The skalds were Scandinavian poets who composed during the period from the ninth through the thirteenth centuries. Their poetry dealt with Viking heroes, kings, and warriors and was for a time very popular. I am getting on in years, and I speak more of the past than of the present. A famous scientific advisor to the government believes that we do not need to fear that an atomic war will be started by a dictator or a ruling clique for the military glory or be almost sure that they themselves would not survive it. This scientist is aware of the various ways in which an atomic war could be started and of its serious consequences but sincerely believes that we are not going to have a great war for some time.
Every writer has a limited creative range.
The reader should always be on the lookout to note the scope of this range, and should not blame the writer for remaining with it. Before the U.S. War of Independence, merchants of the thirteen colonies were supposed to obey strict trade laws that were made in England. These laws kept the merchants from getting the raw materials they needed and thus threatened their livelihood. To obtain these needed goods, the merchants finally had to resort to illegal means as buying the goods from pirates. Of the nine universities established in colonial America, only one, the University of Pennsylvania, founded by Benjamin Franklin, was non-denominational.