LITERATUEE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1880. 



473 



mony" is a later novel by W. E. Norris, less 

 original than. " Mademoiselle de Mersac," but 

 showing keen observation and a knowledge of 

 society in different countries. "Johnny Lud- 

 low " is a new novel by Mrs. Henry Wood, 

 lifelike, and marked by genuine humor and 

 pathos. " A Life's Atonement, 1 ' by David 

 Christie Murray, a new author, displays con- 

 structive ability and good powers of delinea- 

 tion. "A Confidential Agent," James Payn's 

 latest novel, is one of his best. " Dimple- 

 thorpe " is a charming idyllic novel by the au- 

 thor of "St. Olaves." Amelia B. Edwards's 

 "Lord Brackenbury" is a well-worked-out 

 story, whose interest depends upon an act of 

 self-sacrifice on the part of the hero. " Ellice 

 Quentin" is printed with four other stories 

 by Julian Hawthorne, all of them based upon 

 fine dramatic conceptions which are well 

 wrought out and told in a terse and vigor- 

 ous style. u Mehalah " is a powerful story 

 of tragic interest by a new author. " Pas- 

 sages from the Diary of an Early Methodist," 

 by the late Richard Rowe, is a remarkably 

 vivid and truthful picture of religious and 

 social life in England in the time of Wesley 

 (Strahan). 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1880. 

 FRANCE. In this country every original work 

 is followed by a number of others which seem 

 more like imitations written for sale than 

 serious labors. This explains, perhaps, the ex- 

 traordinary assaults on the Christian theology 

 contained in Dufay's "La L6gende du Christ," 

 and Wilfrid de Fonvielle's " Miracles devant la 

 Science." Ernest Renan has followed up his 

 remarkable Hibbert Lectures with a profound 

 study on Marcus Aurelius. Naville defends the 

 truths of Christianity with ability in " Je"sus 

 Christ." Hovelacque's volume on the Avesta 

 is one of the best works which has appeared 

 on the Zoroastrian religion. Sayous discusses 

 the relations between the Jewish and Moham- 

 medan religions in " J6sus Christ d'apre's Ma- 

 homet." Pierret, in his essay on Egyptian my- 

 thology, considers it a degraded monotheism 

 instead of a developed paganism. Lenormant's 

 "DesOrigines de 1'Histoire d'aprs la Bible" 

 compares the Bible account of the beginnings 

 of history with the Persian, Assyrian, and 

 Babylonian records. Jules Mohl's valuable 

 contributions to Oriental philology have been 

 published in a collection. Barthelemy Saint- 

 Hilaire has published a dissertation on the 

 Aristotelian philosophy. 



Important cyclopedic works which are in 

 progress are Victor Gay's dictionary of medi- 

 aeval and Renaissance art ; Saglio's dictionary 

 of Greek and Roman antiquities; Vivien de 

 Saint-Martin's geographical dictionary, and his 

 atlas ; and Elisee Reclus's work on " Universal 

 Geography/' the latest installment of which 

 treats of Asiatic Russia ; the corrected edition 

 of the " Biographic Universelle des Musiciens" ; 

 the fifth edition of Vapereau's " Dictionnaire 

 des Contemporains" ; Godefroy's colossal dic- 



tionary of mediaaval French, and several other 

 similar works. 



A host of publications relating to various 

 periods of French history has been published. 

 Upon some events and characters of past ages 

 much new light has been cast by records which 

 were before unknown or inaccessible. Besides 

 the memoirs of Metternich and Madame de 

 Remusat, the biography of Marshal Davoust by 

 his daughter, Madame de Blocqueville, and the 

 researches of Jung into the early life of Napo- 

 leon, are interesting books. The correspond- 

 ence of Coray, which has just been published, 

 contains interesting details concerning the 

 Reign of Terror. Thoughtful studies of Dan- 

 ton have been written by Dubost and Dr. 

 Robinet. Wallon is completing the work of 

 Mortimer -Ternaux on the Revolution. The 

 speeches of Thiers and Gambetta have been 

 collected. Madame de Witt's reminiscences 

 of Guizot are a valuable addition to his me- 

 moirs. 



Victor Hugo, in his "Feuilles d'Automne," 

 shows no loss of vigor. Sardou's "Daniel 

 Rochat," De Bornier's " Noces d'Attila," and 

 Deroulede's " La Moabite " were the three dra- 

 matic events of the year. Zola has followed 

 " Nana " with the " Soirees de Medan." Henry 

 Greville with "La Cite Menard," and Erck- 

 mann-Chatrian with " Le Grandpere Lebigre " 

 and " Un Vieux de la Vieille," still hold their 

 own. 



BELGIUM. The chief philosophical publica- 

 tions of the year are Chailes Loomans's ana- 

 lytical " Essaies de Psychologic," and J. Del- 

 bo3iif's original investigations on the phenom- 

 ena of sleep, given in " Le Sommeil et les 

 Reves." Two extensive histories of Belgium 

 have been called out by the politico-religious 

 conflict which agitates the country, that of 

 Nameche from the Ultramontane, and that of 

 Veicamer from the Liberal standpoint. " Cin- 

 quante Ans de Liberte " is a remarkable survey 

 of recent history written by several Liberal 

 politicians. Theodore Juste and many others 

 have produced works on the fifty years of Bel- 

 gian independence. General Vander Meere and 

 other veterans of the Belgian Revolution have 

 published memoirs. There are as many books 

 of antiquarian and local interest and reprints 

 of old documents as usual. Several excellent 

 works upon the older national history have 

 been published by Gachard, Duverger, Wau- 

 ters, and other historians. A curious " His- 

 toire de Belgique," by Van Bemmel, who has 

 just died, is transcribed from the texts of writ- 

 ers of every age. V. Brants has published an 

 important historical essay on the condition of 

 the rural classes down to the close of the 

 eighteenth century. To this department be- 

 longs also the small book of Hermann Perga- 

 meni, " Les GuerresdesPaysans," of which the 

 range extends from the time of the Roman 

 Empire down to the jacquerie of Galicia in. 

 1846, and to the revolts in Ireland. Paul De- 

 vaux, the Liberal politician, recently deceased, 



