Handbook of Universal Literature, From the Best and Latest Authorities Part 35

Of the other numerous writers of fiction the names of a few only can be mentioned.

Theresa Huber (1764-1829) was the auth.o.r.ess of several popular novels.

Benedicte Naubert wrote several historical romances mentioned by Scott as having afforded him some suggestions. Caroline Pichler's "Tales" were accounted among the best fictions of her times. Henriette Hanke produced eighty-eight volumes of domestic narratives and other writings of a moral character; the Countess Hahn-Hahn follows the tendencies of Madame Dudevant (George Sand), though with less genius.

Brentano, the author of "G.o.diva," and Arnim, author of the "Countess Dolores," may also be mentioned among the remarkable writers of fantastic romances.

Bettina (1785-1859), the sister of Brentano, and the wife of Arnim, who resembles these authors in her imaginative character, wrote a singularly enthusiastic book, ent.i.tled, "Goethe's Correspondence with a Child."

Imaginative pictures in words, interspersed with sentiments, characterize the writings of Bettina and many other romancists, while they show little power in the construction of plots and the development of character.

Among the more renowned female writers are Auguste von Paalzow, Amalie Schoppe, Johanna Schoppenhauer, Friederike Brun, Talvi (Mrs. Robinson).

Henriette Herz (1764-1841) and Rahel (1771-1844) also occupied a brilliant position in the literary and social world. The latter was the wife of Varnhagen von Ense (d. 1859), the most able and attractive biographical writer of Germany. Wilhelm Haring (Wilibald Alexis) is particularly eminent as a romance writer.

The historical novelists of the early part of this century, as Van der Velde, Spindler, Rellstab, Storch, and Rau, have been succeeded by Konig, h.e.l.ler, and several others. Good French and English novels are translated into German, almost immediately after their appearance, and the comparative scarcity of interesting German novels is accounted for by the taste for this foreign literature, and also by the increasing absorption of literary talent in the periodical press. Schucking is remarkable for his power of vividly conceiving character. f.a.n.n.y Lewald is artistic in her methods and true and keen in her observation of life; and among novelists of simple village life Auerbach (1812-1883) takes the first place. Gustave Freytag (b. 1816), whose "Debit and Credit" is an intensely realistic study of commercial life, is also one of the distinguished writers of fiction.

The popular legends of Germany are numerous and characteristic of the country. These narratives are either legends of local interest, a.s.sociated with old castles, or other antiquities, or they are purely fabulous.

Though they are sometimes fantastic and in their incidents show little respect to the laws of probability, they are genuine and fairly represent the play of the popular imagination; while under their wild imagery they often convey symbolically a deep and true meaning,

LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM.--Modern German literature is singularly rich in this department. In the Republic of Letters, German students have found the liberty they could not enjoy in actual life, and this cause has promoted investigation in ancient and modern literature. Poets, historians, philosophers, and other writers have been studied and criticised, not merely as authors, but with especial reference to their respective contributions to the progress of ideas and the movements of society. Some of the most eminent German critical writers have already been mentioned under various preceding heads. Winckelmann (1717-1768) devoted himself with enthusiasm to the study of antique sculpture, and wrote elegant dissertations on the grace and beauty of the works of ancient art. His writings display true enthusiasm and refined taste. It may be said that the school of art-criticism in Germany owes its origin to the studies of Winckelmann. The critical writings of Herder were more remarkable for the impulse which they gave to the studies of authors than for their intrinsic merits. Goethe in his prose writings showed with what grace and precision the German language might be written. The letters of Schiller are pervaded by a lofty and ideal tone. William von Humboldt (1762-1832) was the founder of the science of comparative philology, a scholar of remarkable comprehensiveness and scientific knowledge, and the author of several highly important works on language and literature. The brothers Schlegel developed that taste for universal literature which had been introduced by Herder. The mind of Augustus Schlegel (1767-1845) was rather comprehensive than endowed with original and creative genius. His poems are elegant, but not remarkable. Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), like his brother, was opposed to the skeptical character of some of the philosophical theories of his day, and after entering the Catholic Church he expressed his religious and polemical opinions in his works on literature. His lectures on "The Philosophy of History" were evidently written with political and religious purposes. He partic.i.p.ated with his brother in the study of Oriental literature and language, but his lectures on "The Literature of all Nations" have chiefly extended his fame for great capacity, critical ac.u.men, and extensive learning. The main purpose of the author is to describe the development of literature in its connection with the social and religious inst.i.tutions of various nations and periods. He thus elevates literature, and especially poetry, far above the views of trivial and commonplace criticism, and regards it in its highest aspect as the product of human life and genius in various stages of cultivation. The history of the world of books is thus represented as no dry and pedantic study, but as one intimately connected with the best interests of humanity. In the establishment of this humanitarian style of literature, the services of this author were of great value, although many of his works, as well as those of others in this department, have been written rather for the use of scholars than for the public. There still remains in Germany that distinction between a popular and scholastic style which characterized the Middle Ages, when the literati excluded their thoughts from the people by writing in Latin. The literature of the past, which is in itself too diffuse to be comprehended by men of scanty leisure in modern times, is with most writers too often rather complicated and extended than simplified and compressed into a readable form. If the labors of learned historians and critics had been directed to popularize the results of their extensive scholars.h.i.+p, readers without much time for study might have acquired a fair general acquaintance with universal literature. But while concise and masterly summaries are required, many scholars love to wander in never-ending disquisitions, and the consequence is that the greater number of readers acquire only a fragmentary and accidental knowledge of books.

