- ED.
{46} The Presence Of American Ships In The Port Of Gottenburg Is
Not To Be Wondered At, Seeing That Nearly Three-Fourths Of All The
Iron Exported From Gottenburg Is To America.
- ED.
{47} "St. Stephen's steeple" is 450 feet high, being about 40 feet
higher than St. Paul's, and forms part of St. Stephen's Cathedral in
Vienna, a magnificent Gothic building, that dates as far back as the
twelfth century. It has a great bell, that weighs about eighteen
tons, being more than double the weight of the bell in St. Peter's
at Rome, and four times the weight of the "Great Tom of Lincoln."
The metal used consisted of cannons taken from the Turks during
their memorable sieges of Vienna. The cathedral is 350 feet long
and 200 wide, being less than St. Paul's in London, which is 510
feet long and 282 wide. - ED.
{48} The Storthing is the name given to the Norwegian parliament,
which assembles once every three years at Christiania. The time and
place of meeting are fixed by law, and the king has no power to
prevent or postpone its assembly. It consists of about a hundred
members, who divide themselves into two houses. The members must
not be under thirty years of age, and must have lived for ten years
in Norway. The electors are required to be twenty-five years of
age, and to be either burgesses of a town, or to possess property of
the annual value of 30l. The members must possess the same
qualification. The members of the Storthing are usually plain-
spoken, sensible men, who have no desire to shine as orators, but
who despatch with great native sagacity the business brought before
them. This Storthing is the most independent legislative assembly
in Europe; for not only has the king no power to prevent its meeting
at the appointed time, but should he refuse to assent to any laws
that are passed, these laws come into force without his assent,
provided they are passed by three successive parliaments. - ED.
{49} The present king of Sweden and Norway is Oscar, one of the few
fortunate scions of those lowly families that were raised to royal
power and dignity by Napoleon. His father, Bernadotte, was the son
of an advocate, and entered the French army as a common soldier; in
that service he rose to the rank of marshal, and then became crown-
prince, and ultimately king of Sweden. He died in 1844. The mother
of Oscar was Desiree Clary, a sister of Julie Clary, wife of Joseph
Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon. This lady was asked in
marriage by Napoleon himself, but her father refused his assent; and
instead of becoming an unfortunate empress of France, she became a
fortunate queen of Sweden and Norway. Oscar was born at Paris in
1799, and received his education chiefly in Hanover. He accompanied
his father to Sweden in 1810, and ascended the throne on his
father's death in 1844.
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