110 Sketch qftJie Life of Professor Heeren, 



quetil Duperron, and Vauvilliers received him with politeness' 

 and respect. The Abbe Begot, conservator of the manuscripts 

 of the Royal Library, placed at his disposal a manuscript of 

 Stobaeus. In April he passed through Holland and Leyden, 

 where he saw Ruhnkenius and Luzac. At length, in the 

 month of June 1789, he returned to Gottingen, after an ab- 

 sence of two years. From thence he betook himself to his na- 

 tive city, to visit his father, and some weeks after returned to 

 Gottingen. On the %l\h August he received from Hanover an 

 appointment to the professorship of Philosophy, three weeks 

 before the celebration of the jubilee of the 50th year from the 

 founding of the university. On the 20th October he pronoun- 

 ced his introductory discourse, De codkibus manuscriptis Eclo- 

 garum J. Stobcei. 



Here commences the second period of the life of Heeren. 

 The professorship opened to him a new career. He already 

 possessed considerable knowledge, but it was not perfected. 

 The branches of history that were most familiar to him were 

 already taught in the University of Gottingen. He had to 

 make room for himself. During his two first years in the pro- 

 fessorship, he gave lectures on the history of the belles lettres, 

 on Roman antiquities, and on Tacitus and Sallust. He felt a 

 powerful attraction towards political history. In 1790 he com- 

 menced his course df lectures on ancient history. At the same 

 period he became editor of the BibllotJieque de Litterature An- 

 cienne, conjunctly with M. Tychsen. Several years after, he 

 collected materials for his edition of Stobaeus; and, in 1792, 

 appeared the first volume, dedicated to the Cardinal Borgia, 

 and the second in 1794. The two last volumes, comprehend- 

 ing the Ethica, so important for the profound knowledge which 

 they contain of the Grecian systems of philosophy, appeared in 

 1801. The pains which he had bestowed upon this edition, 

 convinced him that he was ill-adapted for the criticism of words. 

 It was his last performance of the kind. 



In the course of his studies, he derived but little satisfaction 

 from all that he had read respecting Carthage. This led him 

 to conceive the project of examining more profoundly the history 

 and character of that city. He commenced with Polybius, and ' 

 successively added the other historical sources. This investiga- 



