LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IX 1888. 



491 



des Etudes Historiques," has been revised and 

 brought out by hi* son, in parts, and is an ad- 

 mirable guide for those who wish to study his- 

 tory on sure and sound principles. A Mono- 

 graph on Tilly and the Thirty Years' War, from 

 1618-'32. has been written by Count de Yiller- 

 mont. and M. Ch. Woeste has given the views 

 of a Roman Catholic ou the History of the Cul- 

 turkainpf in Switzerland, 1871-'86. A num- 

 ber of interesting volumes on Belgic Conge," 

 and kindred topics in regard to African rela- 

 tions, have attracted much attention. Several 

 excellent books of travel have appeared during 

 the year, treating of Texas. China, Germany, 

 Spain, etc. The history of the tine arts has 

 not been neglected, and social science has been 

 freely discussed by L. Dupriez, Ch. La. 

 L. Halleux, Ch. Horion. Baron Colins, M. 

 Heins, and M. E. de Laveleye. In poetry, too, 

 both in Flemish and French, the yield has 

 been creditable to Belgium. M. E. Verhaeren's 

 "Les Soirs," G. Rodenbach's " Da Silence," 

 and Ch. Potvin's " Xos Poetes Flamands." are 

 well spoken of. Pure literature, in the hands 

 of the school of "Young Belgium,'' seems to 

 flourish, and promises better results than were 

 looked for last year. Prof. Stecher's " History 

 of Flemish Literature" is pronounced to be 

 the best work that exists on this subject. M. 

 F. de Potter continues to work on his great 

 history of the monuments and institutions 

 of the City of Ghent, which is not yet com- 

 pleted. Various local histories of more or less 

 merit have also appeared. Folk-lore attracts 

 much notice, due ckiefly to the poet Po] de 

 Mont and to Prof. A. Gittee. The latter has 

 issued an excellent manual for the use of stu- 

 dents of Flemish folk-lore. Of old Flemish 

 popular tales two volumes may be noted, viz., 

 " Grandmother's Book of Stories,'' and ''Sto- 

 ries of John Everyman." The drama has 

 not been neglected, and several creditable pro- 

 ductions have appeared. A curious posthu- 

 mous work of the famous novelist Hendrik 

 Conscience, entitled " History of my Y/outh," 

 has been published, and is highly praised for 

 its truthfulness and sincerity. Light literature 

 holds its place as usual, and" the crop of novels 

 is not inferior to that of last year. A brilliant 

 work by M. J. de Geyter, entitled ''The Em- 

 peror Charles V and the Kingdom of the Neth- 

 erlands,'' written in Flemish meter of the mid- 

 dle ages, is highly praised by the critics. It 

 produced also a great sensation in Holland. 



Denmark. The Northern Exhibition of In- 

 dustry, Agriculture, and Art in Copenhagen, 

 which was a great success, diverted attention 

 to some extent from literature this year, as did 

 also the jubilee of the Danish Society of Arti- 

 sans, celebrated in July; the centenary of the 

 emancipation from villanage, held in June ; and 

 the commemoration of the twenty-fifth year 

 of the King's reign on November 15. Several 

 historical works relating to the emancipation 

 of the peasantry a hundred years ago have 

 been published. Among these Prof. E. Holm's 



" The Struggle for Agricultural Re f 

 177:;-'!)1," is prominent; and Jorgen>eii's col- 

 lection of memorial* and documeii;- 

 strup's u The Danish Peasant and Liberty," 

 and Fredericia's "The Liberation of the Danish 

 Peasant," are well worth consulting. In gi-n- 

 eral and political history there is hardly any- 

 thing worth mentioning. In literary history 

 the tirst volume of J. Paludan's " Ri-uais.-eiire 

 of the Literature of Denmark " has appeared : 

 also, a small volume by R. Schroder, entitled 

 " CEhlenschlager and the Romantic School." 

 A considerable number of biographies have 

 been published, of which we may name here a 

 compendious account of the life and works of 

 R. Kr. Rask, the eminent philologist (born one 

 hundred years ago) : a "Sketch of the Life and 

 Times of Knud Lavard in the Middle Ages," 

 by H. Olrik ; and "The History of the Fam- 

 ily of Bille." conspicuous in Danish annals, by 

 Mollernp and Meidell. The great ' Danish Bi- 

 ographical Dictionary " is being pushed for- 

 ward as rapidly as possible. S. K. Sorensen 

 has published a small volume about " The 

 Arabs and their Civilization in the Middle 

 Age<"; and Thor Lange, a professor at Mcs- 

 cow, has brought out an interesting book of 

 travels, " A Month in the Orient." Philosophy 

 has received only a moderate share of attention 

 this year. In this connection may be named 

 Wilkens'a ' Outlines of ^Esthetics " ; a treatise 

 on '' Oriental Mystics," by II. Ramussen ; " The 

 Religion of the Future," by A. C. Larsen; and 

 a volume " On Temper," by F. Holberg. The 

 death of M. A. Goldschmidt and of T. Lange 

 (noted in last year's record) deprived Denmark 

 of two of its best novelists. Posthumous nov- 

 els, however, of both have appeared. H. P. 

 Hoist, the Nestor of living poets, has brought 

 out the best of his writings as " Selected 

 Works," and C. Hostrup has written a play, 

 ' Lender Snel'og," which is praised by the critics. 

 Younger authors have made numerous efforts 

 in light literature, and with fair success. A 

 few of these may be noted here ; as. " The Po- 

 lar Bear," by H. Pontoppidan; "The Consul's 

 Wife." by Miss Levison : "A Purgatory." by 

 P. M oiler; "La Grande Demoiselle" (of the 

 time of Louis XIVj, by S. Schandorph; and 

 ' Stuk " (''hollow splendor"), by H. Bang. 

 K. Gjellerup, who has abandoned realistic 

 poetry, has brought out a great dramatic 

 poem in two parts. " The Struggle with the 

 Muses" and " Helicon," together with a com- 

 edy. " The Wedding Present." A. Ipsen's 

 " Mephistopheles," a kind of Faust, is moder- 

 ately praised by the critics. Several of the 

 younger novelists are striving to portray life 

 nowadays. V. Stuckenberg is one of these, 

 and gives promise also of progress. The critics, 

 however, have nothing favorable to say of the 

 younger dramatic and Ivric poets, such as E. 

 Gad. N. Larsen, Sophus Clausen, and J. Becker. 

 France. Political excitements and uncertain- 

 ties as to the future have hindered the prog- 

 ress of literature in France this year in vari- 



