558 



LITERATUKE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1879. 



Familie Mendelssohn " is the title of a pleas- 

 ant hook compiled from family papers by Se- 

 bastian Hensel, the nephew of the composer 

 Mendelssohn, and the son of his darling sister 

 Fanny. 



The mystic poetry of Siegfried Lipiner, a 

 Galician Jew by origin, marks a reaction from 

 the pessimistic atheism which has been the tone 

 of German poetry since Heine. Lipiner's latest 

 poem, entitled "Eenatus," is intended to de- 

 scribe those who have been reborn in the light 

 of a new faith. Paul Heyse's "Verse aus Ita- 

 lien " is distinguished by classic smoothness. 



Wilbrandt whose "Maler," together with 

 G. Freytag's " Journalisten," may be considered 

 the best among recent German comedies has 

 been less successful with his last two produc- 

 tions, the comedy "Der Thurm in der Stadt- 

 mauer " and his " Natalie," a piece written in 

 Iffland's style. A comedy entitled "Rosen- 

 kranz und Gtildenstern," by Klapp, has gone 

 the round of all the theatres in Germany. 



Berth old Auerbach has published an instruc- 

 tive novel in the style of " Waldfried," under 

 the title of " Forstmeister." Friedrich Spiel- 

 hagen has, since the publication of his romance 

 "Sturmflut," appeared with a three-volume 

 novel entitled "Plattland." "Eekenhof," by 

 Theodor Storm, may be considered one of the 

 chief works of the year. Almost as much power 

 is exhibited in the romantic tale " Der Schelm 

 von Bergen," by Julius von der Traun (Alexan- 

 der Schindler). Gustav Freytag has brought 

 his historical pictures, given in the continued 

 romance " Die Ahnen," down to the period of 

 the Thirty Years' War. Louise von Francois 

 has produced another admirable historical nov- 

 el, " Die Katzenjunker." 



BELGIUM. In Belgium many pens are busied 

 with subjects connected with the national his- 

 tory. "Le Siecle des Artevelde," by Leon 

 Vanderkindere, is an exhaustive study of the 

 foreign politics, the aristocracy, the democratic 

 revolution, the economical movement, political 

 centralization, the artisans, agricultural labor- 

 ers, religion, clergy, thoughts, ideas, and mor- 

 als of Flanders and Brabant during the four- 

 teenth century. " L'Histoire Politique Interne 

 de la Belgique," by Edm. Poullet, professor at 

 the University of Louvain, is a powerful sketch. 

 J. Kunziger has published a short but interest- 

 ing history of the Netherlands in the sixteenth 

 century, under the title of " Nos Luttes contre 

 1'Intolerance et le Despotisme." The late Mi- 

 nard van Hoorebeke's "Description de M6- 

 reaux et de Jetons de Presence, etc., des Gildes 

 et Corps de Metiers des Pays-Bas" gives an 

 account of the societies of artisans of Ghent 

 and other places. Eug. van Bemmel edits " La 

 Belgique Illustre'e," which supplies a pictorial 

 and historical description of the principal towns 

 and districts. Ferdinand Vanderhaeghen is 

 preparing a general bibliography of the Nether- 

 lands, in which he proposes carefully to de- 

 scribe all the books printed in the Low Coun- 

 tries during the fifteenth and sixteenth centu- 



ries, and also the principal works that have 

 been published since. 



Godefroid Kurth, professor at the University 

 of Li6ge, in his voluminous work entitled " Sit- 

 ting Bull," examines the question of the Red- 

 skins of the United States from a point of view 

 strictly Catholic. J. Dauby has devoted an in- 

 teresting book to the question of " Greves Ou- 

 vrieres," and J. Stevens one to that of " Prisons 

 Cellulaires en Belgique." Georges de Laveleye 

 has treated a subject which is the question of 

 the day, " Les Bilans et les Inventaires." 



Paul Voituron, in his work "Le Libe'ralisme 

 et les Idfies Religieuses," extols a new religion. 

 Aristide Astruc, chief Rabbi of Belgium, has 

 published a broad and original study entitled 

 "Entretiens sur le Judaisme, son Dogme et sa 

 Morale." "La Philosophic Scientifique," by 

 Captain H. Girard, is a bold attempt to pre- 

 scribe a general method for all sciences. 



Max Rooses has finished his magnificent 

 work on the Antwerp school of painters. 



Chief among the writers in Flemish, Hendrik 

 Conscience continues his artless and simple 

 narratives of Flemish habits and customs. A 

 remarkable production is a work entitled "Drie 

 Novellen," by Miss Virginie Loveling. 



The most noteworthy drama is a little play 

 from the pen of Emiel van Goethem, entitled 

 " Tony en Belleken." 



HOLLAND. Holland is prolific in novelists 

 who delight in portraying with more or less 

 idealization the simple lives of the poor. Israel 

 is exceedingly successful in depicting the hopes 

 and sorrows, the joys and hardships of the 

 Dutch fishermen, and Cremer in his pictures 

 of the comfortable and good-natured Dutch 

 farmers and their families. Three younger 

 writers have appeared, MM. Otto, Martin Kalff, 

 and Justus van Maurik, who paint their Dutch 

 interiors from the home-life of the humbler 

 classes of townsfolk. MM. Ten Brink and 

 Wolters, among a number of other popular 

 story-writers, have produced good novels. 



Two new poets have arisen who give good 

 promise of future excellence Gosler, author 

 of " Licht en Schaduw," and Waalner. Emants 

 has written a poem, in three cantos, entitled 

 "Lilith." 



Under the inappropriate title of " Causerign," 

 Berckenhoff has published a readable volume 

 of letters to a supposed lady friend on art and 

 criticism. The Rev. J. Craandijk has just is- 

 sued the fourth volume of the " Wandelingen 

 door Nederland," beautifully illustrated by 

 Schipperus's drawings. Yan Assendelft de 

 Coningh has written a pleasant book, recount- 

 ing his forty years' experience as a sailor, called 

 " Ontmoetingen ter Zee en te Land." Busken 

 Hu6t has published another volume of " Litera- 

 rische Fantasign," containing essays on Victor 

 Hugo, Paul de Kock, Lord Lytton, etc. An- 

 other valuable book of this fascinating but 

 often paradoxical author is "Het Land van 

 Rubens." 



DENMARK. After a rather long period oi 



