LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1874. 



.ritings of more than passing importance, 

 1 hut mako itu-ntion of De Bosch Kcm- 

 HiMory of tho Netherlands after 1880. 

 ritii many hitlu-rto Unpublished Documents ; " 

 'an \'|.>tin\ Middloburg Besieged and Taken, 

 ling to Original Documents;" Van dor 

 Tho An-lmvs of Antonio Heinsius, 

 nuid-lVnsionury of Holland;" G. W. Vree- 

 s's '* I 'ioter van de Spiegel and his 



jntemporaru's from Letters and Other Au- 

 Documents," published by the Scien- 

 iety of Zeeland ; and S. Mailer's " Hi*. 

 ; the Northern Company," published by 

 recht Society of Arts and Sciences. Al- 

 it the end of the year, Theod. Jorissen, 

 \voll versed in the so-called "patriotic" 

 : of our history, presented our litera- 

 re with another of his interesting mono- 

 aphs, "The Patriots of Amsterdam in 1794." 

 To wonder that the second expedition to 

 icheen gave birth to an avalanche of writ- 

 n Achoen and East-Indian matters in 

 uviK-ral. The Dutch author of the splendid 

 French work on our "Pastes Militaires," Ma- 

 jor Gerlach, has published two interesting 

 books, " The First Expedition to Acheen," and 

 " Dutch East India." Prof. Veth, who knows 

 India almost as intimately as Holland, has 

 written " Java, Geographically, Ethnologically, 

 and Historically Described." 



More or less important contributions to topo- 

 graphical history have been published. Dek- 

 ker, Tor Gouw, Koster, Doorninck, Kleyn, and 

 Van Zinnicq-Bergman, respectively, have il- 

 lustrated the history of Helder, Amsterdam, 

 Groningen, Overyssel, Delshaven, and the Old 

 Dukedom of Brabant. In this branch of 

 knowledge Roman Catholic learning has chief- 

 ly manifested itself. I may mention Kruger's 

 "Ecclesiastical History of the Episcopate of 

 Breda;" Schutjes's "History of the Episco- 

 pate of Bois-le-Duc ; " " Papers on the History 

 of the Episcopate of Haarlem ; " Hezenman's 

 "Three Abbeys of the Twelfth Century: a 

 Study on the Social Influence of Convents in 

 the Middle Ages." Wonderful that the same 

 respectable printing-firm publishes popular lit- 

 erature of this style: "Three Apparitions of 

 Souls from Purgatory, in the Years 1527, 1856, 

 and 1870; from Authentic Documents, and 

 preceded by an Introduction, containing Re- 

 markable Particularities on the Apparitions of 

 Deceased Persons." 



The principal signs of life in matters of the- 

 ology are : Straatman's " Paul, the Apostle of 

 Jesus Christ ; his Life and "Works, his Doctrine 

 and Individuality : an Historical Inquiry ; " 

 " The Apocrypha ; newly translated from the 

 !c by Dyserinck ; Introduction by Dr. A. 

 Kuenen ; " Doedes's " A Materialist's (Ludwig 

 Buohner's) Attack on the Belief in God." Mr. 

 Kuyper, formerly a clergyman, now a member 

 of our Second Chamber, has made a great im- 

 pression by his lecture, " Calvinism : the Ori- 

 gin and Security of our Constitutional Liber- 

 ties." In character Mr. Kuyper, a young man 



of talents and eloquence, seems to be a scion 

 of the old English Roundheads. 



Our art literature has been assuming a prom- 

 ising appearance since the article Mr. Victor 

 <1 Stuers wrote last year against Dutch van- 

 dalism and indiffcrentisui in matters of art. 

 It is really distressing to read the long cata- 

 logue of sins committed lately against art. 



Not a single poem or drama that rises above 

 the average has appeared. Our melodiou* 

 poet and masterly translator of poetry, J. J. L. 

 ten Kate, has finished his translation of tho 

 Psalms, and begun that of Milton's " Paradise 

 Lost," illustrated by Dor6. Mrs. Bosboom- 

 Toussaint, whoso works may in many respects 

 be compared to Sir Walter Scott's, has kept up 

 the honor of our literature this year in " Major 

 Frans," a lively and excellently-written novel. 

 " The Lady of Groenerode," by Melati of Java, 

 is also above mediocrity ; and " G. van den 

 Berg, de Jonker van Adrichem," is a book full 

 of promise. 



The finest pages of tho literature of the year 

 have once more been written by Douwes 

 Dekker (Multatuli), in his seventh volume of 

 " Ideas." Since the publication of his " Max 

 Havelaar," he is generally considered one of 

 the most remarkable writers of Europe. He 

 displays the ardor of a true genius in his 

 writings. His "Story of Young Walter" ia a 

 kind of autobiography, full of pathos, poetry, 

 and most extraordinary psychological anatomy. 

 In the latter quality it even excels " Middle- 

 march." 



HUNGABY. Hungarian literature in the past 

 year has been making slow but steady progress. 

 All who pay attention to the literary produc- 

 tions of the Magyars will have noticed that 

 the researches in the field of national history 

 and the cultivation of the vernacular occupy a 

 preeminent place in the studies of the Hun- 

 garian savants. This is not at all to be wondered 

 at. The Magyars have always looked upon 

 their language, so essentially different in ma- 

 terial and forms from the idioms of Europe, as 

 the most sacred monument which their ances- 

 tors have brought with them, nearly a thou- 

 sand years ago, from their distant Asiatic home. 



Dr. Frakel's book on the relation of Me- 

 lanchthon to the Hungarian Protestants may 

 prove interesting, not only to the Hungarian, 

 but the general European reader, treating, as 

 he does, a hitherto but little-known fact, and 

 this with an impartiality which cannot be 

 enough praised, the author being a Catholic 

 priest. There are not many Catholic priests in 

 Europe who would show freedom from preju- 

 dice in a literary work of this kind, and this 

 single fact proves sufficiently the spirit of re- 

 ligious toleration that prevails in Hungary. 

 Speaking of those historical researches which 

 throw a certain light upon events of a Euro- 

 pean importance, I will quote Mr. Alexander 

 Szilagyi's careful studies on the reign of George 

 Rfikoczy II., which relate to the diplomatic 

 transactions of that great Hungarian prince 



