Library of the Worlds Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 6 | Page 7

lines--the city of
Lyons lay at his Majesty's feet, gentle, gracious, and obedient to his
command. This spoken, Diana and her nymphs made low bows and
retired.
Note that Diana and her companions were married women, widows,
and young girls, taken from the best society in Lyons, and there was no
fault to be found with the way they performed their parts. The King, the
princes, and the ladies and gentlemen of the court were ravished.
Madame de Valentinois, called Diana of Poitiers,--whom the King
served and in whose name the mock chase was arranged,--was not less
content.

FREDRIKA BREMER
(1801-1865)
Fredrika Bremer was born at Tuorla Manor-house, near Åbo, in Finland,
on the 17th of August, 1801. In 1804 the family removed to Stockholm,
and two years later to a large estate at Årsta, some twenty miles from
the capital, which was her subsequent home. At Årsta the father of
Fredrika, who had amassed a fortune in the iron industry in Finland, set

up an establishment in accord with his means. The manor-house, built
two centuries before, had become in some parts dilapidated, but it was
ultimately restored and improved beyond its original condition. From
its windows on one side the eye stretched over nearly five miles of
meadows, fields, and villages belonging to the estate.
[Illustration: FREDRIKA BREMER]
In spite of its surroundings, however, Fredrika's childhood was not a
happy one. Her mother was severe and impatient of petty faults, and the
child's mind became embittered. Her father was reserved and
melancholy. Fredrika herself was restless and passionate, although of
an affectionate nature. Among the other children she was the ugly
duckling, who was misunderstood, and whose natural development was
continually checked and frustrated. Her talents were early exhibited in a
variety of directions. Her first verses, in French, to the morn, were
written at the age of eight. Subsequently she wrote comedies for home
production, prose and verse of all sorts, and kept a journal, which has
been preserved. In 1821 the whole family went on a tour abroad, from
which they did not return until the following year, having visited in the
meantime Germany, Switzerland, and France, and spent the winter in
Paris. This year among new scenes and surroundings seems to have
brought home to Fredrika, upon the resumption of her old life in the
country, its narrowness and its isolation. She was entirely shut off from
all desired activity; her illusions vanished one by one. "I was
conscious," she says in her short autobiography, "of being born with
powerful wings, but I was conscious of their being clipped;" and she
fancied that they would remain so.
Her attention, however, was fortunately attracted from herself to the
poor and sick in the country round about; and she presently became to
the whole region a nurse and a helper, denying herself all sorts of
comforts that she might give them to others, and braving storm and
hunger on her errands of mercy. In order to earn money for her
charities she painted miniature portraits of the Crown Princess and the
King, and secretly sold them. Her desire to increase the small sums she
thus gained induced her to seek a publisher for a number of sketches

she had written. Her brother readily disposed of the manuscript for a
hundred rix-dollars; and her first book, 'Teckningar ur Hvardagslifvet'
(Sketches of Every-day Life), appeared in 1828, but without the name
of the author, of whose identity the publisher himself was left in
ignorance. The book was received with such favor that the young
author was induced to try again; and what had originally been intended
as a second volume of the 'Sketches' appeared in 1830 as 'Familjen H.'
(The H. Family). Its success was immediate and unmistakable. It not
only was received with applause, but created a sensation, and Swedish
literature was congratulated on the acquisition of a new talent among
its writers.
The secret of Fredrika's authorship--which had as yet not been confided
even to her parents--was presently revealed to the poet (and later bishop)
Franzén, an old friend of the family. Shortly afterward the Swedish
Academy, of which Franzén was secretary, awarded her its lesser gold
medal as a sign of appreciation. A third volume met with even greater
success than its predecessors, and seemed definitely to point out the
career which she subsequently followed; and from this time until the
close of her life she worked diligently in her chosen field. She rapidly
acquired an appreciative public in and out of Sweden. Many of her
novels and tales were translated into various languages, several of them
appearing simultaneously in Swedish and English. In 1844 the Swedish
Academy awarded her its great gold medal of merit.
Several long journeys abroad mark the succeeding years: to Denmark
and