IIAUSER, KASVAR, the foundling of Nuremberg, was found by a citizen of that town in the market•place, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon of the 26th May, He was dressed like it peasaut-boy, and had with him a letter addressed to the (mt. of the sixth regiment of horse at Nuremberg. Being conducted to this officer and interrogated, it soon became evident that he could speak very little, and was almost totally ignorant. To all questions he replied, "Von Regensburg" (front Regensburg), or " (eh woais nit" ([ don't know). On the other band, he wrote his name in firm legible characters on a sheet of paper, but without adding the place of his birth, or any thing else, though requested to do so. Hauser was then, to judge from his appearance, 16 or 17 years old. Though short and broad shouldered, his figure was perfectly well proportioned. His skin was very white; his limbs delicately formed, the hands and feet small and beautiful, the latter, however, showing no marks of his having ever worn shoes. With the exception of dry bread and water, he showed a violent dislike to all kinds of meat and drink. His language was confined to a few words or sentences in the old Bavarian dialect. He showed entire ignorance of the most ordinary objects, and great indifference to the conveniences and necessaries of life. Among his scanty arti cles of clothing was a handkerchief marked K. IL; he bad likewise about him some written Catholic prayers. • In the letter which he carried, dated, "From the confines of Bavaria, place unknown, 1828," the writer stated himself to be a poor day-laborer, the father of 10 children, and said that the boy had been deposited before his door by his mother, a person unknown to the writer. He stated further, that lie had brought up the boy secretly, without allowing him to leave the house, but had instructed him in reading, writing, and the doctrines of Christianity; adding that it was the boy's wish to become a horse soldier. The letter inclosed a line, apparently from the mother, stating that she, a poor girl, had given birth to the boy on the 80th April, 1812; that his name was Kasper; and that his father, who had formerly served in the sixth regiment, was dead. Hauser was treated by the magistrates of Nuremberg as a destitute boy, and became the object of general sympathy. Binder, a burgomaster, exerted himself, in particular, to throw some light on the obscurity in which the origin of the young man was involved. In the course of many conversations with him, it came out that Irauser, from his childhood, had worn only a shirt and trousers; that he had lived in a dark place underground, where lie was unable to stretch himself out at full length; that he been fed upon bread and water by a man who did not show himself, but who cleaned and dressed him, and provided hint with food and drink while he was in it state of natural or artificial sleep. His sole occupation was playing with two wooden
horses. For some time before he was conveyed to Nuremberg, the man lied come oftener to his dungeon, and had taught hint to write by guiding his hand; and to lift his feet and walk. This narrative gave rise to various suppositions and rumors. Hauser was, according to some, the natural son of a priest, or of a young lady of high rank; while others believed him to be of princely origin, or the victim of some dark plot respecting an inheritance. Some incredulous persons believed the whole affair to be an imposition. On July 18, 1828, Hauser was handed over to the cam of prof. Hamner. The history of his education is remarkable in a pedagogic point of view, as his original desire for knowledge, his extraordinary memory. and acute understanding decreased in proportion as the sphere of his knowledge extended. His progress was, on the whole, small. On Oct. 17, 1829, he was found bleeding from a slight wound on the brow, which he said had been inflicted by a man with a black head. All efforts made to discover the perpetrator were ineffectual. The incident excited a great sensation ; Hauser was conveyed to the house of one of the magistrates, and constantly guarded by two soldieis. Among the many strangers who came to see Hauser was lord Stanhope, who became interested in him, and sent him, for the sake of his education, to Anspaeh. Here he was employed in an office of the court of appeal. but by no means distin gulshed himself for industry, and was gradually forgotten till his death again excited attention. A stranger, under the pretext of bringing him a message from lord Stan hope, and informing him of the circumstances of his birth, invited Hauser to meet him in the palace garden at three o'clock in the afternoon of Dec. 14, 1833. and stabbed him in the left side. Hauser had sufficient strength left to return home end relate the circumstances of Ids assassination, but died on Dec. 17, 1833. Compare Dimmer, ,ilitihedungen ueber Kasper Hauser (2 vols. Nuremb. 1832); Fetterbach, Kasper Hauser Hispiel Eines Verbreehera 0411 Seelenle,ben (Ansbaeh, 1832); Allgemeine Zeitung, ,June 3, 1873.