him that the idea of an awareness of Finnish nationality was to advance. Snellman, and the pro-Finnish youth of the time in general, gained confidence that the Finnish movement had a future from proof that, among other things, the Finnish people had demonstrated intellectual abilities - for example, in their folk poetry. A little something had already been done to foster the Finnish language itself: in 1828 an instructorship for the study of Finnish had been established at the university; since the supporters of the Finnish nationalistic movement had turned their attention in the 1830s to the collection and study of folk poetry and folklore, the authorities did not find it necessary to obstruct this work being carried out on behalf of the Finnish language. Continuing directly related to Snellman's own activities, the Finnish nationalistic movement did not begin to show its true colors until the following decade, when Snellman became embroiled with the authorities.

At the same time, the country's Swedish language literature was broadly nationalistic in spirit and was living its golden age. Such poets as Runeberg and Topelius, as well as Nervander, Fredrik Cygnaeus, and later Lauri Stenbäck and Emil von Qvanten, gave it its distinguishing features. This literature was characterized by a breadth of vision, an affirmation of the culture and idolization of everything national. The special zeal of the age also embraced the drama, which became more readily available with the founding of the Swedish Theater in Helsinki in 1827. Novels became fashionable in the 1840s, particularly in translation, with the result that there was a gradual retreat from a high-flown idealism and an approach to more concrete problems of life.

The common endeavors of the university group suffered a significant setback when material considerations forced Runeberg to move to Porvoo. At about the same time, Snellman's activity at the university was hampered when he came into conflict with the authorities. From the point of view of Snellman's personal development this was a decisive factor, for he went abroad in 1839 and, immersing himself in Sweden and in Germany in the wider social and cultural currents, he became in the following decade the champion of the Finnish movement through his newspaper activity.

Lönnrot, too, had left the capital. In 1832 he had gone as a doctor to Oulu, and later to Kajaani, which brought him into the immediate vicinity of the singers of the old folk poetry and gave him the opportunity to continue the collection of folk poetry he had begun much earlier. The result of his work was the

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