LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1881. 



505 



novel. Mr. Perelaer, the author of " Borneo," 

 has succeeded in making his book fascinating 

 and instructive at the same time. " La Ren- 

 zoni," by Melati van Java, is her best novel. 

 Other works of fiction are Beekman's " Schet- 

 sen en Novellen," and Van Maurik's new vol- 

 ume. Van Bloemen Waanders gives his read- 

 ers in his " Indische Schetsen " the benefit of 

 his knowledge of Indian affairs. Reminis- 

 cences of India and impressions of Holland are 

 to be found in Gideon's " Brieven aan de Neef- 

 jes in de Oost " ("Letters to my Nephews in 

 the East Indies"). Werumens Buning has 

 written another volume of tales, " Our Ances- 

 tors on the Ocean," in which the Dutch naval 

 heroes are painted in a graphic and genial style. 

 A novel by Marcellus Emants, " Jong Holland," 

 takes a pessimistic view of his contemporaries. 

 Pleasant books of fiction are two little novels 

 of Ter Burch, " Sproken van Minne " (" Tales 

 of Love"). 



HUNGARY. Peace prevails in Southeastern 

 Europe, and the effect is gradually becoming 

 visible. Hungary has always exercised a strong 

 intellectual influence upon the small Christian 

 nationalities of the East. Professor Max Miil- 

 ler is to a certainextent right when he pleads 

 for the use of a better known language. But 

 one point which has been overlooked is that 

 Hungarians before all keep an eye upon their 

 own nation, and that knowledge can be only 

 diffused among a people if clad in the national 

 garb. This is especially the case with the 

 Hungarians, who defend themselves against 

 the formidable influence of Germany, and who 

 strengthen their national individuality by using 

 their vernacular for scientific purposes. Of 

 literary productions which interest a wider cir- 

 cle the " Ungarische Revue," a periodical writ- 

 ten in German, gives extracts from the papers 

 read before the Academy, and papers upon 

 Hungarian topics from the pens of eminent 

 men. 



J6kai has two novels, called "Those who 

 Die Twice" and "Pater Peter" ("Friar Pe- 

 ter "), which prove the fertility of this gifted 

 author. Among the novel-writers of the young- 

 er generation, Cornelius Abranyi keeps the 

 first place. In his " Old and New Gentry," 

 the contrast between an impoverished country 

 squire and a financial upstart is handled. Next 

 standa Colomannus Mikszath, whose fiction, 

 " Our Slavonian Countrymen." is a faithful 

 picture of life in Upper Hungary. Not less in- 

 teresting is Gustav Beksics's " The Country of 

 Liberty," a description of England in the form 

 of a novel. Hungarian fiction suffers from the 

 competition of foreign countries. 



Next to the novel, lyric poetry is most in 

 fashion. Aladar Madach and Ludovic Bartok 

 have come forward with a collection of their 

 scattered verses. Of the older writers, John 

 Vajda is a poet of talent and narrative power ; 

 Paul Gyulai is, after Arany, the most eminent 

 Hungarian poet, of great finish and elegance; 

 and A. Greguss is a tasteful versifier of fables. 



In dramatic literature Gregor Csiky earned 

 the laurels of the year with his " Czifra Nyo- 

 morusag " (" Splendid Misery "). 



In philology the Academy has published 

 " Linguistic Monuments." Count G. Kuun's 

 edition of the " Petrarca Codex " is placed be- 

 fore the scientific world in a Latin translation. 

 Turcologists will be thankful for his edition of 

 the Cumanian glossary, which dates from 1803. 

 Professor J. Budenz has finished at last his 

 " Magyar-ugor osszehasonlito Szotar" ("Mag- 

 yar - Ugrian Comparative Dictionary "), and 

 students of the Ugrian branch of the Ural-Al- 

 taic languages will now have ample opportu- 

 nity to get acquainted with the degree of affin- 

 ity existing between the Finnish, Esthonian, 

 and other tongues, and the Magyar. Adopting 

 the theory, by no means proved, of the pre- 

 dominantly Finn-Ugrian character of the Mag- 

 yar tongue, valuable portions of his work are 

 defaced by arbitrary etymologies. In " Az Isz- 

 lam," by Dr. J. Goldziher, Islamism is shown 

 in its real character as the religion of the in- 

 habitants of the desert, with its traditions, its 

 hagiology, its influence upon the old architec- 

 tonic monuments, and the European prejudices 

 against it. "The Great Epic Poems of the 

 World," by Charles Szasz, contains extracts 

 from the great epics of the Indians, Persians, 

 and Greeks. A contribution to the history of 

 education in Hungary is " Our Public Instruc- 

 tion in the Eighteenth Century," by the late 

 Aladar Molnar. To educational literature be- 

 longs also M. Ludvic Felme'ri's " The Present 

 State of Public Instruction in England." 



"The Speeches of Francis Deak from 1829 

 to 1847," edited by E. Konyi, was warmly re- 

 ceived by the public. 



Connected with the politics of the last dec- 

 ades is Mr. Francis Pulszky's concluding vol- 

 ume of his memoirs. It contains the impres- 

 sions of a former political refugee in London 

 and in New York. Of an outspoken character 

 are the essays and speeches of Augustus Tre- 

 fort, at present Minister of Public Instruction 

 in Hungary. 



Sigismundus Ormos's "The History of Hun- 

 garian Civilization during the Period of the 

 Arpadians " is the first part of a large work on 

 the history of civilization in Hungary, and from 

 which we learn that Hungary during the mid- 

 dle ages was not entirely dependent on German 

 civilization, but owed a good deal to Italy and 

 Byzantium. 



ITALY. Notwithstanding the great number 

 of theatres, and the proverbial proficiency of 

 third-rate actors and actresses in Italy, the num- 

 ber of new plays acted is small in comparison 

 with the number written. Out of one hundred 

 and one plays presented at the competition in- 

 stituted by the jury of the National Drama of 

 Milan, not one was considered worthy of the 

 stage. Public opinion remains faithful to its 

 favorite authors. The loss of Pietro Cossa, the 

 Roman dramatist, and of Tommaso Gherardi 

 del Testa, of Pistoia, was very deeply felt, but 



