66 FOREIGN CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



had been so instrumental in the successful termination of his labours. 

 At first he decided upon complying with the wishes of his father- 

 in-law, to enter upon the career of academical professor; but he was 

 prevented by an advantageous offer to fill the appointment of sous-prefect 

 in one of the provinces which formerly belonged to France, and had 

 been separated from it in consequence of the happy issue of the war 

 in 1815. About this period Mr. Siebenpfeiffer settled in Rheinish- 

 Bavaria, a province on the left bank of the Rhine, where the fortress of 

 Landau is situated. Here Mr. Siebenpfeiffer resided for a considerable 

 time, enjoying universal esteem as a man, and a high reputation for ability 

 in his office — a reputation strengthened and consolidated by his publica- 

 tion of a manual of administrative laws, in five volumes. From a 

 multiplicity of conflicting ordonnances and laws, Mr. Siebenpfeiffer 

 selected such as were of use to the municipalities, and his work still 

 continues the chief legal authority. He thus lived in retirement until 

 the year 1832, when events placed him in a more prominent situation. 



Germany was at this period in a state of great political excitement, 

 produced, in some measure, by two journals, entitled the Tribune and 

 Western Messenger, published in Rheinish-Bavaria, a province which is 

 considered the centre of the German reform party. The editors of the 

 journals which caused these commotions were Wirth and Siebenpfeiffer, 

 the latter of whom had sacrificed a lucrative appointment, and a great 

 part of his private fortune, in establishing a journal in which he might 

 develope his deeply-rooted political sentiments. The Diet of Frankfort 

 suppressed both these journals by a special decree, the first attempt of 

 this nature they had risked, and some time elapsed before the edict was 

 published. Mr. Wirth and Mr. Siebenpfeiffer were also forbidden to 

 write in any other journal. This was the first flash of lightning 

 indicative of an approaching storm. Shortly afterwards the name of 

 Mr. Siebenpfeiffer was connected with an occurrence which had con- 

 siderable influence on the future destiny of Germany. In May, ] 832, a 

 popular festival was held near the ruins of Hambach, an old castle near 

 a village of the same name in Rheinish-Bavaria. This was the first 

 instance of a political meeting in this country in which almost all the 

 German States were represented. More than 30,000 persons, chiefly of 

 the respectable classes of society, had flocked from all parts to this 

 rendezvous. Notwithstanding the festival had been authorised by the 

 Bavarian Government, and passed off with the greatest order, Mr. 

 Siebenpfeiffer, who first proposed the meeting, and several other persons, 

 were prosecuted, and sent to prison. 



The Bavarian Government exercised its utmost influence in the 

 formation of the jury, which was principally composed of men devoted 

 to its interests. The Jury thus composed, after a trial of several days 

 in the spring of 1833, returned an unanimous verdict of acquittal in favour 

 of all the accused. The Bavarian Government did not acquiesce in the 

 verdict, and Mr. Siebenpfeiffer was kept more closely confined than 

 ever. This proceeding induced the population of Rheinish-Bavaria to 

 devise means for effecting his escape from confinement, in which they 

 ultimately succeeded, and he reached France in safety. Since the com- 

 mencement of the present year, Mr. Siebenpfeiffer has resided at Bern, 

 where he has acquired the esteem and confidence of the Government in 

 so distinguished a manner, as to have been lately appointed a Professor 

 of Political Economy in the University of Bern, [and presented with 

 letters of naturahzation, constituting him a Swiss Citizen. This rapid 

 sketch of the extraordinary events in the life of Mr. Siebenpfeiffer will, 

 probably, lead our readers to anticipate something very solid and ingenious 



