony was entrusted to its care.

The first written constitution of Sweden, which had been prepared by Oxenstierna and sanctioned by the King, was adopted in 1634. Self government in Sweden dates from antiquity. The king circumscribed, to some extent this prerogative of the people as time went on; but municipal self-government was never fully relinquished by the commoners, and the colonists, who came to the Delaware between 1638 and 1664, were accustomed to have a voice in local affairs, secular and religious. The diet also, made up as it was of the four estates (the nobility, the clergy, the peasantry and the burgesses), gave the people an opportunity of participating in the government of the whole country. This body was summoned by royal authority, as circumstances required and questions of great import arose, and the members were appointed or elected to represent the various districts of the kingdom.

The council of state became an important factor in the government during the seventeenth century. According to the constitution of 1634 it was to consist of 25 members, selected from the principal houses of the nobility. Its interests and activities had a wide scope. It discussed every feature of public life at its meetings; it decided questions of peace and war; it deliberated about foreign and domestic commerce; it considered the ways and means of trading companies; it settled disputes between city officials and between companies and individuals; it revised judgments of courts as well as court martials,--in short the entire religious, social and domestic life of the nation received its attention.

The judicial system was re-organized and perfected in this era with the establishment of _Svea Hofrätt_ (the first supreme court). Laws were printed from time to time, commentaries, dissertations and treatises on the old Swedish as well as on the old Roman law were written and published, and foreign books on judicial subjects were translated. The old Swedish law, which at this time was made the object of study at the University of Upsala and the subject of investigation by scholars and lawyers of note, was the foundation for all proceedings; but Roman law made its influence felt, and in many cases “the law of Moses” was followed, when a paragraph in the secular law could not be found to apply to a case in question (thus several paragraphs from the law of Moses were printed as an appendix to the edition of the Swedish Law of Carl IX). It is quite probable that Printz and Rising used one or more of the ordinances and commentaries published before 1653, and we have at least one instance among the Swedes on the Delaware at which the decision of a case was referred to the law of Moses.

IV.

The Reformation had fully permeated Swedish religious thought and life even before this period. It had accomplished permanent results, and the Lutheran church, under the direct control of the government, had become firmly established. “The Bible of Gustavus Adolphus”, a revision of the old translation of 1541, was published in 1618 and several new editions were issued. “A church hand-book” was published in 1614 which continued to be used until 1693. Several enlarged and revised editions of the _Psalm Book_ appeared as well as editions of Luther’s _Catechism_ and other translations of foreign books of worship.

The large masses were moved by the new life, for the Lutheran Reformation was a movement of the people, and it improved their morals and standards of life. The Lutheran clergy in Sweden were generally well educated, many of them having studied abroad; and there were no more learned preachers in America in the seventeenth century than those sent here by the Swedish government.

The vigorous religious and spiritual life of the Reformation gradually gave way to a cold, narrow theology, which insisted on “orthodox Lutheranism” to the exclusion of “all other beliefs”; but foreign religions were tolerated in the larger cities, and there were churches of the reformed sects in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

The language was passing through a stage of transition. The Reformation emphasized the use of Swedish, and the reformers of religion also became reformers of the language. They endeavored to free their native tongue from foreign influence and raise it to the standards of a cultured speech by purifying its vocabulary, standardizing its spelling and enriching its literature. The years immediately following the Reformation, however, were unpropitious for “the cultivation and growth of the national language.” But Gustavus Adolphus inaugurated a new era. He advised the professors at the University of Upsala to present “the learning of the world” in Swedish, and he instructed “the antiquarian and historian of the kingdom” to collect words for a complete Swedish dictionary. Primers and other books of instruction were also issued, as a result of “the new awakening.” Scholars began to study their native language, to write in the same and to publish linguistic treatises about it. These efforts proved so successful and the language developed such regularity that three-quarters of a century later the letters, dispatches and instructions of the chancery of this period and the “Bible of 1618” were selected by a commission as the norm for “the regulation of the written language.”

