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T A Iv K R 
 
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 F. Herman Gade, 
 
 Norsk Konsul i Chicago. 
 
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 CHICAGO 
 
 JOHN ANDERSON PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 1 ©10 
 

 Dedicated to the memory of one who had the highest 
 conception of the duties of a Consul and ^vho for more 
 than a quarter of a century filled that office xvith unsur- 
 passed grace, dignity and devotion as the representative 
 of the United States at Christiania. 
 
 
 rrs 2T* rt 
 
FORORD. 
 
 Blandt de Pligter, der tilligger en Konsul, er ogsaa den 
 i Embeds Medfor at vasre nasrvaerende og tale ved Na- 
 tionens Hoitidsdage saavelsom ved forskjellige andre An- 
 ledninger, da Landsmoend samles for at feire sine historiske 
 Minder eller andre mere aktuelle Begivenheder. Naar jeg 
 ved saadanne Anledninger har talt, baade her i Chicago og 
 andetsteds. blandt Normajnd i Amerika, har jeg altid folt 
 dette mindre som en Embedspligt end som et Privilegium 
 og en Fornoielse. 
 
 Idet jeg nu reiser hjem til Norge for at nedsaette mig 
 der og trseder tiibage fra min Stilling som norsk Konsul i 
 Chicago, hvis Pligter i de forlobne fern Aar er blevet mig 
 kJ32re, har jeg onsket at give de mange trofaste Venner, 
 der altid med Imedekommenhed og Velvillie har stottet og 
 opmuntret mig i Opfyldelsen af disse Pligter, en liden Erin- 
 drinor om vort faelles Arbeide for Fcedrelandet. 
 
 Modtag derfor denne lille Samling som et Tegn paa 
 min Taknemmelighed og som et Udtryk for den Hengiver.- 
 hed jeg sammen med Eder foler for vor dyrebare "Gamle 
 Mor Norge." 
 
 F. Herman Gade. 
 Frogner, Lake Forest, Illinois, 
 24de Juli 1 910. 
 
Speech delivered in Kuhn*s Park, Chicago, May 17th 1897 
 on The Constitution of Norway. 
 
 Fellow Countrymen: — 
 
 Patriotism great and deep-seated is manifested here 
 to-day. On a foreign shore, thousands of miles distant 
 from our beloved country, this patriotism asserts itself 
 and finds expression in celebration similar to that at home. 
 We march in procession with our national colors as they 
 do far off there in Norway, where we ourselves, most of us 
 as children, some even at more advanced age, have 
 marched with flag in hand to the honor and glory of the 
 dear mother-land and her day of rejoicing. To-day we 
 unite in mind and heart with our brothers at home — for 
 home it still is and ever will be, however good citizens we 
 make here — , and we sing the praises of that home in its 
 national hymns and commemorate the day when there was 
 given to her that bulwark of liberty and independence, 
 the constitution of ''Syttende Mai". 
 
 Of what does this patriotism consist? Love of our 
 country with its beauty, traditions and customs ? Love of 
 all that is dear to us from our childhood; the relatives, 
 friends and other ties there at home ? Yes, love certainly 
 and something else beside, which perhaps after all is a 
 part of that love: gratitude deepfelt and lasting, 
 gratitude for what she gave and still gives, gratitude for 
 all she was and still is to us every day of our life. 
 
 We are told that we make good citizens in this country, 
 that we are found to be an honest, industrious trustworthy 
 
 (7) 
 
8 
 
 people. It is said that we are the kind of immigrants this 
 country wishes and needs, and that we seem to bring with 
 us from across the seas a knowledge of institutions 
 and conditions of the freest kind, presumably similar to 
 those existing here. It is said that we are an element for 
 good and benefit to this country in standing on the right 
 side where principle is involved, above all, that we are 
 law-abiding. 
 
 If this be true and we are deserving of such com- 
 mendation, if we are in truth law-abiding, it must be due 
 to the conditions and institutions of our home, where that 
 quality was fostered in us which naturally obeys and re- 
 spects law. It must be for the reason that we are ac- 
 customed to a law that commands respect and deserves 
 obedience. 
 
 To a people's laws and institutions one must look to 
 learn its nature. The rules and regulations laid down by 
 a people for its own conduct are a criterion of its sense of 
 responsibility and honor, and according as they are just, 
 good, liberal or reverse, they advance or retard that 
 people's growth, development and happiness. They cannot 
 but affect the attitude, not only of the people as a whole, 
 but in some degree of the individual towards every 
 question met with in life. 
 
 What laws has Norway? What is her constitution? 
 It is a constitution than which none on earth can be found 
 more free and just. Some would object to this on the 
 ground of her not being a republic, having an impression 
 that monarchical form of government implies a curtail- 
 ment of the people's power, that in fact the word "king" 
 
9 
 
 means loss of rights to the people. But is it after all so in 
 Norway? Do we not know that the will of the people 
 is asserted there in more prompt and telling manner than 
 in this republic, and that our constitution retained as chief 
 executive a ^'king", because our traditions, abounding 
 with the leadership of a king, so demanded it? Has not 
 the Norwegian people repeatedly passed the measures it 
 wished above the king's veto in accordance with its con- 
 stitutional right to do so? Did not the democratic spirit 
 of the Norwegian people bring about the abolishment of 
 titles against the expressed wish of King Carl Johan, 
 nobility being a last remnant of class distinction repug- 
 nant to the spirit of the constitution. 
 
 And this constitution it is to which we to-day pay 
 honor and respect with deep feeling of gratitude in our 
 hearts not only for its strong care and protection of us 
 at home, but also for its lasting benefits to us here in 
 training and adapting us to American citizenship. God 
 keep that constitution safe and give to our people 
 strength to preserve it intact and sacred! 
 
Three Letters from Norway to The Lake Forester written 
 during the summer of 1902. 
 
 Sognefjord, Norway, July 17, 1902. 
 
 The Lake Forester : — 
 
 We have reached the famous region of fjords on the 
 west coast of Norway and are at present sailing on the 
 Sognef jord, the longest and grandest of them all. 
 
 A fjord is an arm of the sea cutting into the land and 
 winding, first in one, then in another direction, deep in 
 between the mountains, and often dividing into numerous 
 smaller arms, bays and inlets. "While a fjord may be very 
 narrow, occasionally only a couple of hundred feet in 
 width, its possible lenght may be understood when I men- 
 tion that we are now over one hundred and fifty miles 
 from the open sea. The depth of some fjords is marvel- 
 ous, even exceeding that of the open sea outside ; and the 
 water is usually calm and placid on account of the protec= 
 tion and shelter afforded by the high mountain walls on 
 all sides. Sometimes, however, there may lurk treachery 
 in a pass between the peaks, whence a sudden gust of 
 wind will descend upon the fisherman's light skiff. 
 
 The walls of rock rise from the water perpendicularly 
 several thousand feet all around us. We are so hemmed in 
 on all sides, so entirely shut off from the green slooping 
 world outside, that we seem to be mercilessly caught in a 
 trap of stupendous design and proportions. Our little 
 steamer approaches the gray wall nearer and nearer, 
 
 (10) 
 
11 
 
 finally so close that collision seems inevitable. There is an 
 impulse to stretch out one's arm to ward off the blow. 
 Suddenly there appears a narrow inlet through which we 
 escape destruction only to glide still further into the tre- 
 mendous towering mass of rocks. 
 
 Gradually the mountain-side begins to slope slightly 
 and at the same time is clad, though but scantily, with 
 verdure. Out of the very stone grow dark Norway pines, 
 intermingled with occasional dots of lighter birches, but 
 both of stunted growth. ]\Ioss hastens to do its share and 
 cover the bareness between. One asks constantly how 
 this strange vendure can exist in such stern places and 
 receives only the answer, that nature here verily is 
 grateful for wondrously little. 
 
 The top of the mountain wall stands out sharp against 
 the sky and extends in irregular lines of bold crag and 
 cliff, until it lifts itself into a majestic peak. Here and 
 there the water has worn it into a gorge that runs in a 
 deep rut down to the fjord. On top lie wide snow fields 
 and gleaming glaciers, the latter blue, green — every opal- 
 escent hue. Further down the mountain side are numer- 
 ous smaller patches of snow, shielded by the rock from 
 the rays of the sun, defied to the very end of the short 
 Norwegian summer. 
 
 From the ice and snow above flow countless 
 streams, mighty rivers and tiny brooks, all hastening to 
 the fjord below, in leaps and bounds of rushing, glittering 
 waterfall. White against the rock they look in the far 
 distance like thinnest silver threads. The rush and 
 gurgle of these waters is all that breaks the awful calm 
 
12 
 
 and stillness of this region. In some places the peaks are 
 so enveloped in misty clouds as to be entirely lost to view 
 — lost up in that enchanted world peopled in the Nor- 
 wegian imagination with all manner of mountain folk, 
 ''trold/' ''huldrer," ''nisser." And these mysterious 
 creatures of the old Norse folklore do not omit to give 
 evidences of their existence to common mortals below, 
 for moans and groans are heard to come from the glaciers, 
 and awful avalanches tell of still more serious trouble 
 among the turbulent supernaturals. 
 
 The fjord itself, mirrorlike, reflects so truly all 
 majestic nature around as if it wished to make double 
 sure that it should be indelibly impressed upon your 
 mind. Its deep blue, shifting into all metalic shades, 
 recalls the descriptive line of a famous Norwegian ode 
 to the fjord: 
 
 "Steel-gleaming shield o'er Vikings' graves." 
 
 This is the famous land of fjords. Mecca of summer 
 pilgrims from all parts of the world. An hour ago we 
 saluted Kaiser Wilhelm on board his great ''Hohenzol- 
 lern," and just now, in passing Mr. Goelet's beautiful 
 steam yacht, we have done proud reverence to the Stars 
 and Stripes. Fredrik Herman Gade. 
 
 Hardanger, Norway, July 25, 1902. 
 To the Lake Forester: — 
 
 The distinguishing feature of the scenery of Norway 
 is its wonderful variety. In this respect it can claim de- 
 cided superiority over Switzerland, having all the beauties 
 
13 
 
 of the latter country and much besides. In the eastern 
 part of Norway, especially along the Swedish boundary, 
 there are long stretches of pine=clad hills enclosing com- 
 paratively wide valleys of fertile, well cultivated fields, 
 the farm houses here also having a prosperous well-to-do 
 appearance. Further west the mountains are higher and 
 leave less space for the valleys between, in which how- 
 ever the vegetation is still luxuriant and varied. In 
 ascending from these valleys and passing the line of tree 
 vegetation one comes upon vast stretches covered only 
 with moss, low bushes and alpine flora, and dotted and 
 streaked by innumerable lakes, rivers and brooks. Some- 
 times a plateau, enlivened by patches of snow, but oc- 
 casionally rising into dignified peaks; then there is the 
 high mountain region of wild black peaks, white snow- 
 fields and blue glaciers — all looking like angry waves of a 
 tempestuous sea, something approaching that which Swit- 
 zerland so boasts of ; and finally, in the west, Norway has 
 her most characteristic and famous features, her chief 
 pride, the like of which is to be found nowhere on earth — 
 the fjords. In traveling through the country from east to 
 west we have seen in turn each one of these aspects of 
 Norwegian nature, from the most mild, generous, smiling, 
 to the sternest imaginable. 
 
 From Christiania we proceded into the interior by 
 railroad — little play cars as they appear to an American 
 — making, by ''limited express," eighteen miles an hour! 
 Meals are obtained at the stations on the way, where the 
 traveler, after helping himself to some of the tempting 
 dishes on the counter, states the extent of his consumption 
 
14 
 
 and his consequent reckoning. Such an idea as a possible 
 loss through a dishonest patron could not enter the Nor- 
 wegian mind. The railroad journey was followed by 
 steamboat travel for half a day on a long but very narrow 
 sheet of water, which, as in fact most of the lakes in Nor- 
 way, is merely a widening of the river. When our little 
 steamer, at the further end of the lake, entered the river 
 proper and encountered swift current and rapids, progress 
 became slow and looked at times most dangerous. The 
 many logs that in places filled the river and came dashing 
 down upon our bow and under the keel with a pounding, 
 rumbling sound, were also by no means reassuring. Any 
 fears we might entertain were, however, dispelled by a 
 look at the rotund figure and smiling countenance of the 
 old captain, who had steered his boat successfully over 
 that exciting course for the last twenty-five years. He 
 related with pride how Genral Grant had been one of his 
 first passengers, and how, many years later. Admiral 
 Selfridge of the U. S. Navy had stood beside him on the 
 bridge the entire afternoon, watching the skilfull 
 navigation. 
 
 Now commenced the four day drive through the long 
 Valders Valley and across the mountains to the west 
 coast. And here I must say a word about the little Nor- 
 wegian ponies, that, without apparent exertion, carried 
 four of us and baggage all the way, accomplishing about 
 fifty miles a day. The horses of the celebrated Nordfjord 
 breed are generally light tan in color and of stocky, short 
 limbed build, emphasized by the cropped mane. Though 
 not graceful to look at, they have qualities of much 
 
15 
 
 greater worth — strength, endurance, and patience incom- 
 parable. They are so surefooted that they can safely 
 tread the most difficult and steep mountain paths, and 
 they possess a nerve that laughs at precipices beneath. 
 
 The roads of Norway are a revelation and never-ceas- 
 ing wonder to foreigners traveling upon them. First the 
 feats of engineering involved in their building, and then 
 the maintenance of the roadbed. Mountains are scaled 
 and crossed by means of long curves and numerous zig- 
 zags, all of such gradual ascent as to make the grade 
 hardly noticeable. Often the road is for several miles 
 hewn wholly out of the rock and supported by a tremend- 
 ous wall of stone and masonry, while in exceptional places 
 it is even necessary to cover it with a strong roof as pro- 
 tection against avalanches and falling stones. The sides 
 are protected with formidable stones several feet high, 
 placed along the edge, in case of a precipice or lake below 
 so close to one another as to form a nearly continuous fence. 
 The surface of the road, sandy but hard, and rarely either 
 dusty or too wet, is of such a graceful and uniform bevel 
 as to put to shame the builders of the famous old Roman 
 roads. I have heard American travelers exclaim that 
 their park drives at home could not compare with these 
 Norwegian highways. 
 
 While one can readily understand that Norway may 
 produce and educate able road engineers, one has diffi- 
 culty in comprehending how so poor and sparsely settled 
 a country can afford the immense cost of such construc- 
 tion. The answer is perhaps, that the government has 
 deemed the outlay good policy for the country, in fur- 
 
16 
 
 nishing a great inducement to travel the. d, winch means 
 employment for many people. Of materials there is cer- 
 tainly no lack, for the mountains and river beds furnish 
 respectively the stone and sand required for the best 
 macadam. 
 
 The excellent maintenance of the roadbed is the same, 
 whether the government itself keeps it up or the farms of 
 the district through which it passes are charged with the 
 duty. The latter arrangement is often adopted in lieu of, or 
 rather, as a kind of taxation, and the peasants prefer 
 paying the tax in this indirect manner — by work instead 
 of money. Pieces of the road are allotted for care to the 
 several farms in proportion to their acreage, consideration 
 being also taken to the benefits accruing to each, and the 
 pieces in question are marked by signboards bearing the 
 name of the farm, length of allotted piece, etc. Should a 
 farm be remiss in the discharge of its '^road tax," the 
 owner would quickly and effectively be reminded by the 
 sheriff, among whose duties it is to make frequent and 
 careful inspections of the roads in his county. 
 
 Fredrik Herman Gade. 
 
 Christiania, Norway, August 17, 1902. 
 To the Lake Forester: — 
 
 In my last letter I told of our taking the four-day over- 
 land drive from eastern Norway through the Valders Val- 
 ley to the west coast. I want now to add a few impres- 
 sions of the houses and people we saw on the way. 
 
 In the east, where the valleys are comparatively wide, 
 and nature on the whole generous and smiling, the farms 
 
17 
 
 are large and prosperous with extensive, though, to be 
 sure, often steeply slooping fields of grain and pasture. 
 Here, too, there is evidence of an abundant number of 
 cattle, and the buildings of one single farm may number 
 over twenty, there being a separate house for every con- 
 ceivable purpose. The most singular and quaint of these 
 are the ''smoking house" and the ''stabur." 
 
 The former is not designed, as one might suppose, for 
 the after-dinner comfort of the male members of the 
 family, but, on the other hand, serves a purpose strictly 
 utilitarian. Here fish and meat are cured, dried and 
 smoked for long keeping and future consumption — good 
 haunches of venison caught on the high mountain, beside 
 the humbler produce of the farm itself, hams of goat and 
 pig, sausages, etc. The smoking house is always easily 
 recognizable by the absence of windows and by the 
 charred and blackened appearance of the logs near the 
 door resulting from the operations carried on within. 
 
 The stabur is still quainter, perched in the air several 
 feet on wooden or stone posts, and accessible only 
 from a flight of steps, separated by such a space from the 
 threshold as to call for a good stride in entering. This 
 singular manner of building fulfills admirably its purpose 
 in making the stabur or storehouse absolutely ratproof. 
 There are usually two stories, of which the lower is used 
 for food, stored in sacks and boxes on the floor and hung 
 from large hooks in the rafters, or, if good cheer for the 
 holiday season — home brewed ale, mead and ''aquavit" 
 (Norwegian brandy) — kept in strong barrels and kegs. 
 The top story, which extends out beyond the lower and 
 
18 
 is sometimes furnished with a little balcony, is chiefly de- 
 voted to clothing, for bed and table as well as the person. 
 Here are kept the fine costumes donned only for wed- 
 dings and other great occasions, and in summer it is a 
 convenient place to put away the sheep and bear skins 
 needed in the cold season. A stabur may occasionally be 
 found decorated with rich wood carving, the work on 
 door posts and lintel perhaps placing its origin with 
 certainty five hundred years back. Not the least pictures- 
 que feature of the stabur, as well as of certain of the other 
 buildings, is the roof, consisting of a good crop of grass, 
 interspersed with bright wild flowers and even supporting 
 fair-sized trees. In the construction of such a roof the 
 rafters are first thatched with birch bark and on top is 
 then placed a deep layer of earth, sufficient for luxuriant 
 vegetation. In more than one place we observed the pet 
 goat of the farm having a good meal on the roof. 
 
 In connection with the farm, as forming a detached 
 part of it, I must not omit to mention the '^sgeter," a 
 dairy hut or group of small buildings situated up in the 
 mountains, often far distant and at an elevation well above 
 the tree line. In the latter event the saeter house is built 
 of stones piled on one another without aid of plaster or 
 cement. Hither the cattle of the farm are taken by the 
 girls to graze during the summer months on the fat 
 mountain pastures, and the quality of milk obtained is 
 found to amply repay the trouble. Butter and various 
 kinds of cheese are made from the milk, and the girls are 
 further kept busy watching the cattle from straying away 
 on the wide mountain slopes. At one saster we visited 
 
19 
 
 there were only goats, the specialty there being the fam- 
 ous Norwegian goat's milk cheese. In the fall, towards 
 closing time, when the season's work is about over, the 
 monotony of steter life is agreeably broken by visits from 
 the valley. If there are several sa^ters close to one another 
 and a fiddler available, there may be a dance of a Satur- 
 day evening, when the national '^Springdans" and "Hal- 
 ling" w^ll alternate furiously, with but short pauses, until 
 well into Sunday morning. The former is extremely 
 picturesque and graceful and affords both partners an 
 equal chance to display their suppleness, grace and 
 strength, a noticeable feature being the pirouetting of 
 the girl, steadied in the performance by her partner's 
 hand. The Hailing is danced by the men alone, and a 
 conspicuous part is the finale of high kicking. On the 
 boundary stretch between the mountain pastures of the 
 two valleys, Valders and Hallingdal, there is a plateau in 
 the nature of a common, wdiere the young men of these 
 two valleys close the sieter season with an elaborate 
 athletic contest entered into by both contingents with the 
 most zealous rivalry. If the Norwegian brandy has been 
 taken too freely, these peaceful contests have been known 
 to assume a fiercer aspect, in which the daggerlike knife 
 carried in his belt by every Norwegian peasant, has 
 played a part important and even fatal. 
 
 As one proceeds westward through the country with 
 its ever-increasing sterility and ruggedness the appear- 
 ance of the people seems to be gradually undergoing a 
 change — to become more dark and fierce, in keeping with 
 the sterner surroundings. The peasant's face bears the 
 
20 
 mark of the incessant struggle required to sustain life ; it 
 has the impress of the somber mountain looming threat- 
 eningly upon all sides. The face does not smile so easily 
 in a narrow valley shut off from the rays of the sun for 
 all but a few weeks of the year. In these ill-favored sec- 
 tions of the country the commonly held opinion that the 
 Norwegian peasant invariably has fair hair and com- 
 plexion must be abandoned, for a dark type is here far 
 more frequent. In the fjord districts of Sogn and Hardan- 
 ger, where the race is said to be unusually pure, one is 
 constantly struck with the remarkable beauty as well as 
 the fine build of both the men and the women. The 
 strength and virility of the race will be best understood 
 when J supply the statistics showing the average height 
 of the recruit of the S^ndfjord regiment to be six feet 
 two! 
 
 These people have remained faithful to their old cos- 
 tumes, while the peasants in other parts of the country, 
 particularly along the beaten track of foreign travelers, 
 have exchanged them for city clothes. The peasant 
 costumes can be seen to best advantage on a Sunday, when 
 the peasants from far and near come to the little parish 
 church in their best attire. The women of Hardanger are 
 particularly picturesque in their black skirt, white em- 
 broidered apron and white blouse with like embroidery at 
 neck and wrist, red bodice edged with ribbon af gay and 
 variegated pattern, spangle-jewelry covering the bosom 
 from throat down to the breast-piece of artistic heavy 
 bead embroidery, belt likewise of bead pattern and fast- 
 ened with silver claps, and finally the most distinguishing 
 
21 
 
 feature of the costume — the broad, graceful, beautifully 
 crimped headdress called '^Skaut." 
 
 It is to be hoped that the contact with the outside 
 world has not had a deeper- effect upon the Norwegian 
 peasant and done away with any of his old-time proverbial 
 honesty ! Fredrik Herman Gade. 
 
Speech delivered at Brands Park, Chicago, May 17th 1903 
 
 on celebration of the day and on ' ' Skandinavisme. ' ' 
 Fellow Countrymen: — 
 
 On this our great National Day our hearts first of 
 all turn to Norway, our dear and distant country; to 
 Norway, which to those who were born and spent a part 
 of their life there must always remain in a peculiar sense 
 ''Home". Our hearts go out to this home, and we see 
 visions of this National Day spent there in joyous celebra- 
 tion. Whether it is in the city or in the country, the day 
 is marked with gladness and festivity. Before our eyes 
 rises the country clad in her fresh spring garb — the light 
 green of the Birch and Maple — the profusion of wild 
 flowers: Blaaveis, Hvidveis, Violets, Marie N0glebaand; 
 and even after long years the wonderful fragrance of it 
 all comes back to us. All nature is unfolding and devel- 
 oping in the balmy spring air with an exultant rapidity 
 unknown elsewhere. And there is no lack of light to cele- 
 brate this birthday of the country ; for at this season, only 
 a month distant from midsummer, there is scarcely any 
 night at all — the day is longer than it ever becomes in this, 
 our adopted country. Could our National Day possibly 
 have come at a more fitting season, so perfectly attuned 
 and so beautifully symbolic with its abundance of budding 
 spring and rich promise? 
 
 The vision of which I speak recalls to some of you 
 the day up in the mountains; to others in a village or 
 small town ; while many, with me, see it in the large city 
 
 (22) 
 
23 
 
 Christiania. Before my mind is the picture of the capital 
 city of the country, profusely decorated with national 
 colors, and with its streets teeming with a gay holiday 
 throng. Not only the large public buildings, but 
 every house, even the humblest dwelling, flies its flag. 
 Every child carries his own little flag, and young and 
 old wear the same colors on the breast. The Students' 
 Glee Club are singing the national airs in the quadrangle 
 between the University Buildings, the same stirring songs 
 that we listen to here today. The popular interest cen- 
 ters particularly on the two great processions, that of the 
 schoolboys in the morning and that of the men in the 
 afternoon. The latter is composed of numerous bodies of 
 men of all classes, the only qualification to march being 
 patriotism. The procession is led by the dignified body of 
 our Storthing, and thereafter follow all associations, 
 guilds and labor unions with their respective banners, in- 
 signia and bands. Truly a noble procession, and one 
 that makes a deep impression upon the onlooker ! 
 
