Independence and frankness characterize all classes of society. Norway has no hereditary aristocracy. In 1821 it was provided that those holding titles might be allowed to retain them during their lives, but they could not transmit them to their children. The Norse character has never been marred by the yoke of slavery. The feudal system, with its serfdom, never got a footing in the north. The people have always been small landholders, which has developed among them an independence of character not found in countries where the mass of the inhabitants have no direct property interests. There is no class in Norway corresponding to the country gentleman of England or to the grand seigneurs and provincial noblemen of the Continent. The wealthiest landlord is only a peasant. Honesty is one of the valuable assets of the Norwegian people. Attempts at extortion are so rare that tourists, accustomed to the proverbial dishonesty of the Latin races, find travel in Norway and Sweden a joy. An English traveler relates this typical incident: He had lost his purse shortly after leaving Vossevangen for Stalheim. Altogether unconscious of his loss, he walked on placidly. Suddenly hearing hurried footsteps following him, he turned about and faced a lad who thrust the pocketbook into the owner's hand and disappeared before the Englishman could get a coin from his pocket to reward the boy for his honesty. The Norwegian boy very properly did not expect a reward for doing the only thing open to his mind upon finding the purse. Kindness to animals is another virtue of the Norwegian people. Illustrating this trait we again quote William Eleroy Curtis: "There seems to be a close relation between the human kind and their animals. The men and women talk to the horses and cattle as if they were understood. We had a _skydsgut_, or driver, one day, who held continuous conversation with his horses. Every time he would come to a hill he would walk beside them and talk to them all the way up in a gentle, caressing sort of way, like a child talking to a doll, and once when he stopped for water and the near horse wanted to drink more than the driver thought was good for him, he scolded like an old woman. The horse shook his head and rattled his harness impatiently, as much as to say, 'You get back onto your box and attend to your business and I'll attend to mine.'"