Arendal from Tromöe (JW Edy plate 19)

No. XIX. VIEW OF ARENDAL FROM TROMOE.



Few towns in Norway are seen in every direction to such advantage as Arendal. The harbour is a perfect Cove of Cork on a smaller scale, and is generally well filled with shipping. The situation of the town is exceedingly picturesque; and too much cannot be said in praise of the grandeur and beauty of the surrounding scenery. Inexhaustible sources of amazement and delight burst forth in every quarter. In point of artificial beauty Arendal has, however, in common with other places in Norway, little to recommend itself. Its pretensions to taste, elegance, and comfort, are indeed of a very moderate kind.
But though the inhabitants, especially the commercial portion of them, cannot be said to do much homage to what is merely gracious, courteous, and ornamental, they may, I believe very generally, advance well-founded if not pre-eminent claims to commendation on points of essential consequence to the well-being of society. They do not, in the first place, appear to have fallen into that laxity of practice and indifference of opinion in matters of religion, which the despicable philosophy of the time has but too successfully introduced into other Norwegian towns. To the inhabitants of Arendal it would certainly be highly unjust to apply any share of the compliments paid by Mary Wollstonecraft in the following triumphant passages :
" On the subject of religion they are likewise becoming tolerant, at least, and perhaps have advanced a step further in free-thinking. One writer has ventured to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, and to question the necessity or utility of the christian system, without being considered universally as a monster, which would have been the case a few years ago."1
Any investigation which has moral observation for its object, is naturally very liable to error, and has great difficulties to overcome before it can arrive at excellence. This conviction, in addition to a knowledge of the pretensions which the inhabitants of the eastern parts of Norway set up to a monopoly of all the virtue in the country, forbids me to pronounce any decided opinion on the moral worth of the inhabitants of Arendal.
But I should return with the supercilious and captious criticism of a Frenchman, the attentions which I had the honour of receiving from the inhabitants of Arendal, if I did not, as far as relates to them, most heartily subscribe to what has been said on high critical authority in this country. "The Norwegian is hospitable in the extreme, and prevents the needy in their wants"2 A stranger may in this place hope for assistance, although he should be able to offer no recompense in the way of business; and he may expect entertainment, even though it be out of his power to converse on those standing topics in Norwegian society – die square balks, 3 inch 12 feet planks, and so much freight per standard hundred of deals.
The hospitality of opulent people at Arendal is divested of much of the parade and ostentation frequently displayed by their equals in other places At the first taste, an Englishman may not perhaps approve of all their culinary compositions; and a Frenchman would probably follow the example of an author of his country, who in the elation of his heart said, that French cookery pleased all foreigners, but foreign cookery never satisfied a Frenchman. Yet both would, I have no doubt, ultimately depart with very favourable impressions of Norwegian cookery. The flesh of domestic animals is certainly very indifferent except in autumn, but the soups are always excellent. The Norwegians also produce from mealy substances mixed with wine or milk, a variety of palatable dishes. Domestic fowls do not appear to be plentiful, but game they possess in great variety and abundance at all times of the year. The sea and rivers supply copious stores of fish. In the manufacture of pastry, the Norwegian fair evince a degree of skill and taste which would not disgrace a Parisian pastry-cook. They are entitled to as much praise for the elegance of the table-linen. Knives, dishes, plates, and most other articles of table-furniture are generally of English manufacture. With the wines in Norway no Frenchman could find fault.
The hour of dinner on festive occasions, is generally at four o'clock. Dinner is always preceded by drams, smoked salmon, salt herrings, bread and butter or cheese. Ladies and gentlemen arrange themselves at table with no very particular attention to the claims of rank. Dinner generally takes up three and even four hours, in the course of which the cloth is never withdrawn; the luxury of a mahogany dining-table being as yet but little known in Norway. The ladies remain at table during the whole of the time, and the Norwegian gentlemen appear to pique themselves much on their superiority over the English in this respect, whose anxiety to see the ladies depart soon after the removal of the cloth, is but too generally perceptible. On this head the Norwegians would, however, seem to be entitled to very little credit, if there is any justice in the following remarks of an English gentleman whom I met in Norway. "The presence of the ladies," said he, "during the whole of dinner-time, does not generally appear to operate as a restraint on the habits and conversation of the male part of the company, or at least on their devotional exercises at the shrine of Bacchus. The truth perhaps is, that the ideas entertained by the Norwegians of women, are not wholly untinctured by Turkish, and other notions inimical to the sex, and in these they are probably confirmed by the ladies themselves, who seldom appear to be anxious to blend the study of what is pleasing with what is useful. Better housewives than the Norwegian women are perhaps to be found nowhere ; and in regard of beauty, their pretensions rank very high; but they certainly require to be taught that, ‘to expand the human face to its full perfection, it seems necessary that the mind should co-operate by placidness of content or consciousness of superiority?’3 The stranger may indeed esteem himself truly happy, who has been able to converse with a Norwegian lady for five minutes without entering on the subjects of fashions, balls, &c. However, who can refuse to agree with such an observer of men and maners as Dr Moore, and from his opinion that ‘knowledge is not necessary to render a woman exceedingly agreeable in society, the Norwegian ladies may certainly derive considerable benefit’.4 Not having had the good fortune to enjoy an extended intercourse with the ladies of Norway, I cannot aspire to the honour of becoming their champion.
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1.^ Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, by Mary Wollstonecraft, p. 84.
2.^ Edinburgh Review, No. IV. Art. Tableau des Etats Danois, p. 326.
3.^ A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, by Dr. Samuel Johnson, p. 143.
4.^ View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, and Germany, by John Moore, M. D. vol. i. p. 23.