have quite insignificant followings. 1922 religious toleration is complete.

By law of

Education.-The educational standard of Finland has always been very high, and to-day the percentage of illiteracy is almost negligible. As early as the end of the 17th century ability to read was made obligatory on all members of the church, and since 1866 a popular system of education has been in force. Instruction is given both in Finnish and Swedish. There are three universities, one at Helsingfors (Finnish-Swedish) and two at Abo, one Finnish, one Swedish, while the technical (Finnish-Swedish) and commercial (2 Finnish) high schools at Helsingfors are all three of university standard. Secondary education is given in lyceums, high and middle schools, while in this category are also various institutions for the training of elementary and infant school teachers. Since 1920 elementary education has been compulsory, and here, apart from primary schools of the ordinary kind, there are also numerous navigation, commercial, trade, technical, arts and crafts, agricultural, dairy, cattle management, horticultural, and forestry schools.

History. About the end of the 7th century or the commencement of the 8th the Finns, driven as is supposed by the Bulgarians from their settlements on the Volga, took possession of the country they now occupy; but they found inhabitants there already, whose memory popular tradition has handed down under the names of Hiidet, Jättiläset, Jatulit, and Jotunit. Probably the modern Lapps are the descendants of those primitive inhabitants. In the 12th century the Swedes turned their attention to Finland, seeking especially to introduce Christianity; but the struggle with paganism was long and obstinate, and lasted for nearly 200 years. Three separate crusades (1157, 1249, 1293), however, finally gave victory to Sweden and to the Christian religion. The first of these crusades was led by King Erik the Holy, accompanied by Henrik, Bishop of Uppsala, an Englishman by birth, who later, as Henrik the Martyr, became the patron saint of Finland. For over 600 years Finland was united with Sweden, and thus received the incalculable advantages of Christianity, civilisation, a constitution, and liberal laws. The Reformed religion was introduced into Finland by Gustavus Vasa in 1528, and King John III. raised the country to the dignity of a grandduchy. The theatre of frequent bloody struggles between Russia and Sweden from the middle ages onwards, Finland was ultimately ceded to Russia in 1809, and became an autonomous grand-duchy with the emperor of Russia as grand-duke. Alexander I. promised the Finns that their constitution, religion, and laws should be faithfully preserved, and though the parliament or diet of nobles, clergy, burghers, and peasants, which the Finns had enjoyed from the days of Swedish rule, did not after 1809 reassemble till 1863, the promise was virtually kept till near the end of the century, autonomy being all but complete except in foreign affairs. But in 1898 imperial decrees altering the military system, and invading the privileges of the parliament, caused bitter discontent, the more so as throughout the century the tide of national | and democratic feeling had been steadily rising. In 1899 the Finnish constitution was suspended, and under General Bobrikoff a military dictatorship established. In 1901-3 various ordinances further destroyed the autonomy of Finland, and reduced it to the condition of a province. The assassination of Bobrikoff in 1904 brought certain concessions and the restoration of some old privileges, but in 1909 a Russifying policy was resumed, and more markedly, if anything, after the commencement of the Great War in 1914. On the first outbreak, in

1917, of revolution in Russia, Finland recovered all her former rights, but complications ensued with the advent and triumph of bolshevism. Divided against herself as to the acceptance of soviet doctrine, and seeking escape from entanglement in Russian affairs, independence was proclaimed in December 1917. But civil war ensued, in which the revolutionary Red Guards, supported by men and materials from Russia, were eventually defeated in May 1918 by the constitutional White Guards, supported by men and materials from Germany. P. E. Svinhufvud became for the time being regent, and a monarchical form of government being subsequently definitely determined on, the crown was offered to Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse. On his refusal, however, General C. G. Mannerheim, who had led the White Guards to victory, became regent, and continued so till, following elections in 1919, a republic was proclaimed with Professor K. J. Ståhlberg as first president. In 1920, by the treaty of Dorpat, Finland established peace with Russia, and also secured the territory of Pechenga, so extending her boundaries to the Arctic Ocean. In the same year she was admitted to the League of Nations, and in 1921 was confirmed by the League in her retention of the Åland Islands, which, on the plea of self-determination, had demanded annexation to Sweden.

