24 Ellen Key gentle ! Little Ellen learned through her his- toric readings to dream of the ideals which early became the objects of her desires. A realised harmony of life—this was what she unconsciously enjoyed in the epic poems mentioned. This harmony had already filled her imagination in childhood, and all her books deal more or less with this dream, which she still—a child with whitening locks—dreams for others with the same tender eagerness. At other times, her love of adventure wotild crop out, and then there would be Indian games under Ellen's direction, adventures of Robinson Crusoe, etc. Historic scenes would be played, such as the Departure of the People of Israel from Egypt, the Sacrifice of the Easter-Lamb, the Citizens of Calais, parts of the life of Gustavus Vasa, and others. She had come across Socrates in her books of history! From him, who became her ideal when she was eight or ten years old, she learned that the fewer his wants the nearer man grows to the gods. And so this little person- ality had within herself a principle which justified the parental commands she must obey, since the simple upbringing which, to the democratic tendencies of the parents, seemed best for the children, accorded with her own