420 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL. 



the orthodox spirit of religion in Russia is firm- 

 ly opposed to compromises with modern feeling, 

 the opposition to Solovieff has produced a volu- 

 minous literature of its own. The enthusiastic 

 young Archimandrite Antonius quite scandal- 

 ized his brother clergy when, in his " Pastoral 

 Letters." he affirmed his belief in the intimate 

 connection between the salvation of the indi- 

 vidual and an active and altruistic laboring for 

 the good of others (as opposed to the " red-tape " 

 methods of the clergy), thus in a measure sup- 

 porting the much-attacked Solovieff. Late as 

 they come, these acrimonious discussions at 

 least show that a more modern spirit is begin- 

 ning to gain admission where it is greatly needed. 

 It appears also that the tone of social life is un- 

 dergoing a change. One of the reasons for this 

 new departure, we are told, is to be found in 

 " the negative result obtained from a criticism 

 of the programme of the men of the eighties." 

 But there was also an external stimulus the 

 terrible famine which fell so heavily upon the 

 poor of Russia, and which aroused the educated 

 class to well-defined and extraordinary efforts in 

 a field which, under ordinary circumstances, 

 would hardly have enlisted their thoughts and 

 sympathies to any great extent. Count Leo 

 Tolstoi, especially, was so impressed by this dread- 

 ful calamity that he wrote an article on the sub- 

 ject, which the Government suppressed, but parts 

 of which were published in English papers, call- 

 ing forth most violent attacks in Russian con- 

 servative circles. More than that, however, Tol- 

 stoi labored energetically to relieve the wants of 

 his suffering countrymen. However, though he 

 was temporarily drawn away from his ponder- 

 ings on the subject of passive suffering and non- 

 resistance to evil, he has again enlarged on his 

 favorite theory of self-improvement in one of 

 his latest articles (" The First Step "). It should 

 be added here, that not only were numerous 

 publications issued and lectures delivered for 

 the benefit of the famine-stricken districts, but 

 the famine itself, and the accompanying diseases, 

 formed the theme of a number of works. Some 

 interesting contributions to Russian literary his- 

 tory have appeared. The brilliant " Sketches of 

 the Gogol Period of Russian Literature," which 

 were written in 1850 for the " Contemporary," a 

 Russian periodical, by the late Tchernishevsky, 

 have been reprinted in a separate volume by his 

 son ; while in the interesting book, " P. V. Anen- 

 koff and his Friends." are collected that deceased 

 literary critic's reminiscences and correspond- 

 ence, dating back to 1830. A. Puipin's " History 

 of Russian Ethnography," now complete in four 

 volumes, is also said to contain much informa- 

 tion regarding the literary movements of the 

 nineteenth century in Russia ; while older periods 

 of literature arc treated in Batyushkoff 's " Con- 

 flict between the Soul and the Body in the Lit- 

 erature of the Middle Ages," and V. Th. Miller's 

 " Excursions in the Regions of the Russian Popu- 

 lar Epos," a work on the " builins " or folklore, 

 which the author believes were originally brought 

 into southern Russia by the Turks. 



In the domain of prose fiction we have the 

 collected works, in three volumes, of Madame 

 Khvosttchinski ( V. Jfrestovski), who died in 1891, 

 and whose unfortunate career is sympathetically 

 described by her sister. Potapenko, a very pro- 



lific author, who, as recorded last year, has al- 

 ready made an enviable reputation, appears to 

 be less successful in longer novels, like his " No 

 Hero" and "Love," than in his short stories, 

 such as " The General's Daughter," " Six," etc. 

 Mochtet's " New Studies " (some of the tales in 

 which deal with life in Siberia and America) are 

 marked by the passionate emotion we are wont 

 to find in this author's works ; and P. Boborui- 

 kin describes certain regenerative processes in 

 the moral and intellectual existence of the _hero- 

 ine and hero, respectively, in his " Wedded/' and 

 a new novel of merchant life. A similar theme 

 is worked out less ably in " The Duel," by 

 Tchekhoff, who is gifted with much power of 

 observation, however. Finally, Karpoff and 

 Garin seem to be following in the path of the 

 late Karonin. A refreshing change from the 

 depressing motives pervading much of this lit- 

 erature is found in Korolenko's strong and breezy 

 sketches of life in the desolate country watered 

 by the Vetluga, a branch of the Volga, and in 

 Garin's " Childhood of Temy," a charming story 

 of the force of innate purity and moral strength 

 over demoralizing influences. In 1892, just fifty 

 years after Lermontoff s death, the copyright in 

 his writings expired, and numerous editions of 

 his works have begun to appear, among them 

 Vvedensk's, Boldakoff's, the one published by 

 Kushnereff (illustrated by prominent Russian 

 artists), and the fine critical one by Prof. Visko- 

 vatoff (who furnishes also an interesting bio- 

 graphical sketch), none of them, it is averred, 

 being as yet altogether satisfactory. Kotlyarev- 

 ski's biography of the poet has been described as 

 an able though somewhat partial account. There 

 has also appeared a collected edition of the works 

 of A. M. Zhemtchuzhnikoff, whose seventy years 

 seem to have abated neither his graceful style 

 nor the warmth and optimism of his feelings. 



Spain. Literary activity, it appears, is grad- 

 ually increasing in this country. In the depart- 

 ment of history, the Columbian celebration, as 

 was to be expected, continued to call forth a 

 large number of books, pamphlets, and articles: 

 essays on the location of San Salvador, on Pin- 

 zon, etc.. and other special topics, by Emilio Cas- 

 telar (Historia del descubrimiento de America) 

 J. M. Asensio, P. M. Angleria, J. E. Campe, Victor 

 Balaguer (Cristobal Colon), Martin Ferreiro, E. 

 Ibarra y Rodriguez, Miguel Mir, besides the more 

 important larger works, such as Jose Maria 

 Asensios's sumptuously illustrated work on Co- 

 lumbus, in two folio volumes, and the life by 

 Ferdinand Columbus, which, it is conjectured, is 

 a translation from the Italian version by Alfonso 

 de Ulloa, published in 1571, at Venice. The 

 " Centenano," an illustrated review published by 

 the organizing committee of the Spanish celebra- 

 tion, contains much information of interest and 

 value on the occurrence which called it into 

 existence. Much interest was aroused also by 

 the accidental discovery of three quarto volumes 

 in the handwriting of Las Casas, which proved, 

 however, to contain only his well-known " His- 

 toria Apologetica de las Indias." In this con- 

 nection F. Rivas Puigcerver's monograph on the 

 part played by the Spanish Jews and Moriscoes 

 in the discovery of the Western Hempishere 

 should be mentioned. Much information has 

 also been published concerning Spain's former 