Constitution. Finland is a sovereign republic. Ultimate power resides in the people as represented in a House of Representatives or Diet, a single chamber assembly of 200 representatives chosen directly by universal (male and female) suffrage on a system of proportional representation. A president elected for six years by vote of the citizens is head of the state. He possesses the highest executive power, and along with the Diet the right of initiative.

Language and Literature.—Swedish was formerly the official language of Finland, but since 1883 Finnish and Swedish have been placed on a footing of equality, and now the importance of Swedish is steadily decreasing. Finnish, held by some to be one of the most sonorous and harmonious of tongues, is of the Ugro-Finnic branch of the UralAltaic family, which comprises Ugro-Finnic, Manchu, Mongol, Turkish, and Samoyede (see ASIA). The group includes (1) Finn and Esthonian (q. v.), (2) the tongue of the Lapps, (3) of the Finns of Perm, (4) of the Finns of Vologda, and finally (5) that of the Ugrian Finns, to which last belong the Vogul and Ostiak dialects in Siberia, and the Magyar in Hungary (see HUNGARY). The most highly cultivated language of the group is that spoken by the Finns proper, the Suomi of Finland. The Finnish dialects are all agglutinative forms of speech, with tendencies towards true inflection, so that occasionally the difference between agglutination and inflection is somewhat obscure. The nouns are not inflected, an additional word being used to denote the variations of case, number, and sex, whilst the prepositions and pronouns are suffixed to the words they modify. The verbs have only a present and past tense, another word being required to indicate the future.

The founder of Finnish literature is the Bishop of Åbo, Michael Agricola (d. 1557), who, besides translating the New Testament (1548) and parts of the Old, wrote also a primer and a prayer-book. His followers were mostly men of the church, makers of manuals and books of devotion, and writers of spiritual verse. In the 16th and 17th centuries, however, the output of Finnish literature was small, Latin or Swedish being preferred as literary languages. But in the 18th century new tendencies came into being, and H. G. Porthan (1739– 1804), by stimulating interest in history and popular poetry, prepared the way for great de

velopments in the century following. In 1822 was published by Z. Topelius, whose son of the same name was later to become a distinguished author, a collection of scattered songs, while in 1831 an association for the promotion of Finnish literature was established. But the great event of the time was the appearance in 1835 (in greatly extended form in 1849) of the Kalevala, an epic poem formed by E. Lönnrot (1802-84) out of a collection of popular songs taken down from the lips of the peasantry as they from time immemorial had heard them from their Runolainen or singers. The poem, which is a singular monument of the earlier culture of the Finns and of the utmost value philologically, gave a new impetus to the study of Finnish in Finland, and became, along with the Kanteletar (1840), a collection, also by Lönnrot, of national lyrics, the source and inspiration of a rich and very remarkable literature. An idea of the form and metre of the poem may be obtained from Longfellow's Hiawatha, known to be in imitation of the epic. The work, which has been translated into many languages, has been favourably compared with the Iliad, and has been placed fifth among the national epics of the world. As writers of original Finnish poetry A. Oksanen (A. E. Ahlqvist, 1826-89) and Suomio (J. Krohn, 183588) must be considered the first representatives in modern times, but in the lyric and patriotic songs of J. H. Erkko (1849-1906) the work of both was surpassed. K. Kramsu (1855-95) is a melancholy tragic lyrist singing of freedom and the rights of the oppressed, while P. Cajander (1846-1913), though also a prominent lyrist, is mainly distinguished by his translation into Finnish of all the dramas of Shakespeare. The first noted novelist and dramatist is A. Kivi (1834-72), whose novel Seitsemän Veljestä (Seven Brothers') and comedy Nummisuutarit (The Shoemakers from the Moor') are still without rivals in Finnish literature. About 1880, largely through the influence of modern Scandinavian writers, Ibsen and Björnson in especial, a powerful realistic tendency appeared, and revealed itself in the novels of M. Canth (1844-97), the first noted woman writer of Finland, of J. Aho (1861-1921), of A. Järnefelt (b. 1861), of T. Pakkala (b. 1862), and of others. From time to time self-taught men from the peasantry of Finland have devoted themselves with success to letters. In his verse J. Linnankoski (1869-1913) reflects the influence of Byron, while in his prose he is unsurpassed in Finnish literature. Amongst prominent novelists of to-day are S. Ivalo (b. 1866), J. Lentonen (b. 1882), F. E. Sillanpää (b. 1881), M. Talvio (b. 1871), M. Jotuni (b. 1880), and A. Kallas (b. 1878), the last three women; while foremost amongst poets are V. A. Koskenniemi (b. 1885), L. Kyösti (b. 1873), and O. Manninen (b. 1872), who has also translated the Iliad. Apart from H. G. Porthan, already mentioned, Y. Koskinen (born G. Z. Forsman, 1830-1903) is the greatest name in Finnish historical research, while, as a sociologist, E. A. Westermarck (b. 1862) enjoys a European reputation.

