94 Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists
Denmark is a small country, consisting of a peninsula and larger
and smaller islands. Its area is about the same as that of Maryland, but
it contains more than double the number of inhabitants, its population
being upwards of two millions. This country lies as far north as
Labrador and Hudson’s Bay in America; yet the climate is not severe;
the winter is milder than in most of our Northern States. No doubt
this is largely due to the influence of the gulf-stream, which brings a
current of warm water from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic
Ocean to the shores of Europe. This is a priceless blessing to its far
northern countries, which would otherwise be deprived of many of the
blessings of life.
The scenery of Denmark is unlike that of Germany. The surface is
an almost unbroken plain, in most places but a few feet above the level
of the sea. Some parts, indeed, are hilly, but it is said that if the sea
level were one hundred feet higher, more than half the country would
be covered with water. The fine forests with which Denmark was once
adorned have decayed or been cut down. The land is mostly divided
into small farms, the possession of a few acres being the summit of
a Danish farmer’s ambition. Formerly the greater part of the country
was owned by the nobility, but during the present century the peasants
or farmers have had an opportunity to buy the land, and thus have
become an independent class of society. To us this country wears a
more familiar aspect than Germany. The fences separating the fields,
the farm-houses dotted over the landscape, and the pretty beech groves,
remind us of some parts of the United States.
Denmark has considerable moorland, from which a great quantity
of peat is obtained. When burned, this produces much heat, and it is
largely used by the country people for fuel. The black turf is cut in
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square blocks like brick, and laid in long rows to dry in the sun; when
dry, it is stacked, ready for market. About the homes of the people it
was piled in neat stacks, rounded on the top, like beehives. This is one
of God’s merciful provisions for the poor. The laboring class are so
poorly paid that without this it would be extremely difficult for them
to obtain fuel.