The Norwegian Fourth of July
By L. H. Christian
THE Scandinavians are a liberty-loving people. Still their freedom is of quite recent date. Denmark was an absolute monarchy with an intolerant state church until 1848. I have often heard my father and uncle tell how, during their boyhood days, the Baptists, for instance, were persecuted in that country. The Norwegians secured their constitution earlier. On May 17, 1814, just one hundred years ago, a form of government was adopted in Norway that granted the people civil and religious liberty. That date became the great national holiday; and this year there will be not only an annual but a great centennial celebration of freedom's birth in the northland. A large exposition is to be held in Christiania, Norway, in honor of the event. Thousands of Scandinavians from America will this year visit Europe. Special cars and special trains are leaving the central states these days, loaded with people bound for Norway. For years May 17 has been very largely celebrated by the Norwegians in America. This year it will be marked by large gatherings in many places. Minneapolis is planning on a three days' celebration. We have thought that we should take advantage of this celebration. Our Danish-Norwegian paper, "Light over the Land," a quarterly about the size of Liberty, is devoted to questions of temperance and religious liberty. The International Publishing House at College View has printed a special issue of this paper. This number contains good articles on such subjects as "The Catholic Question," "The Danger of National Reform," "True Temperance," etc. The Minnesota Tract Society has ordered 1,500 of them. The price is five cents a copy for orders under fifty copies, and four cents for orders of fifty or more. Two dollars will buy fifty papers. We hope our brethren will help us in giving this number a very large circulation. Please see to it that every one of your Norwegian or Danish friends gets a copy. Order of your tract society or from the International Publishing Association, College View, Nebraska.