From the days of Swedish dominion much of the greatest literature of Finland has always been written in Swedish. J. Frese (c. 1690-1729) was a prominent lyrist, and G. F. Creutz (1731-85), in his Atis och Camilla, a pastoral idyll in the rococo style, produced one of the most exquisite creations in Swedish verse, but greater than both was the poet F. M. Franzén (1772-1842). J. L. Runeberg (1804-77) is, however, the most brilliant name by far in the Swedish literature of Finland; his greatest achievements are in the epic form, and his Elgskyttarna (The Elk Hunters') left deep traces on the literature of both Finland and Sweden, while his Fänrik Ståls Sägner ('The

Tales of Ensign Stål') earned for him the title of 'Finland's national poet.' The journalist J. W. Snellman (1806-81), the poet F. Cygneaus (180781), and the poet and prose-writer Z. Topelius (1818-98), whose Fältskärens berättelser ('The Tales of the Surgeon') has achieved a classic value, were all contemporaries of Runeberg, and all with him leading inspirers of Finnish national sentiment. Of representatives of modern realism K. A. Tavaststjerna (1860-98), lyric poet, and writer of drama and romance, is the chief, while of living Swedish authors of note in Finland are the poet and prose-writer M. Lybeck (b. 1864) and the lyrists H. Procopé (b. 1868), B. Gripenberg (b. 1878), A. Mörne (b. 1876), J. Tegengren (b. 1875), and J. Hemmer (b. 1893).

Fine Arts.-The engraver and miniature painter E. Brenner (1647-1717), the religious painter M. Toppelius (1734-1821), and the portrait painter, N. Schillmarck (d. 1804) are among the first of Finland's artists; but it is not till after the founding, in 1846, of the Finnish Association of Art that a specific Finnish art may really be said to exist. R. W. Ekman (1808-73) was the pioneer, but the landscape painter W. Holmberg (1830-60) was the first Finnish artist who could be judged according to European standards. A product of the school of Düsseldorf, he was followed by many in like style, most noticeably H. Munsterhjelm (1840-1905) and B. Lindholm (1841-1914). A. Edelfelt (1854-1905), illustrator, portraitist, and genre painter, was the first Finnish artist to come altogether under the influence of France, and later, through the power of his work, he completely established the French conception of art in Finland. A. Gallen-Kallela (b. 1865), figure and landscape painter, is to-day the most powerful artistic personality of Finland, while among his distinguished contemporaries are E. Järnefelt (b. 1863) and P. Halonen (b. 1865). Among the younger generation of Finnish painters, impres sionist and neo-impressionist schools are fully represented. In M. Wiik (b. 1853), E. DanielsonGambogi (1861-1920), and H. Schjerfbeck (b. 1862), Finland has produced three prominent womanpainters.

