at short intervals, till the year 1775. In 1763, he had been appointed first librarian to the university, and in 1770 he obtained the title of aulic counsellor, and was made secretary to the Royal Society of Sciences, and editor of the Literary Gazette. As secretary to the Royal Society he was of great service, and gave to that institution a life and activity to which it had been before a stranger. The meetings had been held in a very irregular manner; and as none of the papers read before it, had been printed for sixteen years, Heyne, in 1771, had the satisfaction of publishing the first volume of the "Commentarii Novi," which was dedicated to the King. He also laboured on his Pindar, the first edition of which made its appearance in 1773. In 1775 his domestic happiness was interrupted by the death of his wife; but two years after, he repaired his loss by marrying Georgiana Brandes, daughter of George Frederick Brandes, aulic counsellor. Among his labours at this time must be mentioned A Catalogue of the Library, on a very extensive and improved plan, which he began in 1777, and completed in 1787; a most useful but laborious work, which he extended to about one hundred and fifty volumes in folio. In 1782, he published his "Apollodorus," and in 1798 gave a new edition of his "Pindar," in five volumes. His most important work, however, and that on which he devoted the greater part of his life was the edition of his Homer, which he began in 1787, and which he had in some measure been induced to undertake by pe

rusing Wood's Essay on the Writings and Genius of that Poet. During fifteen years he is said to have devoted two hours daily to this great work, the appearance of which he delayed so long, that he might procure every possible assistance from men of letters, among whom were Beck of Leipsic, and Jacobs of Gotha, whose service he acknowledges in the preface, which made its first appearance in 1802. In 1778 he gave a second edition of his Virgil, in two different forms, one of which was

ornamented with a great many vignettes. This edition had been carefully revised and considerably improved, not only by the author himself, but by the assistance of literary friends, among whom were Van Santen in Holland, and Jacob Bryant in England. In the autumn of this year he made a tour to Swisserland, in company with his friend Dr. Girtanner, in the course of which he took an opportunity of paying visits to Schweighauser, Oberlin, and Brunk. At Zurich he formed an acquaintance also with Hottinger and Lavater. Soon after his return, he was offered the place of chief librarian at Dresden, and was invited to Copenhagen to be professor, with a salary of three thousand dollars and other advantages, but both these he declined. During the short peace of Amiens in 1802, Heyne exerted himself to renew that literary connection which had been almost destroyed by the political storms of the time. As secretary to the Royal Society of Gottingen, he endeavoured to revive the correspondence of that learned body with the French

National

National Institute. Several of the French literati were admitted members of the Society, and the intercourse was rendered more active by his own correspondence. In the same year he was himself nominated one of the foreign as sociates of the Institute, in addition to the numerous honours of the same kind which had been conferred on him before. In the year 1803 he employed, and with complete success, the influence he had acquired as a man of letters, to preserve the university from experiencing any of those miseries which are the usual conse. quence of war; and on that occasion he received a very flattering letter from Berthier, then minister at war, containing an assurance that the French army would grant special protection to that establishment. In 1806, when in the seventy-seventh year of his age, he undertook a tour to Armstadt, to see one of his daughters who had been married a short time before; but after this period his infirmities increased so much, that he could not endure violent motion, and in 1809 he resigned his office as professor of eloquence. In 1810 he was made a Knight of the Westphalian Order of the Crown, and died in the month of July 1812. After completing his Homer, he engaged in no work of any magnitude. He had once entertained an idea of writing a history of the university of Got tingen, which was so dear to him; but a few lines of it only were committed to paper. He, however, laboured with more diligence for the Gottingen Society, and in particular the Literary Ga zette. The numerous articles which he furnished to that work VOL. LVII.

afford an evident proof that his faculties were still sound and vigo rous. To Heyne nothing was so valuable as time. He rose at five o'clock in the morning, even in the latter years of his life; in his youth much earlier. The whole day was filled with writing, lecturings, and other literary occupations, not, however, excluding domestic and social enjoyments; for he was by no means of a recluse or solitary disposition. Notwithstanding his great talents, and the celebrity he had acquired, he was not vain or conceited. He, however, set a proper value upon praise; but was much better pleased to be esteemed as a man than as a scholar. By his first wife he had one son and two daughters, one of whom married George Forster, son of the celebrated Dr. John Reinhold Forster, and on his death became the wife of Mr. Huber. The fruits of his second marriage were two sons and four daughters. Heyne was a member of the Royal Society of London, and also of most of the learned societies in Europe.

Mr. Tennant was tall and slender in his person, with a thin face and light complexion. His appearance, notwithstanding some singularity of manners, and great negligence of dress, was on the whole striking and agreeable. His countenance in early life had been singularly engaging; and at favourable times, when he was in good spirits and tolerable health, was still very pleasing. The general cast of his features was expressive, and bore strong marks of intelligence; and several persons have been struck with a general resemblance in his countenance to the well-known portraits of Locke.

The leading parts of his moral and intellectual character are apparent in the principal transactions of his life. But in this memorial, however imperfect, of the talents and virtues of so extraordinary a man, some attempt must be made to delineate those characteristic peculiarities, of which there are no distinct traces in the preceding narrative.

Of his intellectual character, the distinguishing and fundamental principle was good sense; a prompt and intuitive perception of truth, both upon those questions in which certainty is attainable, and those which must be determined by the nicer results of moral evidence. In quick penetration, united with soundness and accuracy of judgment, he was perhaps without an equal. He saw immediately, and with great distinctness, where the strength of an argument lay, and upon what points the decision was ultimately to depend; and he was remarkable for the faculty of stat

ing the merits of an obscure and complicated question very shortly, and with great simplicity and precision. The calmness and temper, as well as the singular perspicuity, which he displayed on such occasions, were alike admirable; and seldom failed to convince the unprejudiced, and to disconcert or silence his opponents.

