HEYNE (CHRISTIAN GOTTLOB), an illustrious classical scholar and archaeologist, was born on the 25th September 1729, in a suburb of the city of Chemnitz, in Saxony, where his father, having been compelled by some religious persecutions to abandon his native country of Silesia, had settled ; supporting his family, in great poverty, by exercis ing the trade of a weaver. It was only by the libe rality of his godfathers that Heyne was enabled to obtain his primary instruction in the elementary school of Chemnitz, and afterwards to prosecute his classical studies in the Gymnasium, of that city. In 1745, he entered the University of Leipsic. There be was so scantily supported by those on whose as sistance he relied, that he was frequently in want even of the common necessaries of life, and was sometimes indebted for food to the generosity of a maid servant in the house where he lodged. In this situation, without even the hope of future distinction, he continued to struggle against every difficulty and disappointment in the acquisition of knowledge. For six months he is said to have allowed only two nights in the week to sleep, and was at the same time forced to endure the reproaches which his god father thought himself entitled to inflict on him for negligence in the prosecution of his studies. His distress had almost amounted to despair, when he procured the situation of preceptor in the family of a French merchant resident in Leipsic. He was thus enabled to continue his studies, though with much interruption ; the emoluments of his ap pointment being sufficient to support him in what was at least comparative comfort. Under Ernesti, he was initiated into the criticism of the classi cal authors; from the prelections of the celebrated Bach, he acquired a competent knowledge of the Roman jurisprudence, and through the instructions of' Christius, who lectured ou Archaeology, and with whom he was intimately acquainted, his attention was strongly directed to the works of ancient art. Having finished his studies at the university, he was exposed for many years to all the accumulated dis tresses of poverty and neglect. The first situation he was able to procure was that of copyist in the library of Count de Brill'', with a salary of only an hundred dollars, which he obtained in the year 1753. From the necessity of adding something to this scanty pittance, he was forced to employ him self in the drudgery of translation ; and besides some French novels, be translated into German the Greek romance of Chariton. He published his first edition of Tibullus in 1755, and in 1756 his Epictetus. In 1756, his emoluments of copyist were doubled, and the education of Prince Maurice de Bruhl was en trusted to him, but without any additional salary.
The invasion of Saxony by the Prussians deprived him of his appointment, and even destroyed the li brary on which it depended. The period of the seven years war was that in which he was chiefly ex posed to the storms of fortune; and his marriage with Theresa Weisse, a young woman of distinguish ed genius, but equally poor with himself, increased his misery. Having been obliged to retire into Lu satia, he lived for some years as steward in the fami ly of the Baron de Leoben. He was enabled, how ever, to return to Dresden in 1762, where he was entrusted, by Lippert, with the care of writing the Latin text of the third volume of his Dadyliotheca.
At length, in the commencement of the year 1768, his merit met with its reward, and a new and illus trious career was opened to him. On the death of John Matthew Gesner, in 1761, it became neces sary for the curators of the University of Gottingen to look around for a successor capable of sustaining the reputation which the institution had acquired by the learning and talents of that distinguished scholar. The appointment was offered to Ernesti, who, while he declined leaving the University of Leipsic, pro posed Ruhnkenius of Leyden or Saxius of Utrecht for the situation. Ruhnken likewise refused the appointment, but having been strongly impressed by the taste and learning displayed by the editor of Tibullus and Epictetus, he advised Munckhausen, the Hanoverian minister and principal curator of the Uni versity of Gottingen, to bestow the professorship on Heyne, whose merit, though known to few, be ven tured to promise would do honour to the choice. The minister had the good sense to acquiesce in the re commendation of this great scholar, and Heyne, after some delay, became Professor of Eloquence in Gottingen. Though his appointments were, at first, few, and his emoluments inconsiderable, these were gradually augmented in proportion as his usefulness was approved, and as his growing cele brity rendered it an object with the other govern ments of Germany to secure for their literary insti tutions the services of so distinguished a scholar. He refused the most advantageous and honourable overtures from Cassel, Berlin, and Dresden. In his different capacities of Professor, Principal Librarian, Member of the Royal Society, and chief Editor of the Literary Gazette, and still more by his publica tions, he mainly contributed to raise the University of Gottingen to the distinguished rank it holds among the Academies of Europe. After a long and useful career, graced with all the distinctions which are in Germany conferred on literary eminence, he died, full of years and honour, on the 14th July 1814..