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Cultural Development Dalin 263
editor was ! But no one suspected that it was a poor
young man of twenty-fotir, Olof Dalin, who aimed at
the betterment of his age. When his identity be-
came known, however, the Estates rewarded him with
the appointment as librarian of the royal library, an
unusual distinction for one so young.
Dalin strove to make people better, happier, and
more efficient citizens by the spread of useful knowl-
edge. The Argus treated its readers even to such mat-
ters, presented in a simple and interesting manner, and
in language that could be comprehended by everybody.
Such a movement of enlightenment spread over all
Europe during the eighteenth century. Before this,
treasures of knowledge had been confined to the
learned few. The heavy tomes of knowledge, written
in Latin, were stowed away in the libraries of the
learned. With the life outside they had nothing to
do. But now of a sudden there appeared in the writ-
ings of scholars much that was of interest to the
masses, much that would lead them to think of life and
its problems, give them a keener insight into things,
and emancipate them from superstition and old preju-
dices. There was, therefore, a general effort at enlight-
enment, and, hence, this period in European history
has been called the Age if Illumination. In Sweden
Dalin was the first to bring out the light of learning
from the seclusion of the study or the laboratory.
Dalin’s power to narrate in a simple and interesting
way characterizes his Swedish History. Before this,
books on Swedish history were so dry that only men
of learning could endure to read them. Dalin removed
History from the book-shelf to the hearts and minds
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