Sketch of the Life of Professor Heeren, 111 



tion, which he pursued without intermission, became more and 

 more interesting to him. The spirit and character of the first 

 great republic, at once commercial and conquering, unveiled 

 themselves to his sight As his views extended, antiquity shew- 

 ed itself to him under the new relation of the commerce and 

 constitution of the ancient states. Thus was formed in him the 

 idea of contemplating them in this two-fold point of view. Such 

 was the task of his Hfe, and the origin of his great work enti- 

 tled, Of the Policy and Commerce of the Nations of Antiquity. 

 The first part appeared in 1 793. He then commenced with 

 Africa. The vast horizon which extended before him, and the 

 applause which the first appearance of his book received, en- 

 couraged him to continue his task. Asia required longer and 

 more profound preparations ; in a word, the knowledge of the 

 geography, history, constitutions, and commerce of the whole 

 East. The author began with Persia. He explored that an- 

 cient empire which afterwards became that of the Parthians and 

 Sassenides ; then in succession the kingdoms and nations of the 

 southern or Central Asia. Having arrived at the Arabian period, 

 he prepared himself by an assiduous perusal of the Koran. He- 

 consulted all the then known or accessible sources of Asiatic 

 history. In consulting every author, ancient and modern, he 

 did not forget the most important travellers. Two years of se- 

 rious study familiarized him with the East ; and, in 1796, ap- 

 peared the first volume of Asia, which, in the subsequent edi- 

 tions, became the first part of the work. To form a just esti- 

 mate of it, we must refer to this period. In 1805, M. Heeren 

 published a second edition of his book, entirely recomposed. 

 During the preceding ten years, geography and ethnography 

 had made immense progress, in consequence of the expedi- 

 tion to Egypt, the discoveries of the travellers in Africa, and 

 the domination of the English in India. Asia at length emerged 

 from the obscurity in which for ages she had been enveloped. 

 Faithful to his method of comparing together the ancient and 

 modern authors, he cast new light upon these difficult re- 

 searches, and even participated in some measure in the new 

 discoveries. The taste for scientific expeditions spread in the 

 University of Gottingen, and the travellers Leetzen, Horne- 

 mann, W. Hamilton and Burkhardt, were pupils or friends of 