The Swedish language was divided into several dialects well defined within certain geographical areas. It was not taught in the schools, and there was no standard of authority; consequently even literary monuments present great variations in spelling and other respects. The colonists on the Delaware came largely from Upland and the northern provinces, and hence they spoke the dialects of these districts.[5]

Before the seventeenth century Sweden had no poet of importance, and few works of literary value were produced; but in this epoch of enthusiasm for everything Swedish a list of names meets us, that have received a permanent place in the history and literature of Sweden. Bureus studied the old language, collected runes, wrote a grammar and other treatises. His disciple, Georg Stiernhjelm, composed a dictionary, tried to prove that Swedish was the mother of the Germanic languages, foreshadowed Grimm’s law, and earned the title of “the father of Swedish poetry.” Wivallius wrote lyrics of tender sweetness and a host of other authors wrote ballads and stories. Foreign novels and romances were translated and published and folk ballads were collected. These books were not read by the people in general; but it is probable that the stories soon became common property, and we may assume that at least a few of the colonists on the Delaware had some knowledge of them.

Education measured by our present day standard was on a low level. The Reformation broke down old customs and practices and it can hardly be said that it improved the higher education and culture in the nation. It took a generation to re-establish what had been changed, in some cases with too violent a hand. But the early reformers laid much stress on the education of the masses, and their efforts were not without result.

During the first half of the seventeenth century public schools were established in many places for the instruction of the people, and commercial colleges were founded, where merchants could be trained in the most necessary branches of business. Secondary schools and so-called _Gymnasier_ were created, which gave courses preparatory to the university. The University of Upsala was re-organized, and new universities were chartered at Abo and Dorpat. The Royal Library in Stockholm and the University Library at Upsala date from this period; the Royal Archives and the College of Antiquity as well as the first Swedish newspapers owe their existence to this enterprising age.

Education, especially that of the people, was under the direct control of the Church, and the knowledge imparted was largely religious. The first instruction was given at home, afterwards supplemented by the Church. It was the business of the Church to see to it that her members understood her teachings, and her best men such as Paulinus, Rudbeckius and others wrote books on pedagogy and labored with much diligence “to scatter the spiritual darkness” of their country. Laymen like Per Brahe, Axel Oxenstierna, Johan Skytte, De la Gardi and Gyllengren did much to improve the instruction and organize the school system of this period. Amos Cominius (or Komensky), the great pedagogue who was several centuries in advance of his contemporaries, was twice called to Sweden for the purpose of re-organizing the schools according to his educational theories. At the expense of the government he was engaged to write a series of pedagogical works, many of which were translated into Swedish, in some cases going through a number of editions.

It is natural that such efforts should bear fruit. Even in 1632 Professor Menius of Dorpat, speaking of higher education said: “That Melancthon’s prophecy was about to be fulfilled, that the liberal arts, expelled from the countries, where they formerly flourished, ... would find refuge in the north.” The thought and discussions in the earlier part of the century with reference to public education finally crystallized into the school ordinance of 1649, “with a system of instruction equal to which no other country could show a parallel, whether we refer to the completeness and thoroughness of the formal and pedagogical principles or the extent or content of the material studied.”

The illiteracy of the common people continued to be great, however, and superstition and ignorance held sway over their minds. They were not always willing to accept the innovations and improvements offered, and fines and other punishments were often imposed “to compel the stubborn to submit” to the new order of things. Gradually there came a change. In 1663 Terserius asserts “that in Leksand[6] and mostly in East Dalarna it is counted as a monstrosity, if a boy or girl of ten or eleven years cannot read in a book.” A common gunner on the expedition of the _Katt_ in 1649 kept an interesting journal of the voyage, and several of the soldiers, who had served in New Sweden, sent _written applications_ to the government. Twenty-seven or more out of the forty-eight colonists, who signed the oath of allegiance in New Sweden on June 9, could write. The other nineteen signed only their initials or made their marks. It is therefore certain that a fair number of the early Swedish settlers on the Delaware could not only read but also write, and the illiteracy among them was not larger, perhaps less than among the colonists of other plantations in America.

