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KLA
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KLA

of Canstatt. The university of Giessen conferred upon him, though a layman, the degree of D.D. in 1844, and in the following year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries. Dr. Kitto was short in stature, and became rather corpulent in advanced life. His speech, unregulated by his ear, was a kind of guttural thunder. He owed no little of his marvellous success to his religious principle, and to his hopeful and unwearied diligence and perseverance. A few years before his death he was supporting a wife and ten children by his pen; the result being that sometimes for six weeks together he did not leave his house. His was a long and manful struggle against poverty, deafness, aid every variety of unpropitious circumstances; but he gained the victory and rose at length to great eminence and extensive usefulness, realizing the self-chosen motto upon his seal—Per ardua.—(Life by Dr. Eadie.)—J. E.

* KLAPKA, George, a Hungarian general, who specially signalized himself in the defence of Komorn at the close of the war of Independence in Hungary in 1849. He was born at Temesvar, April 20, 1820, and began his military career when eighteen years old in the artillery. He quitted that service in 1842 for the Hungarian body guard, and while stationed in Vienna, pursued his studies in the art of war. Being sent, however, to a regiment on the frontiers in 1847, he resigned his commission in disgust, and was about to travel abroad, when the revolution of 1848 broke out. His ardent temper and military education fitted him well for a part in the conflict which ensued. His patriotism, his democratic principles, and the offence he had received from his superiors, inclined him to take up arms against the Austrian government. Having placed himself at the disposal of Count Batthiany, he was sent first into Transylvania, and there succeeded in attaching some partisans to the Magyar cause. He next distinguished himself in the command of a body of honveds, engaged in fighting against the Servians on the banks of the Danube. By the end of 1848 he was appointed head of the staff to General Kiss, and after the defeat at Kaschaw in the following January was called to the command of Meszaros' division. As a general he showed considerable skill, great resolution and energy, and a knowledge of his countrymen most essential to the commander of volunteers. With his raw recruits he contrived to keep the line of the Theiss against the Austrian regulars, while the provisional government was establishing itself at Debreczin. He took part in the battle of Kapolna in February, 1849, which after three days' continuance ended in the triumph of the Austrian arms. In April following, after the Hungarians had taken the offensive, Klapka was more fortunate, and at Isászeg and Nagy Sarlo decided the victory in favour of his countrymen. By a series of bold and skilful manœuvres the Austrians were compelled to raise the siege of Komorn, and the way to Vienna itself seemed open to the victorious Magyars. A rapid advance at this critical moment would probably have decided the campaign and brought the Austrian government to terms. Görgey, however, who was in command, thought otherwise and resolved to lay siege to Buda, thus giving the Austrians time to recover from their dismay and secure the intervention of Russia. Klapka was now called to Debreczin to preside at the ministry of war in the national government, and there sustained his character as a liberal politician and a hearty supporter of Kossuth. He formed plans for including the Poles in a general insurrection against the Austrian oppressor; but his views were discountenanced by Görgey, and ere long he was glad to quit the ministry for the more congenial office of commandant of the fortress of Komorn on the removal of Guyon from that post. A want of harmony between Kossuth and Görgey, and between the latter and Klapka, augmented the growing difficulties of the Hungarians, which were brought to a crisis by the arrival of the Russians. A series of sanguinary battles ensued, in which the Hungarians greatly distinguished themselves; but Haynau and Paskévitch gained ground, and when the capitulation of Vilagos took place on the 13th of August, 1849, Klapka was shut up in Komorn, resolved to defend it to the last extremity. Such a resolution in the face of overwhelming forces produced disaffection and disorder in the ranks of the patriots, which Klapka repressed with a stern hand, putting to death several mutineers and deserters. Still he kept his powerful antagonists at bay, and was ultimately induced to surrender the fortress, only by hearing that Peterwarasdin had surrendered, and that his obstinate defence of Komorn alone prevented the emperor of Austria's reconciliation with Hungary. He capitulated on the 27th of September, 1849, on terms which were granted with reluctance by the vindictive Haynau. On the 5th of October Klapka quitted Komorn for Presburg, where he awaited a passport for England. In London he was well received by the public, and by certain members of the queen's government, a circumstance that brought upon the Hungarian refugees the animadversions of the Quarterly Review. Klapka was so much hurt by the observations of the reviewer, that he sought redress in a court of law. He afterwards proceeded to Switzerland, and was naturalized at Geneva, where he became a member of the council in 1856. He is still regarded as a leader by many advanced liberals in Hungary, but is prevented by his exile from taking a direct part in the political movements which now agitate his country. In 1850 "Memoirs of General Klapka, April to October, 1849," were published at Leipsic, and were followed by "Memoirs of the War of Independence in Hungary," 2 vols. The latter has been published also in English. He published in 1855 "The War in the East," which likewise appeared in English.—R. H.

