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pseudonym of Albert Bitzius. A Swiss novelist and poet; born in Murton, Canton of Freiburg, Oct. 4, 1797; died at Liitzelfluh, Bern, Oct. 22, 1854. As a pastor in retired districts, he saw the hard conditions of the poor, and in 1837 wrote "The Peasant's Mirror", a vividly realistic presentation of peasant life,-the imaginary autobiography of one Jeremias Gotthelf; the immense success of the book led him to adopt the name as a pseudonym. He worked this vein with unflagging industry: "Joys and Sorrows of a Schoolmaster", "How Five Maids Came to Grief through Brandy", "How Uli, the Servant, was Made Happy", and numerous others, "tendency" novels, followed swiftly.