Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/505

WERGILD. 429 WERNER. principle of division was a])plied lo liomicide a3 well as minor crimes; each ]jaymfnt Winy a separate full equivalent for the value of the de- ceased, the one lo appease the feud, the other to make atonement to the State. By the Jlercian law the King's wergild was 7200 shillings pay- able to his relatives, and at the same time an ecpial sum, the cynebot. was due to his people. The graduated scales of wergild in use among the dilTereiit Teutonic nations tliriiw much light on the gradations of society at the jieriod. In general it does not appear tlial, among the na- tions who recognized the principle of wergild, the relatives were bound to accept a compensation for their kinsnum's slaughter, in place of appeas- ing the deatlifeud by blood; the latter practice was often resorted to instead. A similar prin- ciple to that of wergild for homicide seems to have been recognized by the Celtic nations, and there are traces of it in the Mosaic code. Con- sult Robertson, Sc(jtlii)id Under ll<r iUirhi Kings, vol. ii. (Edinliurgh, 1H(1'2), where the wer- gilds of the different (iermanic races are given. WERMELSKIRCHEN, ver'mcls-kerKVn. A towii of Prussia, 10 miles southeast of Diissel- dorf, with important manufactures of cotton, silk, and woolen goods, and upholstery plush. Population, in 1900, 15,460. WER'NER. A five-act poetical drama by Lord Byron (1S22). produced by Jlacready, who played the title-role, in 18.30. It concerns the fate of a morbid German chieftain, and is con- fusedly founded on the German's Tale, Kniitz- ner, in Lee's Canterbury Tales. WERNER,. ver'ner, Abraham Gottlob (1749-1817). A German geologist and miucrab ogist. He was born at Wehrau, Prussia, and in 1769 he entered the Mining Academy of Frei- burg, and afterwards supplemented his studies at Leipzig. His first original work. Ueber die iiusserH Kennzeichen der Fossilien (1764), won him a position as instructor in the Mining Acad- emy of Freiburg, where he lalx>red for more than forty years, attracting students from all l)arts of Europe and establishing a high rejjuta- tion for the school, which it has never lost. His principal service to geology consisted in arrang- ing data collected from all sources into a system- atic discipline. He divided the various geological formations into five groups, which, being largely founded upon his observations in Saxony and Bohemia, proved defective in the light of more extended research. In his mineralogical system Werner had to depend largely upon the criteria ot external characters, as the methods of chemis- try at that time had not attained to any degree of perfection. The published works of Werner include Kurze Khiasifiknlioii vnd Beschreihiinfj der Oebirpsnrten (1787), and Xeiie Theorie iiber die Entstehunfi der Giinge (1771), besides short articles on mineralogical and petrographical sub- jects. The Tjife of Werner has been written hv Frisch (Leipzig, 1825). WERNER, Anton Alexander von (1843 — ). A German illustrator and historical paint- er. He was born at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. and was educated first in Berlin and Karlsruhe, and then in Paris and Italy. His earliest, and per- haps his best, work flas in the line of illustra- tion. For his friend Victor Scheffel he illus- trated the poems Frau Aventiurc (186.3), Juni- pcnis (1865), Claiidcamiis {18G~ ), Bergpsahnen (1868), and Der Trompclcr von, tiiickingeti. The lirst of his historical and genre paintings ap- peared in 186.5, with "Luther and Cajetanus and "A Confidential Interview." During llie Franco-Prussian War he accompanied the Third .rmy Corps, and for the triumphal leturn of the troops to Berlin h(^ painted a decorative vela- rium, "Battle and Victory," which was a sym- bolic representation of the battle of Sedan. Such was the success of this piece that Werner became practically the olliiial painter of the new Empire. He was at once commissioned to de- sign the mosaic frieze (executed by Salviati of Venice) for the new Sicgcssiiule, was appointed member and profes.sor of the academy (1873), and in 1875 became its director. His nuniernus patriotic paintings include: "The Proclamation at Versailles of William I. as Emperor," in the Roj-al Palace, Berlin (the gift of the German princes, 1876) ; "Close of the Congress of Ber- lin" (Rathaus, ib., 1881): "Opening of the Reichstag by Emperor William II.. .Tune 15, 1889" (1894") : and "The Emperor's Greeting to .M(dtke upon his 90th Birthday" (1890). Werner published in 1896 the (Icseliirlite der koniglichen akademischen Hochschule fiir die hildenden Kiinste in Berlin. Consult the monogv;iph by Rosenberg (Bielefeld, 1900). WERNER, E. (1838—). The pseudonym of the Gierman novelist Elizabeth Buerstenbinder, born in Berlin. Her works (more than twenty in number) include Bin Held der Feder (1871), .!»! .Mtar (1872). (Sluckuuf! (1874), Gesprengte Fesseln (1875), Vineta (1877), Ein Ootte.suricil (1885). (lea-agt nnd gewunnen (1891), and Fata Morgana (1896). She also wrote three plays, two of them dramatizations of her novels. Her collected works were pul^lished in 1893. WERNER, ICarl (1808-94). A German water-color painter, born at Weimar. He re- ceived his artistic education at Leipzig, and spent almost twenty years in Italy. On a visit to England in 1851 he was made member of the Institute of Painters in Water Colors. Ex- tensive travels in Italy, Spain, and the Orient furnished subjects, mostly architectural, for his drawings, some of which have been published as The Holy Places (1866) and yilbilder. He is considered one of the best aquarellists of the nineteenth century, and his work is distinguished for careful execution, brilliancy of color, and poetic conception. Among his easel pictures are to be noted: "Partenkirch'en" ( 1833) , "Cathedral of Cefalft" (1838). "Hall in Palazzo Zisa at Palermo" (18.52). all in the National Gallery, Berlin: "Interior of House at Granada" (1856) ; "View of Spalato," "Landin.s-Place in Harbor of Beirut" (1862). all in the Leipzig Museum. WERNER, ■Reinhold vox -(182.5—). A Ger- man admiral, known also as a prolific w-riter of history. biography, and fiction dealing with the sea. He was born at Weferlingen. near !Magde- burg, in Prussia, and after a number of years' experience in the merchant marine, in the course of which he made numerous voya.ses to the East Indies, he became, in 1840. an officer in the newly organized fleet of the German nation. In 18.52 he entered the Prussian service, became lieuten- ant captain in 1856. took part in the Far Ea^t expedition of 1859-62, and as commander of a