 But it is the boys' procession of the morning which per- 
 sistently remains in the foreground of the picture and 
 never can fade from the memory. Early in the morning 
 they assemble from the oldest about to enter the univer- 
 sity to the little tots of the kindergarten, and in the large 
 public square each school ranges itself behind its banner 
 and in its proper place. The rivalry regarding order of 
 march in the procession has been previously settled by 
 casting lots. The seniors of each school muster their own 
 army and arrange it by classes, so there is a gradual even 
 slope of heads from the senior clas^ to the shavers of the 
 
24 
 
 first grade of the rearguard. To the seniors is also en- 
 trusted the honor of carrying the large school banner, but 
 every boy, without exception, carries his own Norwegian 
 flag. At regular intervals in the procession bands 
 are stationed to play the national airs. The excitement 
 increases until the lines become a long quivering mass of 
 red, white and blue, and when impatience has reached a 
 point that theatens to throw the little army into confusion, 
 the word is at length given to march. The different 
 schools now vie with each other in displaying well-ordered 
 ranks to the spectators along the line of march, among 
 which there is many a proud parent, not infrequently with 
 moist eyes. The procession swings into Carl Johans Gade 
 and marches in stately fashion up this principal street of 
 the city to the palace. Passing the statue of Carl Johan 
 the army stands before the palace gates. A great shout 
 of childish voices rends the air, which finally swells into 
 the song ''God save our King so good". If perchance that 
 good and gracious ruler be there to receive the ovation of 
 young Norway, he expresses his appreciation and affection 
 in his own truly kingly manner. Descending the palace 
 hill the line of march continues past the university, where 
 proper homage is paid to this national institution. Farther 
 on, reaching the parliament building, a new demonstration 
 takes place ; for here tribute is paid to the representatives 
 of the people, the real rulers of Norway ,the successors of 
 the body of patriots that framed the Constitution at Eids- 
 vold on May 17, 1814. Again and again the soprano 
 voices are lifted in the strains of ''Ja, vi elsker" and 
 *'^0nuer af Norge", Although on the long line of march 
 
25 
 
 arms begin to sag and little toes to stump the heels in 
 front, fatigue is forgotten, and patriotism blazes in every 
 eye. The point of destination is finally reached, the large 
 open square at the fortress. Here the army arranges it- 
 self around the rostrum, which is mounted by one of 
 Norway's great orators. The boys are reminded of the 
 great events of the original May 17th, of the noteworthy 
 deeds done since then to preserve and confirm Norwegian 
 independence, and, finally, of the duties that will devolve 
 on them as the coming generation of Norway's men 
 to keep that independence intact and the honor of the 
 country sacred. But above all the great orator and poet 
 — you all know whom I mean — reminds the boys that their 
 patriotism should be the love of a son for his mother, for 
 Norway is the great, kind, loving mother of them all. 
 
 This manner of celebrating our national day is of great 
 importance to the citizenship of the young generation. 
 The boy from his earliest years is taught to express his 
 loyality in song with those of his own age ; he takes part 
 in the official functions of the day ; the duties of loyal and 
 patriotic citizenship are indelibly impressed upon his 
 mind. His celebration of the day is not limited to the 
 noise of firecrackers. And to you, my countrymen, I 
 earnestly submit whether the custom of our own country — 
 the boys' procession — is not worth perpetuating among 
 our children here in America. If you yourselves keep a 
 lasting and enduring affection for Norway and wish to 
 transmit it to your children, you can accomplish it in no 
 better way than by having them march in procession as do 
 today the boys in Christiania. 
 
26 
 
 On this day it is customary to speak of the great events 
 af 1814, and most properly so; for the celebration of 
 May 17th is a commemoration of those deeds, and they 
 should receive the most liberal share of our attention. But 
 it seems to me that the days in which we live also furnish 
 us with reason for joy, pride and celebration. It is a matter 
 of wonder to the whole world what our small country with 
 its insignificant population is contributing to Arts, to 
 Letters, to Science, to Invention and Exploration; what 
 our country is doing in all these separate fields of 
 distinguished activity. 
 
 When I speak of Letters — Literature, before I mention 
 their names, you all know I mean those intellectual giants 
 Ibsen and Bj0rnson, who have so largely molded modern 
 thought, besides a host of younger writers, whose talents 
 are becoming known outside of their own country. 
 
 Our national music, so distinct and original in its cha- 
 racter, is wellknown and popular everywhere, with the 
 names of Grieg, Kjerulf and Svendsen fast becoming 
 classics. 
 
 The pictures of our great artists are eagerly sought af- 
 ter, and Thaulow was recently selected with one other 
 European artist to come to America and act as judge in 
 awarding the prizes at a large exhibition of modern art. 
 
 "When I mention Science and Exploration, I of course 
 have in mind first af all Nansen, his worthy successor on 
 the ''Fram'' Sverdrup, Borchgrewink of South Polar Sea 
 fame, Astrup, whose promising and brilliant career came 
 to so untimely an end, and last, but by no means least, 
 Amundsen, who at this very time is starting out on an ex- 
 
27 
 
 pedition of exceptional interest to the entire world. Of the 
 latter I speak with peculiar personal interest, because he 
 was my classmate at school and is justifying the brilliant 
 promise of his boyhood. It is not with any vain-glorious 
 craving to set a new arctic record — the spur to so many 
 polar expeditions — that he is starting out, but impelled 
 solely by an ardor for science: to locate accurately the 
 magnetic pole north of the American Continent, that the 
 laws which govern magnetic forces should be better under- 
 stood not alone for the benefit of science but for naviga- 
 tion all the world over. 
 
 And before leaving the subject of Norway's contribu- 
 tion to science and invention we may remember that the 
 United States Army and most of the militia of America 
 are now equipped with Norwegian firearms, the unsur- 
 passed Krag-J0rgensen Gun; that Birkeland, beside hav- 
 ing expounded new and wonderful theories regarding the 
 northern lights, has invented a cannon which may revolu- 
 tionize modern warfare. 
 
 Perhaps you do not know with what brightness the 
 great lights of our University shine, and how far they 
 send their rays? As philologists the brothers Storm are 
 known at all seats of learning, and when the wise profes- 
 sors of Cambridge and Oxford are confronted with some 
 particularly difficult problem in Anglo-Saxon derivation, 
 they write for elucidation to Professor Johan Storm of 
 Christiania. "While great honors were done last year to 
 the memory of the immortal Abel, a mathematician fifty 
 years ahead of his time, the lectures of a recent mathema- 
 tician at Christiania University were attended by Ameri- 
 
38 
 
 can students from Boston and San Francisco, by students 
 from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America, who 
 went to distant Norway to obtain the best possible in- 
 struction in mathematics that the world could afford. 
 
 And our king holds a unique position among the 
 monarchs of the world. His varied talents as artist, mu- 
 sician, poet and orator are widely known and admired, 
 and foreign nations frequently seek his services as arbi- 
 trator in their differences, recognizing in him not alone 
 the man of exceptional attainments, but one with the finest 
 sense of justice. 
 
 The prominence of these names and the importance of 
 the achievements I have noted furnish, I think, good rea- 
 son for congratulation and celebration today. 
 
 There is at the present time in Norway a movement 
 which every day is gaining ground — that of bringing the 
 three Scandinavian countries closer together. It is the idea 
 of Scandinavian unification, or, as it is termed, '^Pan-Skan- 
 dinavisme". It is really no new idea, for at different 
 times during the past century it has been urged by one or 
 another of the three countries, without, however, estab- 
 lishing a very firm foothold. The halfhearted and faltering 
 support given to Denmark by the other two. countries, 
 when she was attacked by her formidable neighbor Ger- 
 many, is the most conspicuous example of its failure. But 
 the movement now under way promises better results, for 
 it is gaining great popular support in all three Scandi- 
 navian countries and certainly not least in Norway. 
 
 In an ovation recently given by the Norwegir.n stu- 
 dents at their Students' Society to Prof. Sophus Bugge on 
 
29 
 the occation of his 70th birthday, this celebratedHistorian 
 in a remarkable speech of acknowledgment emphasized 
 to the students in weighty an eloquent words the advis- 
 ability, nay the necessity, of the unification of Scandina- 
 vian interests and of mutual support and sympathy be- 
 tween the three countries. He demonstrated why the Scan- 
 dinavian countries, at one time in the days of the virile 
 vikings so respected and feared all the world over, had 
 steadily sunk in political importance, until they at the 
 present time occupy such insignificant positions as world- 
 powers ; and he contrasted with their history the opposite 
 course of events in Germany, attributing the latter to the 
 grand thought of unification which had obliterated aU 
 dividing lines and conflicting interests existing between 
 the different German states. 
 
 Bj0rnson has always been in favor of the movement, 
 the statement of his detractors to the contrary notwith- 
 standing; and no longer ago than last week there ap- 
 peared in our Chicago papers a telegram from Norway 
 reporting the vigorous denunciation that Bj0rnson in an 
 open letter had directed against those extreme radicals 
 who by unfriendly and unreasonable measures are seeking 
 to lay obstacles in the way of Scandinavian unification. 
 Bj0rnson's opposition to Sweden on many occasions, when 
 the equal rights of Norway within the union w^ere en- 
 croached upon, is not inconsistent with his present atti- 
 tude in the matter of Scandinavian unification. With him 
 it has alw^ays been a case of ''Not that I love Sweden less, 
 but that I love Norway more". 
 
 The movement of which I speak does not involve, at 
 
30 
 
 any rate at the present time, any idea of closer political 
 union, but merely increased respect, sympathy and affec- 
 tion for one another, as well as a tacit alliance against any 
 aggression from outside that may threaten any one of the 
 three Scandinavian countries. Just now it is realized that 
 there is a particularly grave danger, of which poor Finland 
 may serve as the best warning. The mighty neighbor in 
 the east, who looks with jealous eyes upon our ports that 
 are free from ice and open to navigation all winter long, 
 will miss no chance to advance westward at our ex- 
 pense. Scandinavians are more and more realizing that 
 the countries when divided will fall an easy prey to this 
 encroaching neighbor, but when their forces are com- 
 bined they form a unit that commands consideration and 
 respect. There are unmistakable signs that Eussia is 
 seeking to sow seeds of dissension and discord in Scandi- 
 navia and has spies that report to St. Petersburg any 
 circumstance that looks favorable to her aggressive in= 
 tentions. In the face of such grave danger the Scandina- 
 vian countries cannot afford to have differences: to fail 
 to establish a bond and alliance for mutual protection is 
 nothing short of suicidal. 
 
 As I have already said, the movement is gaining great 
 popular support, and the papers give accounts of a large 
 association formed of men and women in Norway and 
 Sweden called "Br^drefolkenes Vel". And now, Fellow- 
 Countrymcn, we can render valuable assistance to this 
 movement even in this distant land. Our attitude and 
 conduct here towards the other Scandinavian nations can- 
 not but have an effect upon events at home in proving 
 
31 
 
 our sympathy, approval and co-operation, and so I urge 
 that we miss no opportunity to entertain and promote 
 friendly relations with Swedes and Danes in this country. 
 But I have wandered considerably from the real sig- 
 nificance of this day, on which, as I said before, our hearts 
 go out to our old home, Norway. May they go out in the 
 way our great poet has so often urged: As a son to 
 his mother! 
 
Remarks (introducing Frank 0. Lowden and John M. 
 
 Harlan) by F. H. Gade, at the Republican Mass 
 
 Meeting in Lake Forest, 111., October 17th 1904. 
 
 Lake Forest is awake — very much awake, and I am cer- 
 tain it will not be permitted to go to sleep again until after 
 election. The two Republican Clubs here will make such 
 things as apathy, indifference and carelessness absolutely 
 impossible. Nobody is to be left uninformed regarding 
 the issues of the campaign, and I believe no one will 
 escape or in fact will want to avoid going to the polls on 
 election day. Lake Forest has, of late, acquired a pretty 
 good reputation for turning out or being turned out for 
 elections; and the Republican Clubs will see to it that 
 this record does not suffer at this most important elec- 
 tion of all. 
 
 The two organizations to which I refer are the old 
 Shields Township Republican Club, recently revived into 
 activity, and the College Republican Club, organized the 
 other day amid great enthusiasm and under whose auspi- 
 ces this meeting is held to-night. The clubs are allied and 
 leagued together; the "town and gown" have settled all 
 differences ; and the only complaint heard is that the ma- 
 terial upon which to work is scarce — that the Democrats 
 are too few and far between. 
 
 In considering the proper field of activity for these 
 clubs, it seems to me there is one class particularly, 
 against which the efforts of our Republican Clubs may 
 be directed most profitably : the persons who are perched 
 upon the fence. These roosters should be impelled, 
 
 (32) 
 
33 
 
 gently, if possible, and if not, then with the requisite 
 force, to drop down from that fence, and on the right 
 side of it ; and I believe there are not so few of those fowl 
 who should be shooed into the Republican flock. There 
 are, of course, others — ill-bred fowl on the low ground 
 across the fence that it is idle to go after. As some emi- 
 nent Englishman once said, ''Some persons have from 
 their very childhood been fed with the milk of radical- 
 ism or nourished on the strong meat of conservatism till 
 a change of opinion would involve a change in their men- 
 tal constitution." Ferguson, a Scotch member of the 
 British Parliament, in Pitt's time, admitted about him= 
 self: '^I have heard many arguments which convinced my 
 judgment, but never one that influenced my vote." Now, 
 this is exactly the way with some Democrats, dyed deep 
 in the wool — ''once a Democrat, always a Democrat", 
 and they had better be left alone. 
 
 At its first meeting, the College Republican Club was 
 fortunate in being addressed on the political situation in 
 a most lucid and entertaining manner by two of our 
 highly esteemed professors. It will, however, be of parti- 
 cular interest to have the issues presented to us by 
 one who is in the very vortex and maelstrom of the 
 present historical events; one who is now in the thick of 
 the battle ; one of the great leaders and chiefs of the Re- 
 publican party; a man whom Lake Forest and Lake 
 County hope to see occupy the highest positions in the 
 gift of the American people. It is a great privilege for us 
 all and an honor to Lake Forest to have speak here to- 
 night : Colonel Frank 0. Lowden. 
 
34 
 
 Our other guest of honor here to-night is a man that 
 needs no introduction in Lake Forest. With so large a 
 part of his family here, we feel as if he half belonged to 
 us. And then, whenever we have a good battle to fight, 
 he stands ready to come to our aid in that wholesouled 
 manner so characteristic of him. "We remember him on 
 this platform just two years ago, pleading for the 
 preservation of our beautiful Skokie valley. Our mighty 
 neighbor, Chicago, needs for her welfare, improvement 
 and sound development, a new charter and appeals to her 
 sister cities throughout the State to help her realize this 
 ambition at the coming election. We certainly want to 
 understand the matter of this new charter, for we are so 
 closely tied to and dependent upon this great neighbor 
 that her welfare means our welfare. 
 
 There is no one more identified with all that is 
 admirable and best in Chicago, no one more competent 
 and better qualified to instruct us regarding her needs 
 than our good friend, whom we are delighted to have with 
 us to-night, John M. Harlan. 
 
Speech on ''America" delivered at banquet for the Nor- 
 wegian Student Singers at the Sherman House, 
 Chicago, May 22nd 1905. 
 
 While I naturally would esteem it a great honor under 
 any circumstances to speak on this occasion, to address 
 these guests of ours, I feel it to be an especial privilege to 
 do so when this body of men is headed by Gr0ndahl. The 
 great master of song, under whose baton also I piped with 
 boyish treble for many years, until he suddenly one day 
 announced: ''Gade, your voice is cracking, and you'll 
 have to stop ; instead of song you lucky dog may now 
 have the hour free!" I did not consider myself lucky; 
 for somehow the manner of teaching or the personality 
 of the master, or perhaps both combined, had made that 
 school hour a treat and not a drudgery. In these distant 
 after=years I can trace to those hours of song under Gr0n- 
 dahl the germ of the musical feeling and understanding 
 that have brought such infinite pleasure in later life. 
 
 As the toastmaster has imposed no restrictions in con- 
 nection with the subject ''America' alloted to me, I feel 
 at liberty to follow freely the bent of my inclination and 
 say a word of fraternal advice to the Norwegian student 
 from his brother, the American college graduate. We 
 who missed the greatest distinction in the world, that of 
 becoming civis academicus in Christiania, and have had 
 to content ourselves with the next best thing, that of a 
 
 (35) 
 
36 
 
 sheepskin from an American University, are none the less 
 your full fledged academical brethren. 
 
 *'Ja Br0dre, herligt er vort Kald, 
 At vogte Aandens h^ie Alter, etc." 
 
 and as such brother I feel I have the right to talk with 
 you in a very direct, nay, outspoken and intimate way. 
 
 Now in coming to this country, as most of you do for 
 the first time, you are naturally somewhat confused and 
 puzzled as to what to believe about it, the accounts given 
 you being so conflicting and contradictory. In the well- 
 known poem of ''Flugten til Amerika" occur the impres- 
 sive lines: ''Guldet ligger for ens Fod; man bukker sig 
 kun for at ta' det". You there had presented to you a 
 certain version, which now may cause you disappointment, 
 and I am forced to admit that the description in that 
 poem was the slightest bit optimistic. On the other hand, 
 the Norwegian papers, and particularly the conservative 
 ones (which, as we all know, never fail in perfect charity, 
 humanity and fairness) have assiduously supplied you 
 with exactly the opposite kind of description, abounding 
 in tales of most dreadful robbery and murder; — tales 
 labeled "Amerikansk," which, if not actually scaring you 
 away from the country altogether, at least would cause 
 you, as prudent men, to hesitate long and then to take 
 out all possible life insurance before coming, and to arm 
 yourselves abundantly with revolvers and tomahawks to 
 be on equal footing with the ferocious natives. By this 
 time, gentlemen (you still look pretty sound and able- 
 bodied!) you may have discovered that all of these pre- 
 
37 
 
 cautions were not absolutely necessary. But 
 
 still, do you know what to believe of America ? 
 
 In your rapid flight over this country, you birds of 
 passage (you are barely giving us a chance to listen to 
 your melodious note) will notice that the air through 
 which you pass is often smoky and foul, that your foot 
 cannot easily find a clean place to alight on, at least not 
 on our city streets, that the boys threaten with slings and 
 stones, — for such is the method of our strikes! If you 
 pause long enough, you may also observe many evidences 
 of corruption, political and otherwise — much that is not 
 as it should be. Brothers, is this all? Is this America? 
 Verily, verily no, it is not ; it is only the surface, the mere 
 outside of things. If you cannot see beyond it, if you can- 
 not reach beneath it, your journey, as far as learning to 
 know America goes, will have been in vain. 
 
 For you should know, and if you realy seek, you will 
 find, that under the negligence and carelessness and ap- 
 parent corruption there is great national earnestness, 
 energy and principle, which once aroused, are capable of 
 accomplishing any task, however great and difficult. 
 
 That under the vanities and weaknesses of the nation, 
 there is an abundant and never-failing store of good na- 
 tional common sense, which in the end always asserts 
 itself in the determination of any really vital issue. 
 
 That under the capriciousness and fickleness that often 
 mark the public's treatment of so-called national heroes, 
 lauded to the skies one day, only to be ridiculed the next, 
 there is a constant and enduring belief in and reverence 
 for truly heroic deeds and lofty ideals. 
 
38 
 
 That under the pernicious system that centers vast 
 fortunes in a few individual hands — the trusts with all 
 their attendant evils making for plutocracy, — there is a 
 universal grand democratic feeling that demands equal 
 opportunities to all and fair play for all — what may be 
 called ''The American Spirit '\ 
 
 It is the American spirit that more than anything else 
 lays hold of the newcomer and converts him into a good 
 loyal citizen of this, his adopted country. May you, while 
 here, feel some touch of this American spirit and carry 
 away with you some appreciation of it ; for then you will 
 have partaken of the greatest blessing this country has 
 to bestow ! 
 
Letter to the President of the United States accompanying 
 petition for recognition of Norway's new government 
 
 Lake Forest, June 28, 1905. 
 To the President of the United States, 
 
 Oyster Bay, Long Island, 
 
 New York. 
 Honored Sir : — 
 
 I beg herewith respectfully to hand you the petition 
 of nearly twenty thousand Norwegians residing in and 
 near Chicago, asking that you will, at the earliest oppor- 
 tunity, signify your recognition of the new Government 
 of Norway. 
 
 This government is a de facto government in full, 
 complete and peaceable control and possession of the 
 governmental machinery and functions of the country, 
 was established by the unanimous action of the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, and is supported by the entire 
 people of Norway. 
 
 Nearly one-third of the entire Norwegian population 
 of the world resides in the United States under your care 
 and protection, and these citizens of the United States, 
 following the events in their old home with the deepest 
 interest and concern, earnestly hope that their Country of 
 adoption will be the first to accord friendly recognition 
 to their Country of birth. 
 
 Most respectfully, 
 
 F. Herman Gade, 
 Chairman of Committee having 
 petition in charge. 
 
 (39) 
 
Remarks by F. H. Gade, Mayor, at the last council meeting^ 
 of his administration, May 7th 1906. 
 
 In turning over the city administration to our succes- 
 sors there are a number of important matters concerning 
 the city which seem to deserve some mention : 
 
 The traction issue, I sincerely hope, may be soon dis- 
 posed of. Last spring the council was unwilling to grant 
 the perpetual franchise asked for by the electric road, 
 and, in place of it, passed an ordinance granting a fran- 
 chise for seventy-five years, which Mr. Frost declined to 
 accept. Since then I have personally made repeated ef- 
 forts to secure a different solution of the problem. 
 Throughout the entire consideration of the matter I have 
 been in favor of granting the electric road the right to 
 a double track through Lake Forest; for I believe that 
 the company cannot give good service — that, in fact, no 
 electric road can do so — without a double track system. 
 I further believe that the public both need and want im- 
 proved service, and that the interests of Lake Forest 
 would be advanced by an additional track, which should 
 be granted upon the city's receiving proper compensation 
 therefore; that is to say, upon fair and reasonable terms. 
 I have been disposed to favor, as the right and logical solu- 
 tion of the problem, the granting of an additional track 
 for the remainder of the present franchise period, that is 
 to say, to make the additional grant co-extensive with the 
 company's other grants and rights in Lake Forest. While 
 this arrangement would not secure to the city all the com- 
 
 (40) 
 
41 
 
 pensation and advantages offered as consideration for the 
 tHe perpetual franchise, it would entirely avoid the 
 troublesome question of additional time, beside other com- 
 plications of the relations of the electric railroad company 
 to the city. 
 
 During the last couple of years no effort has been 
 spared to reach an amicable settlement of the issues be- 
 tween the city and the water company. The council has 
 passed ordinances, which in its opinion, and I am sure 
 also of the public at large, were considered not only rea- 
 sonable, but most liberal to the company, involving higher 
 compensation for water than paid by any other munici- 
 pality along the North Shore. The water company, how= 
 ever, constantly changing its attitude in the matter of 
 these rates, finally brought the city into court, where the 
 vexed question soon should be settled once for all. In 
 the meantime private consumers are properly protected 
 by the injunction granted by the court restraining the 
 company from shutting off the water supply. 
 
 The liquor nuisance should be rigorously and unremit- 
 tingly prosecuted ; for the slightest remissness causes this 
 serious evil to assume alarming proportions. During the 
 past year many more suits have been brought than ever 
 before, and during the summer of 1905 the city went to 
 considerable expense in employing detectives to collect 
 evidence against the offenders. It has, however, proved 
 difficult to accomplish any satisfactory and lasting result 
 without the co-operation of the community, and I hope 
 the citizens of Lake Forest will soon awaken to this fact. 
 In many cases, when our policemen have, as they thought, 
 
42 
 secured conclusive evidence against the violators of our 
 liquor laws, the witnesses when put on the stand have ab- 
 solutely repudiated their earlier statements, and by pre- 
 tending to know nothing concerning the offense in 
 question , caused the prosecution to fail. Again, sup- 
 posedly sensible juries, composed of tradesmen and other 
 responsible citizens, have imposed upon offenders con- 
 clusively proven guilty the ridiculous fine of five or ten 
 dollars, which naturally was not calculated to deter them 
 from further violations. It is surprising that professors 
 of the University, when requested to do jury duty in these 
 cases, have shown such extraordinary want of public 
 spirit and interest in the community as to invoke their 
 immunity from jury service. The city attorney can say 
 a great deal about the obstacles he has met with in his 
 faithful endeavors to suppress the liquor evil. 
 
 "While I believe the city cannot afford to dispense with 
 the valuable services of Mr. Smoot, who has been its coun- 
 sel so long and drafted the majority of its ordinances, I 
 think the city needs the services of an attorney who can 
 be summoned at short notice and attend to running mat- 
 ters as they come up. Prosecutions for violations of the 
 iiquor laws, automobile speed laws and other like mat- 
 ters need immediate and constant attention such as only 
 a resident attorney can give. The retention of Mr. Smoot 
 as counsel for the city need not interfere with the 
 establishment of a city attorneyship to look after the 
 running matters from day to day. 
 
