Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/835

 LITERATURE.] SWITZERLAND 799 most striking characteristics of his genius. Free and republican Switzerland was the only Continental country whose institutions were favourable to the growth of the ideas with which Rousseau shook to its centre the political and social system of the ISth century. Saussure. Of the other French writers of Switzerland in this age the most eminent was perhaps H. B. de Saussure, who, in his Voyages dans les Alj>es (1776-79), presented in a lucid and attractive style the results of much careful observa- tion. He was one of the founders of geology, and made im- portant contributions to several other sciences. Another Bonnet, distinguished scientific writer of this time was Charles Bonnet, the author of several valuable works on natural history and psychology. His general conception of the order of the world he developed systematically in his Contemplation de la Nature (1764). Much good work The Do was also done by the brothers De Luc, one of whom, Jean- Lues. Andre de "Luc, gave in Lettres sur Quelques Parties de la Suisse (1787) a very vivid picture of the physical, social, and political peculiarities of a portion of Switzerland. Some clever books were written by Madame de Mme. de Charriere, a native of Utrecht, who settled with her hus- C har - band in the principality of Neuchatel in 1771. Much nere * interest was excited by her lively Lettres JZcrites de Lausanne and by her Lettres Neuchdteloises, and both in Switzerland and in France there were many admirers of her Mari Sentimental and of the corresponding work Lettres de Mistress Henley. Samuel Constant, the father of Benjamin Constant, wrote Camille and some other romances in the form of letters ; and Conies Moraux, in the style of Marmontel, were written by J. Senebier, who did better work as an investigator in physics and physio- In the second half of the 18th century there were in French Switzerland many ardent students of history. Mallet. One of the ablest of them was P. H. Mallet, who took as his special subject the antiquities of northern Europe, but wrote also works on the general history of Denmark, Beranger. Brunswick, and Hesse. Beranger was the author of a Lam- Histoire de Geneve ; and Lamberty, who had served as terty. secretary of several legations in Holland and Germany, brought together in his Memoires many interesting details about events of which he had personal knowledge. A good history of Switzerland to the 17th century was written by De Watteville, and Philibert dealt with the same subject in a work entitled Les Revolutions de la Haiite- Allemagne, in which he brought the story down to 1468. Haller. G. E. von Haller wrote several excellent historical works, the most important of which was his BibliotheJc der Schweizergeschichte. From the latter part of the 1 8th century onwards French Switzerland has produced many influential writers, but they have been so intimately connected with France that their works properly belong to French literature. Necker, who played so great a part in France before the Revolu- tion, was one of the greatest writers of his age on politics and finance ; and his daughter Madame de Stael, whom, although she was born in Paris, Switzerland may also claim, stands in the front rank of women who have devoted them- selves to literature. Her most brilliant work, Corinne, was perhaps of less real importance than De VAllemagne, from which Frenchmen obtained for the first time authentic information as to the intellectual development of Germany. B. Con- Benjamin Constant wrote a work on the source, forms, and stant. history of religion ; he was also the author of Adolphe, a romance, and adapted Schiller's Wallenstein for the French stage. But his principal work is the collection of his Discours Prononces a la Chamlre des Deputes, in which he eloquently defends, from many points of view, the prin- Sismondi. ciples of constitutional government. De Sismondi dis- played astonishing energy as a writer on history, literature, and political economy, and it is still necessary for students of the subjects on which he wrote to consult his works. His Histoire des Fran$ais, although planned on too vast a scale, is a wonderful monument of industry, learning, and literary skill, and not less valuable in their own way are his Histoire de la Renaissance de la Liberte en Italie and his De la Litterature du Midi de V Europe. A. Vinet, an Vinet. eminent Protestant theologian, produced a great impression by his Discours sur Quelques Sujets Religieux and various other theological works, which are full of vigorous thought expressed in a clear, direct, and manly style. Among Swiss novelists R. Topffer, author of L'Heritage, Traversee, Topffer. and many other works, takes a distinguished place. His early writings attracted the attention of Goethe, who read them with pleasure; and Sainte-Beuve, in praising Topffer's methods, gave utterance to the general opinion of educated Frenchmen. The three brothers Andre, Antoine Elisee, and The Joel Cherbuliez, and their sisters Adrienne and Madame Cher- Tourte-Cherbuliez, were all well known writers ; and Victor ^ u ^ ez - Cherbuliez, the son of Andre, is one of the brightest and most fertile novelists of the present day in France. He commands respect also as a writer on politics. In the later literature of the German cantons there are not so many famous names as in the later literature of the French cantons. Of a group of writers who connected the influences of the 18th century with those of the 19th, J. Albertini B. Albertini was the most original ; but he appealed to a comparatively small class. He was a bishop in the church of the Moravian Brethren, and his poems give powerful expression to the deeply religious sentiment of his sect. A romance by J. C. Appenzeller Gertrud von Wart Appen- (1813) was so popular that it was translated into French, zeller. Dutch, and English ; but it has not maintained the high place which was for some time attributed to it. J. R. Wyss. Wyss edited the Alpenrosen from 1811 for about twenty years, and for this periodical he wrote many poems, taking his subjects chiefly from Swiss history and legends. He completed and published a story begun by his father, Der Schweizerische Robinson, translations of which have been widely circulated in France, Spain, England, and America. He also wrote "Rufst du, mein Vaterland," the great national song of Switzerland. A. E. Frohlich was a good Frohlich. writer of fables, and J. A. Henne made a considerable Henne. reputation, not only as a poet but as the writer of a work entitled Manethos, die Origines unserer GescMchte und Chronologie, in which he sought to prove the European origin of the Aryan race. T. Meyer-Merian, author of the Meyer- well-known song, "Ichging so ganz alleine," was also a Merian. vigorous dramatist. Dramatic and lyrical poems of some power were written by T. Bornhauser, but they were too Born- plainly intended to serve a political party to have per- hauser. manent significance. A more poetical writer was B. Reber. Reber, whose Bilder aus den Biirgunder-Kriegen present a series of glowing pictures from one of the most splendid periods of Swiss history. All these writers were surpassed by Albert Bitzius, Bitzius. known as Jeremias Gotthelf from the title of his first book. He was the vicar of Lutzelfliih, and for many years found ample scope for his energies in quiet works of benevolence. Der Bauerspiegel, oder Lebensgeschiclite des Jeremias Gotthelf, published in 1836, when he was nearly forty years of age, at once made his name famous, and it- was followed by Uli der Knecht, Uli der Pdchter, Leiden und Freuden eines Schulmeisters, and other powerful tales. The charm of his writings springs from the fact that they are an accurate representation of the thoughts, feelings, and habits of the people among whom he laboured. Bitzius was a man of an ardent and impulsive temper, but a close observer, capable of penetrating far below the