We builded ourselves a house, Stately and fair, And there in God confided, Spite tempest, storm, and care. We lived there so trustful, So friendly, so free, 'Twas hateful to the wicked Such honest men to see! They wronged us, they charged us With treason and shame, They strove our fair young Freedom To curse and to defame. What God laid upon us Was misunderstood; Our unity excited Mistrust e'en in the good. They brand it as sinful-- They cheat themselves sore-- The form it may be broken; The love lives evermore. The form has been broken, The ruins lie low; Yet what they have discovered Is merely smoke and show. Our riband is severed, Of black, red, and gold, Yet God has it permitted; Who can his will unfold! Then let the house perish! What matters its fall? The soul lives yet within us, And God's the strength of all! CHAPTER VI. CEREMONIAL INTRODUCTIONS TO UNIVERSITY AND BURSCHEN LIFE. Great need hath man of brother man To reach his noblest aim; He moves but in the general plan. Fly then the wolf-bewasted strand, And knit life's strong and social band. _Schiller_.