KLAPROTH, Heinrich Julius von, son of Martin Heinrich Klaproth, was born at Berlin, 11th October, 1783. His faculty for languages developed itself at a very early age, and by his own unaided efforts he had made considerable progress in Chinese by the time he was fifteen. It was his father's intention that he should follow chemistry, but the discovery of his linguistic preferences and aptitudes, and especially for oriental tongues, led to his being sent to Halle with strict orders to attend to the classics. This was in 1800, and while at Halle he made good use of the library and other advantages within his reach. He afterwards removed to Dresden, where he prosecuted his researches, and in 1802 started a new periodical called the Asiatische Magazin, which was published at Weimar. This at once attracted attention and the admiration of the learned, and led to an invitation to St. Petersburg, where he soon became adjunct of the academy for Asiatic languages. He owed this introduction to the Russian service, to the kind offices of Count John Potocki, who was himself a man of considerable attainments, and who saw the advantages which might be obtained to the empire by securing the assistance of so promising a scholar. The government was about to send an embassy to China, and Klaproth succeeded in securing the post of interpreter. It was arranged that the party forming the embassy should meet at Irkutsk, and our enterprising traveller obtained permission to set out alone before the rest of the company. On this journey he became acquainted with a vast tract of country, and various strange tribes, and yet arrived at Irkutsk before Count Golowkin the ambassador. This Golowkin was too haughty and aspiring to negotiate successfully with the Chinese; and soon after the travellers left Kiakhta and crossed the Chinese frontier, some difficulties arose in connection with ceremonies which their leader refused to perform: their progress was stopped, and they were quietly told they might go back again, as they were not wanted at Pekin. Nothing remained but for them to return to St. Petersburg. Klaproth, however, separated himself from the rest, and struck out a path for himself through the southern provinces of Siberia, collecting books and other materials which were of immense service to him in afterlife, and especially in compiling his "Asia Polyglotta." On his arrival at St. Petersburg in 1807, the great value of his collections and information was at once perceived, and his talents were acknowledged by a commission to prosecute a scientific investigation in the Caucasus. The academy nominated him an academician extraordinary; while the emperor ennobled him and granted him a pension. His Caucasian journey occupied twenty months; but the result, in one sense, did not answer the expectations of those who sent him, and the government was annoyed to learn how feeble its hold on the wild mountaineers yet was. In 1810 he published at St. Petersburg his "Archives for Asiatic Literature, History, and Philology;" and the same year became professor at Wilna, where he took part in founding a school for Oriental languages. Before leaving St. Petersburg, however, he employed himself upon a descriptive catalogue of the Chinese and Tartar manuscripts in the imperial library. In 1811 he was sent to Berlin to superintend the preparation of characters for printing these manuscripts. The following year he placed his resignation in the hands of the government, who reluctantly accepted it, and rewarded him by depriving him of his honours and titles. It was rumoured that his disgrace was owing to the discovery of his dishonourable fondness for documents