78 Ellen Key inquisitive mind and eagerness to acquire knowledge, she soon became acquainted with the different currents of thoughts and ideas of her day, and in the solitude of country life the young girl steadily pursued, quite by herself, an intellectual education which made her mentally mature and spiritually whole and harmonious, while at the same time she never thought of cultiire as something finished either for herself or for others. . . . This quietly self-acquired development made her unfavour- ably disposed toward the cramming system of modem school education, where the mental food is accepted from the teacher instead of the pupil being obliged to overcome his own diffi- culties and to crack the nuts of knowledge with his own teeth. Her sym_pathy with natural- ness, and her antipathy for all ceremoniousness were acquired by her life in the country. In- haling woodland air and philosophy in the same breath, growing intimate with horses and cows, and at the same time becoming familiar with Shakespeare, Spencer, and Mill, she developed deep insight into the life of man and nature and civilisation at large." In the summer of 1 890, Ellen Key made a trip to Paris and Rouen, again to visit her child-