Outline for a Life
- I. Birth: place and date—country, city, epoch.
- Nationality of parents and noteworthy facts connected with the family.
- II. Boyhood and early education:
- Disposition and temperament displayed by the youth.
- His chief interests; hobbies.
- Anecdotes about the boy: both true and only typical.
- Primary and secondary schooling: at private or public institutions.
- III. Later education and the choice of a career:
- College life.
- His family's plan for his profession or career.
- His own plan.
- Circumstances influencing the ultimate choice.
- Success resulting from the choice:
- Intellectual and personal.
- Financial and worldly.
- Final professional training.
- Travel.
- IV. Family and domestic life: marriage, children.
- Influence of wife and children on his success.
- Anecdotes and particular instances to illustrate personality and character.
- V. Friends and enemies: names, professions, and influence.
- VI. Accomplishment and title to fame:
- His rank in his own nation and the world.
- His especial characteristics as displayed in style and subject-matter.
- His masterpieces: something of their content.
Queen Christina
(Born 1626. Died 1689.)
In the royal palace at Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, there was born, in 1626, a little princess. The king, her father, gave her the name of Christina, in memory of a Swedish girl with whom he had been in love. His own name was Gustavus Adolphus, and he was also called the Lion of the North, because he had gained greater fame in war than any other prince or general then alive. With this valiant king for their commander, the Swedes had made themselves terrible to the Emperor of Germany and to the King of France, and were looked upon as the chief defense of the Protestant religion.
The little Christina was by no means a beautiful child. To confess the truth, she was remarkably plain. The queen, her mother, did not love her so much as she ought; partly, perhaps, on account of Christina's want of beauty, and also both the king and queen had wished for a son, who might have gained as great renown in battle as his father had.
The king, however, soon became exceedingly fond of the infant princess. When Christina was very young she was taken violently sick. Gustavus Adolphus, who was several hundred miles from Stockholm, traveled night and day and never rested until he held the poor child in his arms. On her recovery he made a solemn festival in order to show his joy to the people of Sweden and express his gratitude to Heaven. After this event he took his daughter with him in all the journeys which he made throughout his kingdom.
Christina soon proved herself a bold and sturdy little girl. When she was two years old the king and herself, in the course of a journey, came to the strong fortress of Colmar. On the battlements were soldiers clad in steel armor, which glittered in the sunshine. There were likewise great cannons, pointing their black mouths at Gustavus and little Christina and ready to belch out their smoke and thunder; for, whenever a king enters a fortress, it is customary to receive him with a royal salute of artillery.
But the captain of the fortress met Gustavus and his little daughter as they were about to enter the gateway.