434 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1891. 



have tried their hands, but to little purpose. 

 New novels have been published by II. F. Ewald, 

 Holm-Hansen, C. Moller, F. C. v. d. Burgh, J. 

 Meyer, B, Elmgaard, etc. In verse there is 

 nothing demanding special mention. Nik-B6gh 

 has brought out " Reminiscences and Melodies " ; 

 V. Rose, a narrative poem, " Master Dubitans" ; 

 C. Richardt, " The Lord's Prayer " (illustrated) ; 

 E. v. d. Recke, a new collection of verses, which 

 is rather sharply criticised ; and 0. Madsen, a 

 beginner, " Wild Wine," which exhibits consid- 

 erable talent. In the drama, Mrs. E. Gad's new 

 comedies, ' A Warning " and " A Silver Wed- 

 ding," mark an advance ; both were received with 

 applause in the theatre. G. Esmann's " In the 

 Province " was also successful, and an anony- 

 mous comedy, "At Gotham," is praised. E. 

 Christiansen, well known in this department, 

 has published " Idle Tales," a clever comedy, and 

 "Peter Plus," a romantic fairy play. The au- 

 thor who writes under the pseudonym " Wolde- 

 mar " has issued a play, " Gregers," in which the 

 seventeenth-century people and style of speech 

 are brought to the front. K. Gjellerup's new 

 tragedy " Herman Vandel " is held to be in 

 measure a failure. " King Waldemar," a lyrical 

 drama, by Anna Erslev (" A. Borch ") is a success, 

 and is accompanied by a treatise on Danish his- 

 torical plays. In history, attention has been 

 confined to Denmark and Norway. One vol- 

 ume only, " The Pall of Robespierre," by L. F. 

 Toft, deals with foreign history. Prof. E. Holm's 

 " Denmark-Norway, 1720-1730," is very valuable. 

 The aged historia'n F. Barford has begun, in 

 continuation of a previous work, " The History 

 of Denmark, 1536-1670," and R. Petersen has 

 collected a series of " Reminiscences from the 

 Shore of the Sound." Two books add to the 

 war literature of the country, viz., " A Parson- 

 a w e in Sundeved (Sleswick) during the war of 

 1864," by N. L. Fejlberg, and " The Chief Physi- 

 cian," by an anonymous writer, an old army 

 chaplain. Many new contributions to history 

 have been made in the form of biographies. C. 

 Blangstrup's " Christian VII and Caroline Ma- 

 thilde " is well done, and a new life of Christian 

 IV is under way by L. Beering and A. Larsen, 

 handsomely illustrated. The life of the naval 

 hero Tordenskjold has been told once more by 

 P. Anchor. To these may be added " Reminis- 

 cences of C. E. Bardenfleth," Minister of Justice 

 and personal friend of King Frederick VII. 

 " Personal Events of a Long Life," by Rev. V. 

 Birkedahl, is valuable for politics, theology, and 

 literature. Timely also are J. Michaelsen's " My 

 Contemporaries," Commodore Wilde's " From 

 Sea and Land," and H. Bang's " Ten Years," 

 containing recent experiences as author, journal- 

 ist, etc. G. Brandes, who began his elaborate 

 work on "Young Germany " in 1871, -gives a 

 sixth volume, in which he concludes his " Main 

 Currents in the Literature of the Nineteenth 

 Century." K. Madsen, a skillful critic, has pub- 

 lished the first volume of " Dutch Painting," 

 which is highly commended. Prof. J. Steenstrup 

 has issued a treatise on " Our Popular Ditties of 

 the Middle Ages," giving their true form, age, 

 and aesthetic value. F. Ronning has brought. 

 put a second volume of his " Age of Rationalism 

 in Denmark," devoted to Ewald and Wessel. J. 

 Stefansson deals with the English poet Brown- 



ing, and K. Gjellerup with R. Wagner. Of new 

 books of travel, favorable mention is made of the 

 " Journey in Four Parts of the World," by Irgens- 

 Bergh (illustrated) ; " A Trip to Norway," by K. 

 Arentzen ; and Capts. Martini and Schoenberg's 

 " Two Danish Travellers on the Congo." In the 

 department of philosophy, of little account this 

 year, we may place on record here, as more or 

 less valuable, " Ethical Inquiries," by Prof. II. 

 Hoffding ; " Skepticism," by C. N. Starke ; " The 

 Philosophy of Hobbes," by E. Larsen ; and 

 " ^Esthetics and Life," by A. C. Larsen. Two 

 small volumes, in aid of the study and under- 

 standing of the Bible, according to more " ad- 

 vanced " criticism, have been brought out, viz., 

 " The Childhood and Youth of Jesus " and 

 " Jesus in Galilee." A volume or two of ecclesi- 

 astical controversies have appeared, coming from 

 two theological professors, H. Scharling and F. 

 Nielsen. 



France. Politics have had some though not 

 much effect upon literature this year in France. 

 Students of history proper have been occupied 

 to a large extent with memoirs, journals, etc., in 

 search after facts and sound views and conclu- 

 sions; while, in what is called pure literature, 

 public sentiment is awakened, and novelists, 

 being tired of psychological fiction, are disposed 

 to return to the older opinion about romance 

 and its proper form. In our last year's record 

 we simply noted that Re.nan had published Vol. 

 Ill of his " History of Israel." The volume 

 comprises the prophets and Babylonish captiv- 

 ity. Critics generally are in raptures over the 

 wonderful erudition and profound research of 

 the writer. A few others, who cling to the old- 

 fashioned orthodox view of Bible history, are not 

 satisfied that Renan is any more safe here in his 

 teaching than he has proved to be in his former 

 volumes. M. Taine has undertaken, in his " Ori- 

 gines de la France Contemporaine," to set forth 

 and prove that the regime inaugurated by the 

 despotism of Napoleon is still in force, and that 

 he was really " the architect of modern France." 

 Taine's widespread popularity is likely to lead 

 many to adopt his views on the matter. Some 

 of the critics say that he draws extreme, pessi- 

 mistic conclusions from the proofs of Napo- 

 leon's selfishness, which selfishness he holds to 

 be the chief characteristic of the present times 

 in which we are living. M. Ernest Lavisse (noted 

 last year) continues his studies on the origin of 

 contemporary Germany. The new volume con- 

 tains the history of the youth of Frederick the 

 Great. His pages are lively and picturesque, 

 and can not fail to interest and instruct the 

 reader. Following in the same line of investi- 

 gation, M. Godefroy Cavaignac has written an 

 able volume, in which he compares the internal 

 evolution of Prussia with that of France during 

 the period of the revolution. M. Cavaignac's 

 contribution is well deserving of examination, 

 .especially as he draws the conclusion that in the 

 internal development of Prussia is to be found 

 the secret of her strength. Pere Didon's " Life 

 of Jesus Christ " met with unbounded success in 

 France, edition after edition being issued. It 

 has also been translated into English, and is 

 published in two volumes (with illustrations) by 

 D. Appletori & Co., New York. Some of the 

 French critics treat the work rather cavalierly, 



