498 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1886. 



realism and brutal pessimism. Among novels 

 of a better sort are, "Monsieur Jean," by F. 

 Fabre ; " Merlette," by R6my de Gourmont ; 

 " La Fille a Blanchard," by Jules Case ; this 

 last belonging to what may be called the psy- 

 chological sentimental school. Paul Bourget has 

 published a striking novel, " Crime d'Amour." 

 He is also author of a very able book, " Essais 

 de PsychologieContemporaine," and holds high 

 rank among French writers and thinkers. M. 

 Rabusson, Octave Feuillet, and Andr6 Theu- 

 riet have made noteworthy contributions to 

 light literature. " L'Opium," by Bonnetan, is 

 characterized as a capital study of the psy- 

 chological and physiological effects of that 

 powerful drug. In the drama, Henri Becque, 

 and Fjmile Bergerat have done good service ; 

 but since the fall of the empire, the critics 

 note that the stage has been unlucky, and 

 seems to have fallen into decay. M. Renan 

 has brought out " L'Abbesse de Jouarre," a 

 play, with some good and numerous bad points 

 in it. In history and philosophy, the " Souve- 

 nirs du Due de Broglie " (4 vols.), P. Thu- 

 reau-Daugin's " Histoire de la Monarchic de 

 Juillet" (3 vols.), M. Bardoux's "La Bour- 

 geoisie Francaise" (1789-1848), M. Berthe- 

 lot's " Science et Politique," A. Franck's 

 " Philosophic du Droit Civil," deserve honor- 

 able mention. Out of numerous other works 

 may be named here, E. Quinet's "Lettres 

 d'Exil," Jules Simon's " Notice sur Michelet," 

 " La France Coloniale," by A. Rambaud, " Gu- 

 erres d'ltalie," by Montluc, " Etude sur le Scep- 

 ticisme de Pascal considere dans les Pensees," 

 by E. Droz, and " Lettres Inedites de Mile, de 

 Lespinasse," by 0. Henry. Criticism, conspicu- 

 ous in 1885, has continued to do good service 

 in 1886, in the hands of Raoul Frary, E. Droz, 

 E. Mont6gut, Viscomte E. M. de Vogue, Jules 

 Lemaitre, and A. Marchand. Travel and ex- 

 ploration have met with a fair share of atten- 

 tion, but the publications in this department 

 are few and of no great moment. Politics and 

 social science continue to attract attention and 

 study. A. Coste has well described and dis- 

 cussed pauperism, monopolies, education, and 

 their adjuncts, in his " Les Questions Sociales 

 Contemporaines " ; Jules Barni deals faithfully 

 with "La Morale dans la D&nocratie"; and 

 L. J. Janvier gives an interesting and valuable 

 account of " Les Constitutions d'Ha'iti." Trans- 

 lations from English and other languages into 

 French have been made to some extent. In 

 theology and religion but little seems to have 

 been accomplished, and our record ie singu- 

 larly bare as respects this department. 



Germany. In Germany, during the year 1886, 

 there was nothing particularly striking or im- 

 portant in the way of literary production, yet 

 the record is, on the whole, fair and good. 

 The venerable Nestor of German historians, 

 Von Ranke, died in May. The sixth volume 

 of his " Universal History " was published last 

 year, and he left the seventh complete in man- 

 uscript. Possibly the work will be continued 



by other hands from the papers left by Ranke. 

 The death of G. Waitz, President of the Acade- 

 my, puts a check upon the publication of the 

 " Monumenta Germanise," a valuable work in 

 charge of members of the academies at Vienna, 

 Berlin, and Munich. A. Gindely has brought 

 out a fresh contribution in relation to Wallen- 

 stein (1631-'34), who is still to a large extent 

 an enigma in history. G. F. Herzberg has 

 published a "History of Ancient Rome," which 

 is praised by the critics. L. Pastor's " History 

 of the Popes," from a Roman Catholic stand- 

 point (to be in six volumes), is regarded as a 

 learned and vigorous offset to the usual history 

 as given by Protestants. It may be considered 

 a valuable supplement to one of Ranke's chief 

 works. German history, at the time of the 

 " Counter-Reformation," is treated of by Mr. 

 Ritter, and Droysen's "History of Frederick 

 the Great" has reached a fourth volume. 

 Mommsen also has brought out another volume 

 of his " History of Rome." Karpeles's " His- 

 tory of Hebrew Literature " appears to be the 

 first comprehensive work of its kind thus far 

 produced. A number of other contributions 

 to historical literature have been made by 

 Krones, E. Joachim, F. von Bezold, O. Lo- 

 renz, H. Siegel, and R. Gneist. Gustav Freytag 

 (now past seventy) has issued the first volume 

 of his "Reminiscences," which gives promise 

 of much interest. " Young Germany " is striv- 

 ing to produce a reaction against the extrava- 

 gances of the imitators of J. V. Scheffel, a poet 

 of renown, who died in April, 1886. Critics 

 denounce these hybrid archaeological romances 

 and predict their speedy downfall. The new 

 school aims to reproduce the life and pathos of 

 the ode and hymn. M. Greif and J. Proelss 

 are named as writers of excellent lyrics and 

 genuine, healthy songs. In regard to dramatie 

 literature not much is to be said. Paul Heysc 

 has made two or three noteworthy contribu- 

 tions. R. Voss, in his " Patriciarin " and 

 " Brigitta," has gained applause; and E. von 

 "Wildenbruch, in his latest play, "Das Neue 

 Gebot," has dealt with a novel subject, viz., the 

 hardship and trouble caused by Pope Gregory 

 VII forbidding the marriage of priests. Come- 

 dy is well represented by such writers as 0. 

 Blumenthal, G. Moser, H. Lubliner, F. Bren- 

 tano, etc. Novels of all sorts continue to be 

 published in large numbers. Among these we 

 may name Spielhagen's "Im Heilbade," G. 

 Ebers's new Egyptian story, " Die Nilbrant," 

 E. Eckstein's " Violanta," H. Klein's "Blinde 

 Liebe," E. Marriott's " Geistliche Tod," etc. 

 Tales and shorter stories also are numerous and 

 good, as Heyse's latest collection of " Novel- 

 len," and similar productions by T. Storm, G. 

 Keller, R. Lindau, J. Grosse, B. Groller, etc. 

 The Goethe literature still holds public atten- 

 tion, although the death of W. Scherer, who 

 was charged with the care of the critical edi- 

 tion of the poet's works, is much lamented, 

 and will cause further delay. Scherer was a 

 very able man and a critic of first rank, as 



