WERNER, Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias, a German dramatist of some note, was the son of a professor of history and rhetoric in Königsberg, where he was born on November 18, 1768. After preparing for the civil service, he obtained a situation at Warsaw, where he, in 1800, wrote his first dramatic work, Die Söhne des Thals. It was distinguished, as indeed the majority of his dramas are, by simplicity of plot, depth of feeling, and power of language. After writing his Der Vierundzwanzigster Februar and his Das Kreuz an der Ostsee, he removed to Berlin, where, after publishing his Martin Luther, oder die Weihe der Kraft, and divorcing his third wife, he wandered over Europe like a spirit who had perpetrated some great crime, halting now here, now there, but settling nowhere. At last he entered the Romish Church, and was made a priest. He attracted considerable crowds as a preacher, but the purity and simplicity of his genius had forsaken him. He disguised his discourses by puerile witticisms and indelicate humour, which likewise affected all his after-writings. He died on the 18th of January 1823, in his 56th year. A complete edition of his collected works appeared, in 14 vols., in 1839-41.