414 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL. 



bellished by the pencil of Rhallis, a Greek paint- 

 er resident in Paris. Something analogous to 

 the " dialect-story " movement in the United 

 States seems to be going on in Greece, though 

 actuated, perhaps, by different motives. Psy- 

 charis and Polylas are especially zealous in pro- 

 moting the tendency to use the popular dialect 

 in works of fiction, and Polylas's " Our Literary 

 Speech " is an interesting contribution to the 

 literature of this question, which is still a mat- 

 ter of dispute. Meanwhile, Alexandras Pallis 

 (who brought out an excellent edition of the 

 " Antigone " of Sophocles) has given practical 

 expression to his preferences by translating six 

 books of the Iliad into the popular language. 



Among the few notable productions of the 

 year in poetry we have " Thalassa," said to show 

 much beautifully expressed poetic sympathy 

 with the sea, written by Nicolas Damianos, one 

 of the younger men, and a posthumous collec- 

 tion of poems, " The Pearls," by Demetrios Kok- 

 kos (whose dramatic writings have attracted 

 most attention in recent years), edited by his 

 widow. Quite different in style is the third vol- 

 ume (" Phasulis as a Philosopher ") of the poems 

 of Georg Souris. This " modern Aristophanes," 

 who is known as the editor of a weekly paper 

 " The Modern Greek " (which is a curiosity, in- 

 asmuch as it is entirely written in verse, includ- 

 ing advertisements), has become exceedingly 

 popular by his witty attacks on social and po- 

 litical weaknesses, and the humor and power of 

 observation displayed in his work. 



Holland. While last year's literary activity 

 in this country has perhaps not fully satisfied 

 all wishes, yet several noteworthy publications 

 are recorded. Some of the most excellent books 

 of the year are found in the department of his- 

 tory. Dutch history especially has received val- 

 uable additions in H. Brugman's " Engeland 

 en de Nederlanden in de eerste Jaaren van Eliza- 

 beth's Regeering (1558-1567) "; J. de Jong's " Ge- 

 schiedenis van het Vaderland," Part III (1713- 

 1891) ; P. J. Blok's voluminous history of Hol- 

 land, " Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche 

 Volk " in which are included the results of his 

 extensive researches in foreign archives, under- 

 taken by order of the Government; another his- 

 tory of Holland, by Nyhoff, which has some- 

 what displeased the' Roman Catholic public ; the 

 late Prof. Jorissen's " Historische en literarische 

 Studien," " Historische Karakters," and " His- 

 torische Bladen," in which essays the author, in 

 well-proved statements, ascribes the misfortunes 

 of the Dutch in the last century to the weak 

 character of the last princes of Orange and the 

 haughty oppression of the patricians; Baron 

 Renger's sketch of parliamentary history since 

 1849 ; Vols. VII and VIII of Ter Gouw's ex- 

 haustive " Geschiedenis van Amsterdam"; a vol- 

 ume on the manners and customs of the country 

 in past ages, by De Roever ; another on the con- 

 dition of Roman Catholics under the Dutch Re- 

 public, by the learned W. P. C. Knuttel, of the 

 Royal Library ; and a comprehensive geograph- 

 ical work, " Nederland en zijne Bewoners," by 

 Dr. H. Blink. It should be mentioned, also, 

 that the study of genealogy is pursued with an 

 activity quite American, and is productive of an 

 ever-increasing number of monographs. 



Prof. Quack's " De Socialisten Personen en 



Stelsels " is praised as rather a summary of fact 

 than an attempt at solving the social prob 

 lem. The new publications in the field of the- 

 ology and ecclesiastical history include a life of 

 Ignatius de Loyola by W. van Nieuwenhoff ; an 

 important and Voluminous work (in English) on 

 the religion of China, by De Groot, Professor of 

 Malay at Leyden ; " De Vrouw in den Bijbel," 

 written by the venerable C. E. van Koetsreld, 

 the Queen's chaplain : another series (the third) 

 of studies on Calvin, by the noted scholar 

 Allard Pierson ; a new and almost rewritten 

 edition of C. P. Tiele's famous ''Geschiedenis 

 van den Godsdienst in de Oudheid tot op Alex- 

 ander den Groote"; and Hooykaas's edition of 

 various studies by Kuenen on the history of Is- 

 rael, in which the author's construction of vari- 

 ous misunderstood passages in Scripture is laid 

 down. Mention should also be made of Dr. W. 

 G. C. Bijvanck's articles on French literary his- 

 tory, selected for translation by a French pub- 

 lisher, and Karel Alberdingk Thym's well-writ- 

 ten life of his father, late Professor of .^Esthetics 

 at Amsterdam. 



Some valuable contributions to Dutch liter- 

 ary history have appeared. Dr. R. A. Kollewijn 

 has written an important and comprehensive 

 monograph on Bilderdijk, containing much 

 hitherto unpublished material concerning this 

 prominent figure in literature ; two critical 

 works on Pieter La,ngendyk, a writer of come- 

 dies, by C. A. Ph. Meyer and F. Z. Mehler, 

 have been brought out ; Dr. I. A. Worp is the 

 author of an essay dealing with the influence of 

 Seneca on the Dutch drama, and has also 

 brought out Vol. I of a critical edition of the 

 works of the poet Huygens, of whose poetry H. J. 

 Eymael has likewise proved a critical commenta- 

 tor. Henri Logemen's " Elckerlijk, a Fifteenth- 

 Century Dutch Morality, and Everyman, a near- 

 ly Contemporary Translation." is a contribu- 

 tion to the history of the literary relations of 

 Holland and England. Prof. Ten Brink's " De 

 Oude Garde en de Jongste School " is directed 

 against the new school of writers of fiction, but 

 all such attempts can not stop the literary revo- 

 lution, which began in Holland a dozen years 

 ago, and which is bound to run its course. The 

 work of the younger men whose official organ 

 is " De Nieuwe Gids" has been characterized as 

 overloaded with descriptive passages, wanting in 

 analysis of character, affected and strained in 

 style, and not infrequently obscene despite its 

 sentimentality. 



One of the most noteworthy of the newer 

 novelists is L. Couperus, author of "Extaze" 

 and " Noodlot," which latter, like his "Eline 

 Vere " (a good description of social life in the 

 Hague), has been translated into English by 

 Grein. His forte seems to He in the psycholog- 

 ical analysis of character, but his style inclines 

 to vagueness. Less talented than he, but still 

 giving signs of promise, are Wagenvoort ( Vos- 

 meer de Spie) whose "Eene Passie" has some 

 vivid description and displays want of observa- 

 tion ; Dr. Alettrino, said to imitate Goncourt in 

 his " Zuster Bertha " ; and two soi-disant realists. 

 Van Bergen and Kleefstra, who in " Slachtoffers 

 onzer Huwelijkswetten " and " Burgersmen- 

 schen," respectively, evince a strong discontent 

 with the present condition of 'affairs. Th. van 



