Government, etc. — Although Norway constitutes one joint kingdom with Sweden in regard to succession, ex- ternal policy, and diplomacy, it is in all other respects an independent state, having its own government, leg- islative machinery, finances, army, and navy. The king is indeed commander-in-chief of all the forces of the countrv', whether military or naval ; but he can nei- ther augment nor decrease their number, nor proclaim peace or war, without the assent of the Norwegian Par- liament (Storthing), which consists of natives of the country ; nor, except in time of war, can he bring for- eign soldiers within the frontiers, or send native troops out of Norway. He must visit Nonvay once every year, and in his absence affairs are administered in the name of his representative, who may be a Swede, and who is entitled viceroy if he be of royal birth. Norway is di- vided into twenty amts, or administrative circles, sub- divided into fifty-five bailiwicks, and each of these is presided over by a rural magistrate. Nonvay has a representative government, based on the constitution which was established in 1814, and modified in 18(;9. The constitution is purely democratic in its character. The Council of State constitutes the highest court of justice, under whose jurisdiction the provincial magis- trates or "amtmajnd"' administer justice, in conjimc- tion with the bailiffs and sorenskriver, or advocates, who preside over rural petty courts. These lower courts are controlled by the Stift-Orerrctte, or Diocesan Courts of Justice, while the latter are, in their turn, under the High Court of Appeal, or Jloieste Ret, which is located at Christiania. Once every year the Storthing, or leg- islative chamber, meets, and is composed of representa- tives who are elected by the freehold voters of their several districts. The Storthing votes the taxes, which are collected by officers of the king of Sweden and Nor- way; it jiroposes laws, which must be ratified by the king; but it^ they pass the Storthing three times, they acquire validity even without the king's sanction.
Race, jMiirjinige, etc. — With the exception of some 25,000 Lapps and Finns, living in the most remote northern regions, the inhabitants of Norway are gener- ally a pure Scandinavian race, akin to the North Ger- manic nations of Aryan descent. The genuine Norwe- gians are of middle height, with strong, well-knit, nuis- cidar frames, of fair skin, with light flaxen or yellow hair, and blue eves. In character thev may be said to
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be frank, yet cautious and reserved, honest, moderate, religious, and superstitions, more from an inveterate love of clinging to the forms, thoughts, and creed of their ancestors than from fanaticism. Their love of countr}', and their irrepressible fondness for the sea, by the verv anomaly which these apparently contradictor}' propensities exhibit, show them to be the true descend- ants of the sea-roving Northmen of old. Of late years emigration has continued steadily to increase at a rate which threatens to be a serious evil to so thinly popu- lated a country as Norway, but which is easily explained b\' the small portion of land capable of cultivation. The general diffusion of education, and the perfect equality and practical independence which they have known how to secure and retain for themselves, notwithstand- ing their nominal incorporation with the other Scandi- navian kingdoms, give to the poorest Norwegians a sense of self-respect and self-reliance which distinguish them favorably from those of the same class in other countries. The population of Norway is cliiefly rural, only about eleven per cent, living in towns. Christiania, the principal city, has not more than 80,000 inhabitants, while Bergen and Trondhjem have respectively only 30,000 and 20,000. The physical character, and conse- quent climatic relations of Norway, leave a very small proportion (according to some writers only about two per cent.) of the area capable of being cultivated ; for it may be stated generally that the valleys are the only habitable and agrictdturally productive parts of the country, the mountain-ridges which separate the low- lying lands being covered with bare masses of gneiss and mica schists, in the fissures of which the only vege- tation is juniper, fir, aspen, birch, and stunted beech trees. There are few villages, and the isolated farm- steads are often separated from one another by many miles. The cultivators of the land are in most instances also the proprietors, less than one third of the whole number being tenants only. The peasants, more espe- cially in the amts remote from towns, retain their an- cient provincial costumes, which are, for the most part, highly picturesque, consisting, among the women, of ample woollen skirts and brightly colored knit bodices, fastened and adorned with silver or brass clasps and buckles. Music is much cultivated by all classes of the people, and the national songs and melodies which are the favorites are for the most part of a melancholy char- acter. Danish is the language in ordinary use both in writing and speaking, although dialects nearer akin to the old Norse are spoken by the dalesmen and moun- taineers of special districts. Since the separation of the country from Denmark, a strongly national tendency has been manifested by some of the best Norwegian writers, and attempts have been made to reorganize these dialects into one general Norwegian language, and thus, in fact, to revive the ancient Norse, or Ice- landic, which has been preserved in Iceland in almost perfect purity since its first introduction into the island in the 9th century by colonists from the Scandinavian mother-lands.