sibility and respect for the rights of others pervades the school atmosphere. The students are treated as members of the principal's family. Indeed, the latter usually presides over the diningroom, where teachers and students meet on common ground. All the students, except those who live regularly in the vicinity of the school, are expected to room in the dormitories, where small groups of them live in close contact with chosen teachers whose constant inspiration counts for much in the course of training.

In many schools the students live under self-imposed rules and regulations, enforced by representatives chosen from among themselves. Since the students are grown-up people who should know how to behave, the system has proved generally satisfactory. As a matter of fact, no other rules are necessary among the students than such as might apply to the average family and be dictated by the feelings of respect and love for one another.

It is literally true that the day's work at the folk school is so full of varied interests from early morning until late at night that it would be difficult for any one so inclined to find time for irregularities."

The Subject-Matter and its Presentation.-The lecture method of presenting the subject-matter prevails. The method is varied, however, without warning, with a give-and-take process of questions and answers. The element of interest plays a significant rôle in all the work. The young people who attend the folk high schools come to them at the time in life when they are most impressionable. The teachers in the folk high schools know this period and turn it into an abundant seed-time. Denmark has been fortunate in producing an unfailing supply of teachers who seem able to meet the heart-cravings of the seekers after truth. They are themselves men who " feel a fervour and zealous warmth for their vocation and possess a power to captivate the attention of their students." The teachers are required to have what has been termed the "historical-poetical faculty," for the whole course of training is based on history. This historical background is thus described in a bulletin of the United States Bureau of Education:1

This historical background is broad enough to include materials from the virile mythology of the Old North as well as problems of present-day social science. Folklore, songs, and literature hold important place in the curriculum. The Danish high-school students are often as well acquainted with Shakespeare and Emerson, Goethe and Tolstoy, as with their Scandinavian Holberg, Ibsen, and Björnson. Religion in the dogmatic sense is not taught in the schools, but historical 1 Bulletin, 1914, No. 22, p. 36.

teaching, if properly done, is itself religious; that is, as one of the high-school men has expressed it: "The hand of God is shown all through the evolution of the ages, and in this way the religious feeling is constantly kept awake and exercised."

Two Kinds of Folk High Schools.-It has long been a mooted question among Danish educators just how far the high schools might safely go in the pursuit of the "practical subjects." Shall training for life pursuits be taken up by the high schools, or shall this be left entirely to professional schools? Many of the leading school men insist that to introduce professional studies would mean the early decadence of real folk high school culture. Of the seventy-nine government accredited schools, forty-eight adhere to the culture idea. In this list are, perhaps, a majority of the schools which have done most to place a real stamp on the character of the nation, but thirty-one schools-among them some of the largest-offer specific courses in agriculture, horticulture, carpentry, masonry, etc., and seem in no danger of losing their original inspiration.

Song. Music, song, and poetry play an important rôle in the folk high school. Every lecture or recitation begins with song. Every student sings. Many of the high-school men are poets as well as music lovers, often having the gift of spontaneous composition common in the Old Norse skjalds or minnesingers.

Gymnastics.-Gymnastics is another important subject in the folk high schools. Although students come to these schools usually from outdoor active life, every day's work includes at least sixty minutes of gymnastics, and often twice this amount. The Swedish Ling system has been modified. Every visitor to these schools is impressed by the fact that the work in gymnastics has made "sturdy, clear-eyed, keen-witted men out of the shuffling young farm louts who have come to the school; and it has taught young women pride in strong, beautiful bodies." A highly important result is that the love of gymnastics and outdoor play is carried back by the high-school students to their community. The gymnastic associations that have been organised by high-school students in every country commune mean much for continued close social relationship. It is not too much to say that song, gymnastics, and play make up the trinity of Danish rural recreative life.

