, 1880-01-10
LITERATURE & SCIENCE
Professor James Z. Hosmer's
History Of German
Literature.
" Dorchester Polytechnic Academy Brit
ISL North Amcrica-Paek.
ards Zoology.
The art Of Cooking-Principles Of
Political Economy-Bible-
Revision.
American Dccisions-A -AfAgazlncs-Dooks
Reccivcd-Literary and
Scientific Notes.
A Remarkable Fossil Bird-African E1plo-
ration-Ja7anose Medicine
and Surgery.
TJTERSTTRE.
LITERATURE.
GERMAN LTTERATuRE

to be In n state Of arrested development for
nearly ten centuries, nni1 then suddenly |
burst Into full bloom, without having gono
througiln stage Of steady growth. Before
tho middle of tile last century Germany llad
shown that she had any contrlhu- |
tlons to nuke 10 tho world Of mind, or given |
evidence TINT tho Teatontc conception Of the
world and what WIS in 1t contained a,ight
either original, Instructive, or pleasing.
ten centuries, from the translii-
tton OF the Dlble into Gothic, Ill
tho Fourth Century, down to the time OF L'l-
ther, there nro few literary remains to atr
tract W. are told that Clarlcmngno col.
lccted the popular ballads of his time, but
they have ull perishcl; and we llayc nurner-
outs remnants of drowsy cptcs, manufactured,
like cloth, by tho yard, but containing few
indications Of genius. III the Twelfth Cen
tury, however, tho Nicbelungcn Lied stntds
ont magnificent exception, fresh With tho
life Of the early fines, and deserving of NIL
tho repealed praise It meets Mt the present
dny. Then came the AftlnesIngcrA--bnt
nourishcd amid tho noxious mir Of courts.
md gathering their sweets In tho Sircn-gar-
den Of l'rOvrlcat song, instead Of relying On
their native talents.
After the close OF tho reign Of the Hohen-
stantfclls comes iii apparent blalik; but it Is
MI Important period, Though tho work was
chiefly fntcrnal,- tho minus of men. Loyo
for literature WIS percolating down to the
lower cl,lsses; and to tho courtly Mime
singcrssuccectl tho hou,ely, sattrical, and rutlo
NfeIstcrslngcrs. The result is the stormy
times Of Luther. This turmoil of thought
is still further intensified By the sudden rage
for tho long-buriet classics, md the revival
of classical learning. It is Important to no.
tico TINT tho classic period liz Germany, rs In
Italy, preceded tho ngc Of tho brightest lit
crary Development III England tho contrary
Is tho casc. The century IL which Luther
lived deserves to he specially studied, for IN
Il wore sown tlse seeds which ripcncd Iii tho
French Revolution.
Ths seysnteenta centusy NIX, saw tho 6i;s sSe Of
It's lleNd.. lie must be estimated, like many
others Of pnst times, not so mucli by his ab-
solute as his relative, merits, Tho nntural
product Of the. preceding Initiative ago, ho
teaching form md gold regularity, when no
cotld not onllven 1t with tho fire Of genius.
But he cxertcd, n, vast Influence, antl de-
s9ryes a somewhat },; INTENDED ACCOUNT In 2 2
followers, and still antagonists, ,1Io!fttlans-
wnldan and Lohensteln, tho lenders of tho
sccond SllGsian school, lnt,st llArc plncc,-
ysy fS5 qy fx1 b t & Rqss Sansy S iFnFy FtSTtI FEW I aS
Spain divide between, them The left-liaMle.l
honor Of Introducing that holMbastic atd oyer
rich style, IN ,poytry and prose, called
Essaa Fl o ws Moiks Il L Ss SSss f fxios sSc IN
larly Ills "Euphues," al,d III the poems Of
Dolnc, Sueklil,g, md Others. III all these
countries, this school of. writer's followed tho
periods q tho grea.ttest literary teyslopMen,t.
enough, tho case. Why this was 10, Is Gil In
terestng literary problem, but which cannot
ba considered In tho limits Of q newspaper