year. But there is no district, however poor or thinly populated,
without its _Folkskola_. There are nearly twelve hundred of these in
the land, attended by seven hundred and forty-two thousand pupils, and
employing sixteen thousand two hundred and seventy teachers of both
sexes.

No more conscientious, hardworking, and respectable class of men and
women can be found than the teachers. Eight years' study, first in a
special seminary and then in a training college, has taught them their
profession both in theory and practice. They are convinced of the
importance and dignity of their office, and are respected accordingly.
Socially, the general type of the school teacher is a superior one.
There are at present in the Riksdag, occupying seats as members of the
second chamber, no fewer than eleven teachers in elementary schools,
twelve teachers in secondary schools, one inspector of schools, and
one university professor. In the rural community, the school teacher
is something of an authority. Most of the members of the parish have
"sat under him" at school in their early life, and owe to him most of
what they know. For years he has been diffusing knowledge around him,
and has been looked up to as the fountain of book learning. He is the
local parson's great coadjutor in parish matters, and being a ready
speaker, is of no mean influence in the parish assemblies. The one
dark blot in the existence of the school teacher is the small salary
received. Few of them receive so much as $300 a year, the average
running from $225 to $275; even in Stockholm the figure going little
beyond $300. Living is, however, cheap in the rural districts, and
these teachers, who are drawn generally from the rural and indigent
classes, are accustomed to frugality and economy. They are lodged
free of rent in the schoolhouse or a cottage attached to it, and are
allowed firewood and other small prerequisites. They have generally a