Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3a.pdf/86

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
KRO
68
KRU

KROMAYER, Hieronymus, a German protestant theological writer, a native of Zeitz, where he was born in 1610. He was professor of history, theology, and eloquence at Leipsic, where he died in 1670. Kromayer was the author of a number of works, but very few of them are of interest at the present time. Those by which he is best remembered, are his "Historia Ecclesiastica," "Theologia dogmatico-polemica," and "Polymathia Theologica."—B. H. C.

KROMAYER, Johann, a German theological writer, a native of Misnia, born in 1575 or 1576. He was a protestant minister at Eisleben, preacher to the duchess-dowager of Saxony, and superintendent at Weimar, where he died in 1643. He wrote a paraphrase on Jeremiah and Lamentations, printed in the Weimar Bible; a "Harmony of the Evangelists;" and a "Compendium of ecclesiastical history."—B. H. C.

KRÜDENER, Barbara Juliane von, a distinguished philanthropist of the mystic school of Madame Guyon, was a daughter of the ancient, noble, and wealthy Russian family of Wietinghoff, and was born 21st November, 1764. While still very young and beautiful, she was married against her own wishes to the Baron Von Krüdener, a friend and admirer of J. J. Rousseau; and in Venice, Copenhagen, and Paris she spent many years of her life in the enjoyment of all the gaieties of the world, and of a large share of its admiration and flattery, called forth not only by her personal accomplishments but by her literary talents. She was on intimate terms with Chateaubriand, Madame De Stael, and other literary celebrities of the time; and being separated in 1792 from her husband, the purity of her life in Paris was not above suspicion. After the death of the baron she left Paris; and already weary of the world, she withdrew to the privacy of the mansion and estates which she had inherited from her father. Here a great religious change passed over her, chiefly under the influence of some Moravian christians; and feeling no attraction towards her own national church, she attached herself with peculiar sympathy to Jung Stilling in Carlsruhe and Oberlin in Steinthal, under whose teaching, and that of the writings of Madame Guyon, she became deeply imbued with a spirit of quietistic and mystical piety. From that time, about 1808, till her death in 1824, the spirit of christian love became and continued to be in an extraordinary and very conspicuous degree the animating and impelling principle of her whole existence, flowing over and abounding both in word and deed, though often mixing itself with the impure elements of fanatical fervour, and often hurrying her into delusive pretensions and dangerous excesses. In Würtemberg, in Baden, in Strasburg, and in Switzerland she appeared as a travelling preacher of love, "the perfect," "the pure," "the unselfish love;" and everywhere she recommended her theme, not only by eloquent and persuasive words, but by still more eloquent and persuasive deeds and gifts of mercy and beneficence. Her rank and accomplishments found access for her to the rich and the learned, to whom she preached with impressive earnestness repentance and new life. In 1815 the Czar Alexander himself became one of her hearers, almost a disciple. In Heilbronn, Heidelberg, and Paris he was to be seen, Bible in hand, listening to her teaching in the private meetings for prayer and Bible reading which she held with her friends. Her drawing-room was crowded with people of rank and fashion. She acquired great influence over Alexander, who even consulted her on the formation of the "Holy Alliance;" and it was she who suggested that name for a transaction, which she knew only in its apparent religious origin and motives, and not in its political tendencies and effects. Her religious usefulness, however, was damaged by this complicity in the politics of Europe, and her immense influence with all ranks became an object of jealousy to politicians and diplomatists. She was compelled to leave Switzerland, where she had assisted in founding the Tract Society of Basle, and to seek an asylum at Greuzach on the borders of Baden. Here she devoted herself entirely to the care, and instruction, and relief of the poor, and in the famine years of 1816 and 1817, thousands from Switzerland and the Black forest flocked to her for relief, to whom she ministered without stint both the bread of this world and the bread of life. But in these same years she yielded herself unhappily to the illusions of spiritual pride, and fell into the extravagances of a fanatical spirit. She first allowed her grateful admirers to speak of her as a prophetess, and she ended by believing and professing the divine claim herself; speaking much of the peculiar power of her prayers with God, of the revelations she had from above, and of the fulfilment of her prophetic words. The governments of Switzerland and South Germany compelled her to return once more to her own estates; and these wild pretensions cost her moreover the loss of the friendship of the Czar Alexander, who, upon her repairing to St. Petersburg to preach to him a crusade in behalf of the liberation of Greece, sent her a kind but firm letter requiring her to be silent and to depart. In her last illness, which ended in her death, 25th December, 1824, she became sensible of and confessed her errors:—"Yes," she owned under the sobering influence of long affliction, "I have often mistaken for voices of God what were only the suggestions of my own imagination and pride; what good I have done will remain, the evil God will mercifully destroy." She died at Karasu-Bazar in the Crimea, a province which had been first won to the czars by the sword of her grandfather. Professor Hagenbach of Basle, in his Lectures on the church history of the nineteenth century, has done justice to the work, as well as animadverted upon the errors, of this highly-gifted and extraordinary woman.—P. L.

