HEINE, HEINRICH, was born on the let of January 1800 at Dusseldorf, in the Prussian Rhine-Province, of Jewish parents. His father was a merchant. lie was educated at the Lycoum at Diissel dorf, and as he was intended for the mercantile profession, he was seat in 1316 to Hamburg, to receive the necessary Instruction and training. Ile remained there till 1819, when his father, as well as his uncle, Salomon Heine, • banker in Hamburg, acquiesce I in his wish to be educated for a literary profession, and in the summer of that year he was sent to the univereity of Bonn, in order to study juris prudence. In 1620 ha went to Gattingeu, but soon left it, and in 1821 removed to Berlin, where, in 1822, lie published the first col lection of his poems, von Heinrich Heiue; 12mo. Some of the earliest of these productions date as far back as 1816, and several of them had previously appeared in the periodies1 called 'Der Wachter' Hamburg. He travelled in Poland In 1822, and after his return to Berlin published his remarks in the Geaellschafter: In 1823 he published hie tragedy of ' Alinanser,' together with • one-act tragedy named ' William lisdeliff: and a ' Lyrischaa Intermezzo.' While he remained at Berlin he also published in 'Der Sprochcr ' series of letters under the head of 'Brief° alis Berlin,' which attracted much attention. In 1S23 he returned to GOttingen, and resumed his Oodles in jurisprudence. On the 30th of Jnly 1825 he took a degree in law. and then proceeded to Hamburg, for the purpose of establishing himself there as an advocate. Tho practice of the law however seems to have been as little suited to the character of his mind, now developing itself, as the pursuits of trade. lie appears about thin time to have renounced the religion of his ancestors for that of the New Testament, in the Lutheran form, but afterwards became an unbeliever. While at Gottingen, in 1824, he had made a tour in the liars Mountains, of which ho published an account at Hamburg, 'Die Herzreise,'1820. He afterwards made tours to the islands of the Baltic, to England, to South Germany, and to Italy, and wrote a descriptive account of each. The whole of these, including the ' Ilarzreise,' were published at Hamburg under the title of ' Raise bilder,' vols. 1.2 in 1826.27, and vole. 8.4 in 1830-31. These works he himself many years afterwards translated into French under the title of Impressions do Voyages: In 1827 he published at Hamburg another volume of short poems, the Buch der Lieder,' and about the same period his poem of Alta Troll, ein Sommernachtstraum: After his return from Eoglend he was employed at Stuttgart as the editor of the 'Nene Politischon Annalen.' lie also wrote for the ' Morgan blatt' and the 'Augsburgcr Zeitung,' and of the latter he became afterwards the Paris correspondent.
In 1831 Heine removed to Paris, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. In this year he published his series of letters On Nobility' ('Ueber den Adel '), Hamburg, 1831. In 1833 appeared his esseys on modern literature in Germany, ' Zur Geschichto der Neueren Schouen Literatur in Deutschland,' 12mo, Paris and Leipzig, and his remarks on the state of Franco, Franzosische Zustiinde: 12mo, Hamburg, which is a collection of articles previously published In the ' Augsburg Gazette.' Der Salon,' one of the most important of his prose works, was published at Hamburg, in 4 vole. Svo, 1834-40.
About this period he married a Frenchwoman, who was a Roman Catholic, and married her according to the Roman Catholic ritual. His observations on the 'Romantic School' (' Die Romantische Schule') appeared in 1386 at Hamburg. In 1840 he published his bitter per sonal attack on Borne, with whom he had become acquainted when he went to Paris in 1831, ' Lieber Ludwig Borne,' 8vo, Hamburg.
In tho winter of 184S-44, Heine visited Germany for the last time. After his return to Paris he published his 'Deutschland, ein Winter marshals' (' Winter's Tale '), which is a description of his journey. In 1347 he experienced an attack of paralysis, which deprived him of the sight of one eye; in other respects he recovered, but another attack in 1848 deprived him of the sight of the other eye also, and subjected him likewise to extreme bodily suffering, without at all injuring his mental faculties. He never afterwards left his chamber, but continued his literary labour, by the aid of an amanuensis, with a cheerful resignation which was only interrupted occasionally by the severity of his sufferings. His latest poetical productions were the ' Romancero,' written in 1850-51 ; Das Buds des Lazarus,' written in 1854, and ' Neuer Frilhling' (' New Spring '), written in 1855. In July 1855 he published at Paris, in the Bibliotheque Contemporaino: a translation of his poems into French prose, under the title of ' Poi;mes et Legendes, tier Henri Heine: The translations were made nnder his own super/Won by his friend, the late Cdrard de NervaL A similar translation of the' Neuer Frtililing' appeared in the It4vue des Deux Monde': vol. xi., 1855. Hie state of bodily suffering, during which he was dutifully attended by Madame Heine, was terminated by his death, on the 17th of February 1856.
Soon after Heioe's death, hie brother, Dr. Gustav Heine, of Vienna, communicated to the 'Frerndenblatt' of that city some particulars of his last moments, together with the seventh clause of his will, In which he says, "Though I belong to the Lutheran confession, I do not desire to be followed to the grave by any clergyman of that deno• mination, and 1 wish to dispense with any other sacred solemnity at my burial This is not the weak fancy of a freethinker. For the last four year. I have cast aside all philosophical pride, and have again felt the power of religious truth." He regrets having so often spoken of sacred subjects In a disrespectful manner, and Implores " forgive neu for any offence which in his ignorance he may have given to good manners and morals, which are the true emanations of 811 faith." Heine wrote French with apparently as much facility as his native language, and was a contributor to the periodicals of Felix as well as to those of Germany. Ills prose-works are distinguished by groat brilliaucy of style and vividness of Imagination, but are too often per vaded by a spirit of sarcasm which has no respect for persons, and are frequently traiersod by veinn of mockery which touch the most sacred subjects. Ilia poems are distiuguished by originality, freshness of feeling, fine fancy, and extraordinary beauty of versification, and will probably endure long after his prose, from Its want of sincerity, has fallen into comparative neglect. Tho best as well as the most recent translation of his smeller poems is Heinrich Ileine'e of Songs, a Translation by John E. Wallis,' 12mo, London,1850.