enslavers, but must be sought in the prophetic, imaginative and poetic childhood of the Gothic race. Read these poems and judge whether the eminent English writer, Samuel Laing, is right when be says:
All that men hope for of good government and future improvement
in their physical and moral condition,—all that
civilized men enjoy at this day of civil, religious and political
liberty,—the British constitution, representative legislation, the
trial by jury, security of property, freedom of mind and person,
the influence of public opinion over the conduct of public affairs,
the Reformation, the liberty of the press, the spirit of the age,—all
that is or has been of value to man in modern times as a
member of society, either in Europe or in the New World, may
be traced to the spark left burning upon our shores by these
northern barbarians.
Read these poems and find truth in the words of
Baron Montesquieu, the admirable author of The Spirit of Laws (L'Esprit des Lois), when he says: The great
prerogative of Scandinavia, and what ought to recommend
its inhabitants beyond every people upon earth,
is, that they afforded the great resource to the liberty
of Europe, that is, to almost all the liberty that is
among men; and when he calls the North the forge
of those instruments which broke the fetters manufactured
in the South.
In the old Gothic religion were embodied principles and elements which had a tendency to make its votaries brave, independent, honest, earnest, just, charitable, prudent, temperate, liberty-loving, etc.; principles and morals that in due course of time and under favorable circumstances evolved the Republic of Iceland, the Magna Charta of England, and the Declaration of Independence.
The rules of life as indicated by the High Song of Odin and in Sigrdrífumál, in which the valkyrie gives