 Lake Forest has of late made great strides in adopting 
 street and other improvements, and I think it deserves 
 
43 
 
 the name that Mayor Gorton used to apply to it: ''The 
 Banner City of the West." What is particularly note= 
 worthy is that these improvements have recently, in 
 nearly every instance, been undertaken not by com- 
 pulsive measures of the Local Improvement Board, but 
 upon request of the property owners themselves who would 
 have to pay the cost. So far from being unwilling to 
 incur these burdens, which in many cases have fallen 
 heavy upon people of small means, there has been ap- 
 parent, in the different parts of the city, positively a spirit 
 of rivalry to outdo each other in making these improve- 
 ments. It is to be hoped that this splendid spirit of 
 civic pride and ambition Avill in no wise abate. 
 
Tale ombord paa Dampskibet ''Hellig Olav" den 3die 
 August 1906 i Anledning Kong Haakons F^dselsdag. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer. 
 
 Dette er en Festdag i Norge: det er Kong Haakons 
 F^dselsdag. Nastefter syttende Mai er det jo Kongens 
 F^dselsdag som feires; og vi husker nok allesammen fra 
 Barneaarene, at paa den Dag liavde vi fri fra Skolen. Ka- 
 nonerne paa gamle Akershus Fiestning, under hvilke vi 
 gik ombord paa dette Skib for akkurat en Uge siden, har 
 idag ved Middagstid skudt Salut til ^re for Dagen. Flag 
 vaier overalt i Landet lige fra Lindesna^s til Nordkap. 
 Jeg er vis paa, at alle vi Normicnd her ombord, paa Vei 
 til vort nye Land, gjerne vil mindes Dagen og sende en 
 kjserlig Tanke tilbage over Havet til det gamle Fgedre- 
 land — til Norge og dets Konge. 
 
 Vi har i Sandhed en Konge, vi kan veere stolt af. Det 
 er sjelden, at en Mand forener i sig saadanne Egenskaber, 
 som han. 
 
 Af Udseende vakker som faa Mgend: klassiske An- 
 sigtstr^k med et Udtryk af stor Yenlighed og Godhed, 
 som det passer sig en Konge af Norge — saaledes som 
 vi kan tcenke os de fordums Haakoner. Isandhed en kon- 
 gelig Skikkelse ! De, som saa ham ved Kroningsceremo- 
 nien, glemmer aldrig Synet. Hele bans Mine og Holdning 
 udtrykte dybt Alvor og Ansvarsf0lelse — man saa der en 
 Mand, som vilde vie sit Liv til sin store Gjerning. 
 
 Vor Konge er besindig, forstandig, klog; det har han 
 
 (44) 
 
45 
 
 umiskjendelig lagt for Dagen ved enhver Anledning. 
 Baade hans Ord og lians Handlinger beviser det. Naar 
 ban modtager en Deputation, som uventet overrtekker 
 bam en Adresse, svarer ban strax paa en Maade, som vid= 
 ner om sjelden Indsigt og Forstaaelse. Da de norsk- 
 amerikanske Deputerede bavde Foretra3de for bam i 
 Trondbjem, sagde ban, at den Sympatbi, som blev vist 
 bam af de udflyttede Norm^end, var bam en stor Hjselp 
 og Opmuntrmg i bans vigtige Gjerning. Det b^r vi l^egge 
 OS paa Hjerte, Landsmsend, og ikke glemme, naar vi er 
 kommen tilbage i det travle Amerika-Liv. 
 
 Kong Haakon bar vel ikke en st^rre Beundrer end 
 Bj0rnson — den store Republikaner ! Denne sagde nylig 
 ved en Leiligbed, at ban bavde fulgt n^iagtig med, ligefra 
 Kongen kom til Norge, og forsigtig lagt Maerke til alle 
 bans Udtalelser og Handlinger, som uden Undtagelse viste 
 ualmindelig Forstand og Besindigbed. Han tilf^iede, at 
 bvis Norge engang skulde bave en Konge, saa kunde det 
 ikke bave gjort et bedre Valg i bele Verden. 
 
 Men fremfor alt bar Kong Haakon forstaaet at vinde 
 alle Nordmeends Hjerter; og Grunden bertil kan vel ikke 
 Vffire tvilsom. Han er jevn og ligefrem. Han bar et godt 
 Hjerte. Han er vennes^l, som det sig b^r og b0r en Konge 
 i Norge — den Egenskab som vi finder bos de store nor- 
 ske H^vdinger fra gammel Tid. Han er bensynsfuld ; ban 
 bar Omtanke og Omsorg for de smaa og tra3ngende i Lan- 
 det . Alt varsler om, at ban vil blive en sand Landsfader. 
 
 Nu idag, naar ban bar fuldendt den Reise ban bar 
 gjort gjennem Landet for at logre sit Folk at kjende og 
 forat forstaa dets Bebov og Tarv, og feirer sin fj^rste 
 
46 
 
 Fjz^dselsdag i det nye Hjem, hvor han allerede er saa af- 
 holdt, lad saa os forene vore Tanker og Hjerter med dem 
 derhjemme i Norge i Loyalitet og Hengivenhed. Held 
 og Lykke for Kong Haakon, hvem Gud beskytte og 
 bevare ! Lad os tolke dette 0nske i et nidobbelt Hurra 
 for Konojen. 
 
Tale for Kapt. Roald Amundsen ved Nationalforbundets 
 Banket i Pierson's Hall, Chicago, den 4de Nov. 1906. 
 
 Mine Herrer! — Vi er m^dt her iaften for at h^dre 
 Kaptein Roald Amundsen. F0rst og fremst hilser og lyk- 
 ^nsker vi ham og takker ham som Norma^nd, fordi han 
 Aar bragt ny Glans og nyt Ry til gamle Norge. Hans Be- 
 drift har igjen vendt hele Verdens Opm^rksomhed paa 
 vort lille Land langt deroppe i Nord med en Befolkning 
 saa stor som Chicagos, — det lille Land, som gj0r sig gjcel- 
 dende paa alle Omraader — i Literatur, Kunst, Musik, Vi- 
 denskab og Opdagelser. Gjennem Gj0a-F£erden liar Norge 
 nu igjen bidraget noget af Betydning for hele Verden. En 
 epokegj0rende Begivenhed er sheet i Videnskab og Hi- 
 storie. Roald Amundsen har givet Verden et nyt Bevis 
 paa, at om en Stordaad skal udf^res, maa der en Nor- 
 mand til for at gj0re det. 
 
 Amundsens Foretagende har to Sider: Nordvestpas- 
 sagen er fundet, og der er gjort store videnskabelige Op- 
 dagelser. Det kan vasre af Interesse at vide, hvilken 
 af disse to, han selv anser som den vigtigste. 
 
 Nordvestpassagens Gjennemseiling er vistnok det mest 
 i0inefaldende, det som Folk strax hefter sig ved. Det 
 er jo den Bedrift, som de fleste Polarforskere har fors0gt 
 at udf^re i fire Hundrede Aar, og mangfoldige Penge og 
 mange Menneskeliv har disse Fors^g kostet. ^ren for 
 Nordvestpassagen tilh^rer endelig en Normand, og til 
 Nordvestpassagen vil altid vsere knyttet Navnet Amund- 
 sen og Norge. 
 
 (47) 
 
48 
 
 Den anden Side er det videnskabelige Udbytte. Herom 
 kan Kaptein Amundsen ikke na^rmere udtale sig, f^rend 
 ban bar aflagt sin Rapport for Det Geografiske Selskab i 
 Kristainia. Men sikkert og vist er det, at naar bans Ob- 
 servationer er studeret og bekjendtgjort, vil der ikke laen- 
 ger herske nogensombelst Tvil om den magnetiske Nord- 
 pols Beliggenhed, og bvorvidt den er stillestaaende eller 
 ikke, Sp^rsmaal af stor Vigtigbed for Videnskab og 
 Sj^fart. Det er jo passende, at Normt^nd, Jordens f0rste 
 Sj0folk, skulde skaffe L0sning paa disse Gaader. 
 
 For Amundsen var den videnskabelige Efterforskning 
 det virkelige Formaal og Nordvestpassagen kun en Bi= 
 sag. Dette kan jeg selv bevidne, som var saa beldig at 
 b0re Kaptein Amundsens Udtalelser f^r ban begav sig af- 
 sted fra Norge. Da ban bavde forklaret Expeditionens 
 videnskabelige Formaal og n^iagtig udviklet sine ombyg- 
 gelige Planer i Forbindelse bermed, lagde ban til noksaa 
 lunt og ligegyldig: ''Ja, bvis det saa skulde traeffe sig, 
 at vi kommer tilbage fra den magnetiske Pol ad Nordvest- 
 passagen, saa vilde jo det vsere bra og f orn0ieligt. " 
 
 Dette Amundsens Syn paa Sagen forekommer mig at 
 vaere noget af det mest ngevnevagrdige og beundringsvaer- 
 dige ved hele det store Foretagende. Det viser, at det var 
 besj aglet af Trangen til at udrette noget af sandt viden- 
 skabelig Vasrd og af Nytte og Gavn for bele Verden, ikke 
 af ^rgjerrigbed efter at slaa en Rekord. Net op i disse 
 Dage ser vi andre, som fors^ger at vinde Ry og Ber0m- 
 melse ved det alene at traenge l^ngst nord og derved 
 saette en ny Rekord. Vor Landsmand bar bavt et b^iere, 
 st0rre, vjerdigere Formaal. 
 
49 
 
 Man omtaler ofte Kaptein Amundsen som en alminde- 
 lig Sj^kaptein. Men man ved ikke, at han i lang Tid 
 studerede sine Opgaver i Tyskland. Man ved ikke, at 
 han nu vil tale i Berlin paa Tysk, i London paa Engelsk 
 og i Paris paa Fransk, og at han saa endog vil holde et 
 illustreret Foredrag for Eskimoerne paa King Williams 
 Land i deres eget Sprog. Kaptein Amundsen har, siden 
 han ankom til Chicago, faaet saa mange Beviser fra sine 
 Landsmsend paa den Glaede og Stolthed, vi f0ler ved at 
 have ham her iblandt os, at det er overfl^digt for mig at 
 sige noget videre derom. At han har sat Pris paa det 
 Velkommen, han har faaet, vil tydelig fremgaa, naar jeg 
 fortaeller, at for at vsere her tilstede ikveld blandt sine 
 Landsmaend har han maattet omlaegge sin Reiseplan og 
 sl0ife sit Bes0g til "Washington og Amerikas Praesident, 
 
 Mine Herrer, jeg har den store ^re at udbringe en 
 Skaal for Kaptein Roald Amundsen. 
 
Skaaltale: ."Damerne" ved den norske Kvartetklubs 
 Banket i Chicago den 19de Januar 1907. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer : 
 
 Naar man mindes den sjeldne lyriske Stemning, som 
 besja:4ede vor nu saa meget savnede Tom Kolderups Ord 
 for Damerne, kunde man let blive modl0s og lade sig 
 afskrgekke fra Fors^get ; men saa er man paa samme Tid 
 uvillig til at frasige sig et saa ^refnldt Hverv. Og jeg 
 f0ler dybt, at dette Opdrag virkelig er Aftenens st^rste 
 ^re. 
 
 Hvert Land paa Jorden tror sig at besidde den ideale 
 Kvinde, og Digterne synger hendes Pris i gl0dende Lov- 
 ord. Goethe, Schiller og Heine skildrer den h^ieste Ger= 
 manske Kvindelighed. Dante fremstiller hos sit Hjertes 
 Dronning den sydlandske Fuldkommenhed. Tennyson 
 har skabt efter Englagnderens Sind og Hjerte visse yn- 
 dige Kvindeskikkelser, som er ud0delige. Longfellow har 
 skjcenket Amerika den h0it skattede Evangeline. 
 
 Hvad er der nn at sige om den norske Kvinde — staar 
 hun tilbage for nogen af disse andre ? Nei, visselig ikke ; 
 og vi ved, at hverken Wergeland eller Bj0rnson har for- 
 staaet at gj0re hendes Yndighed, Deilighed, Fuldkom- 
 menhed Fyldest. Den norske Kvinde er i mange Hen- 
 seender enestaaende: Hvor i Verden finder man saadan 
 Aandrighed som hos hende ? Hvor i Verden har Kvinden 
 saadan Indflydelse paa Landets og Folkets Skjgebne som 
 i Norge ? Hun er nu, i lige Antal og med samme Begeist- 
 
 (50) 
 
51 
 
 ring som Manden med i det storartede Foretagende at 
 stifte Nordmandsforbundet — at knytte et Sambaand 
 mellem alt norsk over hele Jorden. Hvor finder man Side- 
 stykke til den Fa?drelandskj^rlighed og Opofrelse, som 
 den norske Kvinde lagde for Dagen i de sidste spa^ndte, 
 farlige Tider i Norge? 
 
 Hvor finder man endelig en lierligere Skikkelse end 
 den kjgekke og uforfa^rdede norske Kvinde, som staar ud- 
 over Fjeldet paa Ski — i Sandlied, den nordiske Valkyrie ! 
 
 Denne herlige Kvinde er med os i Aften. Hun gj0r 
 OS stolt og lykklig ved at vasre vor Dame ved Bordet og 
 i Dansen. 
 
 Mine Herrer, jeg liar den ^re at udbringe Damernes 
 Skaal ! 
 
Tale for Minister Christian Hauge ved Nationalforbundets 
 Banket for ham i Chicago den 16de Mai 1907. 
 
 Mine Herrer: — 
 
 Vi er samlet her iaften for at h^dre eg ^nske Vel= 
 kommen til Chicago Minister Christian Hauge. Helt fra 
 Washington er han kommen hid for at vcere sammen med 
 OS, sine Landsmsend, paa Norges Festdag, for at feire med 
 OS den 17de Mai. 
 
 Dette er en Begivenhed ; thi det er f^rste Gang, at en 
 norsk Minister gj0r noget saadant. Og saa er det jo og- 
 saa Norges f^rste Eeprgesentant i Amerika — i denne 
 Verdensdel ; den f^rste i Rang og den f^rste, som virkelig 
 h^rer alene Norge til. 
 
 Minister Hauges Komme hid har ikke liden Betydning. 
 Det viser f^rst, at der nu er en norsk Minister, som 0nsker 
 at kjende sine Landsmaend og staa i fortroligt Forhold til 
 Nordmffindene i Amerika. Det viser ogsaa, at Norge paa 
 sin Festdag ikke glemmer os, sine ndvandrede Sinner; 
 men igjennem sin Repraesentant sender os en hjertelig Hil= 
 sen og forsikrer os om, at paa 17de Mai gaar Hjerterne 
 derhjemme ud og forener sig med os — Udflytterfolket. 
 
 Fra hvad han vil se her i disse Dage, kan Minister 
 Hauge bringe Besked tilbage : at skj0nt vi er gode ameri- 
 kanske Borgere, saa glemmer vi dog ikke det gamle Fag- 
 dreland, men bevarer det altid i kja^rlig Erindring. Han 
 kan endog fortaelle, at vi feirer 17de Mai endnu bedre, end 
 
 (52) 
 
53 
 
 de gj0r det hjemme: at vi begynder Festlighederne Da- 
 gen forud. 
 
 Der var Tilfredslied overall blandt Nordma^ndene her 
 i Landet, da det blev bekjendt, hvem den norske Regje- 
 ring havde udseet til sin Repr^sentant i Washington. Og 
 denne Mening er blevet end mere almindelig, eftersom 
 man har la^rt ham bedre at kjende, I New York taler man 
 endnu med Begeistring om bans Bes^g der ifjor. 
 
 Vi ved, at Norges Interesser nu varetages paa allerbed- 
 ste Maade — at Norge i Washington vil opnaa alt, hvad 
 dets Ret og Va^rdighed kraiver. Vi glider os over, at 
 Norge her i Landet liar en Mand, som vil rcpra^sentere i 
 Ordets fulde Betydning. 
 
 Vi har heller ikke noget hnod, at denne Norges Repra3= 
 sentant er en a^gte norsk Skikkelse — h^i, velbygget, 
 kraftig, ligesom ban ogsaa er jevn, ligefrem, vennes^el. 
 Det er os kjt\?rt, at Norges Reprassentant er va^rdig saa- 
 velsom elskvaerdig. 
 
 Mine Herrer, jeg har den iEre at foreslaa Minister 
 Hauges Skaal! ■ 
 
Speech for America at "Syvende Juni" celebration at 
 Wicker Park Hall, Chicago, June 7th 1907. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen; Fellow countrymen of Norway 
 and America : — 
 
 This being Norway's great day, the thoughts of f^ood 
 Norwegians will naturally dwell upon tlie great event 
 that made it such, and their hearts will lovingly go out to 
 the distant country of their birth across th(? sea. America 
 should therefore not intrude unduly or lay too much claim 
 to attention; and I shall be very brief. The custom has, 
 however, become established among us Norwegians here in 
 America, on our Norwegian national holidays, never to 
 forget our new country ; and it is an excellent custom. To 
 observe it is in fact only the part of good, loyal American 
 citizenship. After glorifying the achievements of our an- 
 cestors on the 17th of May and of the new-born Norway 
 on June 7th it is only right and fitting that our thoughts 
 should return to our present country and home, to the 
 country that is giving us all that is dear to us in life, 
 where our children are born, and where we hope and pray 
 they will live happily after we have passed on. 
 
 Norway owes a great debt of gratitude to the United 
 States. We are certainly all aware that there also is a debt 
 the other way — that America owes much to Norway. Nor- 
 way has supplied and is still supplying what America 
 readily admits is one of her best elements of population, 
 an element that stands for industry, law and order. Great 
 
 (54) 
 
55 
 
 parts of this country have been developed and built up 
 by Norwegian sinew and muscle. The Norwegian 
 nationality is supplying the brains to govern separate 
 states of the Union as well as to shape the policies of the 
 whole country in its highest councils in AVashington. So 
 we must recognize — and we do it with pride and satis- 
 faction — that the debt from America to Norway is large. 
 But I repeat : Norway has very much for which to thank 
 America. 
 
 First, the purely material side of the question: hun- 
 dreds of thousands of dollars are ever}^ year sent from 
 America to Norway and bring comfort and happiness to 
 many needy ones over there. This money is earned and 
 saved in America, it is the resources and opportunities of 
 America that make such earning and saving possible. 
 
 But Norway has received something better and greater 
 than this from America. It has received from America 
 encouragement and inspiration for the ideas that have 
 entered into the growth and development of the Nor- 
 wegian nation, that have made Norway what it is today. 
 We all know that the Norwegian constitution was largely 
 modeled upon the American, in providing for the most 
 liberal and democratic institutions, that vested all real 
 power and authority in the people itself. The old king- 
 dom of Norway inherited from the young republic of the 
 United States that which for nearly one hundred years 
 has enriched and proved a blessing to the Norwegian 
 people, who in consequence must ever feel a debt of gra- 
 titude as well as relation of kinship to the United States. 
 
 But it did not stop with that. During all this time and 
 
56 
 
 in ever-increasing degree Norwegian national sentiment 
 has been influenced by the liberal ideas of America. The 
 internal political development in Norway discloses an 
 uninterrupted growth of democracy and popular govern- 
 ment. There is no better proof of this influence from 
 America than the former attitude, now happily changed, 
 of the Norwegian Conservative Press, which used to lay 
 at the door of America every evil influence likely to bring 
 about a change, and which never missed a chance to say 
 something mean or slurring about America. The influence 
 came in a number of different ways, and chiefly by the 
 accounts of Norwegians returned from America and by an 
 endless stream of letters from the new world. I believe 
 the American influence was an important factor in the' 
 successive steps in the development of Norway's liberty, 
 which finally culminated and found the fullest expression 
 in the events of June 7th, 1905. 
 
 We can not blind ourselves to the fact that there are 
 great evils and abuses in America, that there is much 
 which should be corrected and reformed. We know that 
 there are great dangers that beset this country in the com- 
 bination of vast capital and in the amassing of huge pri- 
 vate fortunes — corporate aggression and individual 
 greed; that the confederation of labor is often misled to 
 violence by unscrupulous agitators, who, so far from being 
 its friend, are labor's worst enemy. We see an abundance 
 of vicious journalism, which, appealing to the passions and 
 prejudices of men, raises class feeling and incites to crime. 
 We see machine politics and boss rule, corruption in high 
 places, murders and lynchings. 
 
57 
 But in the face of all this we also know that there is a 
 limit to these evils, where American public opinion 
 steps in and protests; that the American people, good in 
 heart, sound in core, rises in its might and makes the 
 evils cease. The splendid American spirit could not be 
 better personified than, as it is today, in the chief execu- 
 tive of this nation, who vigorously, without fear or favor 
 corrects abuses and punishes wrong-doing, whether it be 
 committed by capital or by labor. This American spirit 
 insures to us all in this country ' ' a square deal. ' ' As long 
 as it endures we may all be proud to belong to this nation 
 as the first on earth. 
 
Tale ved Idraetsforeningen ''Sleipners" Folkefest i Brands 
 
 Park, Chicago, den 19de Juni 1907 — Betyd- 
 
 ningen af 7de Juni. 
 
 Dette er f^rste Gang jeg deltager i en af ''Sleipners" 
 Fester, og det er mig da en sserlig stor Gl^de at faa v^ere 
 med her iaften. Jeg vil f^rst faa Lov at lyk0nske Klubben 
 med hvad den har udrettet. Fra en liden Begyndelse har 
 den i L0bet af 12 Aar vokset sig op til en maegtig For- 
 ening med betydelig Virksomhed og et anseligt Medlems- 
 antal. For Idr^ttens Fremme har Klubben gjort meget, 
 og i forskjellige Slags Sport har den vundet glimrende 
 Seire. Den var den f^rste norske Forening, som gjorde 
 Alvor af Sk^itesporten her i Chicago ved at holde aarlige 
 Kapl0b paa Nytaarsdag i Humboldt Park. Det var Med- 
 lemmer af ''Sleipner," om de end optraadte under Nav- 
 net ''Milwaukee Athletic Club", som deltog i Styrkepr^- 
 ven (Tug-of-War) ved St. Louis Udstillingen. Og det var 
 ''Sleipner," som ved at slaa Brooklyn, nylig vandt Ver- 
 dens-Mesterskabet i denne Sport 
 
 Det er overfl^dig at omtale Idr^ttens Vigtighed; thi 
 vi ved allesammen, at uden et sundt Legeme kommer man 
 ikke langt her i Verden. Denne L^rdom har vi hjemmefra 
 Norge, hvor man ofrer saa megen Tid og Opmaerksomhed 
 paa Gymnastik for Gutter og Piger fra de tidligste Barne- 
 aar. Jeg husker godt det gamle latinske Motto, som stod 
 over Gymnastiksalen paa Skolen i Christiania: ''Mens 
 Sana in corpore sano" — en sund Sjsel i et sundt Legeme! 
 Ved at udvikle vore Legemer igjennem Idrast og Sport 
 
 (68) 
 
59 
 
 faar vi en 0get Arbeidskraft for ethvert Foretagende, vi 
 blir bedre og nyttigere Borgere, og vi faar et liengere og 
 lykkeligere Liv. 
 
 Men det er ikke alene paa Idreettens Omraade, at 
 ''Sleipner" bar indlagt sig Fortjeneste. Den bar andre 
 gedle Formaal, nemlig at Medlemmerne ved gjensidig Un= 
 derst0ttelse skal staa hverandre bi i Sygdom og N0d. Den 
 bar gaaet i Spidsen med at b^itideligbolde vore nationale 
 Festdage. Da Nationalforbundet i 1902 undlod at bolde 
 den vanlige Folkef est paa 17de Mai, var det ' ' Sleipner, ' ' 
 som fik istand den vellykkede Fest i Aurora Hall, hvor 
 Stat ens Guvern0r, dengang Yates, holdt Talen. Og ifjor 
 jL±j.df0rtes den nye, rosvserdige Skik, at f eire Norges anden 
 store Dag — den 7de Juni. 
 
 Det er ikke bare i Chicago eller Amerika, at '' Sleip- 
 ner" er kjendt; men i selve fjerne Norge er dens Navn 
 agtet og taknemmelig erindret. Da den store Storm ifjor 
 Vinter havde bragt Forlis og Ulykke til Fiskerne i Lofo- 
 ten, var det '' Sleipner," som sendte en Pengegave hjeni 
 til de N0dlidende, som i gamle Norge ikke vil glemmes 
 paa lang Tid. 
 
 Den syvende Juni er nu forbi, men denne — Norges 
 anden store- Nationaldag — giver Stof til TcTnkning Aaret 
 rundt. Paa denne Dag sattes Slutstenen paa Norges Fri- 
 hedskamp, og Norge blev f^rst et belt frit og selvst^en- 
 digt Rige. 7de Juni 1905 var ikke andet end en naturlig 
 F0lge af 17de Mai 1814 ; tbi det store Maal, som Ftedrene 
 bavde sat sig paa Eidsvold, men ikke magtet belt at saette 
 igjennem, blev da endelig opnaaet. Det norske Folk i sit 
 Stortbing bsevdet Landets Grundlov. 
 
