154 
nours of that kind. Among the memoirs 
which obtained him fuch honourable dif 
tinction, that on the Origin of Language 
deferves particularly to be mentioned. It 
is a Memoir.abounding in learned obferva- 
tions and novel opinions, and throws a 
valuable light on certain laws of the in- 
telleétual faculties of man, not fufficiently 
developed. 
The principal traits which charaéterife 
KBerder’s philofophy are, a ftriking ex- 
emption from the fpirit of fyfem, a me- 
thod which invariably grounds the philo- 
fophic {ciences on the ftudy of nature and 
the knowledge of hiltory ; a marked defire 
to make its refults always accord with 
the ideas deareft to morality, and moft 
honourable to human nature. 
Witnefling the exclufive and exaggerat- 
ed enthufiafm excited in a great number 
of ardent minds by Kant’s doétrine, to- 
gether with the extravagant pretenfions 
aflerted by the difciples of the Profeffor 
of Konigtberg, Herder confidered it his 
duty to warn the youth of Germany 
againft this kind of famaticifm, and in his 
Metacrittk, he refuted the new fyftcm in 
a manner equally temperate and judi- 
cious. 
Herder poffeffed a mind too elevated, 
ard opinions too independent, to become 
the inftrument of a party; but he had too 
much moderation and good fen/e to at- 
tack with afperity the writers themfelves, 
who pretended to exercife defpotic fway 
in literature, as in philofophy. It muft, 
however, be acknowledged, that the re- 
fiftance oppofed by him to the prevailing 
fe&, rendered part of his countrymen un- 
willing to do juftice to his merit. 
His Ideas of a Philofophic Hiftory of 
Mankind, would be fufficient to infure 
Herder’s claim to glory. The defign of 
that work is: grand, its execution rich 
and elegant, though, perhaps, not quite 
perfect in its details. He confiders the 
human fpecies relatively to the abode 
which has been affigned it, the deftination 
appointed for it, to the phyfical or moral 
caufes which retard or accelerate its ce- 
velopment; and, lafily, to the general 
fyftem of the univerfe. All the refults 
to which his comparifons lead him, tend 
to ftrengthen the caufe of virtue, and to 
confirm the dignity of human nature. 
The fame object diftated his Letters 
2 
> 
Memoir of Gottfried Herder. 
[Sept. 1, 
zur Bedforderung der Humauitat. They 
_were defigned to cultivate and exercife in 
the mind of the reader, by a happy choice 
of pictures, a tafte for the true and the 
beautiful; to unise clofely the enthufiafm 
in favour of moral virtue, or what is 
good, with imprefiions produced by works 
of tafte and the imagination. He conceiv- 
ed, that the fimultaneous cultivation of 
thefe different faculties, and their conftant 
harmony, were effentially corne&ted with 
the nature and deftination of man; and 
this idea, which inceffantly occupied his 
mind, is expreffed, in his way, in the title 
to thefe letters. 
The venerable monuments of Hebrew 
poefy found in Herder an able interpreter 
and a learned commentator. In a critical 
differtation on Greek epigram, he charac- 
terifed that {pecies of compofition with 
equal fagacity and tafte. He fuccefsfully 
imitated feveral of thofe preduétions in 
the German language, which he like- 
wife enriched with a collection of popular 
ballads and fongs, tranflated from the an- 
cient Scotch, Englifh, Spanifh, &c. 
His Adraftea, the laft of his works, in 
the publication of which he was fo un- 
fortunately interrupted, contained a ge- 
neral furvey of the literature and philo- 
fophy of the laft century. What emi- 
nently diftinguifhes all the productions of 
the pen of this writer, is an invariably 
noble charaéter of thought and exprefiion; 
a lively and brilliant imagination ; eafe, 
copioufnels, variety, and colouring. He 
has, perhaps with juftice, been reproach- 
ed with diffufenefs; with too-great a pro- 
fufion of figures, and too little feverity in 
the felection of forms and turns. 
But nothing fheds fo much honour 
and luftre over Herders’s literary career, 
as the moral defgn with which he was 
conftantly a€tuated, that love of virtue 
apparent in his moft trifling pieces. If 
praife be due to thofe who have cultivated 
literature with fuccefs; how much more 
do they deferve it, who have recalled let- 
ters to their true and fublime deftination ! 
The whole life of this friend of mankind 
was animated with the fame fpirit. His 
heart was ever open to the unfortuna'es. 
his morals were pure; his manners affable. 
Friendfhip had embellifhed his life, and 
tears of gratitude have flowed upon his 
tomb. 
Extrads 
