KELLGREN, JOHAN HENRIK, a Swedish poet of great influence on one period of the literature of hie country, was born at Floby in West Oothland ou the lst of Deeember 1751; studied at the University of Abo, which then belonged to Sweden; and in 1774 transferred himself to Stockholm, where he established the newspaper 'Stockholms Pesten.' At that time the Swedes were sedulous imitators of the French ; in tragedy, as in everything olee, French taste was scrupu lously followed ; and the newly-riming German literature, and English literature of the time preceding Addison and Pope, were looked upon as barbarous and unworthy of notice. In the Stockholms Posten ' these views were ndvocated with liveliness and ingenuity, and Kellgren not only earned a high place iu the public estimation as a critic, but as a poet, chiefly by some lyrics remarkable for the harmony of their language, which brought the poetry of the' Pesten' into high repute. For several years Kellgren was the most distinguished poet of Sweden with the exception of Leopold, the acknowledged head of the French schooL On the institution of the Swedish Academy in 1786, the king Gustavus with whom Kellgren was a special favourite, named him one of the members; and he also named him his private secretary and librarian, both sinecures, with a salary which placed him at his ease. He died within two years after the king's death, on the 20th of April 1795, after two years of suffering from severe illness. His col lected works, Ssmlade Skriftes,' were published in three volumes at Stockholm in 1796, and have been since reprinted. His death was at the time deplored as a national loss. Posterity has been more disposed to acquiesce in his own modest description of himself :—" There was a little man in our literary world whose talents were small : he bad not perhaps what is called genius; most of his writings had little width and weight; but be had one quality perhaps in a higher degree than any of his rivals—it was a warmth, a zeal for the improvement and honour of Swedish literature, which kept to him constantly during a laborious life, and which was his last passion at the hour he wrote these lines."
Kellgren's works consist of lyric poetry, which is still in high esteem, and of four operas, of which he has only the merit of the execution, the plots having been suggested to him by King Gustavus III. Three of them are taken from the history of the Swedish royal family ' Gustavus Vasa' (1786), Guetavus Adolphus and Ebbe Brahe ' (1788), and Queen Christina ;' the fourth is ' fEneas at Carthage.' The first, Gustavus Vasa,' is remarkable for the excellence of its plot, which, it has been said, belongs to the king. Kellgren was a warm admirer of Voltaire, and in consequence was led to admire the institutions of England. set Racine before Shakspeare," he says in the Stock holm Pesten ' for 1786, " Moliere before Congreve, and the police of Paris before the police of London. I cannot therefore be considered an Anglomaniae. But what I love and venerate are the light and intelligence which pervade the mass of the nation; the quiet respect for the law, which shows that the law is good, reasonable, humane, and well for all," &c. &c. This was the first occasion, the Swedish critics tell us, on which this sort of admiration for England was expressed in Sweden.