LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1875. 



449 



tion who do not like to,, follow the heaten 

 track, and are not averse to a new order of 

 'ideas, either in politics, social relations, litera- 

 ture, or art. Though some good may be ex- 

 pected from this movement in the long-run, it 

 lies in the nature of things that Parnassus can- 

 not be stormed in a day. The first parts of 

 the Banner were not favorably received by 

 the press, which hinted that there was no need 

 for a new periodical, unless it improved on the 

 existing ones. Indeed, a greater dissemination 

 of literary forces than already exists in our 

 numerous periodicals is hardly imaginable. 

 The work done by those who are perhaps 

 looked upon as " the old fogies " is undoubt- 

 edly by far the best. The papers in De Gids, 

 f De Tydspiegel, and De Nederlandsche Specta- 

 tor may be compared with the best periodical 

 literature of England and Germany ; I do not 

 say France, as that nation has no rival in the 

 art of combining excellence of form and solid- 

 ity of matter. It must be admitted, how*ever, 

 that in the second year of the Banner a rapid 

 progress has been visible. Mr. Emants also 

 published a separate work, " Julian the Apos- 

 tate," a drama in five acts, in verse, a work 

 of some promise, parts of which one likes to 

 peruse more than once. As a whole, however, 

 it wants that concentration of thought and 

 language so indispensable to a drama in verse. 

 To Mr. Van Santen Kolff we are indebted for 

 one of the most original books of the year, 

 " Sketches about Music and Novelistic Sketch- 

 es." We may safely expect something still 

 better. 



Since the formation of the Dutch Geograph- 

 ical Society, great interest has been taken 

 in geography, and, above all, in arctic and 

 other expeditions. Messrs. Posthmnus, Kan, 

 Veth, Versteeg, etc., have shown much zeal 

 for this branch of science, and the papers edited 

 by the society are as important as they are 

 interesting. 



Under the auspices of the Royal Institution 

 for promoting the Knowledge of India, Dr. 

 von Rosenberg edited a remarkable book on 

 his travels in New Guinea, about Yellow-Finch 

 Bay, with maps and plates. Important works 

 were published on archaeology, jurisprudence, 

 Oriental and Dutch East Indian languages 

 (Malay, Javanese, Bugis, Sunda, etc.), theology, 

 natural history, and the study of languages. 



Prompted by Motley's " Barnevelt," our 

 statesman and historian, Groen vanPrinsterer, 

 published ' ; Maurice et Barnevelt " in French, 

 the modern language of the learned. He 

 differs from Motley on some important points. 

 Rogge's " Life of Nitenbogaert " is also a work 

 of great importance. 



Of -the numerous works published on the 

 300th anniversary of Leyden University is the 

 " Album Studiosorum Academise Lugduno Ba- 

 tavsa," a big quarto, giving the names and 

 other particulars of the 80,000 students from 

 1575-1 875. The 200th anniversary of Leeu- 

 wenhoek, the microscopist and discoverer of 

 VOL. xv. 29 A 



infusoria, gave occasion for some publications. 

 Mr. Zeeman's erudite "Dutch Proverbs and 

 Sayings derived from Scripture ; " Harre- 

 bomee's quaint "Bacchus : Dutch Proverbs and 

 Sayings, illustrative of Tippling and Tipplers; " 

 Oudeman's fifth volume of "Contributions 

 toward a Middle and Old Dutch Dicitonary ; " 

 Voogt's "History of Coinage in the United 

 Provinces ; " Prof. Quack's " Socialists : Per- 

 sons and Systems ; " Prof. Kuenen's " Prophets 

 and Prophesying in Israel ; " Prof. Opzoomer's 

 "On Art;" Scheffer's "Modern Pessimism" 

 each of these elaborate works would deserve 

 a short notice by itself. 



The movement in favor of art, described at 

 some length in my report of last year, has 

 entered a new phase. Government has created 

 at the Home Office a Department for Art, and 

 appointed Mr. de Stuers the chief officer. 



HITNGABY. In picturing the literary life of 

 the past year, I shall begin as usual with the 

 scientific achievements of the Academy, among 

 which the cultivation of the Magyar language, 

 and the investigation of the affinities of the 

 latter, partly to the Finn-Ugrian, partly to the 

 Turco-Tartar stock, occupy the chief place. 

 Referring to the first, I may mention the pub- 

 lication of the " Monumenta Hungarica," con- 

 sisting of three volumes, with the following 

 contents: 1. The Vienna and Munich Codices, 

 old Hungarian translations of the Bible and 

 Gospels supposed to have been written in the 

 fifteenth century. 2. The Vespr6mi, Sandor, 

 Peer, Winkler, Gyongyosi, Thewrewk, Kriza, 

 and Bod Codices, Hungarian literary remains 

 of the sixteenth century. 3. The Nagyszam- 

 bati Codex, containing the life of Saint Do- 

 menicus and the Virgina Codex. 



We cannot look at the books of this year 

 apart from those of other years, but must con- 

 sider them as part and parcel of the movement 

 which has been' going on since the Revolution, 

 or at least since the reestablishment of the 

 Constitution. And the most pressing question 

 is, whether the Hungarian nation, while it 

 draws ever nearer to other European peoples 

 and assimilates much that is still strange to it, 

 will be able to retain its own individuality, or 

 will lose its national character in the endeavor 

 to learn from foreigners. We Hungarians are 

 in the habit of giving a cheerful answer to this 

 question, and of taking a hopeful view of the 

 future of our country ; yet occasionally a 

 certain amount of anxiety is evinced, as some 

 of the novels published this year show. The 

 hero of Maurice Jokai's "Mine, Thine, His," is, 

 during the greater part of his career, a repre- 

 sentative of all the best qualities of his nation 

 indeed, a personification of Hungary. 



Two other novels by Jokai belong to this 

 year, "The Comedians of Life," and "God is 

 one God." The former, however, is not yet 

 finished, and the second is only on the point 

 of appearing, and will be published at the 

 same time in several languages, English among 

 others. 



