GERVINUS, GEORGE G. 



371 



was witnessed by the Crown-Prince of the 

 German Empire, who was enthusiastically wel- 

 comed by the large concourse of people. In 

 Dresden the triumphal entry of the Saxon 

 troops took place on July llth, on which occa- 

 sion it was announced that the Emperor Wil- 

 liam had made the Crown-Prince of Saxony a 

 field-marshal of the empire. On October 12th, 

 two conventions were concluded at Berlin be- 

 tween Prince Bismarck and the French Minis- 

 ter of Finance, Pouyer-Quertier. By the one 

 the German Government secured some favor- 

 able provisions for the exports from Alsace- 

 Lorraine into France ; the other modified the 

 provisions of the treaty of peace concerning 

 the payment of the war-indemnification, and 

 hastened the evacuation of several French de- 

 partments by the German troops. 



Considerable interest was awakened by the 

 interview of the Emperor with the Czar and 

 the Emperor of Austria. The Czar paid a 

 visit to the Emperor William at Berlin in the 

 first week of June, and, a few days later, the 

 Emperor went to Ems to meet the Czar. An 

 interview between the Emperor William and 

 the Emperor Francis Joseph took place at 

 Ischl, on August llth, and, a few weeks later 

 (September 6th to 8th), the two Emperors, at- 

 tended by Prince Bismarck and Count Beust, 

 again met, at Salzburg. In the interval be- 

 tween the two interviews, Bismarck and 

 Beust met in Gastein; at the last interview 

 of the two Emperors, Count Hohenwart, the 

 President of the cis-Leithan ministry, and 

 Count Andrassy, the Prime-Minister of Hun- 

 gary, were also invited. No official account 

 of the transactions at Ischl and Salzburg has 

 yet been published ; but the subsequent policy 

 of both the German and the Austrian Govern- 

 ments indicates that they were of the most 

 friendly character, and aimed at strengthening 

 the relations of the two countries. 



One of the most prominent movements in 

 Germany, during the year 1871, was the oppo- 

 sition of one portion of the German Catholics 

 to the doctrine of papal infallibility, and the 

 organization of the Old Catholic Church (see 

 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH). For the treaty 

 between France and Germany see PUBLIC DOC- 

 UMENTS. 



GERVINUS, GEORGE GOTTFRIED, Ph. D., a 

 German historian and statesman, born at 

 Darmstadt, May 20, 1805 ; died in Heidelberg, 

 of brain-fever, March 29, 1871. He was at 

 first destined to mercantile life, and received a 

 commercial education ; but, after serving some 

 time as cashier in a large commercial house at 

 Darmstadt, he felt so strongly the desire to de- 

 vote himself to literary pursuits, that he aban- 

 doned his situation and commenced anew, al- 

 most alone, his uncompleted studies. In 1826 

 he attended the lectures of Schlosser, on his- 

 tory, as well as the courses of other professors 

 at Heidelberg, and gave his attention very 

 closely to historic studies for some years. In 

 1828 he was elected professor in an institu- 



tion at Frankfort-on-the-Main, but returned to 

 Heidelberg to take his doctor's degree. He 

 then went to Italy, where he spent several 

 years in collecting the materials for historical 

 works which he had planned. In 1830 he 

 published " A Glance at Anglo-Saxon His- 

 tory," and in 1833, "Historical Essays," both 

 of which gave indications of historical talent 

 of a high order. On his return from Italy, in 

 1835, he was appointed adjunct professor, and 

 in 1836 full professor of History and Literature 

 at Gottingen. In 1837 his desire for constitu- 

 tional liberty led him to assist M. Dahlmann 

 and the other professors in the preparation of 

 a protest against some of the measures of the 

 Government, which resulted in the expulsion 

 from the university of all those who signed it. 

 After remaining some months in Darmstadt 

 and Heidelberg, Prof. Gervinus revisited Italy 

 and remained there six years. On his return 

 in 1844, he was appointed honorary professor 

 of the University of Heidelberg, and continued 

 to deliver his courses of lectures there with 

 constantly-increasing classes till his death. It 

 was hi the period between 1836 and 1850 that 

 most of his best works were written. In 1845 

 Gervinus again took part in political affairs, it 

 is needless to say, on the side of popular lib- 

 erty. He commenced by an address on the 

 "Mission of the German Catholics," which ex- 

 cited great interest; in 1846 he published the 

 famous " Heidelberg Address " on the Schles- 

 wig-Holstein question; in February, 1847, he 

 replied to the manifesto of the Prussian Gov- 

 ernment, in a pamphlet entitled " The Prussian 

 Constitution and the Manifesto of the Third of 

 February ; " and the same year, in association 

 with Mathy, Milton, Maier, and Hausser, found- 

 ed the German Gazette, the organ of the Con- 

 stitutional party in Germany, of which he be- 

 came the principal editor. In the Revolution 

 of 1848 he took an active and important part, 

 being the representative of the Hanseatic cities 

 in the Diet, and a member of the National 

 Assembly from Prussian Saxony. He was the 

 principal author of the Constitution adopted 

 by the National Assembly, and labored so zeal- 

 ously in its preparation and defence that his 

 health failed, and he was compelled to travel 

 for several months. Soon after his return it 

 became evident that the dream of a united 

 constitutional Germany was not to prove at 

 that time a reality, and he withdrew from the 

 Chamber finally. In 1850 he was sent by the 

 Government to England as a special envoy in 

 regard to the Schleswig-Holstein question, but 

 his mission was unsuccessful, and he returned 

 to Heidelberg and his professorship, and 

 thenceforth took little or no part in political 

 matters. Prof. Gervinus wrote much and 

 well; the complete list of his works is too 

 long for our pages, but he will be best known 

 to posterity by his " History of the National 

 Poetic Literature of the Germans," in five vol- 

 umes, a work of vast erudition, and which he 

 had revised and brought up to the present 



