LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1888. 



493 



deceased) well deserve to be consulted. Juris- 

 prudence is but slightly represented this year. 

 One solid work may here be mentioned, viz., 

 M. E. Beaus>uv's " Les Principes du Droit," 

 which is supplementary to previous publica- 

 tions on this subject. 



Germany. Political changes and probable or 

 possible results have had considerable influence 

 upon the course and progress of literature in 

 Germany during the year. Poetical contribu- 

 tions have been quite numerous, chiefly in the 

 line of lyrical sentiment, bursts of socialism, 

 and sturdy intolerance of authority. The 

 names of A. Former, Fr. Beck, and Marie Jan- 

 itschek. occur in this connection, but their pro- 

 ductions do not need special mention. In 

 honor of Walther von der Vogelweide, tbe 

 greatest lyric poet of the middle ages, a vol- 

 ume of poems has appeared (edited by A. 

 Mayer) on the unveiling of the poet's statue at 

 Botzen, his supposed birthplace. The "Tiro- 

 lersagen." by the Countess Wilhelmine, and 

 the powerful ballads on the struggle for free- 

 dom, by Count A. Wickenbnrg, form part of 

 the book just named. " The Song of Human- 

 ity," by Heinrich Hart, claims to be an epic in 

 the loftiest style, like the ' Nibelungenlied " 

 and Klopstock's Messias." Judging from the 

 first canto, which is all that has yet appeared, 

 the critics give praise to the conception and 

 optimistic views of the author, but doubt as to 

 the ultimate result. R. Hamerling's " Homun- 

 culus '' is said to combine universal mockery 

 and burlesque satire. The form and meter of 

 the poem remind one^of Heine's " Atta Troll," 

 only the satire is social instead of literary. 

 Plutocracy and Judaism in its several forms 

 are mercilessly chastised, and the poem ends, 

 the critics tell us, u in shrill discord." The 

 aged A. F. von Schack, the translator of Firdusi, 

 though nearly blind and almost threescore years 

 and ten, retains his mental vigor, as is shown 

 in an attractive volume of memoirs entitled 

 " Half a Century." George Ebers. the novel- 

 ist, also appears for the first time as a poet in 

 a romance entitled "Elifun"; but the critics 

 do not find much in it to praise. The dramatic 

 results of the year are inconsiderable, though 

 coming from the pens of Anzengrnber, R. Voss, 

 M. Greif, P. Heyse, and H. Linzg. Anzen- 

 gruber's play, ' Stahl und Stein." is a national 

 drama well wrought out: R. Voss's Bregit- 

 ta " is remarkable for delineation of character ; 

 and M. Greif s "Die Pfalz am Rhein," Paul 

 Heyse's " Die Weisheit Salomonis," and II. 

 Lingg's "Die Bregenzer Klause" (a subject 

 taken from the Thirty Years' War), are duly 

 praised by the critics. Novels of the year 

 have shown about the usual tendencies in the 

 way of pessimism, realism, and discussions of 

 social and psychological problems. There is a 

 pessimistic tendency in Marie von Ebner-Es- 

 chenbach's "Das Gemeindekind," while C. 

 Schwarzkopf's u Lebenskunstler " and H. Hei- 

 berg's ' Der Januskopf " are expressly directed 

 against pessimism. K. Friiuzers novel, '' Dunst," 



is devoted to socialistic matters. F. Spielhageii 

 has brought out a new story, "N< 

 Oblige"; T. Storm, the Nestor of German 

 novelists. Allows in his late-t pr<>du<-ti..ns. " K- 

 wareii zwei Konigskinder '' and ' Bei kleineu 

 Leuten," incomparable f rohness ; and the 

 pleasant story-teller Hans Hoffman gives some 

 ' Neue Corfugeschichten," which well <K 

 commendation. In the literature of ' memoirs " 

 special mention is to be made of tbe work of 

 Duke Ernst II, of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who 

 has played an important part in German poli- 

 tics and prefers to be his own biographer. 

 The work is highly commended by the critics. 

 Montgelas, a former Bavarian minister, and 

 Gen. von Natzmer, military instructor of the 

 late Emperor William, have added their con- 

 tributions to this department. To these may 

 be added Jakob Ph. Fallmerayer's letters and 

 memoirs, as showing a man who was the friend 

 of light and high principle in knowledge and 

 religion. Schmeding has produced an excel- 

 lent work on " Victor Hugo," which is of the 

 nature of a message of peace from Germany to 

 France. German art has received due atten- 

 tion in A. Rosenberg's " Die Munchner Maler- 

 schule seit 1871," in R. Dohme's encyclopaedic 

 book, " Geschichte der Deutschen Kunst," and 

 in A. and F. Eggers's biography of Rauch, the 

 sculptor of the Friedrichsdenkmal. Note also 

 is made of the issue of the fourteenth and last 

 volume of the '"Fall of the House of Stuart," 

 by Onno Klopp, a very able writer. Ranke's 

 ' Universal History " is continued by the hand 

 of A. Dove, and will soon reach its end. In 

 philosophy, the centenary of Schopenhauer 

 has given rise to a number of publications re- 

 lating to his rank and position as well as the 

 true worth and value of his contributions to 

 philosophic literature. Activity in this de- 

 partment is very considerable, and displays the 

 usual drift of German writers and thinkers on 

 questions of psychology, religion, morals, etc. 

 We may mention, in conclusion, Roeber's "Die 

 Philosophic Schopenhauer's " : Nietzsche's 

 " Genealogie der Moral," according to which 

 mankind is " wholly sunk in the mire " ; Dil- 

 they's ''Einleitung in das Studium der Geistes- 

 wissenschaften " ; and R. Encken's " Einheit 

 des Geisteslebens in Bewusstsein und That der 

 Menschheit." both directed against material- 

 ism ; and, finally. J. II. Witte's u Das W<_-> ( n 

 der Seele." which controverts earnestly the 

 materialistic tendency toward " psychology 

 without a soul." 



Greet*. Literature, on the whole, is well 

 represented in Greece this year. In theology 

 Nicephorus Calogeras has printed from a Ro- 

 man MS. a work of Euthymius ZygaUnus, 

 i. e., a commentary on the '' Letters in the 

 New Testament." "Prof. A. D. Kyriakos has 

 issued a collection of " Studies of Church His- 

 tory"; the orator Moschakis has published a 

 series of " Ecclesiastical Speeches," delivered 

 on various occasions; and Bishop Dorotheus 

 has brought out Part I of the " Treasury of 



