410 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1896. 



the democracy in Liege from 1384 to 1419 " ; Gen. 

 Wauvermans's " Histoire de 1'Ecole cartographique 

 beige et anversoise du 16 a Siecle " ; Prosper Poul- 

 let's shrewd remarks upon " public feeling in 

 Belgium during the French occupation of 1795- 

 1814 and during the early years of the king- 

 dom of the Netherlands"; Eugene Hubert's essay 

 on the " Memoires de Goswin de Fierlant " (deal- 

 ing with the abolition of torture in the Nether- 

 lands in the eighteenth century) ; Part II of Paul 

 Fredericq's " Corpus Documentorum Inquisitionis 

 Neerlandicse," edited with critical thoroughness; 

 P. Alexandra's " Histoire du Conseil Prive dans les 

 anciens Pays-Bas " ; Armand Heins's suggestive 

 " Etapes de 1'Histoire sociale de la Belgique " ; 

 Godefroid Kurth's " La Frontiere linguistique en 

 Belgique et dans le Nord de la France " ; Edmond 

 Marchal's exhaustive and erudite " La Sculpture et 

 les Chefs-d'CEuvre de 1'Orfevrerie beiges"; and J. 

 Halkins's curious " Etude sur la Culture de la Vigne 

 en Belgique." In biography there are Kurth's fine- 

 ly illustrated volume on Clovis, picturesque in style 

 and erudite; Ch. Moeller's piquant " Eleonore d'Au- 

 triche et de Bourgogne " ; " Mgr. Seghers, FApotre 

 d'Alaska," by the Abbe de Baets; and Ernest Dis- 

 cailles's lifelike portrait of " Charles Rogier," tlie 

 great Liberal statesman. 



A. J. Wauters and A. Buyl have compiled a use- 

 ful il Bibliographic du Congo, 1880-'95." Jules 

 Leclercq's "Au Pays de Paul et Virginie" is a 

 " most remarkable book of travel." H. Pirenne 

 studies the " Origines des Constitutions urbaines au 

 M<>yi!ii-Age"; O. Laurent gives information about 

 " Les Universites des deux Mondes " ; O. Merten, in 

 " Les Limites de la Philosophic," protests against 

 the " newer tendencies of experimental psychol- 

 ogy." F. A. Gevaert has issued a masterly wo/k on 

 " La Melopee antique dans le Chant de 1'Eglise 

 latine." Contributions to literary criticism are : G. 

 Hecq and L. Paris's " La Poesie francaise au Moyen- 

 Age et a la Renaissance " ; Ferdinand Loise's 

 " L Histoire de la Poesie italienne " ; and Eugene 

 Gilbert's interesting " Le Roman en France pendant 

 le 19 e Siecle." J. Defrecheux and Ch. Gothier have 

 brought out an " Anthologie des Poetes wallons." 

 The dissensions in the camp of " Les jeunes Bel- 

 giques" appear to increase. New works by the 

 younger writers are : Maurice M;eterlinck's mys- 

 tical " Le Tresor des Humbles "; Ch. Lemonnier's 

 " Contes flamands " ; Georges Rodenbach's " La Vo- 

 cation " and " Les Vies encloses " (verse) ; and 

 Emile Greyson's " Sous les Brumes et les Clartes 

 des Flandres." Others deserving notice are : Louis 

 Delattre's " line Rose a la Bouche." Alfred Lava- 

 chery's " Dinah Didiere," Frantz Mahutte's " Sans 

 Horizon," Sander Pierron's "Berthilde d'Hage- 

 leere," and Emile Verhferen's rather incoherent 

 " Poeiiies " and " Les Villes tentaculaires." Georges 

 Eekhoud, in " Philaster, ou 1'Amour qui saigne." 

 translates Beaumont and Fletcher's li Love lies 

 a-bleeding." 



Flemish historical works of varying importance 

 have been published by Frans de 'Potter, E. Poffe, 

 J. Broeckaert, Scheire, E. Geudens, E. Gailliard, 

 and others. Victor de Hoon offers an important 

 exposition of " Grondbeginselen van het belgisch 

 Strafrecht " ; 0. Pijffersen investigates " Het Ge- 

 bruik der Talen in burgerlijke Zakeu " (the use of 

 French and Flemish in Belgian law courts) ; Mine. 

