certain, sooner or later, to attract the attention of scholars. And,
in fact, as early as the seventeenth century, we meet men of literary
tastes who tried to collect and interpret the various national songs of
the Finns. Among these were Palmskold and Peter Bang. They collected
portions of the national poetry, consisting chiefly of
wizard-incantations, and all kinds of pagan folk-lore. Gabriel
Maxenius, however, was the first to publish a work on Finnish national
poetry, which brought to light the beauties of the Kalevala. It
appeared in 1733, and bore the title: De Effectibus Naturalibus. The
book contains a quaint collection of Finnish poems in lyric forms,
chiefly incantations; but the author was entirely at a loss how to
account for them, or how to appreciate them. He failed to see their
intimate connection with the religious worship of the Finns in paganism.

The next to study the Finnish poetry and language was Daniel Juslenius,
a celebrated bishop, and a highly-gifted scholar. In a dissertation,
published as early as 1700, entitled, Aboa vetus et nova, he discussed
the origin and nature of the Finnish language; and in another work of
his, printed in 1745, he treated of Finnish incantations, displaying
withal a thorough understanding of the Finnish folk-lore, and of the
importance of the Finnish language and national poetry. With great
care he began to collect the songs of Suomi, but this precious
collection was unfortunately burned.

Porthan, a Finnish scholar of great attainments, born in 1766,
continuing the work of Juslenius, accumulated a great number of
national songs and poems, and by his profound enthusiasm for the
promotion of Finnish literature, succeeded in founding the Society of
the Fennophils, which to the present day, forms the literary centre of
Finland. Among his pupils were E. Lenquist, and Chr. Ganander, whose