Finland's first sculptor was E. Cainberg (177)– 1816), but C. E. Sjöstrand (1828-1906), a Swede, was the real pioneer. Among his disciples of note, W. Runeberg (1838-1920), son of the poet, and J. Takanen (1849-85) are to be numbered. Since 1870 the influence of France has been supreme, as is clearly to be seen in the work of V. Vallgren (b. 1855) and E. Wikström (b. 1864), and in the sculpture of the younger school, which has turned in especial to Rodin. The architecture of Finland is really a product of the 19th century, and, in so far as it is represented in Helsingfors, is mostly neo-classical and new-renaissance in style.

The Finns are a musical people, and earlier than any of the other arts music was purposely pursued amongst them, a musical society having existed at Åbo as early as 1790. In B. Črusell (1775-1838) Finland found her first composer, but the German, F. Pacius (1809-91) and his successor R. Faltin (18351918) were the real initiators of the musical life of the country. Among earlier composers, K. Collan (1828–71), F. von Schantz (1835–65), K. Moring (1832-68), and G. Linsén (1838-1914) are the chief. After 1880 the activity of M. Wegelius (1846-1906) and R. Kajanus (b. 1856), both as composers and as conductors, produced epochmaking effects on Finnish musical life, and later, amongst others, appeared J. Sibelius (b. 1856), a composer of genius and international fame, and a true interpreter of the real Finnish spirit in music. The drama and opera both flourish in Finland, and there is a national theatre at Helsingfors.

See J. Abercromby, The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns (1898); Y. S. Koskinen, Finnische Geschichte (1874); H. S. Mechelin, A Précis of the Public Law of Finland (1889); Peace Handbook XLVII. (issued by the British Foreign Office, 1920); The Baltic and Caucasian States (in 'Nations of To-day,' ed. J. Buchan, 1923); works by W. C. Frederiksen (1902), G. Renwick (1911), and A. Reade (1915); and Wainemann, Heroine from Finland (1902); also C. N. E. Eliot, Finnish Grammar (1890); Swan and Granström, English and Finnish Dictionary; B. F. Godenhjelm, Handbook of the History of Finnish Literature (1896); D. Comparetti, The Traditional Poetry of the Finns (1898); and the Kalevala (trans. 1907).

Finland, GULF OF, the eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, between 22° and 30° E. long., and between 59° and 61° N. lat. It receives the waters of the great lakes Onega and Ladoga. The water of the gulf is not deep, and only very slightly salt. The topography of the Gulf of Finland, which has been thoroughly elucidated by Struve, forms an interesting part of the great work of the Russian survey of the Baltic. The navigation on the northern or Finnish coast is very dangerous, on account of the numerous islands and shoals.

6

Finlay, GEORGE, the historian of Greece, was born of Scottish parents at Faversham, in Kent, where his father, Major John Finlay, was inspector of the government powder-mills, 21st December 1799. After his studies at Glasgow and Göttingen, Philhellenism carried him to Greece, where he met Lord Byron, and devoted himself with patient enthusiasm to the study of Greek history and antiquities. With the exception of a short period of residence in Rome, and of study at Edinburgh University, the whole of his life was spent in the land of his adoption, which he continued to love, spite of the unworthiness of its leaders and of the miserable failure of his own generous schemes for promoting agricultural progress. For relief he turned to the task of writing its history. Had the hopes with which I joined the cause of Greece in 1823 been fulfilled,' he wrote in 1855, it is not probable that I should have abandoned the active duties of life, and the noble task of labour ing to improve the land, for the sterile task of recording its misfortunes.' The first portion of his great work, Greece under the Romans, appeared in 1844, and was followed by the following instalments: The History of Greece from its Conquest by the Crusaders to its Conquest by the Turks, and of the Empire of Trebizond, 1204-1461 (1851); History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 716– 1453 (1854); History of Greece under Ottoman and Venetian Domination (1856); and History of the Greek Revolution (1861). Finlay devoted the remaining years of his laborious life to revising and partly rewriting his history, but his death at Athens, 26th January 1875, prevented his completing the work, which was issued by the Clarendon Press, under the care of the Rev. H. F. Tozer, with the title, History of Greece from B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864 (7 vols. 1877; vol. i. contains an autobiography). Freeman declares his history the greatest English historical work since Gibbon's Decline and Fall.