While the brothers Schlegel, and many other writers, followed the tendencies of Herder in universal literature, a national school of criticism was founded and supported by the brothers Grimm, with many able a.s.sociates. Jacob, the eldest (d. 1863), devoted his researches to the German literature of the Middle Ages, and collected the scattered remnants of old popular legends. In conjunction with, his brother William (d. 1860) he published his "Children's Fables," or "Household Tales," which are marked by great simplicity, and often convey pleasing sentiments and good morals mingled with fantastic and supernatural adventures. Later works on the "German Language," "Legal Antiquities," and "German Mythology," have secured for this author the highest position among national philologists and antiquaries. The example of these brothers gave a strong impulse to the study of German archaeology, and the results have been received with great enthusiasm. Many relics of old literature have been recovered, and these remains form a considerable library of literary antiquities.

Menzel (d. 1855), well known as a critical and polemical writer of the national school, has written the "History of German Literature," "The Spirit of History," and other works, in which he has warmly opposed the extreme revolutionary tendencies of recent political and social theorists.

Gervinus (d. 1871) may be considered as a historian, politician, and critic. In his "History of the Poetical National Literature of the Germans," he traces the development of poetry in its relations to civilization and society. He has also written a work on Shakspeare, and a history of the nineteenth century, which is characterized by its liberal tendencies. His views of literature are directly opposed to those of Frederic Schlegel.

As historians of ancient cla.s.sical literature, German scholars have maintained the highest position, and to them the world is prodigiously indebted. Their works, however, are too comprehensive to be described here, and too numerous even to be mentioned. The idea of cla.s.sical erudition, as maintained by them, is extended far beyond its common limitation, and is connected with researches respecting not the language only, but also the religion, philosophy, social economy, arts, and sciences of ancient nations.

Karl Ottfried Muller (d. 1840) must be mentioned as an accomplished scholar and the author of a standard work, the "History of Greek Literature." Among the other great writers on ancient history are Bockh, Duncker, Droysen, Mommsen, and Kortum.

Several works on the modern literature of European nations have recently been published in Germany; and much industry and research have been displayed in numerous criticisms on the fine arts. The principles of Winckelmann and Lessing have been developed by later authors who have written excellent critical and historical works on the plastic arts, sculpture, painting, and architecture. In general, the literary criticism of Germany deserves the highest commendation for its candor, carefulness, and philosophical consistency.

HISTORY AND THEOLOGY.--The extensive historical works of the modern writers of Germany form an important feature in the literature. The political circ.u.mstances of the country have been in many respects favorable to the progress of these studies. Professors and students, excluded in a great measure from political life, have explored the histories of ancient nations, and have given opinions in the form of historical essays, which they could not venture to apply to the inst.i.tutions of Germany. While Prussia and Austria were perilous topics for discussion, liberal and innovating doctrines might be promulgated in lectures on the progress and decline of liberty in the ancient world.