60 
 
 Unionen mellem Norge og Sverige var aldrig liverken 
 naturlig eller hjertelig, og istedenfor at bringe et godt 
 Forhold mellem Landene, havde den akkurat den modsatte 
 Virkning. Norge gik ind i Unionen uvillig, og Sverige 
 var kanske lige skuffet paa Grand af den Ligestilletlied, 
 som Unionen medf^rte, istedenfor et svensk Overherre- 
 djz^mme. Nedigjennem Aarene kom saa en hel E^ekke Riv- 
 ninger, dels med Sverige som F^lge af forskjellig Opfat- 
 ning af Unionen, og dels med Kongen, som ved Mangel 
 paa Forstaaelse af Norge som Regel var at betragte som 
 alene svensk Konge: Adelens Afskaffelse, Statholdersa- 
 gen, det absolute Veto i Grundlovssager, Flagsagen og 
 endelig Konsulatsagen. 
 
 I hele dette Tidsrum gik de to Landes Udvikling i vidt 
 forskjellig Retning; tlii medens Sverige haardnakket 
 holdt fast paa sine forasldede Institutioner, traengte 1 
 Norge demokratiske Ideer igjennem; og den store Af- 
 stand, som oprindelig fandtes imellem de to Folk, blev 
 stedse st^rre istedenfor mindre. ivian vil derfor let indse, 
 at denne Union bar i sig Spiren til sin egen Undergang. 
 
 Konsulatsagen bevirkede da endelig Bruddet. Efter 
 lange Forhandlinger troede man sig at vasre kommet til 
 en Forstaaelse, da Sverige pludselig forandrede Front 
 ved at stille som Betingelse for Konsulatlovens Gjennem- 
 f0relse Vilkaar, som vilde paatrykiie Norge et umiskjen= 
 delig Lydrigestempel. Forliandlingerne blev da afbrudt, 
 og Norge besluttede at gjennemf^re Konsulatsagen paa 
 egen Haand, som en Sag, der if^lge Grundlov og Rigsakt 
 vedkom det alene; og Ministeriet Michelsen blev dannet 
 med dette som bestemt Program. Konsulatloven blev 
 
61 
 
 enstemmig vedtaget af Storthinget og enstemmig indstil- 
 let af Regjeringen; men Kongen naggtede Sanktion. Mi- 
 nistrene indgav sine Afskedsans^gninger, og Kongen til- 
 stod, at lian ikke kunde skaffe Norge en ny Regjering. 
 Dermed var en uholdbar Situation fremkommet : Kongen 
 kan if^lge Grundloven ikke regjere uden et ansvarligt 
 Raad, og Landet stod derfor uden lovlig Regjering. Saa 
 kom Storthingsbeslutningen af 7de Juni. Kongen var 
 afsat og Unionen f0lgelig opl0st. 
 
 Naar man tcenker paa de Overgreb og det Overmod, 
 som blev vist fra svensk Side under Unionen, b0r man 
 vel bema?rke, at det ikke skyldtes det hele svenske Folk, 
 men en forlioldsvis faatallig Klasse, som vi pleier at kalde 
 ''Storsvensker." Og vi b0r altid erindre, at under Krisen 
 efter Unionsopl^sningen viste det svenske Folk i det store 
 og hele taget ikke noget fiendtligt Sindelag mod Norge, 
 men insisterede tvertimod paa, at Striden skulde afgj^res 
 i Mindelighed. Og fra Sverige, isser fra Arbeiderforenin- 
 gerne, kom der utallige Beviser paa Sympathi, Velvilje 
 og Hengivenlied for Norge. 
 
 Hvordan kunde nu et saadant revolution^rt Skridt — 
 tlii man liar benaivnt Opl^sningen af Unionen en Revolu- 
 tion — hvordan kunde det lykkes i Norge ? Norge traadte 
 ud af Unionen under hele den civiliserede Verdens udelte 
 Beundring og Tilslutning. Skyldtes det ikke den ene- 
 staaende Statsklc^gt — Forening af Omtanke og Beslut- 
 somhed — hvormed Sagen fortes igjennem af Folkets 
 H^vdinger, Michelsen, L0vland og Berner? Jo, visselig ! 
 Skyldtes det ikke Hasrens og Flaadens Beredthed, Fiest- 
 ningerne og Graensevagten ? Jo, visselig! Men fremfor 
 
62 
 alt laa Grunden deri, at det norske Folk for f^rste Gang 
 stod enig, samdraegtig, samlet i Fylking fra Landsende 
 til anden; dette Folk, som ellers er saa tilb0ielig til poli- 
 tisk Partistrid, Diskussion og Kamp. Naar et Folk er saa- 
 ledes forenet og samlet og udviser en saadan Offervillig= 
 lied og brtendende Faedrelandskjagrlighed hos store og 
 smaa, Magnd og Kvinder, da er dets Vilje og Kraft uimod- 
 staaelig. Og denne Offervilliglied var ikke indskraenket 
 til selve Norge; den fandtes hos Norges S0nner overalt i 
 Verden. Her fra Amerika fandt denne Offervilliglied 
 Udslag i utallige Tilbud ikke alene af Penge, men af Liv, 
 hvis det skulde trj^nges for Norges Frelse. Vier vis paa 
 det, Landsmaend, at om Normsendene, enten det er i Norge 
 eller her, vil staa sammen enig og samdrregtig, kan de 
 opnaa, livad det saa skal vsere, vil de altid vinde frem 
 til Seier. 
 
Tale ved Sjsinner af Norges Midsommerfest i Minneapolis 
 den 23de Juni 1907. 
 
 Norske Landsm^end i Tvillingbyerne ! 
 
 Vi er her samlet til Midsommerfest — til St. Hansfest. 
 Nylig liar vi feiret vore to store Nationaldage, 17de Mai 
 og 7de Juni, saa at vi nu altsaa holder Fest for tredie 
 Gang. 
 
 At vi aldrig glemmer 17de Mai, det siger sig selv. Den 
 Dag har vi jo feiret lige fra de tidligste Barneaar, og for 
 mange af os er vel den stolteste og lykkeligste Erindring 
 fra de Aar dengang da vi f0rst fik v^re med at marschere 
 i Guttetoget med Flag i Haanden til ^re for Dagen. Her 
 i det fjerne Amerika opva?kkes hvert Aar paa 17de Mai 
 vor Faadrelandskjierlighed for gamle Norge, og vi h0iti' 
 deligholder Dagen, som de gj0r derhjemme. 
 
 Men Dagen liar ogsaa en videre Betydning for os som 
 gode amerikanske Borgere. — Vi h0rer saa ofte det, at 
 man her i Landet 0nsker Norm^nd velkommen som et af 
 de allerbedste Elementer i Amerikas Befolkning, fordi vi 
 er arbeidsomme, stra^bsomme, ^rlige, fremfor alt, fordi vi 
 er lovlydige. Hvis dette sidste er sandt, og vi virkelig for- 
 tjener Ros som lovlydige, maa det skyldes den Omstaen- 
 dighed, at vi kommer fra et Land med gode Love, Love 
 som indgyder Respekt og fortjener at adlydes. De frie og 
 demokratiske Institutioner, som skabtes ved den norske 
 Grundlov, liar kanske gjort mere end noget andet til at 
 
 (63) 
 
64 
 forberede og skikke os til Forholdene og Livet her i Lan- 
 det, til godt amerikansk Borgerskab. 
 
 Og saa var det 7de Juni. Denne Norges anden store 
 Nationaldag er neppe af mindre Betydning end 17de Mai ; 
 thi paa denne sattes Slutstenen paa Norges Frihedskamp, 
 og Norge blev f0rst et belt frit og selvst^endigt Rige. Det 
 store Maal, som Faedrene havde sat sig paa Eidsvold, men 
 ikke magtet belt at saette igjennem, blev da endelig op- 
 naaet. Det norske Folk i sit Storthing basvdede Landets 
 Grundlov. 
 
 Og nu bar vi Midsommerdagen — St. Hans. Hvilke 
 Minder vgekker ikke denne Dag og denne Nat! Vi vil 
 kanske heller tsenke paa Norge, som det er ved St. Hans, 
 end paa nogen anden Tid i hele Aaret. Da staar Norge i 
 sit fagreste Flor — i Festskrud. Det er Midtpunktet af 
 den nordiske Sommer og H0idepunktet af denne Sommers 
 Fagerbed og Ynde. Naturen viser sin ypperste Livskraft, 
 L0vet er friskt, Graesset staar gr^nt og frodig, og utallige 
 Blomster pryder Eng og Mark. Fra Sneen og Brseerne 
 paa Fjeldet gaar Elve og Baekke endnu i brusende Flom 
 og Fossefald ned imod Fjorden. Fuglene synger sin gla- 
 deste Sang — Maaltrostens dybe Tone fra n^ert Hold 
 friges af Gj0kens skye Galen l^ngere borte i Skogen. 
 
 Kan I ikke kjende den liflige og kvasgende Duft fra 
 Mark og Skog : 
 
 "Jeg drev i Skoven en Sommerdag, 
 Da Solen stod h0it i Sky, 
 Og slentred afsted i Ro og Mag^ 
 Hvor L0vskyggen gav mig Ly. 
 Mig glaedede Trgeerjies lyse Dragt^ 
 
65 
 
 Den brogede Blomsterbund. 
 
 Jeg ssenked mit Sind i dens Sommerpragt 
 
 Og f0lte mig stserk og sund. 
 
 Og Insekters Summen og Fuglesang 
 — Det sang i mig selv derved — 
 Jeg lytted til, som jeg gik min Gang, 
 Og kom saa til Bgekkens Bred." 
 
 Og kan I ikke se, hvorledes Stuerne er pyntet til St. 
 Hans? Friskstr^et Gran og Eneba3r paa Gulvet og frisk- 
 skaaret Birk ved Indgangen. Ja Birken, den lysegr0nne, 
 sitrende Birk, er kanske Norges allervakreste Prydelse. 
 
 "Jeg stod i Birkenes h0ie Sal, 
 Mens Midsommerdagen heldet. 
 Der tindrede Dugg i dyben Dal^ 
 Det skinned som Guld af Fjeldet." 
 
 Og saa Sommerlyset, som man ikke kan finde Mage til 
 i Verden ! 
 
 "Luften er skinnende, blaalig hvid, 
 det er Midsommersol og Middagstid." 
 
 Og den vidunderlige norske Sommernat er endnu 
 m^rkvaerdigere, den Nat i livilken Lyset ei slukkes, men 
 varierer i tusinde Farver, der forgylder Fjeldene og spel- 
 ler sig i Fjord og Sj0. 
 
 "Da er det i Midsommers Nat 
 Aftenens og Morgnens R0de 
 over Norges Fjelde brat 
 favne sig i himmelsk M0de." 
 
 Linger nordpaa kommer aarlig Tusinder af Pilgrim- 
 mer for at tilbede Solguden, som da regjerer i Norge. 
 
66 
 
 Denne Hyldest er i sin fulde Orden, da St. Hans i den 
 hedenske Tid var Midsommerblot, hvor man, for at vinde 
 hans Gunst og faa god H0st, dyrket Balder, den lyse 
 Solgud. 
 
 Ser I ikke endelig Baalene, som bra^nder paa alle Hai- 
 der, disse Bins, hvormed Daler og Bygder hilser hver- 
 andre og jubler over den norske Sommers Fuldkom- 
 menhed ? 
 
 St. Hans er Kjgerlighedens, Elskovens Tid. I den nor- 
 ske Sommernat er det, at Hjerterne sastter hinanden 
 Stievne og finder hinanden som paa ingen anden Tid. 
 
 "Min Pande er saa hed som Blodet vildt. 
 Mit Hjerte svulmer fuldt af Dr0mmens Skat. 
 H0r L0vets Sus! Hvor Luftens Drag er mildt! 
 O tause, varme, elskovsrige Nat! 
 
 Jeg knapt kan aande — Her er M0dets Sted 
 Bag dette m0rke, blomstertunge Krat, 
 Hvor Hjertet slaar — Jeg h0rer lette Fjed, 
 O tause, varme elskovsrige Nat!" 
 
 I kjender det gamle Sagn, at ved St. Hans skal Pi- 
 gen plukke 9 Slags Blomster, deriblandt en Johannes- 
 blomst, og naar hun saa logger den under Hovedpuden, 
 faar hun idr0mme se sin Elskede. 
 
 Det er ikke alene Menneskene, som glider sig over 
 Midsommertiden, men overjordiske og underjordiske Vce- 
 sener vil ogsaa v^ere med. Trold, Huldre og Nisser, som 
 gamle Norge er saa rigt befolket med, ialfald i gamle Sagn 
 og Eventyr, vil 0ve sit Djaevelskab og ture St. Hans, men 
 
67 
 
 kommer da altid skammelig tilkort paa den hellige St. 
 Hansnat, hvori f0dtes, if0lge Kirkens Traditioner, Johan- 
 nes den D0ber. 
 
 Kong Haakon valgte denne Tid paa Aaret for Kronin- 
 gen — den h0itidelige Handling, som skulde indlede Nor- 
 ges nye ^ra. Akkurat et Aar siden idag var jeg tilstede i 
 Trondhjem ved en storFolkefest som denne, hvor det nor- 
 ske Folk tiljublede den nykronede Konge sin Hyldest og 
 Hengivenhed. Og den evige Dag der nordpaa i Trond- 
 hjem var symbolsk og gav ligesom et sikkert L0fte om, at 
 Norge aldrig igjen vilde styrtes i en Afhaengigheds og 
 Ydmygelses Nat. 
 
 Og nil igjen har man hjemme i Norge valgt denne 
 samme Tid til Gjeimemf0relse af den store og vakre 
 Tanke, hvorom fa^drelandssindede Ma^nd og Kvinder har 
 samlet sig: at stifte et Normandsforbund, som vil knytte 
 en Broderkjaede mellem Norma^nd overalt i Verden, 
 Denne Tanke, som nu ved St. Hans blir til Virkelighed 
 hjemme i Norge, skulde ogsaa vinde Gjenklang i norske 
 Hjerter i Amerika. 
 
 Lad OS paa denne Midsommerdag, i denne Tid, som er 
 saa rig paa store Foretagender og Minder, som er saa f yldt 
 med Poesi og Skj^nhed, da selve Naturen har klsedt Lan- 
 det til Fest, lad os da, lad alle gode norske Hjerter enes 
 om at sende en kj^rlig Hilsen tilbage over Havet til vort 
 gamle Hjem og Fasdreland — det underdeilige Norge ! 
 
Tale for (Norge) Michelsen ved Sangforeningen Bj^rgvins 
 25 Aars Jubilaeum, Chicago, d. 2den Juli 1907. 
 
 Vi har h^rt meget om Norge i det sidste. Paa de to 
 store Nationaldage har vi erindret de store historiske Be- 
 givenheder i 1905 og 1814. Vor uforlignelige historiske 
 Authoritet, Dr. Doe, f^rte os endog i sit sidste Foredrag 
 tilbage lige til Stenalderen. Og saa ved St. Hans var 
 der Midtsommerfester, hvor vi priset den norske Sommers 
 Fuldkommenhed — Norge, som vi kanske heist vil tasnke 
 paa det, i det fagreste Flor, i Festskrud. Hvor meget 
 man end holder af gamle Norge, er det derfor ikke saa 
 nemt nu at holde en Tale og sige noget nyt eller interest 
 sant. 
 
 Men jeg tror, at man asrer gamle Mor Norge, naar man 
 erindrer og serer Navnene paa hendes bedste Sinner, og 
 jeg vil skille mig fra dette Hverv her iaften ved at ntevne 
 et saadant Navn, ved at sige et Par Ord om Norges f^rste 
 Borger, som tillige er Bj^rgvins £edle S0n : Christian Mi- 
 chelsen. 
 
 Der behaves ingen udfjzirlig Biografi af denne Mand; 
 thi vi ved allesammen, hvad han har udrettet. Vi ved, at 
 uden ham som H^vding var aldrig de forskjellige, hinan- 
 den skarpt modstillede Partier, blit samlet og forenet til 
 det store Frigj0relsesv£erk. Vi ved, at uden bans ene- 
 staaende Statskl0gt vilde det ikke lykkedes at opnaa alle 
 andre Landes Sympathi og Tilslutning. Vi ved endelig, 
 at om ikke Michelsen i Karlstadforhandlingernes mest 
 
 (68) 
 
69 
 
 spasndte Tid havde vist den st^rste Bestemthed og Fast- 
 hed og insisteret paa de 24 Timers Frist, i hviike han vilde 
 faa et Mirakel til at ske, vilde det kommet til blodig 
 Krig med vort Naboland. 
 
 Det hele kan vel ikke udtrykkes bedre og vakiere, end 
 Bj0rnson gjorde det i sin Hilsen til Miclielsen paa bans 
 50de F^dselsdag : 
 
 "Du laa paa Utfasrd fra din Ungdom av, 
 
 Din Skute seilet over alle Hav; 
 Din klare Tanke lyste Vei fra Stavnen. 
 Men da vort Statsskib mistet sit Befal, 
 Da steg ombord du som Storadmiral 
 Og styret lige ind i Folkefavnen." 
 
 Man siger, at Bergenserne er et eget Folkefa3rd — et 
 besynderligt Folkef^rd for sig selv — uligt Eesten af 
 jSForge. Det kan vcere, at der er noget sandt i dctte ; men 
 saa tror jeg ogsaa vi faar tilstaa, at vi ikke kommer langt 
 uden at have dem med. I norsk Musik, tffink bare paa 
 Navnene Ole Bull, Grieg og Sangens store Laerer og Le- 
 der Behrens. Hvad vilde den norske Scenekunst vasre 
 uden Bergen — den vilde jo saagodtsom ikke eksistere. 
 Og saa i Literaturen : Fjz(rst og fremst vor ud^delige Hol- 
 berg, som saa Lyset og voksede op ikke i Danmark, men i 
 Bergen; og dernsest det store Digterpar Welhaven og 
 Wergeland ; thi da den sidstes Far var Sogning, faar han 
 vel ogsaa regnes for Bergenser. Er ikke Norges Skibs- 
 fart og Handel grundlagt og opfostret af de maerkvaer- 
 dige Forretningsfolk, som nedstammer fra de gamle Han- 
 seatere i Bj0rgvin? 
 
70 
 
 Og endelig, skal en Stortdaad udf^res, maa man ikke 
 i 1814 s^ge en Christie og i 1905 en Michelsen i Bergen? 
 
 Og Michelsen slog ikke Feil, men adlydende Folkevil- 
 jen kom han ifra sin mangesidige Virksomhed i Bergen, 
 ligesom Cincinnatus i gamle Dage forlod Plogen for 
 at tjene sit Faedreland. Han viede sine storartede Ev= 
 ner og Kraft, sit hele Liv, om det skulde trgenges, til 
 Norges Frelse. 
 
 Landsmcend, det lader til, at det norske Folk fra et 
 enigt og samlet hele utrolig hurtig s^ger Anledning til 
 Strid og Kamp og splitter sig i Partier. I Norge sy- 
 nes det, som om man med en sjelden Lethed glemmer 
 store Bedrifter og Fortjenester. ^rgjerrighed og Let- 
 sindighed forener sig i Fors^get paa at styrte en Re- 
 gjering, som man skal have den st^rste Vanskelighed for 
 at erstatte. 
 
 Lad OS her i dette fjerne Amerika ikke glemme saa 
 let ! Lad os haabe, at det endnu maa undes Norge l^nge 
 at beholde som Regjeringens Chef, som Folkets H^vding, 
 Bj^rgvins aedle S^n Christian Michelsen. 
 
Tale for Kaptein Roald Amundsen ved Banketten for 
 ham i Congress Hotel, Chicago, d. lite Nov. 1907. 
 
 Mine Herrer Normaend i Chicago: — 
 
 Et Aar siden var vi ogsaa saaledes samlet for at hge- 
 dre vor Landsmand Kaptein Roald Amundsen. Dengang 
 kom han lige fra sin Stordaads Fuldendelse og passerede 
 gjennem Chicago paa Veien ^stover — hjemover til gamle 
 Norge, det Fasdreland, paa hvis Navn han havde kastet 
 ny Glans, hentet fra de fjerne Polaregnes vidunderlige 
 Nordlys. Og I husker nok ogsaa, at dengang, for at 
 tragffe os sine Landsm^end her i Chicago, omlagde hai7 
 sin Reiseplan og opgav sit Bes0g hos Amerikas Pragsident. 
 Det har vi saam^n ikke glemt i L0bet af det forgangne 
 Aar! Efter det Kjendskab han fik til os ifjor ansaa han 
 det bedst denne Gang at gaa f0rst til Washington og Prse- 
 sident Roosevelt. 
 
 Nu iaften, naar vi har ham tilbage blandt os, 0nsker 
 vi ham et endnu hjerteligere Velkommen, bringer vi ham 
 en endnu inderligere Hyldest. 
 
 Siden han var her ifjor, har Kaptein Amundsen baade 
 hjemme og i fremmede Lande paa en glimrende Maade 
 gjort Rede for Expeditionens rige videnskabelige Ud- 
 6ytte — de store Resultater i praktisk saavelsom theore- 
 tisk Henseende. Hans stolte og taknemmelige Fgedreland 
 skj^enkede ham f^rst al mulig Haeder og ^re; og deref- 
 ter kappedes Keisere, Konger, Fyrster og Videnskabs- 
 selskaber om at overuse ham med ^resbevisninger. 
 
 (71) 
 
72 
 
 ]\Iine Herrer, det er ikke alle disse ydre Tegn paa 
 Anerkjendelse og H^der, som ligger til Grund for vort 
 Velkommen her iaften. Nei, det er fordi vi nu tilfulde 
 liar la^rt at forstaa hans store Daads liele Betydnmg og 
 Vigtighed. 
 
 Vi har ogsaa havt Anledning til at anstille Polarforsk- 
 ning i ham; og idet vi liar la^rt ham bedre at kjende, har 
 vi gjort f^lgende Opdagelse: 
 
 At lian ikke alene har gjort fuldstasndig Rede for 
 den magnetiske Pol, men at han selv ud0ver magnetisk 
 Tiltrai^kningskraft af sjelden Art. Vi opdager, at vi 
 uimodstaaelig tr^ekkes magnetisk til hans jsevne, lige- 
 fremme, elskvaerdige Personlighed. 
 
 Nordvestpassagens Fuldendelse har paany givet Ver- 
 den en La^rdom om Norge og Nordmsend. Efter at Eng- 
 Isendere i store, veludstyrede Skibe og med al den Hjaelp 
 som en msegtig og rig Nation kunde stille til deres Raa- 
 dighed, havde gjort Fors0g paa Foretagendet i 400 Aar 
 forgjseves, var det en liden norsk Skude, mandet med 
 Normagnd, som maatte til for at vinde frem til Seir. 
 
 Vi finder ny Anvendelse for de fra vor tidlige Barn- 
 dom saa velkjendte Linjer, vi f^ler deres Betydning med 
 ny Stolthed: 
 
 "Da var det den engelske Stormand stolt 
 B0iet Knse for den Norske Lods." 
 
Tale ved Festen i Orchestra Hall, Chicago, i Anledmng 
 Bj0rnsons F^dselsdag, 27de Nov. 1907. 
 
 Norske Mgend eg Kvinder i Chicago. — 
 
 Idag er der Fest i gamle Norge; men der er ogsaa 
 Fest i det udflyttede Norge. Normrend overall i Verden, 
 spredte som vi er i alle Lande og paa alle Have, samles i 
 ^n Tanke: at lyk0nske og lia^dre Norges f0rste S0ii. Vi 
 f0ler, at det ikke alene er en M^rkedag i den store Dig- 
 terkonges lange og bevasgede Liv, men at det ogsaa er en 
 Mgerkedag overalt, hvor det norske Sprog tales, overall 
 hvor norske Hjerter slaar for Faedrelandets Storhed og 
 Fremgang. 
 
 Af ens Mor og i ens Fgedreland faar man i Barne- 
 aarene Indtryk og Lgerdomme, som man bevarer gjennem 
 hele Livet som noget af det bedste, man eier, og for hvilke 
 man heller aldrig oph0rer at elske den Mor og det Fae- 
 dreland. Vi f0ler, at ligesom det gamle Feedreland med 
 sine dyrebare Erindringer altid forbliver vort, saa er og- 
 saa Bj0rnson altid vor. 
 
 Det er nu femti Aar siden Bj0rnsons Digtergenius ka- 
 stede sine f0rste Straaler udover Norge. Gjennem ''Syn- 
 n0ve Solbakken", "Arne" og ''En glad Gut" Igerte han 
 OS den norske Bonde at kjende. Han aabnede belt D0ren 
 til bans Stue og viste os ham, som han talte, t^enkte, f0lte. 
 Han skabte Synn0ve, sit Kvindeideal med de enkle og 
 rene Linjer saa sandfserdig ud af det norske Land og 
 Folks Egenskaber, at hun blev belt national, den fagre- 
 ste norske Kvindetype. Paa samme Tid ved at l0fte den 
 
 (7SJ 
 
74 
 norske Bondes Liv op i Kunstens H^ihed og Skj0nhed, l^f- 
 tede han den norske Bonde op til rigere Forstaaelse og 
 Selvbevidsthed ; og den norske Bonde var for ham det 
 norske Folk. 
 
