Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/361

Rh was by him reduced to an intelligent system. On all these and on many other subjects he wrote valuable works, both in Latin and in Swedish. (1596-1675) set forth with great perspicuity the principles of ancient Northern laws, in his celebrated book on the legal institutions of Sweden's ancient population. (died 1744) gained a European reputation especially by his discoveries and observations in physics. His scholarly dissertations on these subjects are written partly in Swedish, but principally in Latin. The most eminent theologian was (died 1678), whose chief merit consists in having endeavored with great energy to introduce a more liberal tendency in the Swedish church in place of the stereotyped orthodoxy which obstructed every free aspiration. By degrees the principles of modern philosophy were established, to which result the circumstance greatly contributed that Cartesius, the real founder of that philosophy, lived a long time in Sweden, teaching and getting many followers in the country. (1671-1738) was Sweden's first great philosopher. His chief work, "Nödiga Förnufts-Oefningar att lära kenna thet sundas vägar och thet osundas felsteg" (necessary rational exercises for learning the ways of what is sound and the errors of what is unsound), is based on the principles of the Cartesian school, but is independent in many respects, and must be considered one of the most learned and prominent works of this period. He exercised a notable influence on the literary tendency of the following period from the fact that many of its most distinguished representatives had been his pupils.

(1688-1772) was one of the most marked and widely known characters of this period. After having gained considerable reputation by theoretical and practical works on mathematics, mechanics, and mining, he