 Lievevrouw-Coopman deals with the education of 

 " Het Volkskind." Miles. M. E. Belpaire and Hilda 

 Ram, Pol de Mont, Aug. Gittee, J. van Landschoot, 

 and A. deCock have compiled collections of popular 

 tales and traditions ; L. Simons has made an ex- 

 cellent translation of Beowulf; J. Vercoullie has 

 edited the mystic writings of Zuster Hadewijch ; an 

 interesting sixteenth-century drama, " Van Charon 



den Helschen Scippere," has been unearthed by W. 

 de Vreese ; and K. de Flou and E. Gailliard have 

 published two erudite reports on Flemish MSS. in 

 London libraries. " Stijlaffectatie bij Shakespeare " 

 are revealed by Maurits Basse. " Oude and nieuwe 

 Kunst " in Belgium and Holland is dealt with by 

 Max Rooses, and F. van Duyse has a masterly essay 

 on " Het eenstemmig fransch en nederlandsch 

 wereldlijk Lied in de belgische Gewesten." There 

 has appeared the third and last volume of the works 

 of Jan van Rijswijck, a polemical writer and noted 

 journalist. Flemish literature is characterized by 

 a calm that stands in marked contrast to the dis- 

 cord in the French ranks. Fiction is plentiful and 

 includes important work. Mile. Virginie Leveling 

 (whose masterly " Een dure Eed " won the five- 

 yearly prize of 5,000 francs for the encouragement 

 of Flemish literature) has published " Het Land der 

 Verbeelding " (two stories depicting Flemish vil- 

 lage life with her keen psychological analysis and 

 picturesque description) and "Mijnheer Conneha- 

 ye." The veteran Sleeckx has written an important 

 historical romance, "Vesalius in Spanje." Tried 

 writers such as Gustaaf Segers and Omer Wattez 

 are supporting their reputation, while Herman 

 Bogaerd, Eug. Lee'n, F. Stockmans, Leo van Nerum, 

 and other young authors are making their way. No 

 remarkable poetical or dramatic work has appeared, 

 though much has been published. The volumes of 

 verse by Gustaaf de Mey, 0. Kops, Viet, van de 

 Weghe, R. de Cneudt, and Helene Lapidoth-Swarth 

 (" Blanke Duiven," sweet and graceful verses) may 

 be mentioned, as also Isidoor Albert's " Boudewijn 

 Jlapken," a historical drama based upon the 

 mediaeval history of Flanders. 



Bohemia. Vol. Ill of " Stadte- und Urkunden- 

 biicher aus Bohmen," edited by L. Schlesinger for 

 the Verein fur Geschichte der Deutschen in Boh- 

 men, has appeared. New books of travel are Ko- 

 fensky's voluminous description of his travels round 

 the world in 1893-'94 ; Paul Durdik's recollections 

 of life in Sumatra and description of Spanish bull 

 fights; and Guth's account of his travels "After 

 the Midnight Sun." Z. Winter, in "Zivot Cirkevnj 

 v Cechach : kulturne-historicky obraz z Xv a Xvi 

 Stoleti," contributes to the ecclesiastical history of 

 Bohemia in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

 Alex. Neklan considers " Die bohmische Frage." 

 The Cecho-Slavonian Ethnographic Exhibition, 

 held at Prague in 1895, is described in a profusely 

 illustrated volume ; thj " Gesellschaft zur Forde- 

 rung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur 

 in Bohmen " has issued Part I (by J. Neuwirth) of 

 " Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichte Bohmens," deal- 

 ing with " Mittelalterliche Wandgemalde und Tafel- 

 bilder der Burg Karlstein " ; and " Manes," the new 

 society of young painters, has issued " Sketches and 

 Drawings of M. Ales," a most original artist. In 

 literary criticism there are Krejci's reports on the 

 Bohemian literature of the day; Vorel's essay on 

 the novel ; and F. X. Salda's sharp criticism of con- 

 temporary literary productions. 



The desire for a regeneration of literature finds 

 expression in various ways and in different circles. 

 The Clerical party, controlling the two important 

 journals "Illidka" (critical) and " Novy Svet" 

 (publishing original matter), expects literary sal- 

 vation only from strictly religious principles. This 

 view, upheld by prominent writers, such as Vychodil 

 and Bouska, is supported by Julius Zeyer, who has 

 published " Three Legends of the Crucifix," in 

 prose (" full of earnest religious zeal "), and a fairy 

 drama, " Radovid and Mahulena " (published in the 

 " Kvety "), the subject of both being drawn from 

 the national tales of the Slavonians. On the other 

 hand, we have the principles and tendencies of the 

 group of young writers connected with the ' Moderni 



