Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/403

Rh Geijer left Upsala because he feared lie might get to be regarded as "an authority," while he wished to continue his life—as a "student." Not only in his scientific works, but also by his position toward the political movements of his time he proved that he valued truth above all things. For a long time he was an ardent conservative, but when through his studies he came to be convinced of the justice of liberal ideas, he had the courage "to desert himself," as he expressed it, and became one of the most zealous advocates of popular liberty. On account of the high consideration which Geijer's noble, intelligent and marked individuality enjoyed, this step was of great importance to the people's position in political questions. Geijer also exercised a great influence on the students. Seldom has a university professor been loved and respected as was he. He died on the twenty-fourth of April, 1847.

(1776-1839) represented the extreme tendency of the Gothic school. From his earliest childhood he had to fight against poverty and want, but his iron nature did not succumb. At the age of seventeen he was compelled to leave school in consequence of a thoughtless freak on the part of the pupils, of which he assumed the entire responsibility, and he thereupon spent several years abroad, mostly in military service, and served as he himself asserted, five different kings. He had also spent some time in Denmark, where he had attended Steffen's lectures. In 1806 he obtained an appointment in Lund as a teacher of fencing, and from this time he began his enthusiastic efforts in behalf of the regeneration of the nation, which he proposed to bring about, partly by a perfected system of gymnastics based on his own comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, and partly by the revival of the memory of the antiquity of the North with its healthy and invigorating customs. In the former respect his activity