706 



HERDER HERETIC. 



of importance in theology ; yet, while in Strasburg, 

 lie was invited to become court preacher, superin- 

 tendent, and consistorial counsellor, at Buckeburg, 

 whither lie proceeded in 1771. He soon made him- 

 self known as a distinguished theologian, and in 

 1775, was offered a professorship at Gottingen, which 

 he, however, did not accept immediately, because 

 the king had not continued his appointment uncondi- 

 tionally, and, contrary to custom, he was expected 

 to undergo a kind of examination. But, being mar- 

 ried, Herder did not feel at liberty to decline the ap- 

 pointment. On the very day when he had resolved to 

 go to Gottingen, he received an invitation to become 

 court preacher, general superintendent, and consis- 

 torial counsellor at Weimar. This appointment was 

 through the influence of Goethe. He arrived in 

 Weimar in October, 1776. It was at the time when 

 the duke Augustus and the princess Amalia had col- 

 lected many of the most distinguished German literati 

 at their court. Weimar was greatly benefited by 

 Herder's labours, as a pulpit orator, inspector of the 

 schools of the country, the patron of merit, and 

 founder of many excellent institutions. In 1801, he 

 was made president of the high consistory, a place 

 never before given to a person not a nobleman. 

 Herder was subsequently made a noble by the elec- 

 tor of Bavaria. He says himself that he accepted 

 the rank for the sake of his children ; of course, it 

 could be of little consequence to him personally. 

 He died December 18, 1803. His widow wrote 

 Reminiscences of Herder's Life, which J. G. Muller 

 published, in two volumes (Stuttgard, 1820.) 



Herder was a model of virtue, and ready to do all 

 the good in his power, yet his mind was often over- 

 cast witli melancholy, on which occasions he would 

 exclaim, mein verfehltes Leben ! (O my profitless 

 life !) Germany is deeply indebted to him for his 

 valuable works in almost every branch of literature, 

 and few authors have had a greater influence upon 

 the public taste in that country. A good idea of 

 Herder's character may be obtained from reading- 

 Jean Paul Richter's enthusiastic remarks concerning 

 him, in the fVahrheit aus Jean Paul's Leben, pub- 

 lished after the author's death, and the article, by 

 the same, on Herder, in the Heidelberger Jahrbucher 

 of 1812. His works were published, in forty-five 

 octavo volumes, by Cotta, in Tubingen, in 1806 ; 

 and an edition, in sixty small 12mo volumes, is now 

 publishing by the same. It is divided into several 

 parts ; that comprising his writings on belles-lettres 

 and literature, that on religion and theology, and 

 that on philosophy and history. As a theologian, 

 Herder contributed to a better understanding of the 

 historical and antiquarian part of the Old Testament. 

 His Geist der Hebraischen Poesie (1782; third edi- 

 tion by Justi, Leipsic, 1825, 2 vols., with additions) 

 is highly valued. He did much for the better under- 

 standing of the classical authors, and his philosophical 

 views of human character are full of instruction. 

 He contributed much to a more active study of 

 nature, brought before the public the poetry of past 

 times of Europe and Asia, and awakened a taste for 

 national songs. His greatest work is his Ideen zur 

 Philosophic der Geschichte der Menschheit (Riga, 

 1785 et seq. ; a new edition, with an introduction, 

 by professor Luden, Leipsic, 1821), in which all the 

 light of his great mind is concentrated. " In early 

 years," says Herder, u when the fields of knowledge 

 lay before me, with all the glow of a morning sun, 

 from which the meridian sun of life takes away so 

 much of the charm, the. idea often occurred to my 

 mind, whether, like other great subjects of thought, 

 each of which has its philosophy and science, that 

 subject also, which lies nearest to our hearts, the 

 history of mankind, viewed as a whole, might not 



also have its philosophy and science. Every thing 

 reminded me of this idea metaphysics and morals, 

 natural philosophy and natural history, lastly and 

 most powerfully, religion." This is the key to all 

 Herder's life. The object of his investigations was 

 to find the point from which he might calmly survey 

 every thing, and see how all things converge. He did 

 not attempt to arrive at this point by metaphysical 

 speculations, but by observation , by the constant study 

 of nature and the mind, in all its works, in the arts, 

 law, language, religion, medicine, poetry, &c. 

 Whatever may be said against parts of his work 

 above mentioned, it is one of the noblest productions 

 of modern literature. The style of Herder is pure 

 and correct. In poetry, Herder effected more by his 

 various accomplishments, his vast knowledge and 

 fine taste, than by creative power ; yet lie has pro- 

 duced some charming songs ; and his Cid, a collec- 

 tion of Spanish romances into a kind of epic, is one 

 of the most popular poems of Germany. In 1819, 

 the grand duke of Weimar ordered a tablet of cast 

 iron to be put on his grave, with the words Licht, 

 Liebe, Leben (Light, Love, Life). 



HERE. See Juno. 



HEREDITAMENTS} all such things, immovable, 

 whether corporeal or incorporeal, as a man may 

 leave to his heirs, by way of inheritance, or which, 

 not being otherwise devised, naturally descend. 

 Corporeal hereditaments consist wholly of substantial 

 and permanent objects ; incorporeal hereditaments 

 are not the objects of sensation, are creatures of the 

 mind, and exist only in contemplation. They are 

 principally of ten sorts, viz., advowsons, tithes, 

 commons, ways, offices, dignities, franchises, pre- 

 sents, and rents. 



HEREDITARY DISEASES. See Diseases, 

 Hereditary. 



HEREDITARY OFFICES. The few traces of 

 such in antiquity are found mostly in the family 

 offices of the priesthood. In the ancient German 

 courts, it became a custom to assign, as marks of 

 distinction, to the most eminent and loyal, those per- 

 sonal and domestic services towards the prince, 

 which the Greeks and Romans imposed on slaves 

 and freedmen. Thus arose the great court and 

 crown offices : 1. of the household (major domus, 

 high-steward ; camerarius, chamberlain) ; 2. of the 

 kitchen (seneschal, dapt/er, sewer); 3. of the cellar 

 (cup-bearer, cellarius ; buticularius, pincerna, butler); 

 4. of the stable (marshal, comes stabuli,connetable); all, 

 at the same time, united with a high post in the army. 

 The highest court officers of the German empire 

 were the secular prince-electors, who, in later times, 

 appointed hereditary deputies, to discharge the 

 duties incumbent on them on solemn occasions, such 

 as the crowning of the emperor, for instance. This 

 remnant of feudalism has been justly abolished, in 

 modern times, in many countries, whilst we are sorry 

 to see that, in some countries, they have been even 

 lately established. Thus George IV., as king of 

 Hanover, within a few years, created count Minister, 

 his favourite, hereditary marshal of Hanover. The 

 only rational defence of hereditary monarchies is, 

 that they are sometimes necessary to prevent greater 

 evils ; but this reason does not apply to hereditary 

 succession ( in inferior offices, which is altogether a 

 barbarous remnant of feudal times, when privileges 

 were extorted, and the true objects of government 

 little understood. 



HERETIC ; one who embraces a heresy; from 

 the Greek tt'i^irn, which originally only meant a sect, 

 from a'^ioftai (I choose), without implying praise or 

 dispraise. Thus we hear of the Peripatetic heresy, 

 or sect of philosophers ; and the heathens spoke of 

 the Christian heresy, meaning merely their doctrine. 



