The Baptists in Sweden. By Mrs. M.F. Anderson ...

SWEDEN SINCE THE REFORMATION. 35
for a moment to be compared with their catechisations. "*
The general impression which is left on the
mind of travelers in regard to the working of the
church system, may be seen from the following extracts.
"In no country," says Laing, "are the exterior
forms and decencies of public worship better attended to. The churches are substantial, and not
merely well kept up, but even decorated inside and
outside; and there is a kind of competition between parishes for erecting elegant structures for
public worship. The clergy are fairly endowed,
well lodged, and in general on good terms with
*their flocks; they are also well-educated men, and
form a body of great power in the state, the Chamber of Clergy being one of the constituent parts
of the Diet. Yet, with all these exterior signs of
a religious state of the public mind, and with all
the means of a powerful Church Establishment, unopposed by sect or schism, to make it religious, it
is evident from the official returns of crime, that in
no Christian community has religion less influence
on the state of morals. The just inference is, that
no spirit truly religious has ever been generally
kindled in this country." t
Mr. Brace, alluding to the same subject, introduces the opinion of some of the nobility of Swe* Norse Folk, p. 232. t Laing, p. 125.