Spiritual Development as the Result of the Work.-How the intellectual life of the student gradually unfolds in the atmosphere of the folk high school is interestingly told by an old Askov student:

At 7.0 o'clock in the morning, the school bell hanging before the main entrance is sounded. The school becomes awake. Doors and windows are thrown open, and then students make their beds (there are, as a rule, two in a room, each student furnishing the bedding from home), fetch water, brush, beat, sweep, and polish. By 7.30 o'clock everything must be spick and span. The bell sounds for a second time and all students assemble for coffee in "Dagmarsalen." One hears a clappering of wooden shoes and heavy boots. From the "white house," from the main building, and from the dormitories the husky fellows come a galloping and are soon seated at the long tables in the large dining room. After coffee there is morning devotion. It is a personal matter whether or not one takes part in this. Exercises open with a piano voluntary by Fru Ingeborg Appel, wife of the principal; then follow song and prayer.

The first class period of the day begins at 8.0 o'clock, in the large lecture room. The lecture is preceded by song. Song, song, and again song, might well be the folk high-school motto. The songs are mainly from Grundtvig, Richardt, and Björnson, together with folk songs. The lecture programme varies from day to day. Either Dr. Marius Kristensen lectures on philology, or Professor Poul la Cour gives a course in historical mathematics, or Professor Ludvig Schröder speaks on Norse mythology and the heroes of old. At the close of the lecture the young men rush out in a hurry. They must get to their rooms and dress for gymnastics, which begin at 9.0 o'clock. The instructor gives the order, and the columns " double quick" around the gymnasium several times to rouse the gymnasts to keen attention. Then they go through the " setting-up exercises" with great expedition. Thereupon they separate into smaller troupes and are soon engaged in a large variety of exercises. Some go through contortions on the Swedish ladder; others are using the hand and arm beams; still others are exercising on the horse. Every man works with a vim and at the close of the period the perspiration stands out all over their well-knit bodies. The command to dismiss is given, and the young fellows rush to the baths and the welcome showers. No sooner are they dressed than the bell calls to breakfast.

At 10.30 o'clock all the students meet again in the large lecture hall. This time it is either Professor la Cour or Principal Appel who gives an interesting lecture on some topic in natural science, or la Cour lectures on the historic method in mathematics, or Professor Axelsen introduces a theme in modern history. When this period is ended the students scatter to various classrooms to receive instruction in accounting, handwork, hygiene and sanitation, history, and geography, up to 2.0 o'clock.

The dinner hour is 2.0 o'clock. The kitchen at Askov is not the least remarkable of the many interesting places there. An exceptionally able housekeeper is required to make ends meet and to make it possible to serve four meals a day on the twenty-five crowns a month for board. The dinner is good and wholesome; there are always at least two courses, say, vegetable or fruit, soup and roast beef, or a variety of Danish national dishes. The culinary department is at Askov, as at other folk high schools, under the particular supervision of the principal's wife, who, besides, at times takes considerable part in the practical instruction. After dinner the class work is suspended until 3.25 o'clock. Such students as desire may meanwhile devote their time to outdoor sport, football, or, when the weather permits, some winter game or other.

At 3.25 o'clock the beloved old Nutzhorn, one of the original founders of the school, appears with his baton under his arm. The students gather at

1 It is customary to eat a very light meal-porridge, bread and butter, milk or coffee-immediately upon rising. Breakfast is served at 10.0 o'clock, dinner at 2.0, and supper at 7.0.

the gymnasium, and soon the large hall is filled with a great volume of song from the hundreds of student voices.

From 4.0 to 5.0 o'clock instruction is given in Danish, German, and English for the young men, while the young women 1 take their gymnastic exercises under the command of Fru Appel.