 Fra Bondefortaellingerne gik han over til vor Saga og 
 gamle Historie. Han viste os de gamle Haakoners og 
 Olafers stolte Tid, da Norge var det f^rste og fornem- 
 ste af de tre nordiske Riger. Ved disse herlige Minder 
 fra vor gamle Uafhtengighedstid vilde han v^ekke det 
 norske Folk til Leengsel efter nyt nationalt Liv. Han 
 vilde, at det norske Folk skulde skabe sig de gamle 
 Haakoners og Olafers Tid paany. 
 
 Men Bj0rnson gik ustanselig videre. I en Rsekke glim- 
 rende Va^rker kj^empede han mod Fordomme og Trang- 
 synthed. Han fordrede Tolerance og absolut -^rlighed og 
 Sandhed i off entlig saavelsom privat Liv ; og han forlangte 
 og satte ogsaa igjennem, at Kvinden fik den Stilling i 
 Samfundet, som tilkom hende. 
 
 Endelig er han vor store Skald. Gjennem hele sit 
 Liv har han givet os en Uendelighed af Sange, som vi og 
 vera B^rn og Sl^gterne efter os altid vil bevare som 
 vor bedste Skat og Eie. Mange af disse Digte er fulde af 
 Opmuntring og Tr^st for det nedtrykte Menneskehjerte, 
 andre er besjselet af en gl^dende Patriotisme, som har op- 
 ildnet og altid vil opildne til Daad og Opofrelse for Fae- 
 drelandet. Men han har ogsaa forstaaet os, Udflytterfol- 
 ket, og i Arnes Laengsel efter at komme ''Over de h^ie 
 Fjelde" har han tolket vor Udfaerdstrang. 
 
 Hvem kan nogensinde glemme det, som har h^rt og 
 seet Bj^rnson holde Tale ? Den kraftige, skjVnne Kjaem- 
 
75 
 
 peskikkelse, den rungende Stemme, den brusende, uimod- 
 staaelige Veltalenhed! En har sagt om ham: ^'Bj^rn- 
 son spiller altid for fuldt Orgel, det klinger som af et Or- 
 kester." 
 
 Men det, som vi takker og elsker ham mest for, er, 
 at han altid uden Forbehold har givet sig selv. Der har 
 ikke VEeret en Begivenhed af nogen Betydning i Norge, 
 som ikke han har taget Del i. Gjennem hele sit Liv har 
 han vgeret inderlig sammen med sit Folk og i Fremgang 
 og Modgang trofast delt godt og ondt. Hans hele Liv 
 har vseret viet det norske Folk, og derfor er han som in- 
 gen anden vor Tolk, vor Kepriesentant, vor Fanebaerer, 
 vor store Hjzivding — Norges f^rste S^n. 
 
 Skaldens H0itidsstund kan ikke bedre feires end 
 ved Sang. Lad os da alle, ildnet af Digterens m^egtige 
 Stemning, besjslet af Fa^drelandskj^erlighed, synge bans 
 og vort Lands store Nationalhymne, saa Klangen maa 
 naa lige til Norge og til ham, Skalden, den evigunge 
 Olding, der han sidder og lytter iaf ten ! ' ' 
 
Tale for Den Norske Kvartetklub ved dens 18-Aarsfest i 
 Chicago den lite Januar 1908. 
 
 Mine Darner eg Herrer : — 
 
 Vi er atter samlet til Aarsfest. Kvartetklubben kan 
 glcede sig over et andet Aar lykkelig fuldendt med godt 
 og rigt Udbytte. 
 
 Ved en saadan Anledning kaster man uvilkaarlig Blik- 
 ket tilbage over det svundne Aar og betragter det som bar 
 vffiret af sasrlig Interesse for Klubben. Vi finder da, at 
 meget er haendt siden vor sidste Aarsfest, baade det som 
 bar bragt Gloede og det som bar bragt Sorg. 
 
 For norske Sanger e, ja for alle, som elsker norsk Mu- 
 sik, bar der vaeret ikke saa lidet Sorg. Den norske Mu- 
 sikverden, bosat som den jo er i Amerika ligesaavel som 
 i selve Norge, bar lidt uerstattelige Tab. 
 
 F^rst var det om Vaaren, at vi mistede en, som var 
 lige fremragende Pianistinde og Komponist. Og vi f0lte 
 endnu dybere Sorg over Agathe Backer-Gr^ndabl, fordi 
 vi kjender og holder af ham, som stod ved bendes Side. 
 Han, som vi ser op til som den store forstaaelsesfulde Le- 
 der og Tolk for norsk Sang; ban, under bvis Taktstok 
 nogle af os sang lige fra de tidlige Barneaar; ban, for 
 hvem vi fik ny og for^get Hengivenhed og Taknemmelig- 
 hed, da ban for et Par Aar siden f^rte den Sanger- 
 skare, som gav os saa megen sand Nydelse og Glsede, og 
 som var en Inspiration for Kvartetklubben og alle norske 
 Sangere i Amerika. 
 
 (T6) 
 
77 
 
 Saa, lidt Igengere hen, blev Nordens st^rste musikalske 
 Lys udslukket, det Lys, som fra vort lille Land har over- 
 straalet hele Verden. Alle andre tilsammen har ikke gjort 
 norsk Musik saaledes kjendt udenfor Norge som Grieg. 
 Han var isandhed den norske Musiks uforlignelige Re- 
 praesentant ; thi han var norsk i hver Tone. Han var den 
 norske Musiks store bankende Hjerte. 
 
 Endelig b^r der ogsaa naevnes en, hvis Bortgang ny- 
 lig fyldte os med Vemod, en som vi holdt af, fordi han ved 
 sine sjeldne personlige Egenskaber var saa meget mere 
 end bare Konge. I Kong Oscar havde nordisk Musik al- 
 tid en ivrig Dyrker og sand, varm Ven. 
 
 Men Kvartetklubben har ogsaa havt meget at gl^de 
 sig over. Vi kan med rette vasre stolte over, at et Medlem 
 af vor Klub er valgt til den fremragende og serefulde 
 Stilling som President for Nationalforbundet. Og vi, som 
 kjender ham, ved, at Forbundet i Birger Osland har faaet 
 en sjelden dygtig og foretagsom Leder, som sikkerlig vil 
 f0re det frem til nyttige og store Gj0remaal. 
 
 Som Medlemmer af Kvartetklubben tror jeg, vi har 
 god Grund til at lyk^nske den og hverandre med dette : 
 at den stedse har sat sig som Maal og tillige opnaaet det 
 som Bj0rnson i sin Hilsen til os forleden Dag paamanede : 
 '^at holde fast ved de Idealer, som Musiken uvilkaarlig 
 logger i Eders Sind." 
 
 Og derfor, naar jeg udbringer Klubbens Skaal, kan 
 jeg ikke 0nske den noget bedre end, at den altid vil ved- 
 blive at mindes Bj0rnsons Ord og holde fast ved sine 
 skj0nne Idealer. 
 
 Mine Damer og Herrer : Kvartetklubben leve ! 
 
Tale for Det Norske Nationalforbund ved dets Fest i 
 Bj^rgrvins Hall, Chicago, d. 17de Februar 1908. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer! 
 
 Det Norske Nationalforbunds Formaal er: ''At samle 
 de norske Foreninger til Nationalitetens Bedste; efter 
 Evne at st^tte norske Foretagender i nationale eller 
 veldsedige 0iemed, og saavidt mulig underst0tte traen- 
 gende Norm^nd.'^ 
 
 I Sandhed en stor, betydningsfuld og rosvEerdig Op- 
 gave, og en Opgave, som Forbundet ogsaa I0ser paa den 
 smukkeste Maade. 
 
 Chicago er den na?st st^rste norske By i Verden, idet 
 kun Norges Hovedstad har flere norske Indvaanere — 
 Antallet af Norma3nd i Chicago, naar medregnes de af 
 norsk Herkomst, maa vel anslaaes til omkring et Hun- 
 drede Tusen, I disse Dage h^rer naesten liver Mand til 
 en eller anden Forening, Klub eller Selskab, og Kvin= 
 der har fulgt Eksemplet ved at stifte sine egne Forenin- 
 ger. Naar nu alle disse Foreninger blir Medlemmer af 
 Nationalforbundet, vil saagodtsom hele den store norske 
 Befolkning i Chicago vasre der reprgesenteret — og naar 
 Delegaterne da bringer sine forskjellige Foreningers An- 
 skuelser til det store Raad, vil man faa Chicago-Normagn- 
 denes samlede Mening. Forbundet vil derved blive Tolk 
 for den norske Nation her, det vil blive dens Storthing. 
 Og did vil vi engang komme; Retningen er der, og Far- 
 ten er upaaklagelig. 
 
 Forbundet er den rette til at forestaa nationale Til- 
 
 (78) 
 
79 
 stelninger. Denne Pligt har det da ogsaa opfyldt paa en 
 meget tilfredsstillende Maade ved at gjennemf^re Fest- 
 ligholdelsen af 17de Mai og ved at arrangere andre Fe- 
 ster, naar nationale Begivenheder kr^ever det. 
 
 Forbundet byder velkommen og viser Gj^stfrihed mod 
 ber^mte Normaand, som bes^ger Chicago. Da Amundsen, 
 efter netop at have fuldendt den maerkelige Fgerd, som ka- 
 stede slig Glans over Norge, kom til vor By, fik han en 
 saa festlig Modtagelse af Forbundet, at han tilsidesatte 
 Amerikas Prjesident for at kunne vasre sammen med sine 
 Landsmgend her. Og det var Forbundet, der skaffede os 
 som ^resgj^est sidste 17de Mai Norges f^rste egne Re* 
 pra?sentant her i Landet, den j^vne, vennessele, prsegtige 
 Mand, som vi alle fik saa kjger, han, hvis Bortgang vi nu 
 s0rger over, ikke alene som et stort Uheld for vort Fsedre- 
 land, men som et personligt Tab for alle os Normsend i 
 Amerika. Denne vor Sorg blev da ogsaa vakkert tolket 
 i det Budskab, som Forbundet sendte til hans Enke og 
 til Norge. 
 
 Paa den vgerdigste Maade har Forbundet repr^e- 
 senteret Chicagos Norm^end udad. Den Deputation, som 
 bragte dets Lyk^nskninger til det nykronede Kongepar 
 i Trondhjem, gjorde et udm^rket Indtryk hjemme i 
 Norge. 
 
 Forbundet iler strax til Hjselp, naar en Ulykke haen- 
 der, enten det er her eller hjemme. Jeg skal bare naevne 
 den betydelige Sum Penge, som blev sendt herfra til de 
 N0dlidende efter Aalesundsbranden. Og nu skal det jo 
 ogsaa vsere med paa en Tilstelning til Indtaegt for det 
 forulykkede norske Bjzfrnehjem, 
 
80 
 
 Endelig, hvis en Fare skulde true vort kjsere Faedre- 
 land, vilde Forbundet stille sig i Spidsen for den Und- 
 s^tning og Hjaelp, som maatte tnenges herfra. Dette blev 
 bevist under Unionsopl0sningens kritiske Tid, da Forbun- 
 det kaldte sammen det store Massem^de i Auditorium, 
 hvor det saa tydeligt blev lagt for Dagen, at Normsendene 
 i Chicago var villige til at ofre, ikke alene sine Penge, men 
 ogsaa sit Liv, om det skulde tra^nges til Fi^drelandets 
 Frelse. 
 
 Det norske Nationalforbund liar ikke staaet stille 
 — stadig liar det gaaet fremad. Under en dygtig Sty- 
 relse liar det afhjulpet hvad tidligere var et stort Savn 
 ved Oprettelsen af et Arbeidskontor — et varigt og vak- 
 kert Minde om Pr^esident Abraliamsens Administration. 
 Arbeidskontorets Virksomhed i sit f^rste Aar liar For- 
 bundet, takket va3re Hr. Bergans utrattelige Iver, den 
 st0rste ^re af. Iscer i denne Arbeidsl0shedens Tid liar 
 Kontoret frelst mange af vore Landsmjrnd fra N0d og 
 Fortvilelse — det kan jeg som Konsul forta^le om. 
 
 Men, mine Herrer, betydelig og rosvaerdig som dette 
 Forbundets Arbeide liar v^eret, vil jeg sp0rge : Kan der 
 ikke udrettes mere? Kan der ikke indvindes en end 
 st0rre Arbeidsmark ? Jeg tror bestemt, at Forbundet kan 
 Vfere til endnu st0rre Gavn og Glsde for os Norma^nd her 
 i Chicago ved end yderligere at vedligeholde Forbindel- 
 sen med gamle Norge og derved stadig styrke os i den nor- 
 ske Nationalitetsf0lelse. 
 
 Vi Normtend her i Amerika er med Rette regnet for at 
 vsBre gode, loyale amerikanske Borgere, men det kan vi 
 vasre samtidig som vi vedligeholder og fremelsker Slaegts- 
 
81 
 
 f0lelsen og den aandelige Forbindelse med Norge. Ja, jeg 
 vil endog sige, at Bevarelsen af Norskheden i os gj0r os 
 til bedre amerikanske Borgere; thi kun ved den kan vi 
 udvikle det bedste i os selv og yde vort Bidrag til Aands- 
 udviklingen i Fremtidens Amerika. Det er fra Norge, 
 at vort Aandsliv naturligen faar sit Pr^g, og derfra vil 
 det da faa det meste af sin Kraft og Nasring. Vi traenger 
 netop derfor de Impulser, som Forbindelsen med Norge 
 bedst kan give os. 
 
 Denne Forbindelse med det gamle Land kan bedst op- 
 naaes gjennem Normandsforbundet, som netop er det rette 
 Organ i dette 0iemed, og jeg vil derfor benytte denne An- 
 ledning til at henstille til Nationalforbundet, at det tager 
 under Overveielse, hvorvidt det ikke burde slutte sig til 
 det andet Forbund. Normandsforbundets Formaal er at 
 vedligeholde Forbindelsen og styrke Samholdet mellem 
 Norma^nd i og udenfor Norge. Der er i dette Formaal in- 
 tet, som strider mod Nationalforbundets Opgave; tvert- 
 imod, de svarer n0ie til hinanden, fordi de begge vil ud- 
 vide Arbeidsmarken for den nationale Evne. Den Tanke, 
 som ligger til Grand for Normandsforbundet, og hvorom 
 faedrelandssindede McTnd og Kvinder baade i Norge og 
 Amerika bar samlet sig: ''at knytte en Broderkjagde mel- 
 lem Norm^nd overalt i Verden og danne et virksomt Hele 
 af de spredte norske Kraefter," denne store og vakre 
 Tanke kan og b0r ikke andet end vinde Anklang i norske 
 Hjerter her i Chicago. 
 
 Kan Nationalforbundet tabe noget ved et saadant 
 Skridt? Vil det vaere til Hinder for dets Arbeide eller 
 f ormindske dets Vaerdighed eller Indflydelse ? Nei, langt- 
 
82 
 ifra. Nationalforbundet vilde ikke ofre noget af sin 
 Uafhsengighed — dets Organisation og dets Virkefelt vil 
 blive uforandret. Forbindelsen vilde vgere ^refuld i 
 enhver Henseende for begge Parter. Normandsforbun- 
 det ''has made good." Fra en liden Begyndelse bar det 
 vokset sig frem til et anseeligt Omfang, nu vist med et 
 Medlemsantal af henimod 30,000, spredte over hele Jord- 
 kloden. Flere Hefter af dets fortrseffelige Tidsskrift er 
 udkommet med Indhold af st^rste Interesse for Nor- 
 mgend overalt i Verden. Mange norske Foreninger paa 
 andre Steder i Amerika bar meldt sig ind. Efter lang og 
 moden Overveielse kommer nu Sp0rsmaalet til Chicago, 
 og da f^rst og fremst til Nationalforbundet. 
 
 Jeg er vis paa, at Nationalforbundet vil gj^re det ene- 
 ste rette i denne vigtige Sag, baade til Gavn for os selv 
 og til Glgede for vore Br0dre hjemme i Norge og overalt 
 ellers i Verden. 
 
 Mine Herrer, vor lille Nation med en Befolkning af 
 St0rrelse som Byen Chicagos udretter det som ingen an- 
 den gj0r. Den ssetter sit Pr^eg paa Verden i ethvert Vir- 
 kefelt, i Literatur, i Kunst, i Musik, i Videnskab, i Opda- 
 gelse. Ogsaa her i Landet kan vi udrette store Ting, bare 
 vi vil gj0re tilskamme, hvad en bar kaldt den ber^mte nor- 
 ske Uenighed, bare vi vil holde sammen og ''I0fte i 
 Flok". Det er dette, som Nationalforbundet skal ssette 
 igjennem. 
 
 Mine Herrer, Nationalforbundet leve ! 
 
Tale ved Det Norske Tabitha Hospitals Koncert i Wicker 
 Park Hall, Chicago, den lite Marts 1908. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer : — 
 
 Dette er en Mgerkedag for Tabitha Hospitalet, en Masr- 
 kedag, der afslutter et s^erskilt Afsnit af Hospitalets Hi- 
 storie, det sidste Feni=Aar af dets Tilv^erelse. At dette 
 Tidsrum har bragt store og gleedelige Resultater, det ved 
 vi alle ; og at Hospitalets Gjerning omfattes med dyb In- 
 teresse af Norm^endene i Chicago, viser tydelig denne 
 store Forsamling af norske Magnd og Kvinder iaften. 
 
 Det er i Sandhed vigtige og betydningsfulde Aar, som 
 har bragt saadan Fremgang — Udvidelsen af Hospitalets 
 Virksomhed og dets for^gede Anseelse. Det er jo ikke saa 
 vanskelig at forstaa Grunden til denne glgedelige Frem- 
 gang: en dygtig og sindig Styrelse, kompetente og op- 
 ofrende L^eger og Sygepleiersker, men fremfor alt : Enig- 
 hed. Naar jeg ncevner Enighed, saa er det ikke for at 
 minde om den ulykkelige Tid, da det modsatte af Enig- 
 hed var Tilf^ldet, men for at fremhceve den store An- 
 erkjendelse, som Hospitalet fortjener, fordi det lykkelig 
 har overvundet de Farer, som truet dets Tilvgerelse og der- 
 ved naaet did, hvor det staar idag. 
 
 Kommer en Fremmed og sp0r: Hvad er Tabitha-Ho- 
 spitalet, hvad vil han da f aa til Svar ? Jo, i^rst og f remst, 
 at det er en norsk Institution, belt igjennem norsk i en- 
 hver Henseende. Stiftet af Normgend, styret af norske 
 
 (83) 
 
84 
 Mgend og Kvinder, med norske Lseger og Sygepleiersker 
 og med en Virksomhed, som kommer vaesentlig den norske 
 Befolkning her i Byen tilgode. 
 
 Endvidere, at det er en Institution som ikke er af- 
 haengig af noget Kirkesamfund eller forbundet med no- 
 get politisk Parti. Dets ene store og herlige Gj0remaal er 
 at helbrede Sygdom og afhjgelpe N0d. Det h0rer den 
 store norske Befolkning til, uanseet Trosbekjendelse, 
 Samfundsklasse eller Parti. 
 
 Vi ved, at Tabitha=Hospitalet tilh0rer saavel fattig som 
 rig. Har en fattig Stakkar intet at betale med, slipper 
 ban ind alligevel, hvis N0d virkelig er forhaanden. Og 
 trods at saaledes en betydelig Del af dets Gjerning er 
 uden Godtgj0relse, har Hospitalet klaret alle sine For- 
 pligtelser. 
 
 Tabitha-Hospitalets Tilblivelse og V^xt viser tydelig 
 et Karaktertragk hos Normgendene — deres uafladelige og 
 opofrende Omhu for sine syge og fattige. Dette finder 
 man overalt, hvor Normgend har slaaet sig ned ude i 
 Verden. Det hunger n^ie sammen med vor Nations dybe 
 religiose F0lelse, som bevirker, at saasnart et norsk 
 Settlement er kommet lidet Gran i Orden, reiser Nybyg- 
 gerne en Kirke, for derefter at bygge et Hospital, et Bar- 
 nehjem, et Alderdomshjem. — Derfor staar Tabitha Ho- 
 spitalet som et vakkert Monument over Normgends God- 
 gj0renhed og Offervillighed. 
 
 Paa samme Tid er det en stadig Paamindelse om, at vi 
 kommer af en Nation saa kraftig og trofast mod sig 
 selv, at den med sine egne Institutioner som dette Ho- 
 
85 
 spital, Tidgj^r et eget og agtet Samfund, som i de nye 
 Omgivelser ikke kan forsvinde. 
 
 Medens vi e r gode loyale amerikanske Borgere i 
 Amerika, vil vi dog bevare den bedste Del af vor Norsk- 
 hed, og derved ogsaa altid forblive gode Normaend. 
 
Speech at dinner of Board of Trustees of the Deerfield 
 
 Township Highschool, Highland Park, 111., 
 
 May 11th, 1908. 
 
 It is a great pleasure to be here tonight. It is na- 
 turally a pleasure to me personally to be welcomed to my 
 duties on the Board in such a cordial way and to have the 
 chance to make these acquaintances under such delight- 
 ful circumstances. This is also a fitting manner of cele- 
 brating the gratifying consummation of our High School 
 arrangements. 
 
 The question of a High School was for a long time a 
 great problem to Lake Forest, and the satisfaction was 
 therefore correspondingly great when the solution was 
 found in Highland Park. "We in Lake Forest are pleased 
 and proud to have our boys and girls come to this magnifi- 
 cent institution for a liberal education. There were in 
 the "beginning legal obstacles to the arrangement, which 
 were disregarded by both sides on account of their appre- 
 ciation of the mutual advantages gained by so doing. Mr. 
 Sandwick 'Hook the bull by the horns '\ In the course of 
 time, as the benefits and advantages became plain to 
 everyone in Lake Forest, the legal obstacles were removed 
 and the whole matter put in unassailable shape to the ge- 
 neral satisfaction of our community. 
 
 The arrangement means something more than a bond 
 of practical and economical utility. It ties together two 
 communities on this North Shore that we all, and I 
 
 (86J 
 
B7 
 think with much justification, believe to be quite unique. 
 In this western country they are in the vanguard in adopt- 
 ing all measures of municipal improvement and progress. 
 They both deserve the name which a former Lake Forest 
 mayor used to delight in applying to our town : They are 
 the ''banner cities" of this section of the country, and 
 having this distinction in common, it is highly fitting and 
 proper that we should bind them more closely together. 
 
 Some day, through the marvelously quick settlement 
 and development of this North Shore, the whole terri- 
 tory between Highland Park and Lake Forest will be 
 built up, and I have no doubt that you Highland Parkers 
 will have designs on all this territory. I am reliably 
 informed that you the other day attempted to force an 
 unwilling and protesting neighbor into your corporate 
 limits, and so, I suppose, your adoption of our young 
 Lake Forest citizens into your school is the first step 
 toward the incorporation of our entire city into High- 
 land Park. 
 
 I am proud to come from a country which, to a most 
 remarkable degree, is setting its impress upon the world 
 in making itself prominent in every field of activity — 
 literature, art, music, science and exploration, and all 
 this with a population the size of Chicago's. You know 
 well the names of Ibsen and BjVrnson in literature, of 
 Thaulow and the other representatives of Norwegian Art, 
 of the composers Grieg, Svendsen and Kjerulf, of the 
 great artic explorers Nansen and Amundsen, the last of 
 whom recently discovered the North Magnetic Pole and 
 completed the Northwest Passage, a feat that Englishmen 
 
88 
 had been trying to accomplish for more than four 
 hundred years. I am often asked to what this singular 
 prominence and activity of Norwegians are due. After 
 having given the matter much thought I arrived at the 
 conclusion, which makes me answer : to Norway 's exceptio- 
 nal school system. There is not time here tonight to ex- 
 plain this at any length. Our Norwegian School system, 
 while modeled largely upon the German, has developed 
 certain remarkable features of its own. You all know that 
 manual training in this country was copied from ''sl0yd'* 
 in the Scandinavian schools. Gymnastics occupy an im- 
 portant part in the curriculum. The Norwegian school is 
 uncompromising in regard to learning certain things by 
 heart, things about which there cannot and should not 
 be unneccessary reasoning. In Norway, where there is a 
 State Church and ^'religion" is one of the regular 
 school courses, Luther's Catechism must be absolutely 
 committed to memory, but the rules of the Latin grammar 
 are regarded with nearly as much respect and reverence. 
 In fact, we always suspected our Latin teacher, who bore 
 the classical name of Plato, and who also taught us reli- 
 gion, of giving preference to the Latin grammar both 
 above Luther's Catechism and the Bible. 
 