Accordingly, the study of universal history, to which the philosophical views of Herder gave the impulse, has been industriously prosecuted during the last fifty years, and learned and diligent collectors of historical material are more numerous in Germany than in any other country.

Muller (d. 1804), a native of Switzerland, displayed true historical genius and extended erudition in his "Lectures on Universal History."

Among other writers on the same subject are Rotteck, Becker, Bottiger, Dittmar, and Vehse. Of the two last authors, the one wrote on this vast subject especially in reference to Christianity, and the other describes the progress of civilization and intellectual culture.

Schlosser's (b. 1786) "History of the Ancient World and its Culture" holds a prominent place among historical works. His writings are the result of laborious and conscientious researches to which he has devoted his life.

Heeren (d. 1842) opened a new vein of ancient history in his learned work on the "Commercial Relations of Antiquity." While other historians have been attracted by the sword of the conqueror, Heeren followed the merchant's caravan laden with corn, wine, oils, silks, and spices. His work is a valuable contribution to the true history of humanity.

Carl Ritter (d. 1859) has united the studies of geography and history in his "Geography viewed in its Relations to Nature and History." This great work, the result of a life devoted to industrious research, has established the science of comparative geography.

Lepsius and Brugsch have rendered important services to Egyptology, and Lachmann, K. O. Muller, Von der Hagen, Bockh, the brothers Grimm, Moritz Haupt, and others, to ancient and German philology.

In Roman history, Niebuhr (1776-1831), stands alone as the founder of a new school of research, by which the fictions so long mingled with the early history of Rome, and copied from book to book, and from century to century, have been fully exploded. Through the labors of this historian, modern readers know the ancient Romans far better than they were known by nations who were in close contact with them. Niebuhr made great preparations for his work, and took care not to dissipate his powers by appearing too soon as an author.

Besides many other histories relating to the Roman Empire, German literature is especially rich in those relating to the Middle Ages. The historical writings of Ranke (b. 1795) connect the events of that period with modern times, and give valuable notices of the age of the Reformation. "The History of Papacy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" is highly esteemed, though Catholic critics have objected to some of its statements. Histories of the German people, of the Hohenstauffen Dynasty, of the Crusades; histories of nations, of cities, of events, and of individuals, all have found their interpreters in German genius. Schlosser (b. 1776), the vigorous and truthful historian of the eighteenth century; Dahlmann (b. 1785) the German Guizot, and Raumer (b.

1781), the historian of the Hohenstauffens, deserve particular mention.

Nor is the department of ecclesiastical history and theology less distinguished by its research.

No writer of his time contributed more towards the formation of an improved prose style than Mosbeim (1694-1755); although his "Ecclesiastical History" is now superseded by works of deeper research.

His contemporary, Reimarus, wrote in favor of natural theology, and may be considered the founder of the Rationalistic School. Neander (d. 1850) wrote a history of the church, in ten volumes, distinguished for its liberal views. The sermons of Reinhard (d. 1812), in thirty-nine volumes, display earnestness and unaffected solemnity of style. Schleiermacher (d.

1834), celebrated as a preacher at Berlin, was the author of many works, in which he attempted to reconcile the doctrines of Protestantism with certain philosophical speculations. De Wette, the friend of Schleiermacher, is one of the most learned and able representatives of the Rationalistic School. Tholuck (b. 1799) is celebrated as a learned exegetical writer.

Mommsen (b. 1817) is the vigorous historian of ancient Rome, and Curtius (b. 1819), the author of a history of Greece, not more remarkable for its learning than for the clear and attractive arrangement of its material. In histories of philosophy recent German literature is absolutely supreme.

Hegel still ranks as one of the greatest writers in this line, and Ueberweg, Uedmann, and others are important workers in the same department. Fischer writes the history of philosophy with sympathetic appreciation and in a fascinating style, and Lange, in his "History of Materialism," does full justice to the different phases of materialistic philosophy.

Since the time of Lessing, aesthetics have formed a prominent branch of philosophy with the Germans, and they have been no less successful as historians of art than of metaphysics. Among the most distinguished are Kugler, Carriere, and Lubke. Biographers and historians of literature are numerous.

