undertaking became librarian to the elector of Mainz. He actively promoted the incorporation of the left bank of the Rhine with France and in 1793 went to Paris to carry on the negotiations. Meanwhile, however, the Germans seized Mainz, and Forster--already disheartened by the turn of events in France--was cut off from all return. Domestic sorrows were added to his political troubles and he died suddenly at Paris on the 10th of January 1794. Forster's masterpiece is his _Ansichten vom Niederrhein, von Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England und Frankreich_ (1791-1794), one of the ablest books of travel of the 18th century. His style is clear and vivid; his method of describing what he sees extraordinarily plastic; above all, he has the art of presenting objects to us from their most interesting and attractive side. The same qualities are also more or less conspicuous in his minor writings. By his translation (from the English) of the _Sakuntala_ of Kalidasa (1791), he first awakened German interest in Indian literature. Forster's _Samtliche Werke_ appeared at Leipzig in 9 vols. in 1843. The _Ansichten vom Rhein_, &c., has been frequently reprinted (best edition by A. Leitzmann, Halle, 1893); Leitzmann has also published (Stuttgart, 1894) a selection of Forster's _Kleine Schriften_, which originally appeared in 6 vols. (1789-1797). His correspondence was published by his wife (2 vols., Leipzig, 1829); his _Briefwechsel mit Sommerring_ by H. Hettner (Brunswick, 1877). See J. Moleschott, _G. Forster, der Naturforscher des Volks_ (1854; 3rd ed., 1874); K. Klein, _G. Forster in Mainz_ (Gotha, 1863); A. Leitzmann, _G. Forster_ (Vorlesung) (Halle, 1893).