Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/343

 THE NORTH SLESWIC QUESTION 327

Denmark was the birth-place of Thorvaldsen, the most famous sculptor in modern times. Pervading all the works of this great artist, however much influenced by classical models, "there was something essentially Danish, something taken from the blood of his nation, which was thus made to circulate through the veins of Europe," writes Julius Lange, the distinguished art critic. A worthy representative of contemporary Danish art was known to Americans in the person of the late Rohl-Smith, the talented young sculptor whose unfinished Sherman statue in Washington is declared by connoisseurs to be one of the finest monuments in the United States. Also an important and virile national school of painting is flourishing in Denmark, comprising many names of continental renown, conspicuous among which is that of Kroyer, easily the peer, and supposedly the superior, of any living German painter. At the same time, the artistic instinct has penetrated every layer of the population, systematically encouraged by the national and municipal authorities, as well as by private munifi- cence, which in Denmark, as in Europe generally, seeks a favorite outlet in this particular field. The Danish Carnegie, a Copen- hagen brewer, has donated to his native city art treasures worth millions.

5. The press. The press of Denmark is thoroughly modern in spirit and a power that must be reckoned with. In proportion to population, it has nearly twice the circulation of that of any other country. Four-fifths of all the newspapers are affiliated with the democratic parties affording in this a striking contrast to journalistic conditions in Germany.

Among Danish journalists one name stands out in bold relief, viz., that of Horup, Denmark's greatest political genius. This thoroughbred, uncompromising radical, in his speeches as mem- ber of Parliament, but especially in his masterful daily leaders in his paper, the Politiken, in which he developed a style pecu- liarly his own absolutely devoid of invectives, but relying solely upon the effect of irony and satire for twenty-five years waged incessant war against the forces of reaction and militar- ism, thereby contributing more than any other single person to the political renaissance of his people; only to suffer the pathetic fate