ARCHITECTURE

  Tall columns stand in well-proportioned line.

  SCULPTURE

  The marble shape beneath the mallet’s blow.

  PAINTING

  Fresh life upon the painted canvas show.

  MUSIC

  For thee the stream of harmonies shall spring.

  DANCING

  Light dances follow close the vibrant string. 
  DRAMA

  The whole world’ll pass ’fore thee on the stage.

  POETRY

  And fancy with her magic equipage
  Shall bear thee, ravished, to the fields on high.

  PAINTING

  And as the magic rainbow in the sky
  Conjures its colors from the gorgeous sun,
  So will we, each for all, and all as one,
  With mystic sevenfold wealth of pageantry,
  Weave for thee, Lady, life’s great tapestry.

  ALL THE ARTS (embracing one another)

  For strength must wed with strength, and so impart
  Beauty to life and life to forms of art.

* * * * *

HISTORY AND LITERATURE

THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR—­THE LAST CAMPAIGNS OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (1792)[59]

TRANSLATED BY THE REV.  A. J. W. MORRISON, M.A.

The glorious battle of Leipzig effected a great change in the conduct of Gustavus Adolphus, as well as in the opinion which both friends and foes entertained of him.  Successfully had he confronted the greatest general of the age, and had matched the strength of his tactics and the courage of his Swedes against the elite of the imperial army, the most experienced troops in Europe.  From this moment he felt a firm confidence in his own powers—­self-confidence has always been the parent of great actions.  In all his subsequent operations more boldness and decision are observable; greater determination, even amidst the most unfavorable circumstances, a more lofty tone toward his adversaries, a more dignified bearing toward his allies, and even in his clemency, something of the forbearance of a conqueror.  His natural courage was further heightened by the pious ardor of his imagination.  He saw in his own cause that of heaven, and in the defeat of Tilly beheld the decisive interference of Providence against his enemies, and in himself the instrument of divine vengeance.  Leaving his crown and his country far behind, he advanced on the wings of victory into the heart of Germany, which for centuries had seen no foreign conqueror within its bosom.  The warlike spirit of its inhabitants, the vigilance of its numerous princes, the artful confederation of its states, the number of its strong castles, its many and broad rivers, had long restrained the ambition of its neighbors; and frequently as its extensive frontier had been attacked, its interior had been free from hostile invasion.  The Empire had hitherto enjoyed the equivocal privilege of being its own enemy, though invincible from without.