HEEREN, ARNOLD HERMANN LUDWIG, was born at Arber geu, a village near Bremen, on the 25th of October 1760. His father, who was pastor at Arbergen, and a man of extensive knowledge, gave him his first instruction in religion, Latin, and mathematics. His further education, until his sixteenth year, was intrusted to private tutors; but in 1776 his father was appointed preacher at the cathe dral of Bremen, and young Heeren entered the domschule or gym nasium of Bremeo to prepare himself for the university. He states that the exercises in Latin disputations at school, and the intercourse with the wealthy merchants of Bremen, exercised a great influence upon the development of his mind and upon the manner in which he afterwarda viewed and described the phenomena of history and of human life. In the autumn of 1779 he went to the university of GOttingen with the intention of devoting himself to the study of theology, but the influence of Heyne, one of whose lectures he attended, wrought a complete change, and Heeren was soon engaged exclusively in philological pursuits. However he soon felt that philology, in the narrower sense of the term, was not his vocation, for the things about which he read in the ancients interested him more than the languages themselves. Heyne did all he could to win Heeren for philology, and for a short time he succeeded. lo 1784 Heeren took his degree of doctor in philosopby,"and on that occasion wrote a dissertation ' De Cheri Grmeorum tragici natura et iudole, ratione argumeuti habits.' In the year following he published a new edition of the rhetorician Meusoder, and formed the plan of a new edition of the 'Eclogae' of Stobaeua. The preparations that he had to make for this work convinced him that verbal criticism was not congenial to his mind. He had commenced giving lectures at Got Mogen as privatdocent, but the opposition between his actual pursuits and what he felt to be his vocation became more and more painfully felt. He resolved to visit Italy, and principally Rome. One of the main objects of this journey was to collate the various manuscripts of Stohaeua, but this did not prevent his paying attention to a variety of other subjects, which had more interest for him. His stay in many of the principal towns of Germany, France, and Italy was of great advantage to him ; the future historian became acquainted with the world at large; he saw with his own eyes some of the countries to whose history a great part of his future life was to he devoted, and formed friendahips with men of the highest eminence, such as Zags, Filsusgieri, and Cardinal Borgia, in the intercourse with whom his mind became expanded and enriched with new ideas.
On his return to Gottiugen in 1787, he was appointed professor extraordinary in the philosophical faculty, and henceforth his life flowed undisturbed by any changes of fortuuo; being possessed of wealth, he was enabled to continue his philological and historical studies without anxious cares ; he enjoyed the favour and friendship of the highest in rank and literature, and in 1796 he married a daughter of Heyne, who remained his devoted and sympathisiog companion throughout his life. All his energies were divided between his professional studies and duties, and the production of those works which have secured him a place among the best historians. His lectures had from the first an historical tendency, and if it had not been for the edition of Stobeeus, which he had undertaken, he would have confined himself exclusively to lecture on history. At length in 1799 he was appointed ordinary professor of history, as the successor of Gatterer. His reputation as a scholar and historian was already established, for the first two volumes of his Stobaeua had appeared in 1792 and 1794 (the third and last was published in 1801); in 1793 and 1796 he had published the first two volumes of his ' Ides's) Ober die Politik, den Verkebr und den Handel der vornehmeten Volker der elton Welt' (the third and fourth volumes appeared in 1812 and 1815), which is his principal work, and the one on the completion of which he looked as the main object of his life; a fifth edition in 5 vols. appeared in 1824, &c. In 1799 he published the first edition
of his manual of ancient history (' Handbuch der Gesehichte der Steaten des Alterthums'). A fifth appeared in 1826. It must he remembered that iu addition to these works, which followed one another in rapid succession, and of which each has its own merits, he had for some years been editing, conjointly with his friend Tychsen, a journal on ancient literature and art (' Bibliothek der alten Literatnr und Kunst), and had written a great variety of essays for other periodicals, and for the 'Transactions of the Royal Society of Gottingen. In addition to all this, he began about the year 1800 to study the history of the middle ages and of modern times, and also lectured upon these subjects with as much applause as he had before obtained by his lectures on ancient history. It is further worth mentioning that Ifeeren's activity as an author was always in the closest connec tion with that of a lecturer, and before he wrote a work on any subject he had at least once or twice lectured on it in the university. Hence he always appears a master of his subject, and was coabled to give to his productions that finish and perfection which make them popular in the beet sense of the term, and which is certainly a rare characteristic of German writers. An important work relating to tho history of modern times, and which is thought by some to he the • best of his productions, bears the title Handbuch der Gesehichte des Europmischen Staatensystems nod seiuer Kolonien,' Gottingen, 1809 ; a fourth edition appeared in 1822. A work on the influence of the Crusades (' Sur Influence des Croisade3,' Paris, 1808) was crowned by the Academy of Inscriptions. A collection of his minor historical works, in 3 vols. (` Kleine historische Sehriften '), appeared from 1803 to 1808, and another embracing all his historical works, in 15 vols., from 1821 to 1826. Most of his works have been translated into English and Dutch; and some of them are still regarded as standard works of their kind. On the death of Eichhorn, in 1827, he under took the editorship of the Gottingische Gelehrten Anzeigen,' which, together with his professional duties, took up so much of his time that he was unable to complete hie great work on the politics and commerce of the states of antiquity, although considerable prepara tions had already been made for it.
Heeren's merits were universally acknowledged. The academies of St. Petersburg, Berlin, Munich, Stockholm, Dublin, and Copenhagen showed him their respect by electing him a member. He was also a member of the Asiatic societies of London and Calcutta. In 1827 or 1828 Heeren, in conjunction with Ukert, formed the plan of editing a series of works, containing the histories of the states of Europe. The best historians of Germany were induced to write histories for the series, which however was left incomplete at Heeren's death. Among the works included in this series are some of the highest eminence, such as Lappenberg'e History of England,' and Geijer's 'History of Sweden.' Heereu died at Gottingen, on the 6th of March 1842.
The great merits of Heeren's works, especially of those relating to antiquity, are these : they are usually the result of a diligent study of the ancient writers themselves, and represent the nations in their political and commercial relations in a very lively manner. His works are written in a clear style, so as to be intelligible to any person of moderate education, and the influence which they have exercised is, for this very reason, very considerable. His works are not indeed without their defects, and many of them no longer satisfy the demands of our age; but it must not be forgotten that Heeren was the first historian, at least in Germany, who breathed life into the history of antiquity, sew in it something more than a mere succession of battles and defeats, and made his readers familiar with the more peaceful pursuits of the ancients and their principles of government. In his private life he is said to have been a man of the most gentle and benevolent disposition.