474 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1876. 



well as a description of the customs and su- 

 perstitions of our people. 



Dona Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, the 

 authoress of the " Vozes do Ermo," is already 

 known among us not only as a poetess of dis- 

 tinction, but also as a prose-writer of eminence. 

 There is not one of the Portuguese ladies who 

 aspire to literary honors able to compete with 

 her. The " Vozes do Ermo " is the only book 

 of verses which I consider I ought to particu- 

 larize. 



I desist from mentioning some agreeable 

 books of travels, as well as some pleasing 

 poems of small importance. 



In dramatic literature, excepting the drama, 

 " Os Lazaristas," of A. Ennes, there has not 

 appeared anything worthy of notice. This 

 drama is not only a work of propaganda against 

 the Jesuits, but must be rated, when we set 

 aside a few slight blemishes, a true production 

 of art. 



Theophilo Braga, a workman of untiring 

 industry, has issued the "Anthologia Portu- 

 gueza," the "Manual da Litteratura Portn- 

 gueza," the " Grammatica Comparada da Lin- 

 gua Portngueza," and also published the 

 "Cancioneiro do Vaticano." All these works 

 are commendable. 



SPAIN. A tendency is to be observed in 

 Spain to foster the study of science by estab- 

 lishing it on a more solid foundation, and one 

 more in accordance with modern ideas. This 

 has continued in the present year almost to a 

 greater extent than in former ones. The estab- 

 lishment of new literary centres and scientific 

 periodicals, the foreign books which are con- 

 tinually translated, and the excellent literary 

 reviews which appear, show us that the Span- 

 ish public is becoming anxious to learn and 

 favor studies of all kinds. 



For many years French books have been the 

 only channel through which foreign ideas and 

 scientific impulses have entered Spain. There 

 is a great change at the present time. A large 

 number of books are translated directly from 

 German and English, most of them of a scien- 

 tific kind ; and they meet with a ready sale, 

 which would not have been the case twenty 

 years ago. Among them may be mentioned 

 Mackeldy's " Studies of Roman Law," Momm- 

 pen's " History of Rome," Draper's " Science 

 and Religion," besides works of Hegel, Kant, 

 and the Greek philosophers, which have been 

 translated and greatly commented upon lately. 

 One of the reasons which have contributed to 

 make these studies popular in Spain is, that 

 the best Spanish literary journals publish a 

 special foreign correspondence direct from the 

 European literary centres. These facts clearly 

 prove that the Spanish public is becoming more 

 alive to the advantages of private enterprise ; 

 there is, undoubtedly, progress, though, if com- 

 pared with the modern life of other nations, 

 the result is poor. Literary writings are scanty, 

 and the country is going through one of those 

 periods which generally come before a renais- 



sance, as has been the case in Germany and 

 Italy; unfortunately, however, in Spain the 

 southern character predominates in a great de- 

 gree, and destroys most part of the other ad- 

 vantages. One instance of this is furnished 

 by the debates held at the Ateneo of Madrid, 

 a neutral ground on which celebrities of every 

 school meet to discuss every kind of subject. 

 The debates of this year have been held on im- 

 portant social problems, and also to discuss 

 whether it would be advisable to have the pro- 

 tection of the Government for certain literary 

 productions. The orators have enchanted their 

 audiences by their eloquence, without, how- 

 ever, convincing them ; for the ideas which 

 they support in religion, philosophy, and social 

 science, possess so eclectic a tendency that it 

 is not easy for half a dozen individuals to agree 

 in a concrete solution. 



Such is the general aspect of the intellectual 

 life of 1866. The books Avhich have appeared 

 during the year have been few, and none of 

 any great importance. 



SWEDEN. The prosperity, which in a mate- 

 rial point of view has been the result of abun- 

 dant harvests and progress in all the depart- 

 ments of commerce and industry, has naturally 

 exercised a beneficial influence on the book- 

 market. The number of original works is, 

 however, not very large ; translations, on the 

 other hand, are more numerous The latter, 

 with a few exceptions, must here be omitted. 



To turn to philosophy, there has been pub- 

 lished the first installment of a selection of S. 

 Grubbe's works. Grubbe was Professor of 

 Philosophy at the University of Upsala, and as 

 a stylist he ranks among our greatest authors. 

 This work is published by A. Nybteus, who, 

 in "Den filosofiska Forskningen i Sverige fran 

 slutet af adertonde arhundradet " (" Philosoph- 

 ical Researches in Sweden from the end of the 

 Eighteenth Century"), and other books, has 

 proved himself not only a learned inquirer, 

 but a master of the art of writing in a clear 

 and popular style. Another volume of great 

 interest is G. firing's " Immanuel Kants For- 

 hallande till den filosofiska Teologien" ("I. 

 Kant's Relation to Philosophic Theology "). 



The researches in Swedish history have not 

 produced any great results this year. 



The interest taken in fine arts and their his- 

 tory has been increasing, especially since the 

 opening of the new National Museum, simul- 

 taneously with the great exhibition of produc- 

 tions of art and industry in Stockholm, 1866. 

 In consequence, the time seems to have ar- 

 rived for producing an art-journal an idea 

 that was realized two years ago. L. Dietrich- 

 son is the editor; contributions have been fur- 

 nished by Prof. Nyblom, Ljunggren, and oth- 

 ers, and the artistic part of the work has been 

 provided for by engaging the services of dis- 

 tinguished etchers, Unger, Klaus, Lowenstam. 

 Dr. Fr. Sander has this year completed a 

 work relating to its valuable collection of 

 pictures, under the title of " Nationalmuseum, 