ENGLISH LITERATURE.

INTRODUCTION.--1. _English Literature_. Its Divisions.--2. _The Language_.

PERIOD FIRST.--1. _Celtic Literature_. Irish, Scotch, and Cymric Celts; the Chronicles of Ireland; Ossian's Poems; Traditions of Arthur; the Triads; Tales.--2. _Latin Literature_, Bede; Alcuin; Erigena.--3. _Anglo- Saxon Literature_. Poetry; Prose; Versions of Scripture: the Saxon Chronicle; Alfred.

PERIOD SECOND.--The Norman Age and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.--1. _Literature in the Latin Tongue_.--2. _Literature in Norman-French_. Poetry; Romances of Chivalry.--3. _Saxon-English_.

Metrical Remains.--4. _Literature in the Fourteenth Century_.--Prose Writers; Occam, Duns Scotus, Wickliffe, Mandeville, Chaucer. Poetry; Langland, Gower, Chaucer.--5. _Literature in the Fifteenth Century_.

Ballads.--6. _Poets of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries in Scotland_. Wyntoun, Barbour, and others.

PERIOD THIRD.--1. _Age of the Reformation_ (1509-1558), Cla.s.sical, Theological, and Miscellaneous Literature: Sir Thomas More and others.

Poetry: Skelton, Surrey, and Sackville; the Drama.--2. _The Age of Spenser, Shakspeare, Bacon, and Milton_ (1558-1660). Scholastic and Ecclesiastical Literature. Translations of the Bible: Hooker, Andrews, Donne, Hall, Taylor, Baxter: other Prose Writers: Fuller, Cudworth, Bacon, Hobbes. Raleigh, Milton, Sidney, Selden, Burton, Browne and Cowley.

Dramatic Poetry: Marlowe and Greene, Shakspeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson, and others; Ma.s.singer, Ford, and s.h.i.+rley; Decline of the Drama. Non-dramatic Poetry: Spenser and the Minor Poets. Lyrical Poets; Donne, Cowley, Denham, Waller, Milton.--3. _The Age of the Restoration and Revolution_ (1660-1702). Prose: Leighton, Tilotson, Barrow, Bunyan, Locke and others. The Drama: Dryden, Otway. Comedy; Didactic Poetry: Roscommon, Marvell, Butler, Pryor, Dryden.--4. _The Eighteenth Century._ The _First_ Generation (1702-1727): Pope, Swift, and others; the Periodical Essayists: Addison, Steele. The _Second_ Generation (1727-1760); Theology; Warburton, Butler, Watts, Doddridge. Philosophy: Hume. Miscellaneous Prose: Johnson; the Novelists: Richardson, Fielding, Smollett and Sterne. The Drama; Non- dramatic Poetry: Young, Blair, Akenside, Thomson, Gray, and Collins. The _Third_ Generation (1780-1800); the Historians: Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. Miscellaneous Prose: Johnson, Goldsmith, "Junius," Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, and Burke. Criticism: Burke, Reynolds, Campbell, Kames.

Political Economy: Adam Smith. Ethics: Paley, Smith, Tucker, Metaphysics: Reid. Theological and Religious Writers: Campbell, Paley, Watson, Newton, Hannah More, and Wilberforce. Poetry: Comedies of Goldsmith and Sheridan; Minor Poets; Later Poems; Beattie's Minstrel; Cowper and Burns. 5. _The Nineteenth Century_. The Poets: Campbell, Southey, Scott, Byron; Coleridge and Wordsworth; Wilson, Sh.e.l.ley, Keats; Crabbe, Moore, and others; Tennyson, Browning, Proctor, and others. Fiction: the Waverley and other Novels; d.i.c.kens, Thackeray, and others. History: Arnold, Thirlwall, Grote, Macaulay, Alison, Carlyle, Freeman, Buckle. Criticism: Hallam, De Quincey, Macaulay, Carlyle, Wilson, Lamb, and others. Theology: Foster, Hall, Chalmers. Philosophy: Stewart, Brown, Mackintosh, Bentham, Alison, and others. Political Economy: Mill, Whewell, Whately, De Morgan, Hamilton.