The natural sciences had received little attention in Sweden before 1600, and doctors were almost unknown except at the court. Foreign physicians were gradually invited, however. Medical works were written, and professors were appointed to teach the subject at the University of Upsala; but it took half a century for the science to divorce itself from theology and the Bible, and not before Rudbeck (1630–1702), who as a youth of twenty-two discovered the lymphatic canal, did Sweden produce an investigator of note in this field. The barber masters (barber-surgeons) were here as in other countries the doctors and physicians. They were employed in the navy, in the army and by the people at large. They performed operations and prescribed medicine, which in many cases, however, consisted of incantations and quack cures.

V.

Class distinctions were more pronounced than in our day. The peasants and burghers formed classes by themselves; above these stood the nobility, and a middle class can hardly be spoken of. The Swedish peasant, however, was a free man. His voice was heard at the _ting_, and he retained much of the old-time liberty, which his fellows in other countries had lost long before. Many heathen customs still clung to him, and he possessed a knowledge of runes as late as the time of Olaus Rudbeck. Much of the Viking nature lived in his strong form, and he objected to rigid laws and stringent rules. He was skilled in all kinds of manual arts (_slöjd_). He made his wagons and his sleds, his plows and his harrows, his rakes and hayforks; he made his shoes of wood, birchbark or leather; he made his furniture, his wooden spoons and dippers, his cups and saucers,--in short practically everything he used; and the Swedish house-wife could weave, knit and sew skillfully. Since the common people never lost their freedom to the same extent as in the rest of Europe, poverty was less prevalent than elsewhere at this time; and Ogier, the French Ambassador, says that “the Swedish peasants were neither poorly nor inconveniently dressed and prosperity was more evenly distributed in Sweden than in other countries.”

The national consciousness was strong. There was an enthusiasm for the Swedish language and Swedish history. Foreign ambassadors at Stockholm were welcomed in Swedish--“the mother of other languages”--and foreign representatives abroad were addressed in the same tongue, if they were pretentious enough to use their own native speech. It was a period, when Swedish scholars delved into the misty past and located the cradle of the human race in their country; it was an epoch when Swedish generals led victorious armies over half of Europe; it was an age, when Swedish statesmen held the destinies of nations in their hands, when Swedish kings dreamed of world power, and when Swedish leaders stretched their arms across the oceans, and made settlements on two continents that were to become _New Swedens_. The enthusiasm of youth permeated the nation and drove it on to deeds, that an older power of twice its size would not have attempted. Patriotism ran high and national pride verged on chauvinism. No wonder that Gov. Printz with a handful of men talked the language of a general with an army at his back to give emphasis to his words, and that Rising with high-handed authority captured Fort Casimir!

Such were the people (and such their condition) from among whom came the colonists on the Delaware.

Conditions in Finland, whence many of the Delaware colonists came, resembled those in Sweden. The country being united with Sweden since the middle ages had absorbed much of the superior culture of its conquerors, and adopted the religion of these. It was stated in 1639 that the people could “read their pieces from the catechism and their morning and evening prayers,” and a few years later a bishop of Åbo asserted that “it had come so far that almost all below twenty or thirty years were able to read their mother tongue fluently.” Quite similar reports came from other bishops. The Swedish language had made great headway among the Finns at this time, especially among the higher and wealthier classes. The peasants along the coast (even those of Finnish birth) also, as a rule, acquired a knowledge of the language, which made it easy for the Swedes and Finns to associate.

As the country was poor the Finns had a great desire to migrate, large numbers going to Sweden and other places. It was said that the Finns were lazy and indolent at home, and that they would rather spend their time above the fireplace of their primitive dwellings than clear away the forests or till their small patches of ground; but in new surroundings they became industrious and “worked for two.”

The population of Sweden and Finland was about 1,000,000 in 1645, making about three inhabitants to every square mile. The entire city population was only about 125,000. It is therefore evident that there was no overflow population, compelled through lack of room, to seek new homes on the other side of the Atlantic. And yet other things being normal the reasons for migration are not always over-population in a relative sense, for what would be a large population in England or Belgium would be more than over-population in Sweden. There seems to have been an element in Sweden at this time, which could have been spared without much loss to the nation, and Governor Rising suggested that all those who would not work should be sent to the Delaware colony, where they would either have to work or starve. The larger cities sheltered many poor who were out of work; if these would have migrated to America they would have been relieved of much suffering, opportunity would have been given them for improving their condition and the community would have been freed of a great burden.