 But the most distinctive feature of the Norwegian 
 school system is the care and attention given to the in- 
 dividual, and this applies from the entrance into school 
 at the age of six until the pupil graduates twelve years 
 later in passing his examinations for the University. The 
 excellence of this system of individualistic care and at- 
 tention was emphasized the other day by President Eliot 
 
89 
 of Harvard in the speech he delivered to the Teachers' 
 Association of Indiana, and he recommended it par- 
 ticularly for the High School, if it is to fulfill its proper 
 mission and hold the interest of the pupil throughout the 
 entire course and make him ambitious to graduate. He 
 said: ^' there is one function of the teacher which is 
 higher and more influential than helping the weak, 
 namely, developing the strong, giving the superior child 
 it's chance, leading it on faster and faster to freer and 
 nobler efforts. There should be in all our democratic 
 schools division of the quick children from the slow, of 
 the able children from the dull." He points out the 
 small percentage that graduate out of the entire High 
 School attendance, and the other day in attending my 
 first meeting of this Board I was much interested to have 
 this fact verified by the statistics of this school. In Nor- 
 way this care and attention to the individual continues 
 through life; for after they have graduated from school 
 the state grants stipends to promising young men in every 
 branch to continue their studies abroad, so that they, 
 each in their specialty, may enjoy the utmost chances that 
 the whole world can offer. The two great literary lights 
 Ibsen and BjVrnson were both recipients of such stipends. 
 And it is not only literary men, musicians, artists and 
 scientists that enjoy this parental care of the state, but 
 even young men showing special aptitude for business are 
 supplied with the means to go abroad and study business 
 methods in the most advanced countries. 
 
 My first connection with America, now just twenty 
 years ago, was the American High School, which gave me 
 
90 
 
 a year's preparation for Harvard College. It was the 
 first splendid privilege I enjoyed as a citizen or rather 
 a prospective citizen of this country, and the value of 
 which to me then could not be overestimated. Now 
 I become connected with the American High School 
 in a different capacity. As a member of this Board 
 I hope to be able to pay back in some measure the 
 debt of such long standing, while at the same time 
 I am certain of deriving great satisfaction from the 
 experience of more intimate knowledge of the American 
 High School, as well as of my association with your- 
 selves. 
 
Syttende Mai Tale holdt i Fargo, N. D., den 16de Mai og 
 i Grand Forks, N. D., den 18de Mai 1908. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer, Landsmgend i (Grand Forks) 
 Fargo : — 
 
 Vi er samlet her for at feire vort gamle F^^dreland 
 Norges store H^itidsdag, den 17de Mai. Og vi gj0r det 
 tilgavns, ja endda bedre end de gj0r det hjemme i 
 Norge ; for her hos os vil Festen vare tvende, ja for man- 
 ges Vedkommende kanske ogsaa trende Dage tilende; vi 
 begynder tidlig og vi begynder godt. Vi husker hjemme- 
 fra, at vi ved de store H^itider ogsaa feirede den fore- 
 gaaende Dag, Julaften, Paaskeaften osv. ; derfor forslaar 
 ikke selve 17de Mai=Dagen for os, vi opretter ogsaa en 
 17de Maiaften. 
 
 At vi aldrig glemmer ITde Mai siger sig selv; glemte 
 vi den Dag, havde vi ogsaa glemt vort F^edreland. Den 
 Dagen har vi jo feiret lige fra de tidligste Barneaar, fra 
 vi var en N^ve stor; og for mange af os knytter vel de 
 stolteste og lykkeligste Erindringer fra de Tider sig til 
 hin 17de Mai, da vi for f^rste Gang fik vrere med og 
 marschere i Barnetoget med Flag i Haand til JEre for 
 Dagen. Her i det fjerne Amerika slaar hvert Aar den 
 17de Mai vor Kjgerlighed til Fsedrelandet, Gamle Norge, 
 ud i Luer, og vi h0itideligholder Dagen, som var vi der- 
 hjemme; og at det hverken mangier os paa Tilslutning 
 eller Begeistring, det ser vi tydelig her idag. 
 
 Hvorfor er det nu, at vor Loyalitet og Begeistring ikke 
 aftar med Aarene, men snarere tiltar i Styrke og In- 
 
 (91) 
 
92 
 
 derlighed? Hvad er det som gj^r, at den 17de Mai al- 
 tid vil vaere en Festdag for os, selv om vi er aldrig saa 
 langt borte fra Fj^drelandet ? 
 
 F0rst og fremst fordi det er Norges Grundlovsdag, 
 den Dag da for snart et Aarhundrede siden Faedrenes 
 store Yserk blev forel^big fuldendt, da de paa Eidsvold 
 gav Landet en Konstitution, hvis Mage man vanskelig 
 skal finde i den hele Verden. Al virkelig Magt og 
 Myndighed er ved den lagt i Folkets Haender, formidlet 
 ved de mest folkelige og liberale Institutioner, Hi- 
 storien kjender. Grundstenen til vor Frihed blev altsaa 
 lagt den 17de Mai 1814, selv om det tog lang Tid, lige til 
 den 7de Juni 1905, f^r det trefarvede Flag kunde heises 
 itop paa den fuldf^rte Bygning. Det store Maal, som 
 Fffidrene paa Eidsvold havde sat sig, men ikke magtet 
 belt at Sc^tte igjennem, blev i 1905 endelig naaet. Det 
 norske Folk i sit Storthing hgevdet Landets Grundlov. Om 
 Grundloven af 17de Mai 1814 fylkede vi os dengang til 
 Forsvar for Norges geldgamle Frihed og Selvst^ndighed. 
 Derfor vier vi Dagen til Mindet om Fgedrenes store V^erk, 
 og vi deler Hjemlandets Stolthed og Glsede over Beva- 
 relsen af den dyre Arv. 
 
 Begge vore to store Nationaldage, 17de Mai og 7de 
 Juni, har en egen Betydning for Norge og for Normagnd 
 hele Verden over, fordi de har Isert os noget vi aldrig maa 
 miste af Syne: De viser os det norske Folk fuldstaendig 
 enigt, samlet i Fylking fra Nordkap til Lindesnses. 
 dette Folk, som ellers saa ofte, altfor ofte, er splittet i 
 Partistridigheder og Kampe. I 1814 optraadte Nor- 
 masndene for f^rste Gang i sin Historic i fuld Enighed, 
 
93 
 
 dengang de efter vel udf^rt Arbeide dannede Broder- 
 kjgede og h^itidelig svor paa at vsere ^'Enige og tro til 
 Dovre f alder." Det var den samme Enighed, som i 1905 
 fik hele Verden til at beundre det lille modige Folk der 
 inord, en Enighed som fjzlrst gav sig Udslag i Stortliings- 
 beslutningen af 7de Juni og saa i den enestaaende Folke= 
 afstemning. Naar et Folk er saaledes forenet og samlet, 
 og paa samme Tid viser en saadan Offervillighed og 
 brgendende Faedrelandskjagrlighed hos Store og Smaa, 
 Maend og Kvinder, da er dets Kraft og Vilje uimodstaae- 
 lig. V^er vis paa det, Landsmeend, hvis Norm^nd, enten 
 det er i Norge eller her, vil staa saaledes sammen, enige 
 og samdr^gtige, kan de opnaa livad det skal vsere — da 
 vil de altid vinde frem til Seier. 
 
 Men 17de Mai har ogsaa en videre Betydning for os, 
 som gode amerikanske Borgere. Vi h^rer saa ofte det, 
 at man her i Landet 0nsker os Normgend velkommen som 
 et af de bedste Elementer i Amerikas Befolkning, fordi 
 vi er arbeidsomme, straebsomme og serlige, men fremfor 
 alt fordi vi er lovlydige. Hvis dette sidste er sandt, som 
 jeg tror det er, og vi virkelig fortjener Ros som lovlydige, 
 kommer det vel af, at vi stammer fra et Land med gode 
 Love, Love som indgyder Respekt og som fortjener at ad- 
 lydes. Det er de frie demokratiske Institutioner, som 
 skabtes ved den norske Grundlov, som kanske mer end 
 noget andet har forberedt os og gjort os skikket til godt 
 amerikansk Borgerskab. 
 
 Hvis nu vor norske Oprindelse og Opvasksten hjemme 
 i Norge har bidraget saa meget til at gj0re os til gode 
 loyale amerikanske Borgere, saa er det jo ikke nogen 
 
94 
 
 Skade, men tva^rtimod til Gavn for vort amerikanske 
 Borgerskab, foruden at det i sig selv maa skaffe os en 
 inderlig Glsede, at vedligeholde Forbindelsen med det 
 gamle Land og derved stadig styrke den norske National- 
 f0lelse, som bor i os. Ved Bevarelsen af Norskheden ud- 
 vikler vi det bedste i os selv og sa^tter os istand til at yde 
 vort Bidrag til Aandsudviklingen i Fremtidens Amerika. 
 Vi maa 0se vor aandelige F^de fra den rige F^drenearv. 
 Det er fra Norge at vort Aandsliv naturligen faar sit 
 Prgeg, og derfra vil det ogsaa faa det meste af sin Kraft 
 og Nsering. Vi tra?nger netop derfor de Impulser, som 
 Forbindelsen med Norge kan gi os. Uden denne rige 
 aandelige Arv vil vi staa her paa den fremmede Jord- 
 bund uden Rod. 
 
 Der findes nu et storartet Organ, hvis Formaal netop 
 er at vedligeholde Forbindelsen og styrke Samholdet mel- 
 lem Norm^end i og udenfor Norge, nemlig, som I alle 
 ved: Normandsforbundet. Fra en liden Begyndelse har 
 denne Forening voxet sig frem til en anselig St0rrelse, 
 nu vist med et Medlemsantal af 30,000 til 40,000, spredte 
 over hele Jordkloden. Den Tanke, som ligger til Grund 
 for Nordmandsforbundet og hvorom faedrelandssindede 
 Maend og Kvinder baade i Norge og Amerika har samlet 
 sig: "At knytte en Broderkja^de mellem Normaend over- 
 alt i Verden, og danne et virksomt Hele af de spredte 
 norske Krasfter,'' denne store Tanke har sikkert vundet 
 Anklang i norske Hjerter ogsaa her i Nord Dakota. 
 
 Gamle Mor Norge, som naturligt er, viser paa mang- 
 foldige Maader sin Inter esse og varme Kjgerlighed for 
 sine udvandrede Sinner og D^tre. Hun f^lger med i al 
 
95 
 
 deres Gjerning og glaeder sig stolt, naar de gj0r noget 
 stort og vinder ^re. Saadan ^re kaster jo ogsaa Glans 
 tilbage paa det Land, som frembragte Manden og f^rst 
 opmuntret og gjorde ham skikket til sin Gjerning. De 
 Normagnd her i Landet, som har vundet sig et Navn, 
 ved borgerlig eller anden Fortjeneste, har da ogsaa hjem- 
 mefra faaet ^resbevisninger og blit udmgerket paa 
 mange Maader. Paa vore store Festdage sender Norge 
 OS Hilsen, og dets Repraesentanter her i Landet gaar i 
 Spidsen for Festlighederne. Ifjor 17de Mai bragte Mi- 
 nister Hauge en saadan Hilsen til den store Skare Lands- 
 mgend, som var samlet i Chicago, og iaar er Minister Gude 
 paa samme Maade kommen til Normgendene i Minneapolis. 
 
 I extraordingert Statsraad, efter Forslag af den norske 
 Regjering — og bag den Storthinget og hele det norske 
 Folk — besluttede Norges gode og inderlig afholdte 
 Konge, Haakon den 7de, at sende til alle Norm^nd i 
 Amerika sin hjertelige Hilsen, og til at frembagre denne 
 udvalgte han Norges f0rste geistlige Embedsmand, Ri- 
 gets Primas, Biskop Bang, som derfor er kommet den 
 lange Vei over Havet. Imorgen vil Biskopen i Min- 
 neapolis fremf0re Kongehilsenen ; og jeg ved den vil 
 naa frem til alle norske Hjerter, fordi den selv kommer 
 fra Hjertet. 
 
 Biskopen vil ogsaa overraekke Normgendene i Nord- 
 vesten en Statue af Henrik Wergeland, n^iagtig Magen 
 til den, der nu skal reises i Digterens F^deby. Bidrags- 
 yderne til denne vakre Gave er Norges f0rste Magnd, 
 Statsminister Michelsen, L0vland og Gunnar Knudsen, 
 Storthingspraesident Berner, Roald Amundsen, Frithjof 
 
96 
 Nansen, BjVrnstjerne Bj^rnson og mange andre, som har 
 villet vise sine udvandrede Br^dre sin Agtelse og Kjaer- 
 lighed ved at skjgenke dem et Mindesmserke over denne 
 Norges Digterkonge, han hvis Hjerte var fuldt af Glsede 
 over Livet, over Arbeidet og den Lykke som ligger i Ar- 
 beidet. 
 
 Normeendene herover og Norm^ndene hjemme trsen- 
 ger hinanden gjensidig. Norge og Amerika skylder hin- 
 anden saa uendelig meget, og det er derfor passende og 
 naturlig, at hver af dem den 17de Mai mindes denne 
 Gjgeld. Jeg har ngevnt det f0r : Norge har f orsynet og for- 
 syner fremdeles Amerika med et af de bedste Elementer 
 i Befolkningen, et Element, der staar for Lov og Orden. 
 Store Dele af dette Land, og ikke mindst dette herlige 
 Nord Dakota, er blit ryddet og derefter bygget af norske 
 Sener og Muskier. Den norske Nation har skaffet Ho- 
 veder til Styrere af forskjellige Stater i Unionen, ligesom 
 vi finder Normasnd i Landets h0ieste Raad i Wash- 
 ington. Det er ikke bare i ren kropslig Henseende vi har 
 gjort en kraftig Indsats i Livet omkring os; overalt hvor 
 Oplysning og Fremskridt spores, er vi med, Som Ameri- 
 kanere maa vi derfor erkjende, og vi gj0r det med Stolt- 
 hed og Tilfredsstillelse, at Amerikas Gjeeld til Norge 
 er stor. 
 
 Men saa har da ogsaa Norge meget at takke Amerika 
 for. Millioner af Dollars sendes Aar efter Aar fra Ame- 
 rika til Norge og bringer HjaBlp og Glasde til mange trsen- 
 gende derover. Disse Penge er fortjente og sparet sam- 
 men i dette Land, som med sine umaadelige Resourcer 
 og Anledninger har gjort dette mulig. 
 
9? 
 
 Men Norge har faaet noget bedre og st^rre end dette 
 fra Amerika. Det har faaet Opmuntring og Inspiration 
 til Ideer, som har bidraget til den norske Nations Vcekst 
 og Udvikling og i mange Retninger gjort den til hvad 
 den er idag. Vi ved alle, at den norske Konstitution er 
 i en vaesentlig Grad formet efter Amerikas. I de liberale 
 og folkelige Institutioner, som fra Amerikas Konstitution 
 blev indlemmet i den norske Grundlov, arvet det gamle 
 Kongerige Norge fra den unge Republik det, som 
 i n^sten Hundrede Aar har vist sig at vaere til Vel- 
 signelse for det norske Folk. Men dette er ikke alt: 
 I hele denne Tid har den norske Nation vgeret under 
 Paavirkning af liberale Ideer og Tanker, en Indflydelse, 
 som er kommen ved hjemvendte Normgends Beretninger 
 om Livet og Forholdene herover pg ved den umaadelige 
 og uafladelige Str0m af Breve til Hjemlandet. Norges 
 politiske Udvikling viser gjennem hele Aarhundredet en 
 uafbrudt Vekst i Retning af Folkestyre, og jeg tar ikke 
 Feil, naar jeg siger, at den amerikanske Indflydelse har 
 havt meget at gjjz^re med den Udvikling af Frihedstanken 
 hjemme, den, som endelig kulminerede og fandt sit ful- 
 deste Udtryk i Begivenhederne af 7de Juni 1905. 
 
 Tankerne gaar idag tilbage til Norge, vort gamle el- 
 skede Faedreland — alt staar levende for vort indre 0ie. 
 Vi ser det vakre trefarvede Flag vaie overalt, paa Land 
 og i By ; og vi ser Skarer af f estklgedte M^nd og Kvinder 
 med nationalf arvede Baand paa Brystet ; vi h^rer norske 
 Folkemelodier og Nationalsangen sunget i jublende Kor 
 gjennem hele den lange norske Vaardag. Der er Musik 
 og Dans — Jubel og Fest overalt. Om Formiddagen gaar 
 
98 
 
 Barnetoget — en ustyrlig Elv af Smaaflag h0\ger 
 gjennem Gaderne, og Luften skjgelver af begeistrede 
 Hurraer. Opover Karl Johan og Slotsbakken, rundt 
 Pladsen foran Slottet, hvor der gj0res holdt og Konge- 
 sangen synges, som den kun kan synges af B0rn, for 
 hvem Kongen er det st0rste og herligste i denne Verden. 
 Kongen kommer ud paa Altanen og hilser Landets vor- 
 dende Borgere, Landsfaderen vifter bev^eget til sine 
 mindste Barn. Det er som om de skingrende Hurraer al- 
 drig vil ta en Ende. Toget gaar videre, nedover til Byen 
 igjen, forbi Stortliinget, fremdeles videre gjennem de 
 lange Gader og endelig til F^stningspladsen. De smaa 
 B0rn marker ikke noget til Tra?tlied; de smaa Arme hol- 
 der trofast Flaget iveiret ; de smaa Struber synger om og 
 om igjen: ^'Ja vi elsker dette Landet/' Og paa denne 
 Dag Iffirer de at elske det, saa de aldrig glemmer det. — 
 Ikke en af os lier idag liar idetmindste glemt det. Det er 
 Eftermiddag, og det store Borgertog marsclierer gjennem 
 Gaderne under talrige vakre Faner til ^re for Dagen. 
 Folkets Kaarne, Stortliingsmasndene gaar i Spidsen, saa 
 Handelsmaendene, Haandvserkerne, alle mulige Stander, 
 og saa tilslut de muntre Studenter med Duskehuerne. En 
 af Landets store Mgend holder Festtalen; Roald Amund- 
 sen har gjort det, Nansen har gjort det; men oftest er 
 det vel blit gjort af Norges f^rste S0n, Fadrelandssan- 
 gens Digter, den uforlignelige Taler og Patriot Bj^rn- 
 stjerne Bj^rnson. 
 
 Det er paa denne Tid af Aaret at Griesset spirer, at 
 L0vet sprgetter, at Elvene gaar fra Fjeldet i brusende 
 Flom og Fossefald ned til Fjorden. Kjender I ikke den 
 
99 
 liflige Vaarduft fra Blaaveis og Markfiol? H0rer I ikke 
 Fossens Dur? Ser I ikke det lysegr0nne Skjrer over hele 
 vort herlige Land ? Aarstiden er symbolsk for Udvikling, 
 Vaekst og Kraft i Folket. Ligesom Norges vakre Vaar- 
 skrud bebuder Sommerens fulde Udvikling, saaledes lo- 
 ver den 17de Mai evig Uafhgengighed, Selvstaendighed og 
 Frihed for det norske Folk. 
 
 Lad OS da paa denne Vaarens fagre, l0fterige Dag, 
 som Wergeland kalder ''den velsignede blandt Dage, lad 
 den altid skj0nnere vende tilbage," denne Dag, som er 
 saa rig paa store Minder, som er saa fyldt af Poesi og 
 Skj0nhed, lad os da, lad alle gode norske Hjerter, forenes 
 i at sende en kjserlig Hilsen tilbage over Havet til vort 
 gamle Hjem og Fsedr eland — det underdo ilige Norge ! 
 
Speech at opening of the bazaar of Norw. Luth. Deacones- 
 ses Hosp., Northwest Hall, Chicago, October 28th 1908. 
 
 Mr. President, Sister Superior, Deaconesses, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 It is a great pleasure to be here tonight and be given 
 an opportunity to felicitate the hospital upon this occa- 
 sion; for indeed it is an occasion that justifies congra- 
 tulation and rejoicing . 
 
 In holding this Bazaar the institution of Norwegian 
 Lutheran Deaconesses is engaged in a vigorous attempt 
 to raise the means to accomplish a most laudable purpose : 
 that of adding a new building to the present hospital. 
 How necessary this step is, we all know; for the need of 
 more space in which to carry on the work of the hospital 
 has long been deeply felt. The calls upon the hospital 
 to supply accommodations have been far in excess of 
 what it could furnish; and the time would now seem to 
 be here to relieve these conditions. 
 
 Now, what is the record of this institution up to date ? 
 In responding to the call made upon our interest and 
 charity it is only natural for us to examine into what it 
 has accomplished so far. It is not for me here to give any 
 detailed history of the hospital — it's small and modest 
 beginning twelve, thirteen years ago, its early 
 struggles, its gradual growth and development, until it 
 has reached its present state of activity and prosperity, 
 ^e may content ourselves with finding that this splendid 
 
 (100) 
 
101 
 growth and development have mainly been due to three 
 causes: The excellent administration it has enjoyed, the 
 high order of efficiency of its medical staff, and last, but 
 certainly not least, the never-failing faithfulness, loyalty 
 and devotion of its deaconesses. 
 
 I emphasize this last feature of the hospital's work 
 and life as the one that appeals to us most strongly. The 
 institution of deaconesses, as we find it here, is one that 
 enlists our respect and admiration. Not only is the life 
 of its members devoted to the care and nursing of the 
 sick, but it is also consecrated to the service of God andHis 
 Church. As consecrated members of a church their min- 
 istrations are not only to the body but also to the soul, 
 and the two often go singularly well together. Their 
 long arduous period of study and apprenticeship is un- 
 dergone not with any selfish aim of acquiring at the end 
 of it a certain earning capacity for their own benefit, but 
 solely to become most useful in the service of God by 
 reaching the highest degree of efficiency in caring for 
 sick and unfortunate humanity. By its selfdenial and 
 selfsacrifice their mission is indeed glorious. 
 
 But what also appeals strongly to us Norwegians is 
 the fact that the deaconesses here are continuing in The 
 New World the work of the ancient and honorable 
 Mother institution in old Norway — that they here amid 
 new surroundings, too often apt to create a spirit of seK- 
 promotion and desire for personal gain, are remaining 
 true to the splendid principles of that Mother institution 
 and in America perpetuating its glorious traditions. 
 
 Just such an institution as the Deaconesses Hospital 
 
102 
 
 proves that we belong to a nation so vigorous and true to 
 itself, that new surroundings cannot wholly absorb it 
 and make to disappear its identity and character. 
 
 I am charged with a special duty here tonight, which 
 I feel it a singular pleasure and honor to perform: that 
 of bringing to you all a cordial greeting from King 
 Haakon and Queen Maud of Norway. Their interest and 
 good wishes for the hospital have taken a more tangible 
 form in a beautiful present to the hospital, which it was 
 planned should be turned over with this greeting here 
 tonight. Unfortunately Uncle Sam has not performed 
 his part as satisfactorily as desired in having his postal 
 service bring the gift here on the appointed day. I can 
 therefore tonight only describe the donation as being a 
 beautiful Norwegian rug, designed by one of the country's 
 foremost artists, Gerhard Munthe, and woven by the 
 Arts and Crafts Society of Norway. But I can add to this 
 something of which I had an opportunity to judge during 
 my visit this past summer in Norway: that the King 
 and Queen sincerely feel the deepest interest in and affec- 
 tion for the emigrated sons of Norway now living in 
 America, and therefore I know I can say that this greet- 
 ing from our King and Queen comes straight from the 
 heart. j 
 
Tale ved Overrsekkelsen af Kongens og Dronningens 
 
 Portrsetter til Det Norske Alder domshj em i 
 
 Chicago, den 23de Januar 1909. 
 
 Hr. President Quales, Medlemmer af den norske Alder- 
 domshjemforening, mine Darner og Herrer: 
 
 Jeg er paalagt det rerefnlde Hverv at overrj^kke Al- 
 der domshj emmet en Gave fra Norges Konge og Dronning 
 — deres signerede Portrsetter — og paa samme Tid bringe 
 eder allesammen en hjertelig Hilsen fra Kong Haakon og 
 Dronning Maud. 
 
 Ved denne Gave har det norske Kongepar git et smukt 
 Bevis paa sin Velvilje og Interesse for Alderdomshjem- 
 met, F^lelser, som vel ikke kunde faaet et vakrere Ud- 
 slag end netop i denne Form. De redle og tiltalende An- 
 sigtstrsek, lysende af Venlighed og Godhed, vil stadig 
 minde eder om, at den norske Konge og hans Dronning 
 omfatter ogsaa Norges iidflyttede S0nner og D0tre med 
 Kjasrlighed, at hans Sympathi og Kjasrlighed ikke bare 
 gjselder Norges Land, men at hans Kjgerlighed som sand 
 Landsfader ogsaa naar det norske Folk, hvor det end 
 findes, paa Land og SjV, i alle Yerdensdele. 
 
