Nanin, and in 1833 appeared at Stuttgart Maha-Guru, Geschichte ernes Gottes, a fantastic and satirical romance intended to ridicule the current conceptions of the divine. In 1835, on account of a difference with Menzel, he discon tinued his contributions to the LiteraturUatt, and went to Frankfort, where he became collaborates with Duller on the Phonix, and also founded the Deutsche Revue. In the same year appeared Watty, die Zweiflerin, from the publication of which may be said to date the school of writers who, from their opposition not only to Romanticism but to all the time-honoured literary, social, and religious traditions, hive received the name of "Young Germany." The work was directed specially against the institution of marriage and the belief in revelation; and whatever attention it might have attracted from its own merits was tenfold increased by the action of the Government, which, besides condemning its author to three months imprisonment, decreed the suppression of all he had written or might yet write, and prohibited him from exercising the functions of editor within the states of the Bund. During his term of imprisonment Gutzkow employed himself in the composition of his treatise Zur philosophic der Geschichte, published at Hamburg in 1836, in which he opposed the Hegelian theory as to the nature and ends of history. On obtaining his freedom he went to Frankfort, where, shortly afterwards, ha was married, and where he wrote several volumes on various subjects which he published at Hamburg and Stuttgart ; but finding himself hampered in his literary undertakings by the prohibitions of the Prussian Govern ment, he removed in 1837 to Hamburg. Here he inaugur ated a new epoch of his literary activity by bringing out his tragedy Richard Savage, which immediately made the round of all the German theatres, and first decidedly won the ear of Germany for the modern drama. Of his numern- ous other plays the majority are now neglected; but a few have obtained an established place in the repertory of the German theatre, especially the comedies Zopf und Schivert (1844) and Das Urbild des Tartiiffe (1847), and the tragedy Uriel Acosta (1847); the deep tragic interest, fine dramatic situations, and terse and pregnant diction of the last entitle it to rank among the best dramas of modern times. In 1842 Gutzkow paid a visit to Paris, of which he gave an account in Briefe aus Paris (Leipsic, 1842). After his return to Germany he resumed his stay at Frankfort, where he was chiefly occupied in preparing for the press an edition of his collected works, published in 12 volumes, 1845-46 ; but in 1847 he went to Dresden, where he suc ceeded Tieck as director of the court theatre. About the same time began that period of his literary activity to which belongs the series of remarkable works of fiction intended to depict the action and tendency of the principal intellectual, social, and religious forces in modern society. The chief of these novels are Die Ritter vom Geiste (9 vols., Leipsic, 1850-52) and Der Zaiiberer von Rom (9 vols., Leipsic, 1859-61). The latter, a study of Roman Catholic life in southern Germany, is generally regarded as his masterpiece ; and its vigorous and trenchant delineations of character are not more notable than its keen analysis of the motives underlying religious professions, and its subtle penetration into the characteristics and tendencies of the various forms of religious opinion. In regard, however, to both works, it may be objected that their great length, their somewhat tedious dallying over unimportant details, the intricate nature of their plots, and the hampering influence of their controversial purpose t lessen considerably the legitimate effect of their many striking and original character portraits, their skilfully arranged dialogues and frequently powerfully dramatic scenes, and the cunning manner in which their incidents are blended into one whole. The success of Die Ritter vom Geiste suggested to Gutzkow the establishment of a journal on the model of Dickens s Household Words, entitled Unterhaltungen am hduslichen Herd, which first appeared in 1852, and was continued till 1862. In 1864 he had an attack of insanity, during which he made an attempt upon his life ; and although after his recovery he continued to write as voluminously as formerly, his produc tions show henceforth decided traces of failing powers. To this period belong the historical novels Hohenschwangau (5 vols. 1868) and Fritz Ellrodt (3 vols. 1872) ; LelenbUder (3 vols. 1870-72), consisting of autobiographic sketches; and Die Sb hne Pestalozzis (3 vols. 1870), the plot of which is founded on the story of Kaspar Hauser. On account of a return of his nervous malady, Gutzkow in 1873 made a journey to Italy, and on his return took up his residence in the country near Heidelberg. Although some time before his death he had been confined to his sick chamber at Frankfort, its occurrence, 16th December 1878, was due to
accidental suffocation from smoke.The writings of t Gutzkow suffer in character from the controversy which embittered his life. His didactic purpose was too strong to allow his fine artistic faculty full freedom of action, and notwithstanding his true dramatic insight, firm grasp of character, rich vein of original thought, and wonderful comprehension of the principles at work in modern society, he did not possess that command of his materials which is necessary to mould them into poetic com pleteness. But although his popularity has not been com mensurate even with his merits, no recent writer has ex erted a more powerful influence on the opinions of modern Germany ; and if his works are not destined to live by virtue of their inherent value, many of them will always be of interest as the mirror in which the intellectual and social struggles of his time are best reflected.
An edition of Gutzkow s collected works appeared at Jena, 1873–76. Since his deatli the issue of a popular edition lias been under taken, the first volume of which, containing the autobiography of his boyhood and his miscellaneous poems, has already appeared. His Rilckblickc auf mein Lcben, published in 1875, deals specially with that period of his life when he was director of the Dresden theatre. A complete biography by Johannes Froelss is now in pro cess of preparation.
a missionary to China, was born at Pyritz in Pomerania, 8th July 1803. At an early age he cherished a strong desire to become a foreign missionary, but the poverty of his parents made it impossible for them to aid him in attaining his wishes, and he became apprentice to a saddler in Stettin. In 1821, however, he made known his inclination to the king of Prussia, through whom he obtained admission to the Piidagogium at Halle, and afterwards to the mission institute of Jiinike in Berlin. In 1826, under the auspices of the Netherlands Missionary Society, he went to Batavia, where by intercourse with the Chinese residents he perfected himself in the Chinese language. He, however, severed his connexion with the Netherlands Society in 1828, and went to Singapore ; and in August of the same year he removed to Bangkok, the capital of Siam, where he occupied himself with translating the Bible into Siamese. In 1829 he married an English lady, who aided him in the preparation of a dictionary of Cochin China, but she died in August 1831 before its completion. Shortly after her death he sailed to Macao in China, where, and subsequently at Hong Kong, he worked at a translation of the Bible into Chinese, published a Chinese monthly magazine, and wrote in Chinese various books on subjects of useful knowledge. He also at different times undertook voyages on the coast of China, and in 1834 he published at London an account of them under the title Journal of Three Voyages along the Coast of China in 1831, 1832, and 1833. He was appointed in 1835 joint Chinese secretary to the English
commission, and during the opium war and the negotiations