SPANISH LITERATURE.
Spanish Literature the England of the Tudors. By John Garrett Underhill. (Macmillan and Co. 8s. 6d.)—The contents of this book give evidence of considerable learning and research; but the manner in which the results are presented to the reader is deplorable. The work, we are told, " has been undertaken as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Columbia University." Whether this fact influenced the author, and made him think that a scholastic, pedantic style was the only one fitted for such a purpose, we cannot tell, but the effect is that the book reads like a bad translation from the German. Again and again we have to pause and ask,—What does this sentence mean New significance is given to common words, and at times it seems as if the author could not find the fit expression to convey his meaning. Thus in writing of the works of Luis de Granada he says : "The non-theological character of these treatises recommended them to the adherents of opposing faiths." Evidently what is meant is " non-polemical " or " non-con- troversial" ; mystic theology, of which Luis de Granada is a noted exponent, is as much a branch of theology as dogmatic, moral, or natural theology. The word "movement" is used for "series." We have phrases,—"resigned from," "halted his career," and others similar; sentences,—" but they did not originate the type the content for which they were able to supply." Nor is the arrangement at all superior to the style. The book is entitled Spanish Literature in the England of the Tudors, but practical and technical manuals of navigation, of military or medical art, which are not properly literature at all, are mixed up with theological works, voyages and history, pastoral poetry, and romances : works written by Spaniards in Latin, Spanish works known in England only through Italian or French translations, instead of being dealt with under distinct heads, are so confused together that the author contradicts, or appears to contradict, himself,—e.g., the note, p. 217, makes us ask, "Did Rogers translate any- thing directly from the Spanish P" So the number of the few lyric verses translated differs at every reference. This lack of arrangement leads necessarily to repetition. Fortunately there is a good index, which can be used as a help whereby to thread one's way through the tangle, yet even there we find no entry to the "Celestine" and its three translations. The work, with its bibliographical lists, and its biographical details of the authors mentioned, and of the society in which they moved, will be of value to the student, and will doubtless be frequently con- sulted; but, through faults of style and arrangement, the writer has made an attractive theme well-nigh as confused and unattrac- tive as possible.
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