 Og Kong Haakon paa sin Side saetter stor Pris paa 
 de udvandrede Norm^nds Sympathi og Hengivenhed; 
 det har han lagt for Dagen ved mange Anledninger. Da 
 de norsk-amerikanske Deputerede havde Foretrsede for 
 ham under Kroningen i Trondhjem, sa han, at den Sym- 
 pathi, som blev vist ham af de udflyttede Norm^nd, 
 
 (103) 
 
104 
 
 havde vseret ham en stor Hjaelp og Opmuntring i hans 
 vigtige Gjerning. Det b^r vi Isegge os paa Hjerte og 
 ikke glemme her i det f jerne Amerika. 
 
 Men denne Gave har ogsaa en videre Betydning end 
 den at vtere en Hilsen fra Landsfaderen, den er ogsaa en 
 Hilsen til eder fra eders gamle Fgedreland. Den er et Bud 
 om at gamle Mor Norges Kjgerlighed til sine B^rn aldrig 
 oph0rer, selv om B^rnene blir meget gamle og kanske 
 aldrig kommer hjem igjen til hende. Hendes Hengiven- 
 hed for eder vil aldrig bli mindre, men holde ved til Li- 
 vets sidste Stund. 
 
Tale ved Overrsekkelsen af Kongens og Dronningens Por- 
 
 traetter til Det Norske B^rnehjem i Chicago 
 
 den 14de Februar 1909. 
 
 Denne Dag, St. Valentine's Day, er, som vi alle ved, en 
 B^rnenes Dag her i Amerika, paa livilken det er Skik og 
 Brug at Barna gir og faar Presenter. Den smukkeste 
 Valentine faar idag B^rnene i Chicago's B^rnehjem fra 
 Norges Konge og Dronning, Kong Haakons og Dronning 
 Mauds signerede Portragtter. 
 
 Og det er en Gave, som ikke bare idag vil forn0ie B0r- 
 nene og Hjemmets mange Venner; den vil ogsaa i Frem- 
 tiden bringe Glaede og Opmuntring, fordi den er en For- 
 sikring om, at ogsaa det norske Kongepar findes blandt 
 Barnehjemmets interesserede og gode Venner. Barne- 
 kjffire, som de selv er, har det sikkerlig glsedet dem at h0re 
 om det Hjem, som har vgeret og vil bli til Velsignelse for 
 saa mange norske Smaagutter og Smaapiger, og som paa 
 en saa glimrende Maade har vidst at 10se sin store Op- 
 gave slig, at det idag, trods Modgang og Uheld, staar paa 
 sikker Grund — det vakreste Mindesmaerke over det nor- 
 ske Chicago's Omsorg og Kj^rlighed til de smaa og 
 hjaglpel^se i Samfundet. 
 
 For et Par Uger siden fik Alderdomshj emmet en lig- 
 nende Gave og med den et Bud fra Norges Konge og 
 Dronning. Ogsaa idag har jeg Bud at overbringe fra dem 
 til de norske B^rn i Chicago. Disse Portraetter skal minde 
 dem om deres norske Herkomst, deres norske Afstam- 
 
 (105) 
 
106 
 
 ning. Selv om de aldrig har set gamle Norge, skal de 
 alligevel ikke glemme, at det Land er deres F^edres Land, 
 at det engang var Fars og Mors Land, og at de derfor selv 
 er bundet til det med mangfoldige Baand. De har norsk 
 Blod i Aarene, og de har norske Egenskaber i sin Natur, 
 Egenskaber, som de aldrig hverken vil eller kan helt 
 skille sig af med, hvor gode og loyale amerikanske Bor- 
 gere de end vokser op til at bli. Og ikke skulde de 0nske 
 heller at miste det i dem, der er norsk, for det er vel noget 
 af det bedste de eier. Vi Norm^nd er velkomne her i 
 Amerika, netop fordi vi ansees for at ha de nationale 
 Egenskaber, som gj0r os til gode Borgere, Arbeidsomhed, 
 Straebsomhed, ^rlighed og Lovlydighed. Hvis dette er 
 saa, har Norge git sine udflyttede Sinner og D0tre en 
 uvurderlig Skat med til det nye Land, og Efterkommerne 
 har en Arv, som de ikke noksom kan saette Pris og ta Vare 
 paa. Mit Bud til B^rnene er da: Vaer stolt af Eders 
 norske Herkomst, og fors^g altid paa at gj^re Norge 
 Haeder ; — derved hgedrer I eder selv. 
 
 De norske Barn i Amerika skal ved Siden af dette 
 Lands Historie ogsaa Isere Norges Historie — de herlige 
 Minder fra de gamle Haakoners og Olavers Tid, Betyd- 
 ningen af 1814 og 1905, Norges Stolthed over de nye 
 Haakoners og Olavers Tid. De maa lasre at kjende dets 
 Literatur, netop i vore Dage noget af det bedste Verdens- 
 literaturen har; de b^r h^re om Nansens og Amundsens 
 store Bedrifter. Selv om de aldrig kommer til det Land, 
 hvor Far og Mor lekte som Barn, b0r de ialf aid i Aanden 
 se dets storartede Natur: Fjeldene, Snebrgeerne, de bru- 
 sende Fosser nedover Klippevseggen, de mj^rke Granskoge 
 
107 
 
 og de smilende Birkelunde — alt saa rent forskjelligt 
 fra dette flade Prserieland, vi her bebor. De skal h0re om 
 de norske Troldene, om Huldren, Draugen, N^kken og 
 Nissen ; ja, de skal laere at holde af den gamle gode Jule- 
 nissen. 
 
 Men fremfor alt maa de oplseres i sine Fsedres Tro, 
 oplagres til at kjende og elske den Gud, som bar hjulpet 
 Norge i Farens Stund, som bar bjulpet Far og Mor, og 
 som altid vil bj^lpe dem, naar de med sand Barnetro og 
 Tillid vender sig til bam. 
 
Oration— on "Patriotism" — delivered at graduation ex- 
 ercises of Deerfield Township Highschool at Ravinia 
 Park Theatre, 111., June 17th 1909. . . 
 
 The graduating class is completing its High School 
 course, and some of you are perhaps experiencing a 
 feeling of satisfaction at the thought that this means 
 the end of study. It may mean the end of school courses 
 and examinations, but certainly not of study. In fact, 
 for many of you the study of the most important things in 
 life is just about to commence — instead of graduating you 
 are just making your entrance into the school of life. 
 And there is this great difference between this new school 
 and the old, that now your courses will not be prescribed, 
 your progress not assisted by text books nor watched and 
 superintended by teachers and monitors who give you 
 high or low marks, commend or censure you, but it is 
 left with you yourselves to select your studies — the most 
 complete form of the elective system — to push or let them 
 languish, and consequently to make in them success or 
 failure. 
 
 It is one of the studies open to you in this new school 
 of life that I want to especially recommend as worthy of 
 your serious consideration and application, as likely 
 throughout life to give you and also your fellow-men the 
 greatest amount of real genuine satisfaction. Proficiency 
 in this study ranks I think very close after knowledge and 
 proficiency in truth and the other essential moral attri- 
 
 (108) 
 
109 
 
 butes of a good man. Some of you perhaps do not know 
 that this course is given in the school of life and will be 
 surprised to learn of its being offered to you as part of the 
 curriculum. I refer to the study of patriotism. 
 
 Patriotism ! You will think you know what it is and 
 that you possess it, and some of you even feel something 
 bordering on resentment at the idea of your being 
 thought lacking in it. It is one of the things that you 
 think should be taken for granted ; for no normal man or 
 woman, you say, is without patriotism. That is the very 
 mistake: to take the understanding and possession of 
 patriotism too much for granted. 
 
 What is patriotism ? The great English statesman Jo- 
 seph Chamberlain asks the same question thus: "What is 
 this patriotism, this almost universal instinct for which 
 more men have given their lives than for any other cause, 
 and which counts more martyrs than even religion itself 
 — this potent sentiment which has produced so great and 
 splendid deeds of heroic bravery and unselfish devotion — 
 which has inspired art and stimulated literature and 
 furthered science — which has fostered liberty and won 
 independence and advanced civilization, and which on the 
 other hand has sometimes been misunderstood and per- 
 verted and made the excuse for brutal excesses and 
 arbitrary tyranny ? ' ' 
 
 In his learned and justly famous speech a dozen years 
 ago at Glasgow University Mr. Chamberlain undertakes 
 to account for the origin and growth of what he terms 'Hhe 
 greatest of civic virtues and most important element of 
 national character — patriotism. ' ' He gives the dictionary 
 
110 
 definition of the word ^'patriot" and shows how its 
 meaning in the course of time has undergone an evolution 
 so as to have changed from merely signifying citizen or 
 compatriot, to denote a good citizen and true lover of 
 his country. He refers to the quaint opinions expressed a 
 couple of centuries ago by Lord Shaftesbury to the effect 
 that patriotism is not founded on the accident of birth- 
 place alone — is not merely an attachment to the soil, but 
 depends upon the pursuit of common interest, the defense 
 of a common independence and the love of common 
 liberties ; that it is strengthened by a common history and 
 common traditions and is a part of a national character 
 formed under these conditions. Mr. Chamberlain reviews 
 the patriotism of ancient times and shows that with the 
 Jews it was a religious exclusiveness centered in Jerusa- 
 lem, and as found in ancient Greece and Rome it was nar- 
 rowed to the native City — a municipal rather than a 
 national sentiment. Later, in the Middle Ages, when the 
 intensity of religious differences produced a line of 
 division more marked than that of race or nationality, 
 patriotism was attachment to a faith instead of love of 
 country. 
 
 For a long time the kind of patriotism chiefly revealed 
 in history is a personal loyalty and devotion to the king 
 or ruler, whose power and prestige represents the great- 
 ness of the nation. He is the people's might and influence 
 personified. Louis XIV said truly ' ' L 'etat, c 'est moi, ' ' and 
 Frenchmen in his reign prided themselves upon being not 
 citizens of France but subjects of the greatest monarch 
 then ruling on earth. With the struggle of the American 
 
Ill 
 
 colonies for independence and above all with the great 
 revolution of France there was revealed to the world a 
 new kind of patriotism consisting of duty, devotion and 
 self sacrifice towards one 's country and people. The spirit 
 of national pride and unity became infectious, spread, and 
 breaking out all over Europe, caused separated elements 
 that belonged together to unite, withstand oppression, 
 throw off foreign yoke and rise as newborn nations. Ger= 
 many unified itself, likewise Italy; the vast empire of 
 Russia became consolidated; independence was secured 
 by Switzerland, Holland, Greece, Norway. 
 
 There is no doubt that patriotism has grown and 
 widened with the advance of civilization and the progress 
 of liberty, until it today is more powerful than ever be- 
 fore. It is equally true that it is strongest in the most 
 democratic communities, in countries possessing the most 
 liberal and free institutions such as France, Switzerland, 
 Norway, Great Britain and the United States. And the 
 reason is not hard to find: Where a country ^s govern- 
 ment, laws and institutions have been created by the 
 people and for the people, often as the rusult of a hard 
 protracted struggle and bloodshed, that people cannot but 
 prize the hard-won treasure of liberty and be willing to 
 sacrifise much for its preservation. 
 
 De Tocqueville says there are two kinds of patriotism, 
 that of instinct and that of reason; and they have also 
 been described as patriotism of the heart and patriotism 
 of the head. Lack of the former is I think very rare ; it 
 will be hard to find a nation that will not stand up and 
 fight with heart and soul if its liberty is threatened. It 
 
112 
 does not require study — it is inseperable from the heart as 
 the love of one's mother. It is a patriotism that is gene- 
 rous, wholesouled, selfsacrifising, heedless, indifferent to 
 consequences. It shouts: My country, right or wrong. 
 It is the patriotism that poor Poland has shown time and 
 time again in vain efforts against overwhelming odds to 
 regain her autonomy and liberty. It is the kind of patriot- 
 ism that in the recent Japanese "War sent tens of thou- 
 sands of ignorant Russian peasants cheerfully to death: 
 The Little Father, who personified the glory and greatness 
 of the fatherland, asked it, and their patriotism of the 
 heart could not question his command or the justness of 
 the cause. It is the kind of patriotism that four years 
 ago, when Norway took the daring step of dissolving the 
 union with Sweden and thereby necessarily offended the 
 stronger neighbor at risk of war, made men, old and 
 young, of all classes and conditions, leave their vocations 
 and rush to what threatened to be the firing line on the 
 frontier; made men, women and children, whether rich 
 or poor, offer their savings to the State for the defense of 
 the country; made the emigrated sons of Norway by 
 thousands, although happy and secure in distant America, 
 offer to return and give their lives, if needed, for the old 
 fatherland. It is the patriotism that plunged your own 
 country into the most sanguinary Civil War, where 
 brother stood against brother, a struggle that in devotion 
 to cause and in sacrifice has never been equalled in 
 history. And you, who have inherited the fruits of that 
 awful struggle, if your country again should need the 
 same sacrifices for the preservation of its life or honor, 
 
113 
 
 would, I am certain, never be found lacking in passionate 
 affection and generous sacrifice — in patriotism of the 
 heart. 
 
 The patriotism of reason, the quiet, sane patriotism, 
 with which the head busies itself faithfully in time of 
 peace and security, is more rarely met with ; and yet your 
 country needs it as much, nay more, than the other. It 
 does not appeal to the imagination, the impulses, the 
 romantic side of one's nature. It consists of careful, 
 diligent, conscientious study of the needs of your country. 
 '* whose mission can be fulfilled only by a general display 
 of public spirit, the contribution of all to the common good, 
 and by efforts to develop the nobler side of the national 
 character and to cure its defects." It requires constant 
 and careful study of the vital questions that are before 
 her councils. Do you every day read the papers that treat 
 of these questions , follow along and consider what 
 Congress is doing ? Do you study the motives that under- 
 lie the actions of the legislators? Are you satisfied that 
 the new Tariff Bill at present before the Senate and 
 House is being prepared in furtherance of the dignity and 
 good reputation of the United States and will be adopted 
 for the welfare of the whole American people without 
 ulterior motives of interest to trusts and favored classes ? 
 Are you watching the acts of your own representative in 
 Congress, so that you are certain he is on the right side of 
 this and other vital questions and thus worthily represent- 
 ing this district and yourselves? 
 
 And all this applies equally to the smaller community 
 in which you live. Are you following along with the 
 
114 
 problems that concern your own city's welfare? Are your 
 mayor and council giving your city a clean, efficient and 
 economical administration? Is your city getting an ade- 
 quate supply of good wholesome water? Is your sewage 
 system all that it should be ? Is the electric road fulfilling 
 all the conditions of its franchise? Are the laws pro- 
 hibiting the sale of liquor within your corporate limits 
 strictly lived up to ? Are law and order maintained in all 
 particulars, and is the public service up to the highest 
 known standard for a municipality? 
 
 The patriotism of which I speak is not passive but 
 active; it is not negative and critical, but possitive, as- 
 sertive, effective. The critical attitude leads to nothing ; it 
 may be able to destroy, it can never create. It is compara- 
 tively easy to stand by and criticise the course of events 
 and the men who are directing them, but a very different 
 thing to plunge in yourselves and bring some definite 
 thing to pass. Chamberlain says: ''To leave politics to 
 the politicians whether in national or in municipal work 
 is as fatal to the best interests of the State as to leave to 
 mercenaries the defense of its territories ''. Some twenty 
 year ago in Cambridge I heard the advice of a compara- 
 tively young man, who was then, if I am not mistaken. Po- 
 lice Commissioner of New York and who afterwards in his 
 uniquely strenuous life as Secretary of the Navy, Colonel 
 of Rough Riders, Vice President and twice President of 
 the United States has accomplished so much as to be 
 generally accounted outside of his own country as the 
 greatest American since Lincoln. His advice to the 
 Harvard students was : ' ' Young men, go into politics ; you 
 
115 
 
 cannot devote your time and energies to anything better 
 than service of your country!" About the same time a 
 representatives of one of Massachusetts' oldest and best- 
 known families, since become famous as an historian of his 
 country and now senior senator from the Bay State, ad- 
 dressed the students of Harvard College thus : ' ' Let every 
 man give of his leisure, be it more or less, to politics, for it 
 is simply good citizenship to do so. Discard at the 
 outset the wretched habit which is far too prevalent in 
 this country and particularly, I am sorry to say, among 
 highly educated persons, of regarding all men who are 
 much in politics with suspicion, and of using the word 
 '^ politician" as an uncomplimentary epithet and usually 
 with a sneer. You neither help nor hurt the politician 
 by so doing, but you hurt your country and lower her 
 reputation. There is nothing indeed which does more 
 to injure politics and the public business than to assume 
 that the man who enters it is in some way lowered by 
 so doing. The calling ought to be and is an honorable 
 one, and we should all seek to honor and elevate, not 
 to decry it. Politics is a wide field, but it is a very practi« 
 cal one, and the amateur is not only singularly out of 
 place there, but is especially apt to do harm by mistaken 
 efforts to do good. Take hold of politics as you would of 
 any other business, honorably and respectably, but take 
 hold hard." 
 
 You must know all about these matters if you are to 
 do your duty as citizens. You cannot begin too early 
 to inform and prepare yourselves, if you are to vote 
 intelligently on municipal as well as national questions. 
 
116 
 
 And you are fast approaching the time when you are to 
 enjoy what is both a glorious privilege and a grave 
 responsibility — your franchise as citizens. 
 
 And you, young women, will soon be able to vote for 
 directors of this very school, which you are leaving today, 
 and will then share with the men the responsibility of its 
 being governed properly. Before long I believe that you 
 here in Illinois, in like manner as now in other states of 
 this union, will have a voice in all municipal questions. 
 And finally, if the women of America some day should 
 really want the suffrage in national affairs (what they 
 evidently do not generally now) and should be properly 
 prepared and qualified for it, they will not have to resort 
 to agitation and violent means (as employed by the 
 suffragettes of England), but they will receive it as their 
 natural due. This is amply demonstrated by the woman's 
 suffrage movement in the most progressive countries of 
 Europe, which, though labeled "monarchy," are in fact 
 far more democratic than this republic. In the national 
 elections in Norway this coming autumn the women will 
 vote. The national assembly of Finland already counts 
 among its members a number af women. 
 
 What kind of patriotism is found among immigrants 
 to this country? Do they with citizenship also acquire real 
 patriotism for their new country ? Does not the lingering 
 loyality to the old home exclude the full measure of 
 devotion to the new ? The answer is, I think, sufficiently 
 furnished by the part these foreign elements (not all in 
 the same degree, to be sure,) take in the national life of 
 America — the part they took in the Civil War and the part 
 
117 
 
 they take today at the polls and in the councils of the 
 nation. The sentiment for the old home and the sentiment 
 for the new are shown to be a different kind, which do not 
 contradict or exclude each other. They can both exist at 
 the same time in full strength. The condition of these 
 people was, I think, beautifully and correctly expressed 
 the other day at the celebration in Chicago of its national 
 holiday by a foreign people : ''We marry our new country 
 America, but we always remain sons of the old fatherland. 
 The love for the spouse is no hindrance to the lasting 
 love for the parent '\ To the new country, from which a 
 man asks and receives the best there is — life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness — he owes his best in return ; and 
 for him to avoid the duties of loyal citizenship would be 
 both unmanly and unfair. 
 
 The patriotism for the native land must in every loyal 
 heart be deepseated and lasting. With that land is asso- 
 ciated all that is dear and precious from earliest child- 
 hood. It is the first home ; it is the home with which are 
 inseparably connected the faces of father, mother, sisters, 
 brothers. There were felt the joys and sorrows of the 
 boy — the pleasures that delighted and the hard lessons 
 that hurt. There were received the first impressions of all 
 that is beautiful in life — the incomparable beauty of the 
 native land. There was fostered the ambition, and there 
 was inspired the longing that at length led to emigration. 
 There was given the preparation that trained and adapted 
 the emigrant to good American citizenship. Is it any 
 wonder that the patriotism of the immingrant for his old 
 home on its national day makes him recall in speech and 
 
118 
 
 song its beauty and glory, makes him march in proces- 
 sion with the old national colors above his head, makes 
 him unite in mind and heart with the brothers at home? 
 Is it any wonder that he continues to feel as a son and 
 always to speak of that old home as mothercountry or 
 fatherland ? 
 
 Patriotism is a strange thing. It is often latent 
 — thoroughly concealed until something occurs to kindle 
 it, when it bursts out into hot flame. In foreign lands I 
 have heard insulting or slighting words to America 
 uttered in presence of an American, and seen this man, 
 usually so quiet and selfcontained, become animated with 
 a passionate patriotism that demanded and procured the 
 words retracted. In remote parts of the world I have 
 witnessed the Stars and Stripes suddenly unfolded before 
 the eyes of an American and seen those eyes, often hard 
 and cold, at once fill with tears of tenderness and pride. 
 You all know the famous story of ''The man without a 
 country"? If you ever are far away from her and her 
 symbol ''Old Glory" bursts before your gaze, if you have 
 not known before, you will then know how you love your 
 country. 
 
 Your sentiments need not be divided — they can fully 
 and entirely be devoted to the one country of your birth, 
 boyhood, youth, manhood. Its future and destiny are 
 largely to be of your making — will greatly depend upon 
 the kind of patriotism that you own. If you study and 
 practise the right patriotism, your country may become, 
 not only in size, resources and power, but in high ideals, in 
 lofty aspirations, in nobility of character, the first on earth. 
 
Tale ved Nedlaegning af Grundstenen til Det Norske Al- 
 ders domshj ems nye Bygning^, Chicago, 
 den 27de Juni 1909. 
 
 Vi feirer idag en Markedag i Det Norske Alder- 
 domshjems Historie. Af alle dens Mgerkedage har ingen 
 vaeret mere betydningsfuld og gladelig end denne. Den 
 nye Bygning, til hvilken Grundstenen blir lagt, betyder 
 f^rst, at Hjemmet vil kunne optage dobbelt saa mange 
 gamie Masnd og Kvinder, som ellers vilde grue for den 
 Tid, da de ikke saa godt kan tage vare paa sig selv, men 
 som nu kan se sit Livs Aften im0de med Fortr0stning og 
 Ro. Den betyder ogsaa, at der skabes et dobbelt Fond af 
 Lykke og Kjaerlighed for den norske Befolkning i Chi- 
 cago ; thi en god Gjerning kommer ikke bare den enkelte 
 tilgode, dens Virkning spreder sig udover og saetter 
 Mferke i vide Kredse — i hele Samfundet. Dagen er og- 
 saa en M^erkepael i en anden Retning, idet Hjemmet net op 
 nu har optat sit Hundrede Barn; akkurat et Hundrede 
 Mffind og Kvinder har nu nydt godt af den Omhu ogPleie, 
 der gives dem i saa rigt Maal her. 
 
 Fra en liden Begyndelse og gjennem Vanskeligheder 
 har Hjemmet opnaaet at komme der, hvor det staar idag, 
 0konomisk betrygget og st0ttet af den varmeste For- 
 staaelse og Sympathi fra alle gode Normaend i Chicago. 
 Med den Administration, som Hjemmet har havt, kunde 
 det ikke andet end '^make good''. Naar en bra og dygtig 
 
 (119) 
 
120 
 
 Mand Isegger hele sin Sjsel i et Arbeide, maa det lykkes; 
 og Dr. Quales kan idag se tilbage paa sin lange Arbeids- 
 dag i Hj emmets Tjeneste med den st^rste Stolthed og 
 Tilfredshed. 
 
 Hvad der kanske vaesentlig betinger Hj emmets vir- 
 kelige Sukces, og som gj0r, at Hj emmets Beboere her maa 
 f01e sig lykkelige, er den Aand, som hersker i denne In- 
 stitution, en Aand, som omhyggelig og bevidst er fremel- 
 sket, og for hvilken Dr. Quales selv bar fundet saa ram- 
 mende Ord: 
 
 *'Nei, de er der for Livet. De er under vort Tilsyn og 
 under vor Varet^gt, hvad enten saa deres Dage bliver 
 faa eller mange. Der bliver ikke Sp0rsmaal om de har 
 betalt meget eller lidet. Alle kraever de den samme Pleie 
 og den samme Omsorg. Og naar det endelig kommer dertil, 
 
 "At Gravens Taage sig tungt har lagt 
 Paa deres halvslukte, matte Blikke^ 
 Naar de trylles ei mere af Naturens Pragt^ 
 H0re kun Fryd, men f01e den ikke/ — 
 
 da er det, der skal en kjserlig, en 0m og en hjaglpsom 
 Haand til at gj0re Leiet bl0dt og l^eske de t0rre Lseber. 
 En kjaerlig Haand til at t0rre bort den kolde Sved og de 
 salte Taarer fra blege, furede Kinder. En kjaerlig Haand 
 til at lukke de brustne 0ine, naar D0dens Engel har opteg- 
 net det sidste Aandedrag.'' 
 
