LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1882. 



475 



the Parliamentary Committee on Primary 

 Education and Schools" has been published 

 by order of the Government. Other subjects 

 have received due attention ; such as political 



>nomy, popular rights, social questions, the 

 fine arts, etc. Several monographs on this 

 latter are regarded as very valuable, and the 

 Royal Academy continues to publish works of 

 ancient writers of the country. M. F. Van den 

 Branden is still at work on his elaborate 

 "History of the Antwerp School of Paint- 

 ing." Decker's " History of the Malcontents in 

 the Netherlands, Sixteenth Century," though 

 crowned by the Academy, is pronounced by 

 critics to be weak and prejudiced. Poetry has 

 been fruitful this year. Collections have been 

 made by Pol de Mont, Beernaert, Gallant, and 

 others. A drama in blank verse, " Gudrun," 

 by Albrecht Rodenbach (a young writer who 

 died two years ago), is the most noted poetical 

 publication of 1882. Novels and tales of vari- 

 ous degrees of merit have also appeared. 



DENMARK. Though much interest is taken 

 in the older literature of the country, there is 

 no falling off in work by living writers. Schau- 

 dorph's " Poems " and " Novelettes " are note- 

 worthy as indicative of the progress of en- 

 larged and liberal ideas in literature; and Gjel- 

 lerup's " Pupil of the Germans " goes still fur- 

 ther in setting forth the advance of "free 

 thought " and democratic doctrines among the 

 young. Jacobsen's " Romances and Tales " 

 are highly spoken of, and H. Drachmann is 

 noted as the foremost living poet and drama- 

 tist of Denmark. His productions are received 

 with enthusiasm. 0. W. Smith's " History of 

 Russian Literature, from the Time of Peter the 

 Great," is a work of more than usual merit. 

 Danish historians have been as active as ever. 

 Madvig (so well known in America by his 

 profound work on Latin philology) has pub- 

 lished the second volume of his " Constitution 

 and Administration of the Roman State," a 

 very valuable addition to works on this sub- 

 ject. Other works which may be named are : 

 "The Political History, 1635-'45," by Fred- 

 ericia ; Erslev's " Queen Margaret and the 

 Calmar Union " ; " Unpublished Documents of 

 Danish History " ; Nielsen's " History of Copen- 

 hagen"; Lund's "History of Denmark and 

 Norway at the Close of the Sixteenth Cen- 

 tury"; and Bache's "History of the North." 

 Brandes's biography of " Ferdinand Lassalle " 

 is highly commended, as also are Brun's "Life 

 of Bishop Gruntvig," and Colin's elaborate 

 narrative of Hans 0. Andersen as a poet and a 

 man. Philology has not been neglected. Kal- 

 har's "Dictionary of the Old Danish Lan- 

 guage (1300-1700) " is specially to be noted, 

 and Madvig's new edition of Livy's works. 

 Something, not much, has been done in phi- 

 losophy and physical science. Outlines of psy- 

 chology, a treatise on Jacob Boehme, a vol- 

 ume on the yellow fever, etc., may be named 

 here. 



FRANCE. Literature in France, during 1882, 



does not present its best appearance. Between 

 political excitement and unrest, and the preva- 

 lence of so-called " naturalistic " productions of 

 the school of Zola, genuine literature and scien- 

 tific pursuits have had a rather hard time. Po- 

 etry languishes; history only creeps along; 

 criticism is often weak ; science produces Al- 

 most nothing. Were we to attempt a presenta- 

 tion and analysis of the publications of Zola and 

 his numerous followers, the result would be 

 such as to affright the reader. As an offset may 

 be named Daudet's clean and attractive stories, 

 Halevy's "L'Abbe Constantine," Greville's 

 "Rose Rozier," and other stories, Theuriet's, 

 Erckmann-Chatrian's, Malot's, Verne's, and La 

 Forest's novels and tales. These have done 

 much toward counteracting the pernicious in- 

 fluence of the " naturalistic " writings. 



In poetry, Victor Hugo has produced the 

 only noteworthy contribution of the year. 

 Octogenarian though he is, yet his "Torque- 

 mada " is full of the fire of genius. In grand- 

 eur of conception and skill in the management 

 of his subject, as well as in nobly expressed 

 sentiments on questions of ever-living inter- 

 est, this will rank among the master works of 

 Victor Hugo. A few other volumes of poetry 

 have appeared from the pens of Bruyere, 

 Tournefort, Latille, Herve, De Biran, Ratis- 

 bonne, etc., but they are considered of little 

 moment to national literature. 



History furnishes a few works which may 

 be noted. M. Wallon has published the sixth 

 and concluding volume of his " History of the 

 Revolutionary Tribunal." M. Barre-Duparcq's 

 " History of Philip II " is a work of merit, and 

 M. Lebon has treated the subject of England 

 and the French Revolution in a clear, unpreju- 

 diced, and scholarly way* Biographies and 

 memoirs form a branch of literature in which 

 French writers excel. Quite a large number 

 of books of this kind have appeared, such as 

 " Letters of B. Constant to Madame Recamier," 

 D'Haussonville's " Salon de Madame Necker," 

 Vatel's "Madame du Barry," M. Camp's 

 "Souvenirs Litteraires," E. Daudet's life of 

 his brother, A. Daudet, D'Ideville's "Mare- 

 chal Bugeaud," the " Confessions of St. Beuve," 

 which last are pronounced to be scandalous, 

 and issued in violation of a distinct pledge to 

 keep them secret. Essays and criticisms by 

 Scherer, St. Victor, Brunetiere, Montegut, 

 Stopfer, Lafou, etc., evidence the existence of 

 life and spirit in this branch of literature. 

 Note here also M. Houssaye's " L'Art Francais 

 depuis dix Ans," a series of salon articles. 

 Some volumes relative to contemporary poli- 

 tics have been published, as Louis Blanc's 

 " Discours Politique," F. Maurice's " View of 

 the Foreign Policy of the French Republic," 

 and Bertrand's " Manual of Administration of 

 Affairs." 



Philosophy and science present little of inter- 

 est. Bouillier's " La Vraie Conscience " defends 

 idealistic psychology against attacks of physi- 

 ologists ; Janry's " Breviaire de 1'Histoire du 



