it. In his difficulty he felt strongly tempted to give up his studies, and to give himself to his father's profession. His delicate health, however, stood in the way; and, happily, a serviceable situation as teacher having offered itself, he was saved to literature. In the fall of 1799, after a most creditable examination, he was entered as student at the Upsala Academy. His career as a student was marked by great success, especially in literature and philosophy; and, in 1803, he took his Doctor's degree. In the same year, he obtained a prize from the Swedish Academy,[A] for poetical translations[Pg 9] of four of the Odes of Horace. Wallin was now in his twenty-fourth year.

[Pg 9]

Encouraged by success, Johan tried the Academy again, and was successful in carrying off, in one session, three prizes, the largest number ever before awarded to one person, at one anniversary. One of them was the "Grand Prize," and was awarded to a poem, called "The Educator." Some of the lines give promise of the temple-orator that was to be:

"Thou sentinel on high! Will night not vanish soon?

We doubt the sheen of stars and quiet path of moon;

We placed our trust in Thee. Enlight the races striving!

Will night yet long endure? Is morning's watch arriving."[B]

Other poems followed. By this time, Johan, who had, from an early period, shown a liking for the clerical profession, had passed all his preliminary examinations with honors, and been ordained to the pastoral office. He commanded attention, at once, as a preacher. But he clung to the muses, or the muses clung to him; and his lyre, having been tuned in harmony with his sacred calling, he soon began to distinguish himself as a writer of hymns. Some of the finest hymns of which the Swedish language can boast, are from the pen of Johan Olof Wallin. Nor were secular themes wholly neglected. On January 20, 1808, on the occasion of the unveiling[Pg 10] of the statue of King Gustavus Third, he produced the famous Dithyramb, a song which has taken a permanent and honored place in Swedish literature. The same year he presented a similar poem to the Swedish Academy, and was rewarded with a prize of two hundred ducats, the highest prize ever given by the Academy.

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In all great questions of a national or international character, Wallin took a deep and lively interest; and the powerful influence, which he exerted with tongue 

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