 En Ting ved denne Institution af den allerst0rste Be« 
 tydning er, at ingen af Hj emmets Beboere et 0ieblik be- 
 h0ver, ja ikke engang kan f0le, at de her modtager Al- 
 misse, at de ^v ber paa Naade. Deres Selvrespekt og 
 
121 
 
 Glagde over at ha f^rt et hsederligt Liv lider intet Skaar 
 ved nogen ydmygende Tanke paa, at de er afhsengige af 
 andre for et Hjem. Her bebor de sit eget Hjem, som in- 
 gen kan tage fra dem. Det er kj0bt af dem for et langt 
 og arbeidsomt Livs Frugter. Det er os, som idag er de 
 Gamles Gjggster, ikke de, som er vore. 
 
 Normeend bar altid vaeret et frihedselskende Folk, som 
 ikke taaler at vaere afhsengig af andre. For et saadant 
 Folk vilde det vaere dobbelt saart at maatte stole paa 
 den Hjgelp, som andre vilde gi. Norske Mgend og Kvin- 
 der 1 Alder domshj emmet i^lev i fuldt Mon Selvrespektens 
 Tryglied og Tilfredshed. 
 
 Lige fra geldgammel Tid viser Saga og Historic, at 
 de Folk, som bar staaet h0iest — som bar eiet mest 
 Kraft og Karakter — er net op de, bos bvem der var 
 Pligtf^lelse overfor de Gamle i Samfundet. Hos vore 
 norske Forfgedre blev Oldingen vist Agt og ^re, og det 
 er derfor naturlig, at ogsaa vi paa samme Maade skulde 
 vasre dette nationale Trask tro og f^le Taknemmeligbeds- 
 gj^eld til vore Gamle, som ved et arbeidsomt og trofast 
 Liv bar vist os Veien fremover i saa mange Ting. Dette 
 Udslag af Taknemmeligbed er desto skj^nnere, fordi det 
 er saa absolut uegennyttig; der sees ikke ben til, at der 
 muligens kan komme noget igjen for M^ien og Besvae- 
 ret — det gode blir gjort alene for det godes Skyld. Netop 
 i vore Dage synes der at gaa gjennem bele Verden en Be- 
 vaegelse for at skaffe gamle Folk en sorgfri Alderdom. I 
 England er allerede Pensionsloven indf^rt, og i Norge 
 vil visselig ikke Alderdomsforsikringen la vente leenge 
 paa sig. Her i Cbicago fors^ger nu Skotlsenderne, et 
 
122 
 Folk, som i Karakter og Lynne har saa meget tilf^Ues 
 med Normgendene, at reise et Fond paa $100,000 til et 
 Alder domshj em. I denne agdle, prisvgerdige Gjerning, lad 
 vort norske Folk, og da is^r vi Norske i Chicago, altid 
 staa forrest i Nationernes Rsekke ! 
 
Introduktion af Fr^ken Gina Krog ved hendes Foredrag i 
 Bj0rgvins Hall, Chicago, den 22de Juli 1909. 
 
 Mine Darner og Herrer : — 
 
 En Ting vi som Normasnd isaer er stolte af er, at vi til- 
 h^rer en Fremskridtsnation — et Foregangsfolk. Naar 
 det gjgelder at bryde en ny Bane, hvad enten det er i 
 Kunst, Musik, Literatur, Opdagelse eller Polarforskning, 
 saa er vort Folk med, ja som of test viser Veien. Vi Nor- 
 maend f^ler os glade og stolte over Bevidstheden om, at 
 vore politiske Institutioner i Kongeriget Norge har ud- 
 viklet sig i mere demokratisk og fri Retning, at Folkets 
 Vilje hurtigere kommer til sin fulde Ret — at vi har mere 
 virkelig Folkestyre, end Tilfseldet er her i Republiken 
 United States. 
 
 Kanske mere bemaerkningsvaerdig end noget andet er 
 den Stilling den norske Kvinde nu har arbeidet sig frem 
 til i vort Fsedreland, en Stilling nu medf0rende fuld poli- 
 tisk Ansvar og Ligestillethed med Manden. Dette Aar, da 
 Kvinden for f^rste Gang indtar sit rette Plads i Samfun% 
 det ved Delagtighed i det faglles Arbeide for Landets 
 Vel, er i Sandhed et stort Maerkeaar i Norges politiske og 
 sociale Udvikling og Historie. 
 
 Det er ogsaa vaerd at laegge Mserke til den Maade, 
 hvorpaa Udviklingen er foregaaet: Medens man anden- 
 steds griber til nbesindige og voldsomme Midler, har man 
 hos OS fulgt det bevidste Fremskridts sikre Vei. 
 
 (123) 
 
: 124 
 
 Denne Kvindens Stilling i Norge er ikke ydet hende 
 som nogen Gave, men er Resultatet af en langvarig, ihaer- 
 dig, maalbevidst Kamp. Og dette storartede Resultat 
 er, ved vi, vgesentlig opnaaet ved en, som i disse mange 
 Aar aldrig svigtede Sagen, som i Kampens og Modgan- 
 gens haarde Dage aldrig gav tabt, men modig og bevidst 
 om sin Sags Retfgerdighed kjaempede Slaget tilende og 
 vandt Seier. Denne ene, det er — Gina Krog. 
 
Tale for Norge ved Hundredeaarsfesten til Ole Bulls 
 Minde i Bj^rgvins Hall, Chicago, 5te Februar 1910. 
 
 Ole Olsen Viol, norsk Normand fra Norge — saaledes 
 kaldte han sig. '^ First, last and always'^ — Normand. 
 Bj0rnson sagde om ham: *'Bare at se ham er en Fest. . . 
 Ole Bull var den f^rste og st^rsteFeststund i vort Folk." 
 Og de samme Ord gj^lder om ham, som det er sagt om 
 Bj0rnson selv: '^At nagvne hans Navn er at heise det 
 norske Flag.'' 
 
 Det er dette Trgek hos Ole Bull — hans uforlignelige 
 Fsedrelandskjaerlighed til enhver Tid og hvor han end 
 befandt sig i Verden, som gjorde ham saa uendelig af- 
 holdt af sine Landsm^end, som gjorde, at hans Begra- 
 velse blev en S^rgefest for hele Landet, som gj0r, at hans 
 F^dselsdag feires 1 Norge, her 1 Amerika, overalt i den 
 vide Verden, hvor der findes Normagnd, som en National- 
 dag, som en Dag, der bragte noget uendelig stort og 
 skj^nt og djnrebart til vort Land og Folk. 
 
 Denne store Faedrelandskjgerlighed fandt Udtryk i 
 hele hans Liv. Hans Livsopgave var gjennem sin store 
 og skjVnne Kunst at tale Norges Sag, at tolke det norske 
 Folks Aandsliv — Sjceleliv; og det gjorde han som ingen 
 anden har gjort f0r eller senere. Som Bj0rnson igjen 
 siger om han: ^'Naar han fik reist det norske Theater, 
 naar han st^ttet norsk Kunst, naar han hjalp det norske 
 Museum, naar hans maegtige Fele sang for andre norske 
 Foretagender, naar han alle Steder, hvor han kom, hjalp 
 
 (125) 
 
126 
 
 Landsmaend og andre, som traengte til det, saa var det 
 ikke saa meget for Sagens eller Personens Skyld, som 
 til Norges Lov. Han kjendte sig altid, som vor Udsen- 
 ding ! " — Ole Bull glemte aldrig sit Fgedreland, han f or- 
 n^gtede aldrig sit Fasdreland. Selv om Kongens Gunst 
 stod paa Spil, som dengang han trodsede Karl Johan paa 
 Stockholms Slot, saa var han dog ikke rsed for at tale 
 Norges Sag og fordre sin fulde Ret og Vaerdighed som 
 Normand. 
 
 Om Ole Bulls Liv Igerer os en Ting fremfor alt, saa er 
 det Troskab mod Norge lige til det sidste. Hos ham var 
 der en uimodstaaelig Trang til altid at vgere med og feire 
 Faedrelandets Festdag, saa at han ved flere Anledninger, 
 for at komme hjem til Norge paa 17de Mai, reiste Tusin- 
 der Mile bort fra Rigdom og ^resbevisninger, og tilslut 
 mod Lsegers Raad og Advarsel, gjorde han den sidste 
 lange Reise hjem for at kunne skue de elskede kjendte 
 Fjelde og Fjorde endnu engang, leve Livets sidste 
 0ieblikke i Faedrelandet og lukke sine 0ine med Hovedet 
 paa Mor Norges Bryst. 
 
 Norske Mgend og Kvinder, jeg tror, at vi alle f0ler no- 
 get af den samme Laengsel, — at der er Stunder i vort 
 Liv, da det er saare haardt at vsere borte fra Mor Norge. 
 At naevne Ole Bull er paa samme Tid at naevne Norge. 
 At hgedre Ole Bulls Minde er paa samme Tid at h^dre 
 og fremme Norges Sag. Ole Bull og Norge — de to er 
 uadskillelige. Lad os da i denne H^itidsstund erindre 
 bans og vort kjgere Faedreland: Norge. 
 
Speech to the graduating nurses of Norwegian Tabitha 
 Hospital delivered June 21st 1910. 
 
 Graduating Nurses of the Tabitha Hospital! 
 
 It is my pleasure and privilege tonight to express to 
 you the greeting of this assemblage. Our sentiments are 
 twofold : first, pleasure and satisfaction at the good work 
 done by you and now happily concluded by this gradu- 
 ation, and next, the warmest good wishes for the career 
 upon which you are about to enter. 
 
 During the time you have spent at the Tabitha 
 Hospital your competency and ability have been 
 thoroughly tried, and your fitness for the great under- 
 taking of nursing the sick has been put to a severe test. 
 If there existed any weakness in your make-up, moral, 
 mental or physical, that would in any way disqualify you 
 from taking up this occupation, if there were any hin- 
 drance to your becoming thoroughly successful in it, such 
 weakness would have been discovered, and you would 
 not today have received your license to practise nursLug. 
 We can therefore all with assurance congratulate you 
 heartily upon the proof you have given of your thorough 
 fitness for this great profession. 
 
 I say '' profession," for nursing has become a profes- 
 sion just as much as the other vocations in life that 
 are commonly so termed. In the same degree as they 
 it requires a long course of faithful study and application 
 beside the most careful training and preparation, and for 
 real success it also demands aptitude and fitness. It is in 
 
 (127) 
 
128 
 every way as dignified as the other professions — the law, 
 the medicine, the ministry, — and in some respects, as I 
 shall show, it surpasses all of these. 
 
 It is not an occupation of ease and comfort that you 
 have selected ; on the contrary, it is, if rightly pursued, as 
 hard and taxing work as is to be found in life. It de- 
 mands no mean powers and no small resource of physical 
 strength. It calls not only for mental and moral quali- 
 ties of the highest order — good judgment, patience, cheer- 
 fulness, steadfastness, perseverance — but also an excep- 
 tional supply of nerve — good, strong nerve. 
 
 It offers as no other vocation opportunity for the two 
 things most worthwhile in life; the development of 
 character and the helping of one's fellowbeings. There 
 is no place where selfabnegation and selfsacrifice — the 
 acts that really go to make character — are so often called 
 for as in the sickroom. There is certainly no other place 
 where as much can be done to bring help, comfort, solace, 
 encouragement, peace to suffering humanity. The con- 
 summate ability of the distinguished physician, the incom- 
 parable skill of the renowned surgeon are, in promoting 
 the real comfort and happiness of the sick, insignificant 
 in comparison with the never-failing watchfulness and 
 care of the perfect nurse. Through the long nights of 
 feverish wakening and through the long weeks or months 
 of slow convalescence, it is the nurse's ever-ready hand 
 and ever-watchful spirit that lures the sick man forward 
 on the road to recovery. It is the hand that smoothes 
 the pillow and strokes the brow that convinces the de- 
 pressed spirit of the never-failing sympathy of mankind, 
 
129 
 
 and so gives new interest and new hope in life. Long- 
 fellow describes beautifully the angel of the sickroom in 
 his tribute to ''The lady with the lamp": 
 
 "Lo; in that house of misery 
 
 A lady with a lamp I see 
 
 Pass through the glimmering gloom 
 
 And flit from room to room. 
 
 And slow as in dream of bliss. 
 The speechless sufferer turns to kiss 
 Her shadow as it falls 
 Upon the darkening walls." 
 
 But this difficult and taxing occupation is not without 
 its great compensations and rewards. The realization of 
 relieving successfully want and suffering must of itself 
 be a constant source of gratification. The ever-increasing 
 fund of gratitude of men and women that have been 
 cared for must be a joy and satisfaction to the nurse. 
 The acquaintance made in many a sickroom between 
 patient and nurse grows from mutual esteem into a 
 friendship lasting throughout life. Heroic deeds of 
 nursing are applauded by the entire world. When a vote 
 was taken in England on the question of the most popular 
 woman in the British realm, there was an overwhelming 
 majority for Florence Nightingale, the heroic nurse of 
 the Crimean war. 
 
 And so, upon your entrance into this career of such 
 great possibilities, such great responsibilities and such 
 great rewards we wish you with all our heart: Success, 
 Good Luck and God Speed! 
 
Tale ved Bjjzlrnson Mindefesten i Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 
 den 30te Juni 1910. 
 
 Norske Maend og Kvinder! 
 
 Nylig gik det Budskab udover Verden : Norges store 
 H0vding er ikke mere! Det norske Folks vaeldige Maer- 
 kesmand er sunket til Jorden ! Den norske Skalds mgeg- 
 tige rungende Stemme, som i over et lialvt Aarhundrede 
 liar lydt fra Landsende til Landsende, er stilnet ! Der er 
 Landesorg i gamle Norge! 
 
 Ja, der blev Landesorg, som man ikke bar seet Mage 
 til f0r i det Land eller i noget andet. Sorg, som ikke kom 
 til nogen enkelt Kreds af Slegt og Venner; sorg, som 
 ramte hele det norske Folk, store og smaa, h0ie og lave, 
 Mgend, Kvinder og Barn, som gjorde det stilt overalt — 
 i de tusen Hjem. Det var en Mors Sorg over S^nnen — 
 Mor Norges Sorg over sin kjaereste og gjgeveste S^n — 
 den S0n, som f0rst kaldte hende "Mor!'' 
 
 Og saa stelte Mor Norge med ham som det st0rste og 
 dyrebareste bun eiet — med Stoltbed, ^refrygt, Hseder. 
 
 "Saa kom, din Hjemfaerd er beredt 
 
 Alt Norge er i Foraar klsedt; 
 
 din Maidr0m er knoppet ind 
 
 i Tusen lyse Barnesind; 
 
 den Livets Magt, hvorpaa du tror, 
 
 slaar Brudesl0r om vaarvarm Jord — 
 
 Saa kom! — Hun venter dig din Mor!" 
 
 (130) 
 
131 
 
 Hans Bjz(n blev opfyldt, naar ban bad : 
 
 "Syng mig frem over Hav. 
 Syng mig hjem til rnin Grav 
 i vor Jord, 
 hos min Mor." 
 
 Folket str^mmet fra alle Landets Kanter for at vise 
 den sidste Hgeder, for at sige det sidste Tak. Norges 
 Stormaend var alle der. En anden H^vding, ogsaa en 
 KJEempeskikkelse bekjendt for Stordaad, talte om bans 
 Liv og Fasrd og tolket den store Landesorg, medens hele 
 det norske Folk stod og lyttet med grasdende Hjerte. 
 
 De nordiske Nabolande kunde ikke se saadan Lande- 
 sorg i Norge uden at vaere med; selv den Bror, fra hvem 
 vi er blit saa fjernet. Sveriges ypperste Skald bragte 
 denne Hilsen: 
 
 "Rundt om ser jag ett helt land forsankt i djupaste sorg. Det 
 "er inte den svala klagan, som sA ofta blir hord nar nigot beromdt 
 "namn strjks ut ur lifvets bok. Har ar det i fullaste mening barn, 
 "som s5rja sin far. Det ar, som hade det med ens blifvit tyst och 
 <'d6dt dfver fjallen. Men bakom vemodet i alias tigon framtindrar 
 "hela tiden en obeskrifligt stilla, nastan helig gladje. Det er 
 "gladjen hos ett folk att ha f^tt en sddan hofding att begrava. Vi 
 "fa g§L langt upp i de norska hafderna, anda till aldsta dagar, f6r 
 "att s6ka din like, Hofding, h5fding, annu i doden hofding! 
 
 "Nar vi svenskar ha tankt p^, Norge, da, ha vi tankt p^ dig. Nar 
 "vi ha harmats, da. ha vi harmats paa dig. 
 
 "Ja, djupt i folkens sjai, i det fortegna, 
 
 der brusar andd evigt brodrasdngen. 
 
 Har sta vi kvar och se mot solnedgangen 
 
 och s5rja dig som en af vdra egna." 
 
 Hvad laa der til Grund for denne Norges Landesorg 
 — hvad gjorde, at enhver f^lte det som et personligt Tab ? 
 
132 
 
 Jo, det var det, at enhver norsk Mand og Kvinde, et- 
 hvert Barn i Hus og Hytte over hele Norges Land f0lte, 
 at han i Bj0rnson havde tabt en Ven, som havde gi't ham 
 noget af det bedste han eiet. Til nogle havde han bragt 
 Tr^st i Sorgen, til andre Opmuntring til Arbeide og 
 Daad, til alle den uforlignelige Nationalsang og Inspira- 
 tion til den varmeste Faedrelandskjgerlighed. 
 
 Ja, medens han var Forfatter, Digter, Taler, Politiker 
 og alt det andet, saa taenker vi dog heist paa ham, og 
 han maa altid v^ere os st0rst og kjagrest — som Faedre- 
 landsven. Hvor betegnende er ikke disse Ting, man har 
 sagt om ham: 
 
 ^'Selve bans Navn klinger som en Festf anf are. " 
 ''At n^evne Bj0rnsons Navn er som at folde ud 
 det norske Flag.'' 
 
 ''For Norge var han Fanen, det rent norske Flag 
 og selve det historiske Vaaben: Den skridende 
 L^ve med Hellebarden. " 
 
 "I Bj^rnstjerne Bj0rnson havde Norge endelig 
 tonet Flag — rent Flag. ' ' 
 og ikke mindre betegnende hvad han selv siger : 
 
 "Den lange norske Vimpel, der sm elder i mit 
 Navn." 
 
 "Jeg vil bo i Norge, jeg vil pryle og pryles i 
 
 Norge, jeg vil synge og d0 i Norge, V9?r vis paa det." 
 
 Bj0rnsons Liv danner et eget Afsnit i Norges Historic. 
 
 I vort nationale Liv og Udvikling blev han Wergelands 
 
 Efterf0lger og Arvtager, og lige til det sidste svigtet han 
 
 aldrig dette sit h^ie Kald. Norges f^rste nulevende Hi- 
 
133 
 storiker har sagt : Skulde jeg skrive en Bog om Norges 
 Historie i det 19de Aarhundrede, saa blev f^rste Bind: 
 Henrik Wergeland, andet Bind: Bj^rnstjerne Bj^rnson. 
 I hele dette historiske Afsnit — disse Halvhundrede Aar 
 — var der ikke en Begivenhed af nogen Betydning, hvor 
 han ikke stod forrest i Kampen. Gjennem hele sit Liv 
 var han inderlig sammen med sit Folk, og han delte tro- 
 fast i Fremgang og Modgang godt og ondt. Hele hans 
 Liv blev viet det norske Folk ; han blev det 0ie, i hvilket 
 det saa sin egen Sjael. Han tsenkte og talte paa dets 
 Yegne lige ud af dets Hjerte; han blev dets store og 
 sande Tolk; for Udenverdenen blev han Symbolet paa 
 sit Land — han blev Norge. 
 
 Bj^rnson forstod tilfulde, og han glemte aldrig os 
 Udflytterfolket, og i Arnes Lsengsel efter at komme 
 ''Over de h^ie Fjelde", tolket han vor Udfserdstrang. 
 Han vedblev ogsaa at vsere Mellemleddet i vor Lsengsel 
 tilbage til det gamle Land — han var i sig selv et Nor- 
 mandsforbund. Hans Ord og Tanker d^r aldig — de er 
 uforgjaengelige ; de vil altid leve i Normaends Hjerter her 
 som i Norge. Ligesom Norge altid vil vagre Del af vort 
 Liv, saa vil ogsaa altid Bj^rnson leve. 
 
I N D H O L D. 
 
 Side 
 Speech delivered in Kuhn's Park, Chicago, May 17th 1897 
 
 on The Constitution of Norway 7 
 
 Three Letters from Norway to The Lake Forester written 
 
 during the summer of 1902 10 
 
 Speech delivered at Brands Park, Chicago, May 17th 1903 
 
 on celebration of the day and on "Skandinavisme" 22 
 
 Remarks (introducing Frank O. Lowden and John M. Harlan 
 
 by F. H. Gade, at the Republican Mass Meeting in Lake 
 
 Forest, 111., October 17th 1904 32 
 
 Speech on "America" delivered at banquet for the Norwegian 
 
 Student Singers at the Sherman House, Chicago, May 
 
 22nd 1905 35 
 
 Letter to the President of the United States accompanying 
 
 petition for recognition of Norway's new government... 39 
 Remarks by F. H. Gade, Mayor, at the last council meeting 
 
 of his administration. May 7th 1906 40 
 
 Tale ombord paa Dampskibet "Hellig Olav" den 3die August 
 
 1906 i Anledning Kong Haakons F0dselsdag 44 
 
 Tale for Kaptein Roald Amundsen ved Nationalforbundets 
 
 Banket i Pierson's Hall, Chicago, den 4de Nov. 1906 47 
 
 Skaaltale: "Damerne" ved den norske Kvartetklubs Banket 
 
 i Chicago den 19de Januar 1907 50 
 
 Tale for Minister Christian Hauge ved Nationalforbundets 
 
 Banket for ham i Chicago den 16de Mai 1907 52 
 
 Speech for America at "Syvende Juni" celebration at Wicker 
 
 Park Hall, Chicago, June 7th 19i07 54 
 
 Tale ved Idrsetsforeningen "Sleipners" Folkefest i Brands 
 
 Park, Chicago, den 19de Juni 1907 — Betydningen af 
 
 7de Juni 58 
 
 Tale ved S0nner af Norges Midsommerfest i Minneapolis 
 
 den 23de Juni 1907 63 
 
 Tale for (Norge) Michelsen ved Sangforeningen Bj0rgvins 
 
 25 Aars Jubilseum, Chicago, d. 2den Juli 1907 68 
 
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 Side 
 
 Tale for Kaptein Roald Amundsen ved Banketten for ham i 
 
 Congress Hotel, Chicago, d. lite Nov. 1907 71 
 
 Tale ved Festen i Orchestra Hall, Chicago, i Anledning 
 
 Bj0rnsons F0dselsdag, 27de Nov. 1907 73 
 
 Tale for Den Norske Kvartetklub ved dens 18-Aarsfest i 
 
 Chicago den lite Januar 1908 76 
 
 Tale for Det Norske Nationalforbund ved dets Fest i Bj0rg- 
 
 vins Hall, Chicago, d. 17de Februar 1908 78 
 
 Tale ved Det Norske Tabitha Hospitals Koncert i Wicker 
 
 Park Hall, Chicago, den lite Marts 1908 83 
 
 Speech at dinner of Board of Trustees of the Deerfield Town- 
 ship Highschool, Highland Park, 111., May 11th, 1908... 86 
 Syttende Mai Tale holdt i Fargo, N. D., den 16de Mai og i 
 
 Grand Forks, N. D., den 18de Mai 1908 91 
 
 Speech at opening of the bazaar of Norw. Luth. Deaconesses 
 
 Hosp., Northwest Hall, Chicago, October 28th 1908 100 
 
 Tale ved Overrsekkelsen af Kongens og Dronningens Por- 
 
 traetter til Det Norske Alderdomshjem i Chicago, den 
 
 23de Januar 1909 103 
 
 Tale ved Overrsekkelsen af Kongens og Dronningens Por- 
 
 trsetter ved Det Norske B0rnehjem i Chicago den 14de 
 
 Februar 1909 105 
 
 Oration — on "Patriotism" — delivered at graduation exercises 
 
 of Deerfield Township Highschool at Ravinia Park 
 
 Theatre, HI., June 17th 1909 108 
 
 Tale ved Nedlsegningen af Grundstenen til Det Norske Alder- 
 
 domshjems nye Bygning, Chicago, den 27de Juni 19109 . . . 119 
 Introduktion af Fr0ken Gina Krog ved hendes Foredrag i 
 
 Bj0rgvins Hall, Chicago, den 22de Juli 1909 123 
 
 Tale for Norge ved Hundredeaarsfesten til Ole Bulls Minde 
 
 1 Bj0rgvins Hall, Chicago, 5te Februar 1910 125 
 
 Speech to the graduating nurses of Norwegian Tabitha 
 
 Hospital delivered June 21st 1910 127 
 
 Tale ved Bj0rnson Mindefesten i Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 
 
 den 30te Juni 1910 130 
 
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