The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

140 SCANDINAVIA.temple where human sacrifices were offered, and near itthree mounds or hillocks,the traditional graves of Odin, Thor, and Freya. A lower eminence, named theTingshog, served as a tribunal whence the kings addressed the multitude.On the crest and slopes of the modern town stand three of the most noteworthybuildings in Sweden—the castle, the University, and the cathedral. Thechurch is, next to that of Trondhjem, the first specimen of the pointed style inScandinavia, and notwithstanding its five conflagrations the nave still remainsintact. From a distance its two towers, surmounted by tiara-shaped cupolas,present a strange effect, little harmonizing with the architecture of the building.But on a nearer view the simple facade, supported by its four massive abutmentsand almost destitute of ornaments, produces an imposing effect by the nobleseverity of its lines. It probably still stands as designed in 1287 by the Frencharchitect Stephen of Bonneuil. In the interior repose the remains of GustavusVasa, Oxenstjerna, and Linnaeus, and in the sacristy is shown the idol of Thor.The castle, a vast red-brick pile flanked by round towers, stands on the topof a mound overlooking the whole city, and was here erected by Gustavus Yasato keep the archiepiscopal palace under the fire of his guns. Close by washeld the famous synod which transferred all the property of the churches andmonasteries to the State, and interdicted Catholic worship in order that "theSwedes, having become one man," might have " but one God."Most of the buildings seen from the castle are connected with the University,and in the absence of the " thirteen nations," or provincial groups of students,Upsala seems a city of the dead. The famous school, which kept its fourhundredth anniversary in 1877, owes its name of Carolina to Charles IX., and theaddition of Rcdivica to Bernadotte, who raised the modern University block.This is soon to be replaced, having become inadequate for its accumulatedcollections, including the most valuable library in Sweden, with about 200,000volumes and 8,000 manuscripts. Among the latter is the oldest monument ofthe Teutonic languages, the memorable Codec Argenteus, containing Ulfilas's Mceso-Gothic translation of the Gospels.Behind the castle, and east of the city, stretches the Botanic Garden, where,in spite of the climate and northern blasts, is preserved in the open air and inconservatories a collection worthy of the Upsala professor who discovered allthe mysteries of vegetable life. Here is the very myrtle planted by LinnaDushimself. The grounds at the foot of the castle are kept up as originally laid outby him, and his marble statue bj T Bytrom, representing him seated in a thoughtfulattitude, occupies the space beneath the dome of the botanical amphitheatre.His country seat of Hammarby, also a hallowed spot for botanists, lies to thesouth-east, near the Mora-Stenor, or " Mora Stones," in the royal grounds wherethe old kings were elected. His birthplace, near Wexio in Scania, is marked byan obelisk overlooking the railway between Stockholm and Malmo. Celsius, hisfriend and colleague, was born and died in Upsala.Here are a few industrial establishments, and baths are now supplied from the" holy well," whose never-failing waters traditionally flow from the spot where