Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/265

Rh awaking a vigorous popular life than Grundtvig. The practical result of his efforts in this respect was the establishment of the so-called "people's high schools," based on purely northern and Christian elements of culture, schools which have been erected by Grundtvig and his followers throughout Denmark, and also in Norway and Sweden. If these schools, of a peculiarly northern character, are to be developed according to Grundtvig's idea, and if they pursue in spirit and in truth the course marked out for them by their founder, they may eventually produce highly beneficial results by the diffusion of national and Christian culture, and by awaking the people to a consciousness of their duties as citizens, but there is great danger that they may fail to accomplish their mission in the fact that the method of instruction is wholly without constraint. Their very nature and plan require the living word to be used almost exclusively in teaching. These schools presented themselves to Grundtvig's poetic vision; they were not only to be a protest against the sterile methods of the Latin schools, hostile in his opinion to the true interests of the people, but also the sure road to the realization of his dreams in regard to a revival of a civil and Christian spirit among the common people. The future will show whether the course chosen by Grundtvig was the right one.

Grundtvig's influence is by no means limited to the very numerous circle of his followers, who have identified themselves with his fundamental thoughts and views of life, but it extends much further, and we may boldly assert that the entire people, Grundtvig's most bitter adversaries included, have been consciously or unconsciously more or less under its spell. He was one of those powerful natures who are bound to leave their deep impress upon their own time, however much the latter may struggle against it. His great activity was in many respects very one-sided, and he accordingly met with a very violent opposition, but still he conquered it. The revival of religious life in Denmark is mainly due to him,