4'Js 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1881. 



which is about all that need be said. '' A Ro- 

 mance of the Nineteenth Century," by W. 11. 

 Mullock (Chatto & Windus), deserves censure 

 ut the hands of all decent, cleanly-minded per- 

 sons. It is a book which abounds with a pe- 

 culiarly unpleasant mixture of devoutness and 

 tin- world and the tlesh and the devil. In con- 

 tra-t with books like this stands Miss Jean 

 Inflow's "Don John," a capital story, well 

 tola, and healthful in its tone and spirit. Miss 

 .K it- F.ithergill contributes two new books to 

 the hundreds of novels of the year, "Made or 

 Marred.' 1 ' and "One of Three" (Bentley & 

 Son). Though not equal, perhaps, to her first 

 venture in authorship, they are well worth 

 reading, and sound in manners and moral 

 tcarhiiiir. To these may be added "Kith and 

 Kin," by the same writer, published toward 

 the close of the year. " The Comet of a Sea- 

 son," by Justin McCarthy (Chatto & Windus), 

 is a pleasant, clever story. It may not in- 

 crease his reputation, but it certainly does him 

 no discredit. Thomas Hardy's " Laodicean " 

 (Sampson, Low & Co.) is after the author's 

 usual type, interesting enough as a story, and 

 evincing considerable power in depicting and 

 analyzing character. Mrs. J. H. Riddell's " The 

 Senior Partner " (Bentley & Son) is a book of 

 more than average merit, considering the usual 

 quality of the novels of the year. "Sunrise" 

 and " The Beautiful Wretch, and other Sto- 

 ries" (Macmillan & Co.), are William Black's 

 contributions to fiction during 1881. It is 

 only necessary to say that the writer sustains 

 himself well in both these novels, although, on 

 the whole, the latter is superior to the former 

 in strength of purpose and development of 

 character. W. Besant and J. Rice (who are 

 pretty well known as writing together) are au- 

 thors of "The Chaplain of the Fleet " (Chatto & 

 Windus). It is a remarkably well-put-together 

 book, and tells a curious story of manners and 

 customs of the eighteenth century. It is one 

 of the best novels of the year. 



Juveniles, as usual, especially at the holiday 

 season, are numerous, and many of them very 

 excellent. The Society for Promoting Chris- 

 tian Knowledge sends out its regular quota, 

 and publishing houses are active in supplying 

 the demand for good as well as elegant books 

 for the young people. In tone and spirit most 

 of the juveniles of the year are deserving of 

 high praise. 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1881. 

 BELGIUM. No branch of study is so much cul- 

 tivated in Belgium as national history. The last 

 numbers of the " Bibliotheca Belgica " contain 

 studies on two Flemish jurisconsults, Philippe 

 Wielant (sixteenth century) and Josse deDam- 

 hondere (seventeenth century) ; on the Jesuit 

 historian Strada; and on the apostle of tol- 

 eration in the Low Countries of the sixteenth 

 century, Coornhert of Amsterdam. M. Ed- 

 mond Vanderstraeten has at length published 

 the second volume of his " Histoire du Theatre 

 Villageois en Flandre," a history of the intel- 



lect, literature, and art of the Flemish rural 

 classes. " La Belgique Illustree " is continued, 

 notwithstanding the death of Professor Eug. 

 van Bemmel, the editor. Hainault and tho 

 provinces of Namur and Liege have appeared 

 this year. 



M. Decamps has published an interesting 

 work on "L'lndustrie Houilliere dans le Bas- 

 sin de Mons " (Haiuault) ; MM. Bruneel and 

 Braun a technical account of the nautical ar- 

 rangements, old and new, of the town of 

 Ghent. The late Danish doctor Estrup has left 

 a work on the memoirs of the Pope's legate 

 Onufrius. A " Catalogue du Musee Plantin," 

 at Antwerp, has been compiled by M. Max 

 Rooses, the curator. Concerning the present 

 time, the second and third volumes of the 

 documents relative to the cessation of all dip- 

 lomatic intercourse between Belgium and the 

 Vatican have been issued. 



Colonel Cruyplants has published some in- 

 teresting " Souvenirs d'un Voluntaire de 1830." 

 Hendrik Conscience has published an Academ- 

 ical lecture on the history and tendencies of 

 Flemish literature ; and his colleague in the 

 Academy, Louis Hymans, traced the literary 

 movement since 1830. In " Cinquante Ans de 

 Libert6 " Ch. and E. Lagrange and Gilkinet 

 have written a history of science in Belgium 

 during the last fifty years. 



Felix Plateau has published a " Traite de 

 Zoologie," and Mourlon a " Geologic de la 

 Belgique." General Brialmont has printed two 

 volumes on the " Tactique de Combat des 

 Trois Armes." J. C. Houzeau and Lancaster 

 have undertaken a " Bibliographic G6nerale de 

 1' Astronomic." "Les Accidents," by Dr. C. 

 A. Fredericq, is a popular treatise. 



Adolphe de Ceuleneer has commented on a 

 military edict of Trajan racently discovered in 

 the bed of the Meuse. In "Le Bercean des 

 Aryas " the Jesuit father Vander Gheyn has 

 written a chapter on historical geography, 

 founded on the comparison of languages. Henri 

 Pirenne has a dissertation on a singular writer 

 of the middle ages, Sedulius Scotus. 



Since the King of the Belgians placed him- 

 self at the head of the European exploration 

 of Central Africa, attention has been turned 

 toward geography. To the "Recueil Consu- 

 laire " the Belgian consuls contribute papers 

 of value ; the report of the consul in Vene- 

 zuela, M. Ern. van Bruyssel, is a complete dis- 

 sertation on that republic, its trade and its sea- 

 ports. Count Goblet d'Alviella and Emile Le- 

 clercq have written a monograph on the Canary 

 Isles ; Octave Maus, on Malta, Constantinople, 

 and the Southern Crimea; Albert Verhaegen, 

 on Brazil; Alfred Bruneel, on Damascus, Je- 

 rusalem, and Suez ; Albert Dubois, on Spain, 

 Gibraltar, and the coast of Morocco; Ernest 

 Gilon, a work on Uncivilized Races ; and M. 

 Edouard de Laveleye, one on the present con- 

 dition of the United States. 



In the domain of political and moral sciences, 

 besides numerous essays on the proportional 



