The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1907-05-23

seeing patriotism; that Catiline did not
want to betray his country or its cause,
but to save it for glorious future in
which the rights of the common people
should be equal with the then ruling
class and the army. And he condemns
III the most bitter terms the fanatical
writer's of history, that they have given
out lies for truth, black for white and
darkness for light, not merely in this
instance, but to very large extent the
worlds history writer's have garbed the
truth In their writings of individuals
and isolated events, and that their mar
ratlves i'll mostly all such cases are q
blue book Of fabricated tales. The
book was printed by the help of a
friend, and eighteen copies were sold.
1t was only few of his more intimate
literary admirers who knew that the
book was written by Ibsen. But it
leaked out, nevertheless; and the dali
lies, weeklies and monthlies started
hootlng against the young writer like
pack of bloOdhounds on the track of
deer. He was broken to pieces in
mind, heart and soul by the treatment
given him and by the failure of finding
buyers enough for his book to even
pay the printing expenses. And he
gave up his studies and prepared to
leave his own country and try to find a
more appreciative people tow ork for
and among.
At this trying time of his life and
literary career he wrote some of the
greatest poems that ever was penned
by any human being. Among them
being "The Murder of Abraham Lin
coln," and "The Pilot" Both of these
are epic poems of an epigrammatical
style and force that gives to the soul
| of men benumbing sense of feeling
to hear them recited'as pieces of liter
ary art. wish l had the opportunity
to translate only few verses of the
first one, "The Murder of Abraham
Lincoln" But l have not the litera-
ture needed at hand. So l will give
you only the first two lines:
"A fatal shot fell In the far of West
That shaked old Europe with fear"
In "The Pilot" he depicted the sad
fate of fisherman aud his family on the
southern coast of Norway at the time
when English men-of-war blockaded
almost the whole coastIine of Norway
to prevent the people from getting to
Denmark for grain by which to save
their lives. The English blockading
was given in support of Sweden IN
that country's war with Denmark.
And as Norway at that time was
united with Denmark under one king
and practically under one administra-
tion, it is needless to state that it had
to suffer with Denmark. The English
blockading and the atroclous crimes
perpetrated by many of the English
commanders, was very heartless and
cruel demonstration. Many innocent
lives were lost, starving literally to
death because of the lack of necessary
fOodstuff
In spite of the danger of being cap
tured by an English warship. the pilot
went in his little skiff to Denmark,
landed safely there and bought his
priceless sacks of grain, and had al
most reached his home port, when he
was captured, his boat crushed to
splinters and its cargo sunk to the bot
tom of the sea, while he himself was
taken to England as prisoner of war.
He was man at his best age then,
still comparatively young, but under
the cruel treatment he as we'll as other
prisoners were accorded aboard the
English so-called prison-ships, his face
became wrinkled, his hair gray and his
back bent. He was finally released
after several years of suffering and
came back home only to find that
Amy, his wife, and his little twelve.
year-old, blue, bell-eyed aud buttercup-
haired Mary were both dead of starva-
tion and buried in lonely corner at
the county churchyard. He went
thither, and found sunken mound of
q grave, where lay the dust of the two
that had been more dear to him than
his own life. There. he wept and suf-
fered and swore revenge. He applied
to the government for license as roy
al pilot for that partof the coast where
he used to have his house. And many