He
does not permit himself, however, like so many foreigners in the French
capital, to lapse into that supercilious cosmopolitanism which deprives
a man of his own country without giving him any other in exchange. No;
Jonas Lie is and remains a Norseman--a fact which he demonstrated (to
the gratification of his countrymen) on a recent occasion. At the
funeral of the late Professor O. J. Broch--a famous Norwegian who died
in Paris--the chaplain of the Swedish legation made an oration in which
he praised the departed statesman and scientist, referring to him
constantly as "our countryman." When he had finished, Jonas Lie, without
anybody's invitation, stepped quietly up to the coffin and in the name
of Norway bade _his_ countryman a last farewell. "The spirit came over
Lie," says his biographer, "and he spoke with ravishing eloquence."
But why did he do such an uncalled-for thing, you will ask? Because
there is a systematic effort on the part of Sweden to suppress the very
name of Norway, and to give the impression, throughout the world, that
there is no such nationality as the Norwegian.
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