CopenhagenAndItsEnvirons

T h e R eligion o f the C ountry is L u th e ra n ; but

all C reeds an d Sects are now tolerated.

E ducation is com pulsory. P o o r p aren ts p ay a

nom inal sum w eekly for the education o f their

child ren a t the G ov ernm en t scho ols; so th a t alm ost

all th e low er class can read and w rite , m ore or

less. Confirm ation, too, is com pulsory.

Until th a t

rite h a s been receiv ed , the y o u th o f b o th sexes

a re , as it w e re ,

in statu pupillari;

b u t, once

re ce iv e d , th ey jum p from children to be m en and

wom en.

Certificates o f B aptism , Confirm ation, and

V accin atio n , are a

sine qua non

to the entering

on service, apprenticeship, m atrim ony, etc.

T h e O ld-D anish is now nearly a dead language

in its own C o u n try , as is O ld -E ng lish am ong

ourselves.

B ut the O ld -N o rth ern ch aracter o f the

D anish is still a b u n d an tly e v id e n t, and the b est

and m ost expressive, the m ost n atio nal and tuneful,

o f all its w ords are O ld -N orth ern. N otw ithstanding,

h ow e v er, the difference o f the elem ents b y w hich

the two lang uages h av e been m odified, — the one

by th e N o rm an , the o ther by the G erm an, — the

E nglish and D anish m ay still be considered sister-

m em bers o f the G othic group. T h e D an ish language,

th e n , is by no m eans difficult of acquirem ent by

an E nglishm an, still less so by a Scotchm an, or an

in h ab itan t o f the N orth ern p a rt of England.