182 WYTTEXBACII. 



latter. How salutary are the effects of such a revicic .' As T read, an 

 altogether new and unknown feeling took possession of me. In peru- 

 sing other authors, my pleasure had arisen from a perception of the 

 thoughts and words, or from a consciousness of ray own progress. 

 Now an extraordinary feeling pervaded ray mind and increased with 

 every fresh perusal. I saw the orator on fire, in anguish impetuously 

 borne forward. I was inflamed also and carried on upon the same tide. 

 I was conscious of a new elevation of soul, and was no longer the same 

 individual. I seemed myself to be Demosthenes, standing on the hema, 

 pouring forth the oration and urging the Athenians to emulate the bra- 

 very and glory of their ancestors. Neither did 1 read silently, as I had 

 begun, but with a loud voice, to which I was secretly impelled by the 

 force and fervor of the sentiments, as well as by the power of oratorical 

 rhythm. In this manner, 1 read in the course of three months, most of 

 Demosthenes' orations. My ability to understand an author being thus 

 increased, I took more delight in Homer, and studied other authors with 

 greater profit." 



He next took up Plato, not only reading the dialogues but writing 

 annotations upon tliem. an exercise which has proved most profitable to 

 every student who has tried it. In an address to his pupils, he thus re- 

 fers to this period : '■•Then I began to know that the study of Plato is 

 not only useful in itself, through the influence which it exerts on the 

 manners, tlie intellect, the moral character, the style of writing; also by 

 its promoting an elegant delivery, and a thorough acquaintance with 

 Greek literature and philosophy ; but that it is far more useful, from the 

 fact that it enables all scholars who have lived subsequently to under- 

 stand the Greek and Roman authors correctly, the efl'ects of the study 

 of Plato being diffused through them all, and even through the whole 

 circle of ancient knowledge." 



He then directed his attention to Julian, Plutarch, and other philoso- 

 phers and rhetoricians of that age. But we must hasten on with our 

 narrative. In 1768 he went to Gottingen, where he continued his stu- 

 dies under the celebrated Heyne, by whose aid he read with diligence 

 and care the most prominent Latin authors. In 1770 he visited Leyden, 

 and having secured the friendship of Ruhnken, by his influence he was 

 invited to fill a Professor's chair at Amsterdam. Here he remained twen- 

 ty-eight years. In 1798 he was appointed Ruhnken's successor at Ley- 

 den, where death terminated his labors in 1819. To the last, although 

 afflicted with blindness, his mental powers remained unimpaired. As an 

 instructor his qualifications were of a high order. He had the rare qual- 

 ity of interesting liis pupils in a very Jiigh degree, of directing his en- 



