SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.
The family of Biernatzki originated in Poland. His
grandfather, a Polish nobleman, of the Protestant re-
ligion, whose estates had been confiscated, emigrated to
Breslau, then passed into Hanover, and finally fixed him-
self at Altona, in the duchy of Holstein. He there estab-
lished a school, which he conducted with ability and suc-
cess, and thus supported his family in comfort and re-
spectability until his death. His youngest son, the father
of J. G. Biernatzki, was educated to the medical profession
at Copenhagen, obtained the favor of Privy-counsellor
Brandt, and was attached to the Royal Guards in the ca-
pacity of surgeon. He soon after married, and the author
of "The Hallig," the second child of this union, was
born at Elmshom on the 17th of October, 1795. The
death of Biematzki's mother, a woman of excellent heart
and superior intellect, which took place in 1801, appears
to have affected him more deeply and permanently than
is usual with children of so tender an age, and this afflic-
tion, so peculiarly felt, doubtless had some influence in
