l princes on
their particular peoples. At this time sprang up the so-called _Deutsche
Burschenschaft_, organizations of young men, whose object was to promote
the cause of German union. The tri-centennial anniversary of the
Reformation, in 1817, was made the occasion of inflaming the public mind
with this idea. The sentiment found ready access to the German heart. It
was shared and advocated by many of the best and ablest men. As
subsidiary to the same movement, was at the same time introduced the
practice of systematic and social gymnastic exercises, an institution
which still exists, and constitutes one of the most prominent features
of the German movement. Immense concourses of gymnasts from all parts of
Germany meet yearly to practise in friendly rivalry, and inspire one
another with zeal for the good of the common fatherland. But the
_Burschenschaft_ in its pristine glory could not so long continue. The
separate German Governments were naturally jealous of the influence of
these organizations, and, though not able to accuse them of directly
aiming at treason and revolution, were ready to seize the first pretext
for striking at their power. A pretext was soon found. A certain Von
Kotzebue, a novelist of some notoriety, suspected of being a Russian
spy, wrote a book in which he attacked the _Burschenschaft_ with great
severity. A theological student at Jena, Karl Sand, whose enthusiasm in
the cause of the _Burschenschaft_ had reached the pitch of a half-insane
fanaticism, took it upon him to avenge the wounded honor of the German
name. He visited Kotzebue at the dwelling of the latter, delivered him a
letter, and, while he was reading it, stabbed him with a dagger. Sand
was of course executed, and, though it was proved that the crime was
wholly his own, though the German Confederation, through a commission
appointed specially for the purpose of searching all the papers of the
participants in the _Burschenschaft_ movement, found no evidence of
anything like treasonable purposes, yet it was resolved that these
'demagogical intrigues' must cease. The _Burschenschaft_ was pronounced
a treasonable association; its members were punished by imprisonment or
exile. The poet and professor Arndt and the professor Jahn, prominent
leaders in the movement, were not only deposed from their
professorships, but also imprisoned. The celebrated De Wette was removed
from the chair of theology in the University of Berlin, simply because,