These powers of understanding were so generally acknowledged, that great deference was paid to his authority, not only upon questions in science, but upon most others of general interest and importance. What Mr. Tennant thought or said upon such subjects, his friends were always anxious to ascertain; and his opinions had that species of influence over a numerous class of society which is one of the most certain proofs of superior talents.

Next to rectitude of understanding, the quality by which he was most distinguished, was a lofty and powerful imagination. From hence resulted a great expansion of mind, and sublimity of conception; which, being united with deep moral feelings, and an ardent zeal for the happiness and improvement of mankind, gave a very peculiar and original character to his conversation in his intercourse with familiar friends. He partook with others in the pleasure derived from the striking scenes of nature; but was more particularly affected by the sight or contemplation of the triumphs of human genius, of the energies of intelligent and successful industry, of the diffusion of knowledge and civilization, and of whatever was new and beautiful

in

in art or science. The cheerful activity of a populous town, the improvements in the steam-engine, the great Galvanic experiments, and, above all, the novelty and extent of the prospects afforded by that revolution in chemical science which has illustrated our own age and country-these magnificent objects, when presented to Mr. Tennant's mind, excited in him the liveliest emotions, and called forth the most animated expressions of admiration and delight.

This keen sensibility to intellectual pleasure may be partly understood, from the following passage of a letter written by him in January 1809, to an intimate friend who was then abroad.After mentioning the great phenomena of the decomposition of the alkalies by Voltaic electricity, and giving a general view of the experiments founded upon them, he thus concludes, "I need not say how prodigious these discoveIt is something to have lived to know them."

ries are.

His taste in literature and the fine arts partook, in a considerable degree, of the peculiar character of his imagination. His favourite writers (those whom he most valued for the eloquence of their style) were such as describe "high actions and high passions," and have the power of exciting strong and deep emotions. Of the poets, he principally esteemed Virgil, Milton, and Gray; and the prose writers to whom he gave the preference for powers of composition were Pascal and RousHe had a particular admiration of the "Pensées de Pascal," regarding it as a production

seau.

altogether unequalled in energy of thought and language, in occasional passages of refined and deep philosophy, and, above all, in that sublime melancholy, which he considered as one of the peculiar characteristics of great genius.

The same principles governed Mr. Tennant's judgment in the fine arts. Considering it as their proper office to elevate the mind, and to excite the higher and nobler passions, he estimated the merits of the great masters in music and painting by their power of inspiring these emotions. What he particularly admired in musical compositions was that tone of energy, simplicity, and deep feeling, of which the works of Handel and Pergolesi afford the finest specimens. In painting he awarded the superiority to those distinguished masters, of whom Raphael is the chief, who excel in the poetical expressions of character, and in the power of representing with spirit, grace, and dignity, the most exalted sentiments and affections.

It was almost a necessary consequence of his intense and deep feeling of these higher beauties, that his taste was somewhat severe, and that his ideas of excellence, both in literature and the fine arts, were confined within strict limits. He totally disregarded mediocrity, and gave no praise to those inferior degrees of merit, from which he received no gratification.

In consequence principally of the declining state of his health, his talents for conversation were perhaps less uniformly conspicuous during his latter years.

2F2

His

His spirits were less elastic, and he was more subject to absence or indifference in general society. But his mind had lost none of its vigour; and he never failed, when he exerted himself, to display his peculiar powers. His remarks were original; and his knowledge, assisted by a most retentive memory, afforded a perpetual supply of ingenious and well-applied illustrations. But the quality for which his conversation was most remarkable, and from which it derived one of its peculiar charms, was a singular cast of humour, which, as it was of a gentle, equable kind, and had nothing very pointed or prominent, is hardly capable of being exemplified or described. It seldom appeared in the direct shape of what may be called pure humour, but was so much blended either with wit, fancy, or his own peculiar character, as to be in many respects entirely original. It did not consist in epigrammatic points, or brilliant and lively sallies; but was rather displayed in fanciful trains of imagery, in natural, but ingenious and unexpected, turns of thought and expression, and in amusing anecdotes, slightly ting ed with the ludicrous. The effect of these, was much heightened by a perfect gravity of countenance, a quiet familiar manner, and a characteristic beauty and simplicity of language. This unassuming tone of easy pleasantry gave a very peculiar and characteristic colouring to the whole of his conversa tion. It mingled itself with his casual remarks, and even with his graver discussions. It had little reference to the ordinary topics of the day, and was wholly un

tinctured by personality or sar

casm.

It should be mentioned, among the peculiarities of Mr. Tennant's literary taste, that in common perhaps with most other original thinkers, he bestowed little attention on books of opinion or theory; but chiefly confined himself to such as abound in facts, and afford the materials for speculation. His reading for many years had been principally directed to accounts of voyages and travels, especially those relating to Oriental nations; and there was no book of this description, possessing even tolerable merit, with which he was not familiarly conversant.His acquaintance with such works had supplied him with a great fund of original and curious information, which he employed with much judgment and ingenuity, in exemplifying many of his particular opinions, and illustrating the most important doctrines in the philosophy of commerce and government.

Of his leading practical opinions, sufficient intimations have been

given in the course of the preceding narrative. They were of a liberal and enlightened cast, and such as might be expected from the character of his genius and understanding. Among them must be particularly mentioned an ardent, but rational, zeal for civil liberty; which was not, in him, a mere effusion of generous feeling, but the result of deep reflection and enlarged philosophic views. His attachment to the general principles of freedom originated from his strong conviction of their influence in promoting the wealth and happiness of nations. A due

regard