

LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1884. 



striking and valuable, mainly as giving an ac- 

 count of his literary predilections and his meth- 

 od of working. The completion of this publi- 

 cation is looked for with much interest, though, 

 owing to the political troubles in the country, 

 and the severity of the Government in regard 

 to political allusions or expressions in any 

 printed book or periodical, it is not probable 

 that the remainder of the correspondence will 

 speedily see the light. " The Literary Mis- 

 cellany " contains the opening chapters of 

 Count Tolstoy's novel, "The Decembrists," 

 and several attractive stories by Stechedrin, a 

 Kussian Dean Swift in style and energy ; some 

 poems of Turgenieff ; a history of the Russian 

 Literary Society, etc. In fiction and light lit- 

 erature the year has produced nothing of mo- 

 ment or value, and in poetry much the same 

 statement is true. History also furnishes no 

 works of merit this year. Historical articles 

 in magazines, and historical memoirs, have ap- 

 peared, some of which are regarded as valua- 

 ble and important. In the science of geogra- 

 phy there has been no original production this 

 year. The work of M. E. Reclus, however, on 

 Russia has been translated into the vernacular, 

 and is considered by the critics to be an admi- 

 rable scientific production, both creditable to 

 the author and calculated to advance the knowl- 

 edge and appreciation of Russia at home and 

 abroad. A volume on " Traditional Law among 

 the Russians of Northern Russia," by Madame 

 Efimenko, is much praised as an excellent ad- 

 dition to national literature. The centenary 

 of the illustrious Russian critic, Belinsky, who 

 was pre-eminent as an intsrpreter of Shake- 

 speare, was celebrated this year, and the Gov- 

 ernment has seen fit to relax some of its sever- 

 ity in interdicting numerous authors, both Rus- 

 sian and foreign. Possibly another year will 

 show an improved state of affairs in liter- 

 ature. 



Spain. The progress in science, literature, 

 and art, during the year, has been very en- 

 couraging, on the whole. Light literature, in 

 the way of novels and tales, has greatly in- 

 creased, and poetry (lyrical as well as dramatic) 

 has yielded abundant fruit. The number of this 

 class of books is noted as almost incredible. 

 Every variety of topic is gone into, and nearly 

 every mode of treatment has been employed. 

 In the dramas, however, there are few new 

 works, and these are said to be of not much 

 value. Ecbegaray, who stands at the head of 

 Spanish dramatists, has reprinted three of his 

 best productions, but has written almost noth- 

 ing this year. Gomez, Novo, Selles, Zapatas, 

 etc., are named with praise by the critics for 

 work in this line. The fourth and fifth vol- 

 umes of the " Transactions of the Royal Acad- 

 emy of History " have been published, and con- 

 tain a number of good papers on Spanish his- 

 tory and antiquities. There are also quite a 

 number of noteworthy volumes dealing with 

 historical matters of importance, in both Span- 

 ish and European history, together with es- 



LOUISIANA. 



453 



says, articles in journals, reviews, etc., on con- 

 temporaneous events. Provincial history and 

 topography are still much in favor, and sever- 

 al additions have been made to books on these 

 points. In archaeology, numismatics, and other 

 branches of history, much activity has been 

 manifested, which has led to valuable publica- 

 tions. Translations from English, French, and 

 other languages have increased in variety and 

 excellence, and numerous costly reprints have 

 found buyers and readers. 



Sweden. Literary matters in Sweden this 

 year have been in general quiet, though 

 Strindberg, the champion of the new literary 

 school, has roused public attention and pro- 

 duced much excitement by attacking, in one 

 of his novels, a chief dogma of the Church, 

 and in others pleading for Rousseau's evangel 

 in place of the gospel of Christianity. Tales 

 and novelettes are numerous, and some lyric 

 and dramatic poetry has appeared. Snoilsky 

 and Rydberg are named as at the head of the 

 poets in Sweden. Scientific literature is well 

 represented by several works published during 

 the year, and by an index to the transactions 

 of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Legal 

 science and literature are also successfully and 

 actively cultivated. Numerous contributions 

 to history have been made in volumes upon 

 Charles XII, Gustavus III, and others, to- 

 gether with valuable menfoirs of later kings 

 of Sweden and their times. " The History of 

 Swedish Printing" (1783-1883), of which two 

 volumes have been issued, is very highly praised 

 by competent critics; and a great work of bibli- 

 ography, the u Swedish Book Lexicon," of Linn- 

 strom, has been brought to its completion. The 

 history of literature and the fine arts has re- 

 ceived much attention during the year, and 

 several excellent books have appeared, such as 

 Warburg's monographs on the Swedish poet 

 and historian Olof von Dalin, and on Moliere, 

 and also Hafstrom's account of the practice of 

 the plastic arts in Sweden (1600-1881). Dur- 

 ing the year there have appeared, in addition, 

 numerous political pamphlets, several excel- 

 lently illustrated books, notes of travel, pict- 

 ures from peasant-life, etc. 



LONGITUDES. See page 54. 



LOUISIANA. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year: Gov- 

 ernor, Samuel D. McEnery, Democrat; Lieu- 

 tenant- Governor, Charles Knobloch ; Secretary 

 of State, William A. Strong, succeeded by Os- 

 car Arroyo ; Treasurer, E. A. Burke ; Auditor, 

 Allen Jumell, succeeded by O. B. Steele ; At- 

 torney-General, John 0. Egan, succeeded by M. 

 J. Cunningham ; Superintendent of Public 

 Education, Edwin H. Fay, succeeded by War- 

 ren Easton. Judiciary, Supreme Court: Chief- 

 Justice, Edward Bermudez ; Associate Justices, 

 Felix T. Poch6, Robert B. Todd, Thomas 0. 

 Manning, and Charles E. Fenner. 



Overflow. After the inundation of 1882, re- 

 ports were gathered from sixteen parishes as 

 to damages from inundation. The summary of 



