LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1890. 



501 



cal life and people in his " Ma Vocation." Short 

 and condensed biographical studies meet with 

 favor in these days of multitudes of books, which 

 no mere mortal can find time to read and ex- 

 amine. M. J. Bertrand's " D'Alembert " is a capi- 

 tal specimen of this series. M. E. de Voque's 

 'Remarks on the Centennial Exposition in 

 Paris are interesting, and indicate large intelli- 

 gence and true patriotism. Literary essays are 

 very numerous, from the pens of M. P. Deschanel, 

 M. E. Bertin. M. P. Godet, M. M. Sprouch, and 

 M. G. Sarrazin. Among novelists stand out this 

 year Zola, Guy de Maupassant, and Paul Bour- 

 get. The " psychological " school strives con- 

 tinually against the "romantic," and, as a com- 

 petent critic affirms, there is a " deluge of analy- 

 ses and of cruel stories just now." A sort of 

 military literature has arisen in France of late 

 years, not unlike the same in England, where 

 army men contribute quite freely to light litera- 

 ture. M. Ch. Mismer's " Six A no Soldat " is pro- 

 nounced to be among the best of the year, truth- 

 ful and virile in a proper sense. Zola's "La 

 Bete Humaine " still attracts lovers of that sort 

 of reading, where crime and vile passions form 

 the staple of the writer. Richepin's " Le Ca- 

 det " is said to be even more disgusting and un- 

 wholesome than Zola's novels. Space does not 

 admit of giving even the titles of novels of vari- 

 ous sorts and characters this year. The Man 

 in the Iron Mask and the fate of Louis XVII 

 are historical problems which, although never 

 likely to be settled on a secure basis, attract at- 

 tention and new efforts. The " Souvenirs " of the 

 Comte de Rochechonart contain valuable mat- 

 ter, and the " Letters of the Duke of Orleans," 

 edited by his sons, the Count de Paris and Duke 

 de Chartres, throw much light upon the times 

 and the men of the period in which he lived. 

 General history has been successfully treated by 

 M. Lavisse, in 'the " Vue Generate de 1'Histoire 

 Politique de 1'Europe." A book on the " Ques- 

 tion d'Alsace," by an anonymous writer, is pro- 

 nounced to be one of the best of its kind this 

 year, being clear, distinct, just, and forcible in 

 every way. The history of the French conquest 

 in India has been well treated by M. Castonnet 

 des Fosses, in his " Inde Francaise avant Du- 

 pleix," and M. T. Haumont, who devotes two vol- 

 umes to the subject. Geographical publications 

 have been numerous, some of the best coming 

 from M. V. Giraud, M. E. Dupont, and M. 

 Bechet. Philosophy and theology havo received 

 only moderate attention in 1890. A new " Life 

 of Jesus Christ," by Father Didon, seems to have 

 created quite a sensation in Paris, and M. Ernest 

 Renan has published Vol. Ill of his " History of 

 the People of Israel." 



Germany. Critics make numerous and just 

 complaints as to the tendency of the " natural " 

 school of Zola, Tolstoi, and Dostoievski to debase 

 and even ruin literature as it ought to be. Nov- 

 els and plays are most deeply affected by this 

 tendency, lyrical productions the least. Her- 

 mann Lingg has done good service in his study 

 of history and exposition thereof in his lyric 

 poems. A Mceser's " Deutsche Kaiserlieder " 

 are very fine specimens of patriotic poetry. The 

 poems of S. Milow and H. Seidel's " Glocken- 

 spiel" are much praised. Narrative poetry is 

 well cared for by J. Wolff, M. Burkhardt, L. A. 



Frankl, W. Jordan, and J. Grosse. The death of 

 L. Auzengruber is noted as a heavy loss to the 

 drama, Richard Voss's middle-class plays "Eva" 

 and " Alexandra" occupy the foreground of this 

 year's dramatic productions, and have been very 

 successful on the stage. Other dramatists of 

 the " free stage," as it is called, .prefer painful 

 subjects, such as inherited vices and physical and 

 moral diseases, and bring forward physiological 

 motives instead of psychological. H". Suder- 

 mann, G. Hauptmann, C. Bleibtren, etc., are writ- 

 ers of this sort. As a contrast, may be named 

 here W. Kirchbach's " Die letzen Menschen," a 

 dramatic poem resembling Goethe's " Faust." 

 In the domain of the novel Wilbrandt has car- 

 ried off the prize this year. " Adam's Sohne " is 

 a veritable romance, and represents the type of 

 humanity in varying forms, introducing repre- 

 sentations of nearly every race and class of the 

 nation, north as we'll as south German. In plot, 

 auction, dramatic fire, and the like, it is truly ad- 

 mirable, Critics speak of what they call " the 

 flood of novels " of the year. S. Milow's " Le- 

 bensmachte," F. Dahn's " Skirnir," K. Frenzel's 

 " Wahrheit," H. Heiberg's " Schulter an Schul- 

 ter," Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach's " Unsuhn- 

 bar," and a few others, are named with approval. 

 In national history, H. Von Sybel has done good 

 service in his narrative of the dissolution of the 

 old German empire and the renascence of the 

 new. The work is very valuable, being " drawn 

 from authentic sources." Count Adolf Schack's 

 " History of the Mormons in Sicily" is a first- 

 class work, and forms an excellent companion 

 volume to the same author's " History of the 

 Moors in Spain." The number of biographies is 

 unusually large this year. Among these atten- 

 tion may be called to M. Carriere's "Lebensbil- 

 der," which contains interesting reminiscences 

 of his career in connection with the Munich 

 Academy of Fine Arts ; also to R. Hammerling's 

 " Ahashuerus in Rom " and " Konig von Sion." 

 Hammerling's death occurred only recently. Es- 

 says, too, are abundant, such as H. Grimm's 

 " Funfzehn Neue Essays," said to be clever and 

 worth reading, and H. Bulthaupt's essays on 

 Hebbel, Grillparzer, and 0. Ludwig, which are of 

 real, positive value. 0. Mejer's essay on " Wolf- 

 Goethe " is a new contribution to the Goethe 

 literature, and shows the great poet in the light 

 of an anxious father and guide, as well as in 

 other respects. A good biography of Schiller 

 has appeared from J. Minor, and is well received. 

 The Bacon-Shakespeare controversy is regarded 

 as settled by Bernhard Ten Brink, in his "His- 

 tory of English Literature," Vol. II. A " History 

 of Philosophy," by Wiindelband, furnishes en- 

 couragement for the future as regards this de- 

 partment. In theological matters there is hard- 

 ly anything of importance to be named here. 

 The deaths, however, of two distinguished Ger- 

 man theologians properly should be noted. Dr. 

 J. J. Ignaz D511inger, an' eminent Roman Catho- 

 lic ecclesiastic and author, and in later life chief 

 among the "Old Catholic" divines of Germany, 

 passed away, in January, at the advanced age of 

 ninety-one (lacking one month). Dr. Franz De- 

 litzsch, who was among the foremost of the con- 

 servative orthodox German theologians, as well 

 as a voluminous author, died in March, 1890, at 

 the ripe age of seventy-seven. 



