BUNSEN, CHRISTIAN KAHL JOSIAS, Baron, one of the most distinguished statesmen and scholars of Germany, was b., 25th Aug., 1791, at Korbach, in the principality of Waldeck, and studied philologyat Gottingen (1809-13) under Heyne. He had been appointed teacher in the gymnasium of GOttingen in 1811, but quitted the position in 1813; and in pursuance of a course of study of old and middle high German, begun in company with Lachmann, and to extend his knowledge of the Germanic tongues, went to Holland, and afterwards to Copenhagen, where he learned Icelandic from Finn Mag nussen. The historical works of Niebuhr and his diameter as a politician had filled B. with enthusiasm, and he spent some months of 1815 in Berlin, in order to become per sonally acquainted with the historian. In 1816, lie went to Paris, and studied Persian and Arabic under Sylvestre de Sacy, and in the same year to Rome, where he married. Niebuhr, then Prussian ambassador, took the greatest interest in the scientific pursuits of B., and procured (1818) his appointment as secretary to the embassy. The residence of the king of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III., in Rome in 1822, had a decided influence on his subsequent career. In the course of a conversation in which II. had disagreed with the king, the latter asked his views on the Prussian ritual (Agende) and hymnbook question, then much agitated. Though these views were very different from what the king had been accustomed to hear, he took them in good part, and with expression of his personal regard, requested B. to continue in the state service. On Niebuhr's depart ure from Rome (1824), B. conducted the embassy provisionally for a time, and was then appointed resident minister (1827). Living in intimate intercourse with Niebuhr, B. had employed the time in deepening his investigation into the philosophy of language and religion; and had made, on the one hand, the philosophy of Plato and the constitutions of antiquity; on the other, biblical inquiries, church history, and liturgies—objects of special attention. Though not within the scope of the great plan of his life, he con tributed hugely to the Besehreibung der Skids Rom. (Description of Rome), 3 vols. (Stott. 1830-43); the greater part of'the topographical communications on ancient Rome, and all the investigations into the early history of Christian Rome, are by him.—The first visit of Champollion to Rome formed an epoch in B.'s antiquarian studies. Ile was a zealous hearer of Champollion himself, and also encouraged Lepsius (q.v.) to the study of hieroglyphics.. The archmological institute, established in 1829, found in B. its most active supporter. When he founded the protestant hospital on the Tarpcian rock (1835), he also built, adjoining his own house, a place of meeting for the institute; and labored earnestly for the cause of Protestantism. The king of Prussia had often asked his advice in the matter of the ritual, but had not adopted it. B. then, along with the chaplain, introduced (1825) into the chapel of the embassy at Rome a liturgy modeled after his own views, and sent a report (1828) to the king of the result. The king had this liturgy
printed, and wrote the preface with his own hand. This work never came into the hands of the trade; hut the most part of it was embodied in the Ailegeineine crony. Gesang- and Gektbuch, printed (1846) without the author's name, in the Rauhe Haus, Hamburg, which may be considered as the second edition of the Versuch eines allgemeinen crony. Gesang- and Gebetbuchs (Attempt at a General Evangelical Hymn and Prayer Book), Hamb. 1833. • In 1841, he was sent on a special mission to London, to negotiate the erection of an Anglo-Prussian bishopric in Jerusalem, and was shortly afterwards appointed ambassa dor at the English court. It is understood that, on occasion of a visit to Berlin in 1814, lie was asked to write down his views on the question of granting a constitution to Prussia; and that in consequence he presented a series of memorials representing the urgency for a deliberative assembly, and also made a complete plan of a constitution closely resembling the English. In the Schleswig-Holstein question, B. strongly advo cated the German view, in opposition to Denmark, and protested against the London protocol of 1850. But in the midst of all his political duties, B. continued unabated his literary and philosophical pursuits, the results of which have from time to time appeared. His views regarding the part that Prussia should act in the eastern question not being, it is understood, in accordance with those of his court, he ceased, in 1854, to represent Prussia at the court of England, and retired to Heidelberg. In the estimation of Eng lishmen, B. must ever hold a high place. No foreigner has ever shown a deeper apprecia tion of their national characteristics, or a heartier love of their social and political lib erty. It must also be acknowledged that he has done service to the cause of enlightened Christianity. for while in England, he was regarded by those who knew him both as the most philosophical and most reverent of lay theologians. His chief works are: De Jure Atheniensium Thereditario (Gott. 1813); Die Kirehe der Zuku7aft (the Church of the Future—translated into English, and published by Longman), Hamb. 1845; Ignatius 4'04 Antiochien and Seine Zeit (Ignatius of Antioch and his Time). Hamb. 1847; Die drei eehten and die vier uneehten Brief(' des ignettins yen Antiochien (The Three Genuine and the Four Spurious Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch). Hamb. 1847; ./Egyptens Sidle in der Welt geschichte (Egypt's Place in the World's History—translated into English by Cottrell), Hamb. 1845-4; Die Basiliken des Christliehen Roos (The Basilicas of Christian Rome), 1843: Hippolytus end seine Zeit (Hippolytus and his Time). 1851; Christianity and Man kind, 1854; Gott in der Geschichte (God in History). 1857: and the Bthelucerk, which B. hoped to make his chief work, of which only a part appeared before his death, which took place in 1860. See Memoir t)y his widow (1b-;681 wit L.. • ii Ls so := 4