Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/512

Rh U K E U The revenue and expenditure for 1885 were each estimated at 36,254, while the public debt in 1884 was 46,886. REUSS-SCHLEIZ, or REUSS JCNGERER LINIE, with an area of 318 square miles, includes part of the southern and the whole of the northern of the two main divisions above indicated, touching Bavaria on the south and Prussian Saxony on the north. The former portion is known as the Oberland, the latter as the Unterland. Owing to the fertility of the Unterland, agriculture is carried on here with greater success than in Reuss-Greiz, fully one quarter of the population being supported by tillage and cattle- breeding. The industrial activity is, however, also large, supporting one-half of the population. The principal pro- duct consists, as in Reuss-Greiz, of woollen goods, and the manufacture centres in the capital, Gera, a busy town with 27,118 inhabitants. A considerable trade is carried on in the products of the manufactories, and in timber, cattle, and slate. The iron mining of the Oberland is limited by the want of sufficient railway communication. Large quantities of salt are yielded by the brine springs of Heinrichshall. In 1880 Reuss-Schleiz contained 101,330 inhabitants, including 442 Roman Catholics and 69 Jews. The annual revenue and expenditure for 1885-1886 were calculated at 66,060; the public debt in 1884 was 61,780. The history of Reuss stretches back to the times when the Ger- man emperors appointed voigts, or bailiffs, to represent them in lands conquered from the Sorbs or other Slavonic races. The forefathers of the present princes of Reuss appear in this capacity at an early period, and the historical head of the family is generally recognized in Henry, voigt of Weida, who flourished about the middle of the 12th century. The name of Reuss came to be applied to the territory ruled over by his descendants from the sobriquet of "Der Russe," or the Russian, which one of them acquired about 1280 from the nationality of his mother. The district embraced by the name was at one time much more extensive than at present, taking in the Bavarian town of Hof and the whole of the Saxon Voigtland. Of the numerous lines and sub-lines into which the family was divided nearly all became sooner or later extinct, till in 1616 none were left except the two that still subsist. Since 1616 numerous subdivisions have again taken place within these families, and it was not till 1848 that Reuss jiingerer Linie became again a united whole. The rulers of Reuss were created counts of the German empire in 1671 and sovereign princes in 1778. In 1807 both principalities joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and in 1866 Reuss-Greiz had to atone for its active sympathy with Austria by the payment of a fine. Since 1871 both principalities have been members of the German empire, each sending one member to the federal council and one representative to the Reichstag. REUTER, FRITZ (1810-1874), the greatest writer in Platt Deutsch, was born on the 7th November 1810, at Stavenhagen, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a small country town which had few means of communication with the rest of the world. His father was burgomaster and sheriff (Stadtrichter), and in addition to his official duties carried on the work of a farmer. Until his fourteenth year Reuter was educated at home by private tutors. He was then sent to the gymnasium at Friedland, in Mecklenburg- Strelitz, and afterwards he passed through the higher classes of the gymnasium at Parchim. He had a con- siderable talent for drawing, and wished to become an artist; but, as his father decided that he should be a lawyer, he began in 1831 to attend lectures on juris- prudence at the university of Rostock. In the following year he went to the university of Jena. The German Governments, alarmed by the revolutionary agitation of 1830, were on the alert to detect symptoms of popular discontent; and a formidable riot at Frankfort in 1833 gave them an excuse for treating the universities with great harshness. Reuter, as a member of the Burschen- schaft " Germania " at Jena, was arrested by the Prussian Government ; and, although the only charge which could be proved against him was that he had been seen wearing the German colours, he was condemned to death for high treason. This monstrous sentence was commuted by Kin Frederick William III. of Prussia to imprisonment foi thirty years in a Prussian fortress. Reuter accepted his fate calmly, and he had need of all his courage, for during the next few years he was taken from one Prussian fortress to another, in each of which he was kept in close confine- ment. In 1838, through the personal intervention of the grand-duke of Mecklenburg, he was delivered over to the authorities of his native state, but on condition that he should still be a prisoner. The next two years he spent in the fortress of Domitz. In 1840 to his great joy was set free, an amnesty having been proclaimed aft the accession of Frederick William IV. to the Prussii throne. Although Reuter was now thirty years of age, he wen to Heidelberg to resume his legal studies; but he soo: found it necessary to return to Stavenhagen, where h aided in the management of his father's farm. During his imprisonment he had studied many works on agricul ture and on the sciences related to it, and he was able make good use of the knowledge he had thus obtained. After his father's death, however, he was compelled b; want of capital to abandon farming, and in 1850 settled as a private tutor at the little town of Treptow in Pomerania. Here he married Luise Kunze, the daughter of a Mecklenburg pastor. They had been betrothed when Reuter was at Stavenhagen, and their union proved to be one of uninterrupted happiness. At Treptow he had to work hard as a private tutor for small pay, but in the evenings he found time to amuse himself by writing, in Platt Deutsch, in prose and verse, a number of tales and anecdotes. This collection of mis- cellanies was published in 1853 in a volume entitled Lauschen und Riemels. The book contains many lively sketches of manners in North Germany, and it was received with so much favour that Reuter was encouraged to make new ventures in literature. Fortunately he decided to go on writing in Platt Deutsch. There are so many abstract terms in High German that few writers succeed in the attempt to use it as a vehicle for the powerful utterance of simple and natural feeling. Platt Deutsch, on the contrary, although limited in its range, is fresh and vigorous, and in direct contact with the motives which give unfading charm to old popular songs and ballads. All the resources of this strong and expressive dialect were at Renter's service. He thought in Platt Deutsch, and in his greatest efforts was always able to find the right word for that exquisite blending of humour and pathos which is one of the most characteristic notes of his writings. The work which succeeded Lauschen und Riemels was Polterabendgedichte, and in the same year (1855) appeared De Reis nach Belligen, a humorous poem describing the adventures of some Mecklenburg peasants who resolve to go to Belgium (which they never reach) to learn the secrets of an advanced civilization. These writings attracted much attention, and Reuter was so confident of success that in 1856 he left Treptow and established him- self at Neubrandenburg, resolving to devote his whole time to literary work. His next book (published in 1858) was Kein Husung, a poem in which he presents wr great force and vividness some of the least attractivi aspects of village life in Mecklenburg. This was followed, in 1859, by Hanne Niite un de lutte Pudel, the best of the works written by Reuter in verse. The qualities of those who have a part to play in the story are brought out with remarkable distinctness, and the action provides the poet with many opportunities of giving free expression to his ardent love of nature. In 1861 Renter's popularity was largely increased by Schurr-Murr, a collection of tales, some of which arc in