Class distinctions were more pronounced than in our day. The peasants and burghers formed classes by themselves; above these stood the nobility, and a middle class can hardly be spoken of. The Swedish peasant, however, was a free man. His voice was heard at the _ting_, and he retained much of the old-time liberty, which his fellows in other countries had lost long before. Many heathen customs still clung to him, and he possessed a knowledge of runes as late as the time of Olaus Rudbeck. Much of the Viking nature lived in his strong form, and he objected to rigid laws and stringent rules. He was skilled in all kinds of manual arts (_slöjd_). He made his wagons and his sleds, his plows and his harrows, his rakes and hayforks; he made his shoes of wood, birchbark or leather; he made his furniture, his wooden spoons and dippers, his cups and saucers,--in short practically everything he used; and the Swedish house-wife could weave, knit and sew skillfully. Since the common people never lost their freedom to the same extent as in the rest of Europe, poverty was less prevalent than elsewhere at this time; and Ogier, the French Ambassador, says that “the Swedish peasants were neither poorly nor inconveniently dressed and prosperity was more evenly distributed in Sweden than in other countries.” The national consciousness was strong. There was an enthusiasm for the Swedish language and Swedish history. Foreign ambassadors at Stockholm were welcomed in Swedish--“the mother of other languages”--and foreign representatives abroad were addressed in the same tongue, if they were pretentious enough to use their own native speech. It was a period, when Swedish scholars delved into the misty past and located the cradle of the human race in their country; it was an epoch when Swedish generals led victorious armies over half of Europe; it was an age, when Swedish statesmen held the destinies of nations in their hands, when Swedish kings dreamed of world power, and when Swedish leaders stretched their arms across the oceans, and made settlements on two continents that were to become _New Swedens_. The enthusiasm of youth permeated the nation and drove it on to deeds, that an older power of twice its size would not have attempted. Patriotism ran high and national pride verged on chauvinism. No wonder that Gov. Printz with a handful of men talked the language of a general with an army at his back to give emphasis to his words, and that Rising with high-handed authority captured Fort Casimir! Such were the people (and such their condition) from among whom came the colonists on the Delaware.