492 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1888. 



ous ways. Nevertheless, authors have written 

 and publishers have brought out books in 

 poetry, history, the drama, fiction, etc. M. 

 Sully-Prudhomme's " Le Bouheur," is a didac- 

 tic poem of more than average merit, but not 

 of the highest order. M. Andre Lemoyne, in 

 his " Fleurs des Ruines," is sharply criticised 

 by reviewers. The work of Jean Rameau, 

 " The Song of the Stars," is pronounced the 

 most interesting volume of verse published this 

 year, though the critics find in it much to 

 condemn. Numerous other contributions in 

 verse have appeared, such as M. C. Fuster's 

 " Les Tendresses," Eugene Manuel's u Poesies 

 du Foyer et de 1'Ecole," Emile Peyrefort's 

 "La Vision," and G. Khan's "Les Palais 

 Nomades " ; but these are not reckoned to be 

 of the first, perhaps hardly of the second 

 quality. M. d'Herison undertakes to defend 

 Marshal Bazaine in his "Legend of Metz," 

 not very successfully, and M. Darimon gives 

 valuable information and judicious criticisms 

 in his " Notes on the War of 1870," on the re- 

 sponsibility attaching to the chief actors in a 

 disastrous drama, viz., Prince Napoleon and 

 the Empress Eugenie. This so-called prince 

 has entered the field against M. Taine, who 

 published last year " Studies respecting Na- 

 poleon I," by putting forth a volume en- 

 titled " Napoleon and his Slanderers." Sev- 

 eral monographs are worthy of mention : M. 

 Welschinger's " Le Due d'Enghien " is ex- 

 haustive and impartial ; E. Lockroy's " Ah- 

 med Le Boucher," better known as Djezzar 

 Pasha, presents a lively picture; and the 

 feats of arms of French soldiers in Africa, 

 is the theme of M. Camille Rousset's work, 

 "L'Algerie de 1830 a 1840," not yet com- 

 pleted. Germany fills considerable space in 

 the thought of France, as is shown by various 

 publications, such as M. E. Lavisse's " Essay 

 on Germany under the Empire " ; M. C. Grad's 

 " The German People, their Forces, and their 

 Resources " ; M. Grand-Carteret's " France 

 judged by Germany," an ably arranged com- 

 pilation ; and a translation of M. J. Janssen's 

 excellent work, " Germany at the End of the 

 Middle Ages." Renan is as busy as ever, and 

 his peculiar mode of dealing with Scripture 

 history is exhibited in his " History of the 

 People of Israel," of which Vol. I. was pub- 

 lished last year. His skeptical proclivities 

 fully display themselves in all that he does. 

 M. J. Menant has published an excellent, con- 

 scientious work on "Nineveh and Babylon." 

 In the history of manners and ideas, two books 

 of M. Alfred Rambaud are particularly notice- 

 able The one is " The History of Civilization 

 in France, from its Origin to the Present 

 Day " ; the other is " The History of Contem- 

 porary Civilization in France"; both are able 

 and well-timed contributions. In the drama 

 there is little worth noting. "Much Ado 

 About Nothing," has been adapted to the 

 French stage, with success. M. Ludovic Ha- 

 levy brought out a charming comedy, " The 



Abbe Constantin," and Zola dramatized one 

 of his novels called " Germinal." This latter 

 was a failure, and the critics predict that Zola 

 and his school, with their so-called naturalism 

 and its abominations, have reached the end of 

 their popularity. Just now there is a strong 

 disposition to furnish psychological and ana- 

 lytical novels, of the former of which style 

 Madame Malot's " Folie d'Amomy ' M. Hector 

 Malot's " Conscience," and M. P. Bourget's 

 " Mensonges," arc good specimens, and much 

 praised. M. O. Mirbeau's " L'Abbe Jules," 

 and M. E. Gondeau's "Le Froc," profess to 

 portray the French clergy ; but they are pro- 

 nounced to be one-sided and unfair. M. G. 

 Ohnet is the author of " Volonte," which has 

 reached its hundredth edition, and he has had 

 equal success on the stage with Ids " Grande 

 Marniere." Other amusing novels are "A'ail- 

 lante," bv J. Vincent ; " Chonchette," by M. 

 Prevost; "La Petite Fee," by M. A. Cim ; 

 " Les Fantaisies d'une Amazone," by M. J. 

 Chassa; and " Les Seducteurs," by Gyp. The 

 journals of Michelet, the well-known histo- 

 rian, have been published by his widow, and 

 are very instructive and useful. A work en- 

 titled "The Great French Writers," is under 

 way, and promises to be a gratifying success. 

 M. E. Des Essarts's " Portraits de Maitres " is 

 highly spoken of as an excellent work. A 

 capital biography of Victor Cousin is con- 

 tained in it. In philosophy, M. Paul Janet's 

 contributions are valuable, as set forth in 

 " Les Passions et les Caracteres dans la Lit- 

 terature du XVIP Sie?le," and " Les Lettres 

 de Madame de Grignan." The critics speak of 

 these books in the very highest terms. In 

 biography M. E. Sergy's book on Fanny Men- 

 delssohn, is admirably done, and M. Gabriel 

 Ferry's " Balzac et des Amies," is said to be 

 very agreeable and successful. Social and 

 moral science has received considerable atten- 

 tion in Arsene Houssaye's "Le Livre de Min- 

 uit," M. du Camp's "Paris Bienfaisant " and 

 " La Vertu en France," M. C. Fere's " Degen- 

 erescence et Criminalite," and Dr. A. Pi6- 

 chaud's "Les Misere du Siecle." Lack of 

 moral training is noted as something greatly 

 needing a speedy remedy. Books of travel 

 are, for the most part, written in healthy tone 

 and spirit, calculated to benefit as well as in- 

 struct and amuse, such as Guillanmet's illus- 

 trated volume on Algiers ; M. H. France's 

 work about Spain, and M. II. Imbert's consci- 

 entious " Quatre Mois an Sahel." There seems 

 to be a disposition to have regard to English 

 works in the way of education, if one may 

 judge from the titles of a number of books 

 published this year, e. g., M. L. Carrau's work 

 on religious philosophy in England from the 

 time of John Locke to the present day ; M. P. 

 do Coubertin's " L'Education en Angleterre," 

 and M. O. Gerard's series of papers on "Edu- 

 cation and Instruction." Posthumous works 

 of Victor Hugo continue to be issued, and the 

 " Memoires," of M. Desire Nisard (recently 