KRUG, Wilhelm Traugott, philosopher and writer, was born in Prussian Saxony in 1770. He prepared himself for academic teaching in 1794 at Wittenberg, where he was obliged to remain as adjunct of the philosophical faculty for seven years, in consequence of his "Letters on the perfectibility of revealed religion." In 1801 he became extraordinary professor of philosophy at Frankfort-on-the-Oder; in 1804 ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics at Königsberg; in 1809 ordinary professor of philosophy at Leipsic. He died 13th January, 1842. Krug's writings on philosophy and other subjects are very numerous. He was exceedingly industrious and active; but his works are more useful to learners, than fitted to advance the sciences they treat of. His system of philosophy was called "transcendental synthesism;" an attempt at a medium between idealism and realism, which became very popular. His chief works are—"A System of Theoretical Philosophy," 3 vols. 8vo; "History of the Philosophy of Ancient Times, especially among the Greeks and Romans;" "System of Practical Philosophy," 3 vols. 8vo; "Handbook of Philosophy and Philosophical Literature," 2 vols.; "Universal Manual of the Philosophical Sciences," 4 vols. 8vo.; "Canon Law, presented according to the principles of reason, and in the light of Christianity;" "Lectures on Universal Philosophy, for the Education of both Sexes," &c. His autobiography was published in 1826, and the appendix to it in 1831.—S. D.

KRUGER, Franz, German painter, born in 1797 at Anhalt-Dessau, was in the main self-taught. He settled at Berlin, drew portraits, hunting pieces, and landscapes with animals, in the execution of which he had acquired great facility. A picture which he painted in 1830 for the Emperor Nicholas of Russia—"A Regiment of Prussian Cuirassiers on Parade"—brought him prominently into notice. He was named member and professor of the academy, and appointed court painter, and found thenceforward abundant occupation in painting official pictures, and equestrian and other portraits of the sovereigns of Germany and the more distinguished personages of their courts. His works have been much praised; and they are favourite examples of their class. He was an officer of the red eagle, and a knight of several other German orders. He died January 21,1857.—J. T—e.

KRUILOFF. See Krilov.

KRUMMACHER, Friedrich Adolf, an eminent German divine and author of the evangelical school, was born at Tecklenburg in Westphalia, July 13, 1767. His father, who was a lawyer, was burgomaster of the town; and his mother, a friend of Lavater, was distinguished for her piety and christian spirit. He early showed uncommon talents; and after attending for a short time the university of Lingen, he removed in 1787 to Halle, where he attached himself with special sympathy and love to the person and teaching of Professor Knapp, with whose evangelical spirit his own was congenial. After finishing his university career, he was for a few years co-rector of the gymnasium of Hamm, and in 1793 he became rector of a similar institution at Mörs on the Rhine. In 1794, when his income was no more than three hundred thalers, he brought home his bride, Eleonore Möller, and for the next six years he continued to apply himself with ardour to classical studies and to the duties of the school, which flourished greatly under his charge. In 1800 he was appointed professor of theology and classical literature in the neighbouring university of Duisburg, and in the following year he commenced his career as an author by publishing his