Finmark, the most northern province of Norway, consists of a narrow strip of rocky coast-land, cleft by numerous bays and fjords. The area is 18,295 sq. m., of which three-fourths belong to the continent, the rest to the numerous islands which skirt its shores. The chief sources of wealth are fishing and reindeer breeding. Only very scanty crops of barley, potatoes, and a few other vege tables are raised. Population 44,000, principally Lapps. Hammerfest, the capital (70° 40′ N. lat.), with near 3500 inhabitants, is the most northern town of Europe. See Du Chaillu's Land of the Midnight Sun (1881).

Fins, a term vaguely applied to outgrowths and limbs in aquatic animals; the paired fins of fishes being true limbs. See FISHES.

Finsbury, a parliamentary borough of London, consisting in 1885-1918 of three one-member divisions, Holborn, Central, and East. In 1899 the two latter were formed into the metropolitan borough of Finsbury, which in 1918 became a onemember parliamentary borough; pop. 76,000.

the curative power of the chemical rays of light Finsen, NIELS R. (1861-1904), discoverer of (sunlight, electric light, Röntgen rays, &c.) and founder of phototherapy, was born in the Faeroe Isles, and taught anatomy at the university of Copenhagen, where he had studied.

Finsteraarhorn, the highest peak (14,026 feet) of the Bernese Alps. See ALPS.

Finsterwalde, an old town of Prussia, 71 miles by rail S. by E. of Berlin, with manufactures and coal-mines; pop. 14,000.

Fiord. See FIRTH, NORWAY.

Fir, a name applied in a comprehensive sense to the true Pines, the Larch, and certain other conifers, but more properly used to denominate the Norway Spruce, the Silver Fir, and their congeners. the genera Picea and Abies-were included in the These two species-now the types respectively of Linnæan genus Pinus; thus, the Norway Spruce these specific names the trees were known to Pliny was P. Abies, and the Silver Fir was P. Picea. By and other ancient writers, but by inadvertence on the part of Linnæus they were misapplied so that each bore the other's name. This confusion was perpetuated when the species were removed from genus Pinus, and set up as representatives of distinct genera. covered and introduced, nomenclature became more As kindred species were dis

the

confounded. Continental botanists endeavoured

for long with only partial success to restore the point, however, was at length conceded in the Genera Plantarum (1862-76) by Bentham and Hooker; but amateurs and students of coniferæ will still be confronted with the confused nomenclature of the species in works on the subject published prior to the adoption of this change of the generic names. be lessened by their bearing in mind that species Their difficulty will, however, ranged in old books under Abies must now be named Picea; thus, for instance, the Norway Spruce is no longer Abies but Picea excelsa, and designation. It should also be noted that some the Silver Fir is Abies pectinata, not Picea of that trees commonly called fir are really pines; thus, the so-called Scotch Fir (Pinus sylvestris) is a pine.

names Picea and Abies to their ancient use. The

See PINE.

The genus Abies comprises somewhere about twenty species, which are easily distinguished from slightly tapering cones, the scales of which are the Spruce Firs by their erect, cylindrical or but deciduous and fall away in maturity from the axis, which adheres to the branch; and by their flattened leaves being always more or less distinctly arranged in two ranks on each side of the branches, and generally in a horizontal direction. The genus Picea consists of about twelve species, the cones of which are pendulous, and the scales persistent, opening only when mature to shed the seeds. The leaves are arranged spirally, scattered around the branches, needle-like and quadrigonal or almost round. These are the broad essential distinctions of these two genera of firs, but they have some features in common. They are all evergreen-trees, mostly of spiral or pyramidal habit, their branches spring from the stem in whorls-a characteristic of certain other conifers-and the scales of the cones are thin or almost scarious at the apex, a point