Periodical Writings: the Edinburgh, Quarterly, and Westminster Reviews, and Blackwood's Magazine. Physical Science: Brewster, Herschel, Playfair, Miller, Buckland, Whewell.--Since 1860. 1. Poets: Matthew Arnold, Algernon Swinburne, Dante Rossetti, Robert Buchanan, Edwin Arnold, "Owen Meredith,"

William Morris, Jean Ingelow, Adelaide Procter, Christina Rossetti, Augusta Webster, Mary Robinson, and others. 2. Fiction: "George Eliot,"

MacDonald, Collins, Black, Blackmore, Mrs. Oliphant, Yates, McCarthy, Trollope, and others. 3. Scientific Writers: Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, Tyndall, Huxley, and others. 4. Miscellaneous.

INTRODUCTION.

1. ENGLISH LITERATURE AND ITS DIVISIONS.--The original inhabitants of England, belonging to the great race of Celts, were not the true founders of the English nation; and their language, which is still spoken unchanged in various parts of the kingdom, has exerted but an incredibly small influence on the English tongue. During the period of the Roman domination (55 B.C.-447 A.D.), the relations between the conquerors and the natives did not materially alter the nationality of the people, nor did the Latin language permanently displace or modify the native tongue.

The great event of the Dark Ages which succeeded the fall of the Roman empire was the vast series of emigrations which planted tribes of Gothic blood over large tracts of Europe, and which was followed by the formation of all the modern European languages, and by the general profession of Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon invaders of England continued to emigrate from the Continent for more than a hundred years, and before many generations had pa.s.sed away, their language, customs, and character prevailed throughout the provinces they had seized. During the six hundred years of their independence (448-1066), the nation made wonderful progress in the arts of life and thought. The Pagans accepted the Christian faith; the piratical sea-kings applied themselves to the tillage of the soil and the practice of some of the ruder manufactures; the fierce soldiers constructed, out of the materials of legislation common to the whole Teutonic race, a manly political const.i.tution.

The few extant literary monuments of the Anglo-Saxons possess a singular value as ill.u.s.trations of the character of the people, and have the additional attraction of being written in what was really our mother tongue.

In the Middle Ages (from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries), the painful convulsions of infant society gave way to the growing vigor of healthy though undisciplined youth. All the relations of life were modified, more or less, by the two influences predominant in the early part of the period, but decaying in the latter,--Feudalism and the Church of Rome,--and by the consolidation of the new languages, which were successively developed in all European countries, and were soon qualified as instruments for communicating the results of intellectual activity. The Middle Ages closed by two events occurring nearly at the same time: the erection of the great monarchies on the ruins of feudalism, and the shattering of the sovereignty of the Romish Church by the Reformation. At the same period, the invention of printing, the most important event in the annals of literature, became available as a means of enlightenment.

The Norman conquest of England (1066) subjected the nation at once to both of the ruling mediaeval impulses: feudalism, which metamorphosed the relative positions of the people and the n.o.bles, and the recognition of papal supremacy, which altered not less thoroughly the standing of the church. While these changes were not unproductive of good at that time, they were distasteful to the nation, and soon became injurious, both to freedom and knowledge, until at length, under the dynasty of the Tudors, the ecclesiastical shackles were cast off, and the feudal bonds began gradually to be loosened.

The Norman invaders of England took possession of the country as military masters. They suppressed the native polity by overwhelming force, made Norman-French the fas.h.i.+onable speech of the court and the aristocracy, and imposed it on the tribunals. Their romantic literature soon weaned the hearts of educated men from the ancient rudeness of taste, but the ma.s.s of the English people clung so obstinately to their ancestral tongue, that the Anglo-Saxon language kept its hold in substance until it was evolved into modern English; and the Norman n.o.bles were at length forced to learn the dialect which had been preserved among their despised English va.s.sals.

Emerging from the Middle Ages into the illuminated vista of modern history, we find the world of action much more powerfully influenced by the world of letters than ever before. Among the causes which produced this change are the invention of printing, the use of a cultivated living language, and in England the vindication of freedom of thought and const.i.tutional liberty.