LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1801. 



are spoken of as praiseworthy, if not entitled 



ire approval. Comedy is not the strong 

 point of the (Jcrmans according to Boerne. 

 Mifeld (just deceased at eighty-nine) was an 

 1 ion. At a prize competition in Vienna 

 ih.-in two hundred and sixty anonymous 

 .nt in, and W. von Wartenegg 

 d the pri/.e for a play, "Der Ring des 

 lingen," which is pronounced to be " rather 

 a patriotic occasional play than a comedy.' 

 <Jrillpar/er's lyrical productions have been 

 brought out in a new edition. These rank very 

 hiu'li, and except from Goethe and Schiller, Ger- 

 man literature can produce nothing to match 

 them. Titus Ullrich, now a very old man, is a 

 of the superior sort, and is named with 

 approbation in this connection, as is also W. 

 Jordan, author of "Epistelen und Vortrage." 

 < >ther lyrical writers who are spoken well of are 

 1>. von Lilicncron, M. R. von Stern (a Socialist 

 regenerator), and A. von Berger, the last being 

 also a refined critic. On the whole, Schopen- 

 hauer's pessimism is declining in lyric poetry, 

 yet in the writings of II. llango it retains all its 

 force. The last poems of the Countess Wilhelm- 

 ine Wickenburg-Almasy (who died prematurely) 

 demonstrate how much German literature owes 

 to women. Her songs and ballads and legends 

 of the Tyrol, in " Margaretha und Oswald," 

 have not only a realistic tendency, but also 

 nat ural freshness, with beauty of form. Another 

 lady, also a poetess, Use Frapan, deserves to be 

 ranked with the one just named. This last is 

 further in good repute as a novelist. The 

 " M usenalmanach" of Goethe and Schiller's time 

 has been revived, and is fairly received. The 

 critics say that for the present epic poetry is 

 dead, and in its place we have the " narrative 

 poem," or novel in verse. Max Haushofer's 

 epic story " Die Verbannten " illustrates the 

 statement, as does also Joseph Lauff's " Song of 

 By-gone Days" in Cologne, with its melodra- 

 matic ending. Count Adolph F. von Schack, the 

 clever translator of Firdusi, falls below his 

 proper level this year. Emilie Ringseis has 

 published a work for religious Christian people, 

 consisting of hymns that set forth the worship 

 of the Madonna. The leaders of the novel i. e., 

 Spielhagen, Ebers, Wilbrandt have paused for 

 the year. Gottfried Keller has died, much re- 

 gretted. He was a master in the novel of edu- 

 cational tendencies in the style of Goethe's 

 "Wilhelm Meister," as well as a miniature 

 painter in the manner of Jean Paul. A young 

 countryman of Keller's, Walter Siegfried, has 

 brought out a novel " Tino-Moralt," and seems 

 to bid fair to occupy worthily the older man's 

 place. The realistic novel, the critics think, is 

 doomed, and Theodor Fontane is vigorously work- 

 ing to this end, as his latest novel, " Unwieder- 

 biinglich," shows by its suggestive character 

 drawing, witty dialogue, etc. The veteran Ru- 

 dolph von Gottschall's latest book is "Steinerne 

 <ia-i." a historical novel of much ability. Mile. 

 Lola Kirschner, a very gifted lady, has published 

 two books, " Heil Dir, mein Oesterreich ! " and 

 " Hei! Dir im Siegeskranz," both highly praised 

 by the critics. Her Austrian fellow-country- 

 woman Bertha von Suttner, in her last novel, 

 " Vae Victis ! " has depicted war's horrors and 

 outrage at this day with great power. A Prus- 



sian lady, LouUe von FrancoU, i* author of an 

 excellent novel, ; .ttenburp-nn." The 



historical novel is well represented by Ernst 

 Wichert, favorably known u novelist and dram- 

 ati-t, in " Tileiniin vom Wege,' 1 und by the 

 popular August Beckei in hi>" Dio grauc jYttr." 

 The laM novel of Karl Kmil Kran/os, .Judith 

 Trachtenberg," may fairly be ranked in th- 

 class. To the social novel belong Hermann 

 lleibcrg's "Drei Schwestern," and Conrad Al- 

 berti's "Das Recht auf Lie!*-." Short -tori. - 

 an- popular, such as Paul Il< -\ -. '- - UYihnachts- 

 geschichten," Use Frapan's "Enge Welt" and 

 "Psyche," Hans Hopfcn's "Neue Geschichten 

 des Majors." J. J. David's stories, collected 

 under the title of " Die Wiedergeborenen," have 

 a touch of realism and are excellent in style and 

 execution. Hans Hoffmann's new satirical 

 stories, " Das Gymnasium zu Stol pen burg," and 

 W. Raabe's " Stopfkuchen : cine Sec-und Mord- 

 geschichte," display the humorous element to a 

 large extent. In history nothing has been pro- 

 duced to be compared with II. von Sv !!'> 

 " Geschichte der GrUndung des neuen Deutwhen 

 Reichs," noted last year. A work of value, like 

 to Ranke's " History of the Popes," has been 

 published by Ludwig Pastor, entitled "Ge- 

 schichte der PSpste der Renaissance." Ranke, 

 though a Protestant, wrote with great fairness 

 and impartiality. The present writer, though a 

 Roman Catholic, is much praised as exhibiting 

 the same qualities. Other works on history 

 from an ecclesiastical point of view are J. Jans- 

 sen's " History of the Reformation," A Baum- 

 garten's " Leben Goethes," and F. X. Kraus's 

 " History of Christian Art." Works by Werth- 

 eimer, ifuber, Krones, and others are prepared 

 from the Austrian outlook. In biography and 

 memoirs Ranke's "Zur eigenen Lebens-Ge- 

 schichte," edited by A. Dove, is chiefly a collec- 

 tion of materials. A suitable biography is yet 

 to be written. Alfred von Arneth, historian of 

 Maria Theresa and Prince Eugene, has brought 

 out "Erinnerungen," which comprises the first 

 thirty years of his life. It is said to be a worthy 

 counterpart to Grillparzer's autobiography. Per- 

 sonal recollections of Alexander von ifubner, 

 an Austrian statesman, cover the period of the 

 revolution (1848), and are valuable as well as 

 interesting. A third Austrian statesman and 

 historian, Freiherr von Helfert, takes as his 

 theme the revolution planned as early as 1815, 

 when Italy came into Austrian hands, and 

 carried out in 1821. The life of Karl von Ila-e. 

 who gained the sobriquet of " the Protestant 

 Pope " on account of nis struggles in behalf of 

 rational enlightenment and religious toleration, 

 is appended to his collected works. J. Minor 

 has added a second volume to his excellent biog- 

 raphy of Schiller, and A. Bettelheim has pub- 

 lished a life of the late dramatist Anzengruber. 

 Several volumes of correspondence and letters 

 have also appeared, and are noted as valuable. 

 In philosophy and theology there is next to 

 nothing of which to make mention here. Ma- 

 terials at hand do not furnish any help whereby 

 to explain the fact, and we must leave it to the 

 reader's judgment for himself. 



(Jreece. The number of books published 

 this year in Greece has not been large, owing ap- 

 parent ly to the fact that tho weekly and month!; 