2

At 6.0 o'clock all the students meet in the large lecture hall for the last lecture of the day, which again deals with history. Either Professor Fenger lectures on an epoch of Danish history, or Principal Appel takes up a phase of other European history, as, for example, of Prussia or England, or Professor Schröder deals with Grundtvig's national philosophic thought or a theme of similar content. Schröder is Askov's real founder and is one of the high-school leaders who has wielded the greatest influence. The method used by him in presenting his subjects is, according to the testimony of many high-school teachers, the acme of the highest and purest in the art of popular lecturing, and whoever has been so fortunate as to have heard him will know the significance of the power of the "living word." Self-control and deep sincerity characterise his method. Remarkable for deep thought, he expresses himself in plain, straightforward terms which are as free from doctrinaire dullness as from oratorical pathos. Schröder is known to have said that he is often filled with diffidence and worry to have guests, especially from learned circles, tell him at the close of a lecture that they had found it" interesting.' If my lecture has only been entertaining," he would say, " then it has failed in so far as it was the purpose to impress my listeners with some responsibility which they should meet and take." There is another way of listening. It happens occasionally that one hears at the close of a lecture a great inhalation of the breath. This is a sure indication that the inner man has felt the weight of the argument and has taken it to himself personally.

" "

VI. TYPICAL FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS

A glimpse of a few of the typical folk high schools may help to create a picture of the institutions. There are now seventy-nine government-accredited folk high schools established throughout Denmark. The six schools selected may reasonably be considered typical. They are Roskilde, Fredricksborg, Vallekilde, and Haslev in Zealand, Ryslinge in Fünen, and Askov in Jutland.

Roskilde Folk High School.-Roskilde, the ancient capital of Denmark and burial-place of its kings, is near the centre of Zealand. The school lies two miles down the fjord from the town. A brisk walk over the excellent, well-rounded, surfaced, and ditched roads brought us to the school, which is constructed of brick and stone in sixteenth-century style. Several substantial teachers' cottages flank the main approach. The principal and his family live in a wing of the main building, so as to be in the midst of the pupils, to direct and advise.

1 Askov is one of the few co-educational folk high schools.

2 Principal Appel has left his post at Askov to become the Minister of Education for Denmark.

One hundred and forty young men were in attendance the day the school was visited-a sturdy family-sixty per cent. of them sons of Gaardmaend (farmers of from fifteen to one hundred acres), twenty-five per cent. of them sons of Husmaend (farmers of one to fifteen acres), and the rest sons of artisans and labourers from country and town. But here they were on an absolutely equal footing.

A lecture period by the principal, which we attended, reflected the daily life and work of the school. The period began, as every period does, with song. This was a rousing religious-patriotic song through which the youth pledges himself to God and fatherland. The particular lecture theme was Grundtvig's influence on history, poetry, and song. The high-school "inspirer," as he is at his best, was seen in Mr. Bredsdorf, who so enthused his listeners that they hung on his every word.

Living conditions were exceedingly simple. The students in this particular school pay only twenty-two crowns per month for board and room, equivalent to about $5.95. The charge for tuition is twenty-three crowns for the first month, eighteen for the second, thirteen for the third, eight for the fourth, and three for the fifth.

During the afternoon intermission groups of young men continued to discuss the more vital points raised in the morning lectures. Some of these concerned questions of such ethical and philosophical nature as the farm youth of most countries would seldom care to approach. The zeal of the students and instructors cannot be better demonstrated than in this, that one of the busy faculty members of Roskilde walked all the way to town with us in his eagerness to explain some of the great points in the school doctrines.

Fredricksborg Folk High School.-Fredricksborg is one of the most renowned of the newer schools. It was founded by the wellknown Askov instructor, Holger Begtrup, in 1895. An ardent follower of the famous poet, J. C. Hostrup, who was also a great patron of the folk high schools, Begtrup determined, when the poet died in 1892, to raise up a school in Hostrup's home community as the most practical way to honour the memory of a man who in life gave the best he had for Denmark.

Thus Fredriksborg Folkehöjskole came into being at Hilleröd, in north-east Zealand. The name (originally intended as "Hostrup sminde ") is that of the renowned royal Fredricksborg castle on the edge of Hilleröd village, which naturally became fastened to the