ONE YEAR IN SCANDINAVIA:

INTRODUCTION.

The author was born in the State of Vermont, November 9th, 1818; first believed the fulness of the Gospel in the spring of 1832; first saw the Prophet Joseph Smith in December, 1835, in Kirtland, Ohio, which was then head quarters of the Church, was ordained one of the Seventies the following spring, and has been engaged in the ministry ever since; was with the Saints through their persecutions in Missouri and Illinois; was in prison with the Prophets, Joseph and Hyrum, in Missouri; carried the chain for surveying the first town lots of Nauvoo; was one of the two Latter-day Saints who first entered Salt Lake Valley; has crossed the back-bone of the American continent four times, and travelled, probably, not less than eighty thousand miles on that continent, but never, until this mission, left his native shore, or was absent from his family more than one year at a time. And during a period of over twelve years, in which he has had a family, he has at no one time been permitted to remain with them so long as one year with the single exception of one year and twenty-nine days in the Salt Lake city, prior to this mission. Robbed and plundered in common with his brethren, he transplanted his family through poverty and deep affliction to that resting place. The first year spent in surmounting the difficulties of a new country, and while collecting materials for building, the voice of inspiration cried, "To the nations, oh! ye elders of Israel." His destination was Denmark; to be accompanied by brother P. O. Hanson, a native of Copenhagen, who had been mysteriously led by the Spirit to America, in search of the Kingdom of God, and found it in time to sup with the Saints their cup of afflictions, and accompany them to the mountains. Thursday, of the same week in which the mission was first intimated, was fixed for starting, though subsequent circumstances caused a little longer delay. The parting is left to conjecture. God be thanked for a family that amid the overflowing emotions of the heart never say "don't go." The journey over the plains, four hundred miles of mud, through Missouri; the trip through the States, crossing the Atlantic, visit in England, voyage from Hull to Copenhagen, the first scenes in Denmark, are all to some extent known to the English Saints, and however many associations of interest they might awaken, the writer has no design here to recapitulate them.

The pressure of business and haste with which these items have been thrown together, is the only apology for the use made of the following extracts of private letters, which were never intended for publication.

ONE YEAR IN SCANDINAVIA.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM ERASTUS SNOW.

TO THE FIRST PRESIDENCY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS; GREETING:

Beloved Brethren,—Knowing your anxiety, and your prayers and unceasing diligence for Zion at home, and for the welfare of the cause of God in all the world, I take great pleasure in writing to you at this time, to communicate to you a statement of the condition and prospect of affairs in this part of the vineyard, in which it has pleased God and my brethren to assign my labours for a season. * * * * *

By the advice and consent of those of the Twelve who were in England, I concluded to take with me Elder George P. Dykes—he having preached before to the Norwegians in Illinois, and having a little knowledge of their language as well as manners and customs. I thought, if the Lord opened the way, to send him into that country, to open the door of the gospel among them.

The spirit of the Lord seemed to lead me to this city, to commence my labors. From my first appointment my mind rested upon Copenhagen, as the best place in all Scandinavia to commence the work, and every thing has since strengthened my convictions. It is the capital of Denmark, and was, at one time, the capital of the united kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is a beautiful city, strongly fortified, numbering about 140,000 inhabitants, and is by far the largest and most influential town in the kingdom; and from its central position, on the east side of the Island of Zealand, within sixteen miles of the Swedish shore, it affords an easy communication by steamboat to the principal places of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It is the seat of learning for all the north of Europe; and, I might add, of priestcraft, infidelity, and politics; and in my opinion, it possesses more of the spirit of freedom than any other place in this part of the world notwithstanding.

After the separation of Sweden, Norway still continued under the Danish government until the fall of Napoleon, and then the Allied Powers, as a sort of punishment upon Denmark for her alliance with France, gave Norway to the king of Sweden; since which time Norway, though nominally subject to the Swedish king, has had her domestic legislature, and enjoyed a greater degree of political freedom than either of the other two countries.

The government of Denmark, until recently, was an absolute monarchy. The king and his ministry both made and executed the law, and the Lutheran clergy had the superintendence and control of all the primary schools, and public