Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-01-08
THE RICHMOND DISPATCH-SUNDAY. JANUARY s, 1883.
the old Arcadian days might once more

eho oio hAbuAlhu deJe Aiba2' ~N~~ 1900
come again.
The saying runs that the Swedes make
their money in Gothenburg to spend it
in Stockholm, and indeed that city IN
the South, in Bohnsland, is busy,
commercial, and may add not very
interesting place. II was founded by
Dutch merchants, who have given it
Dutch air of comfort and wealth, with
narrow streets and intersecting canals
crowded by picturesque boats. There is
even now feature OF Gothenburgs So
cial life which suggests the quaint times
when the Hanseatic League had its Jeal-
ously-preserved exotic depot or planta-
ton in every foreign land for Of an eve
ming, in the smoky, dim-ht drinking Gel
lars, you sec many resident English,
Scotch, and German merchants gathered
into coteries. drinking solemnly the Ia
nous Carnegie Gothenburg porter. and
discussing in their native tongues the
questions of the trade.
II Gothenburg suggest commerce, and
il description of Stockholm typlfy,that
element OF the Swedish nature which
loves the pleasure of the present and IS
not oppressed ny its remembrance OF
more glorious historic past, the mention
of Upsala brings to the mind memories
Of the high intellectual effort OF this ma
ton, and, above all, tho fierce, Wild
grandeur OF the religion OF its prehisto-
ric Viking age. When [ arrived at Up
sala, after an hours journey from
Stockholm by rail, L went first
through the pleasant. open town,
to see the noble Gothic Cathedral,
whose fine proportions the usual
coat of Reformation whitewash could
not hide, aud then / climbed the hill
above the Cathedral to the University
grounds. For a student of literature
this would be indeed n journey to
shrine, since in the library OF the I'M
versity of the Upsala is the translation
of the four gospels into Gothic, made
by Bishop Ulhlas in 369, that precious
Codex Argenteus or Silver Book, the sole
remaining memorial of the Gothic Ian
guage, tho mother of the Germanlc
tongue. The letters Of this book are of
silver, except the initials, which are OF
gold. They are not written, but stamp
ed on the violet-colored vellum with hot
metal types, and so near was the
copyist to the discovery OF printing
that if no had thought of com
binipg three or four of these let
ters instead Of stamping them singly, he
would have anticipated Faust and Gut
enberg by 1900 years. Near the Codex
Won see the grabbed, black letters and
withered brown parchment OF the Oldest
copy of the Poetic Edda Of Salmund the
Learned, and the manifold journal OF
Linneus, Professor in Upsala, "the
Plinv of Sweden" the "head gardener
TO Europe" he "who found natural
history q chaos and left it a science. "
From Linneus your mind passes to
thinking of Swedenborg, Of Tyeho
Brahe. of Celsius, and you reflect with
some surprise that Sweden has a better
place than you had fancied in the torch
race Of science in the world.
When | had looked at these things
sufficiently drove out three miles across
the great plain of Upsala to Gamla Up
sala, the hamlet which has sprung up
round the cradle OF theold scandinavian
faith. 1t was glorious autumn day
everything filled me with a careless
cheerfulness-thes sunshine, the blue sky,
the white flying clouds, the red-rooied,
comfortable farm-hOuses halt-hidden
among green trees, always on little
mounds rising over and again IKE
islands from the broad, far-stretchiug
sea of golden stubbl6 fields. And
now suddenly doomed before me in
threatening, always in self-consclous
sombreness, under the gloom Of a
still overhanging cloud, those three bare
gigantic barrows where, the legend tells,
the great gods-OdiD, Thor, and Frey
are buried. dark shapes ia smiling plain.
/ Under the shadow OF these earth mounds
clustered few farm houses and barns,
the hamlet OF Gamla, or Old Upsala. \
farmers woman gave me mead to drink
ont of q long, curved OK horn tipped with
silver. and then I climbed the slippery,
I classy sidcsof Odin's Barrow, the greatest
of the three. Strange thoughts over
whelmed meas stood there silently look
/ lDp down, Germany bolIc Sl'"t NHi''
tam sleptin each mound, for when tho
scholars cut through one bill not many
wears ago they found n barrow dwell
err" sitting uprieht therein, vita hi.
treasures about his feet and his sworc
across his knees, and knew that each OF
the island mounds. Of which there were
1900 in Upsala Plain, was the grave o
some warrior, where in winter time they
say the night fires run along the ground
10 brighten robbers from the bidder
treasures. But most Of ELL / thought o
the three wise gods whose worship l.
now forgot, as their colossi stood in the
great temple Of Upsala, which glittereC
all about with gold, and had a chain o
cold running 500 els around It's roof
/ Odin. the All Father, maker Of Heayei
and earth, most mighty the fearful
father Of slaughter, he who gave victor.
and revived courage in tho conflict, WIZ
babe the Valkyries bring to Walhalla tn
warriors whom he chose to be slain, witt
his winged helmet on his head and hi
sword in his hand, and his soothsayinl
ravens Hugin and Munin on elthe