It may be added, that Hemsterhuys was professor of the history of Holland, at Franeker, from the time he left Amsterdam, in 1720, to 1738. In the year 1740, he went to Leyden, as professor of the Greek Language and of History, where he died on the 7th of April, 1766. Among his most important works, are the Onomasticon of Julius Pollux, already mentioned, the Select Dialogues of Lucian, and the Plutus of Aristophanes. From his manuscripts in the possession of the university of Leyden, Geel, the librarian, published in 1825, a volume, entitled, Anecdota Hemsterhusiana.

His son, Francis Hemsterhuys, a philosophical writer, and an archaeologist, was born in 1720, and died at the Hague, in 1790. He had a fine classical education, and devoted himself particularly to the philosophy of the ancients. The influence of the Socratic school is seen in all his writings. His gentlemanly character, the natural beauty of his feelings, as well as his knowledge of art, secured to him the warm friendship of several noblemen. His writings in aesthetics and archaeology are somewhat

numerous.

Happily for the interests of classical learning, the effects of the labors of the elder Hemsterhuys did not cease with his life. His grateful pupils made known his merits and developed his principles. Some of them became accomplished scholars. Lewis Caspar Valckenaer, who was born in 1715, and died in 1785, united great modesty to a fundamental and comprehensive acquaintance with the languages of antiquity and the connected subjects. He studied ancient literature, philosophy, and theology, at Franeker, where, in 1741, he was appointed professor of Greek. He edited, with valuable commentaries, Theocritus, the Phoenissae and the Hippolytus of Euripides, Callimachus, and the grammarian, Ammonius.

His Opuscula were published in two volumes, in 1808. His name, and that of Ruhnken, are still well-known and honored, notwithstanding the great advances which have been made in philology since their death. Of the life and labors of Ruhnken, it is now proposed to give some

account.

DAVID RUHNKEN was born at Stolpe, a village in Pomerania, January 2, 1723. His parents spared no expense in the education of their numerous family. His father was a most respectable citizen, and the principal magistrate of the place. David early manifested such a love for books, that it was wisely determined to gratify it. His mother, a woman of piety, and of great tenderness of feeling, fondly hoped, that he would be attracted to the study of theology. When very young, he was placed in a school which was favored with an excellent teacher, by the name of Kniefof. Among his other qualifications, he possessed an accurate knowledge of Latin style, and sought to imbue the minds of his pupils with a love of that which with himself was such a favorite.

It has been said, that no one can become eminent in any science or art, unless three things are combined: talent, diligent study, and favorable opportunities. In the case of young Ruhnken, all these were happily joined. He possessed the enthusiasm, which is the unfailing harbinger of success. At a tender age, he began to lay a foundation for the elegant superstructure, which he afterwards built. From the village school, he went to a gymnasium at Königsberg, where he enjoyed the best advantages for pursuing his studies, and where he had Immanuel Kant for a fellow-pupil and an intimate friend. Kant was, at that time, as enthusiastic in his love of Virgil and Horace, as he subsequently was of metaphysical researches.

Having finished his studies in the gymnasium, at the age of eighteen years, Ruhnken returned home. In selecting a university he was at no loss. Göttingen was then without a rival, for no other university had a Gesner. His parents readily consented, supposing, that his classical tendencies would lead him to choose the sacred profession, the Greek language being then studied at the German universities, for the most part, only by theological students. In his journey to Göttingen, curiosity led him to visit Berlin, and also, a number of places in Saxony, which were celebrated as seats of learning. Having come to Wittenberg, he called to see professor Berger, with whose works he was acquainted. Berger received him with much kindness, and introduced him to his colleague, professor Ritter. Delighted with their society, Ruhnken lingered at Wittenberg a number of days. At length, on mature deliberation, he determined to join the university there, having first secured the approbation of his parents. This change in his plan was not unwise. Though Gesner had a far higher reputation than either of the Wittenberg professors, yet his lecture-room was so crowded, that he could devote but little time to individual students. At Wittenberg, Ruhnken derived great assistance from familiar intercourse with his teachers. During two years, he attended Berger's lectures on eloquence and Roman antiquities, and Ritter's, on law and history. He published the fruits of his industry, in a little volume, entitled, De Galla Placidia. Berger had a fine collection of books, also of coins and inscriptions, of which Ruhnken had the unrestricted use. Possessing little of that delicate taste and nice perception of beauty, which were so characteristic of Ruhnken, yet he had very extensive bibliographical knowledge, from which his young friend drew largely.

He, also, wrote Latin with great purity and propriety, though he knew little of the graces of style. Ruhnken paid some attention, while at Wittenberg, to logic, mathematics, and to the Wolfian philosophy. The discipline acquired by these pursuits, was no unimportant qualification for the study of ancient philosophy, which he afterwards pursued so zealously. He well knew, moreover, that attention to the exact sciences has an important influence upon perspicuity and orderly arrangement in style. He began to feel the need, however, of more adequate instruction in Greek than was supplied by the lectures at Wittenberg. He had often heard of the fame of the Holland school of philology, founded by Scaliger, and now in its glory under Hemsterhuys, at Leyden. About this time, Ernesti of Leipsic visited Wittenberg, and became acquainted with Ruhnken. He was nearly thirteen years older than Ruhnken, and had established a high reputation, by his edition of Cicero, and other works. He strongly urged Ruhnken to complete his philological studies in Holland, affirming, though he was a warm friend of Gesner, that Hemsterhuys was the prince of classical philologists. This earnest recommendation, seconded, as it was, by the advice of the two Wittenberg professors, Ruhnken determined to follow. His parents yielded their consent with the greatest reluctance, and not till Berger had interposed. He then proceeded to Holland, and on arriving at Leyden, repaired at once to the house of Hemsterhuys, and, without any letter of recommendation, told him that he came from Wittenberg to Leyden, solely to enjoy his instructions in Greek. Hemsterhuys, perceiving that he was no ordinary youth, welcomed him with much cordiality, and was greatly delighted with his learning, his elegant Latin diction, as well as with his ingenuousness and modesty; while the youthful stranger was no less pleased with the sight of

one, who had been, for some time, his beau-ideal of excellence.

Ruhnken soon won the esteem of all with whom he came in contact, by his open-heartedness, by the sweet simplicity of his manners, by an attractive personal appearance, and by his unaffected modesty. Though his form could not, perhaps, be pronounced beautiful, yet it had such dignity and youthful vigor, there was so much joyousness in his countenance, and all the movements of his body were so graceful, that, according to the Greek proverb, the elegance of his person was worth more than a letter of recommendation. He was skilled in those exercises which give agility and strength to the limbs. He had, also, been taught linear-drawing and music. Such were his accomplishments in mind and manners, that Hemsterhuys was wont to indicate him to his pupils, in no obscure terms, as a model of excellence. Parents, also, sought to employ him as a tutor for their sons, his example and his instructions being equally salutary. Opportunities of this kind he gladly embraced, in order that he might obtain the means of enjoying, for a longer period, the instructions of Hemsterhuys. He was not a favorite of scholars only. His kind heart so shone through his face, that the illiterate felt a strong interest in him. He would enter into conversation with them as pleasantly and artlessly, on hunting, and other subjects with which they were familiar, as he did on Greek and Latin with his fellow-students.

Ruhnken brought to Leyden so high a reputation for knowledge of law, history, antiquities, classical literature, and kindred subjects, that he would have adorned any chair in these departments. Still, he did not hesitate to take his seat with the other pupils of Hemsterhuys, many of whom were mere boys, and no one at all on an equality with himself. Determining to follow the advice