A History of Bohemian Literature. By Francis, Count Liltzow. (W.
Heinemann. 6s.)—Count Liitzow has certainly the advan- tage, if advantage it can be considered, of having a subject that will be almost entirely new to his readers (though, indeed, the late Mr. Wratislaw did his best to make it known). One Bohemian name—John Hus—is known to every one, but Hus's literary work is largely indebted to Wycliffe, though Count Liitzow tells us that there is more originality in his Bohemian writings. The Husite movement had a disastrous effect on Bohemian literature. Stimu- lative in itself, it led to results which made an almost absolute blank in the intellectual history of the country. An unrelenting war was waged on Bohemian thought. One Jesuit priest alone boasted of having destroyed sixty thousand Bohemian volumes. Even a Pope's book (that of Pius II.), shared the common fate because it dealt with Bohemian history. If anything was produced it was written in German or Latin. (Reading of these matters certainly helps to make one understand the furious conflicts in the Austrian Legislative Chamber. The oppressed are paying out the oppressors in their own coin.) The last century has witnessed a notable revival, of which Count Liltzow gives an interesting description. Of the few novels which have reached the English public, and which really represent to them the literature of the country, he does not think it necessary to say anything.
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