JOHN GODFREY VON HERDER.

THIS distinguished author was born on the 26th of August, 1744, at Mohrangen, a small town in Eastern Prussia, where his father taught a school for girls. His early education was not favorable to the development of his faculties. His father confined his reading to a very few books, but his love of learning was so strong as to lead him to prosecute his studies in secret. The clergyman of the place employed the boy as a copyist, and soon discovered his talents, and allowed him to participate in the lessons in Latin and Greek, which he gave his own children. At this time young Herder suffered from a serious disease of the eyes, which was the occasion of his becoming better known to a Russian surgeon, who lived in the clergyman's house, and who was struck with the engaging manners, and pleasing appearance of the youth. He offered to take Herder with him to Konigsberg and to Petersburg, and to teach him surgery gratuitously. Herder, who had no hopes of being able to follow his inclinations, left his native city in 1762; but, in Konigsburg, he fainted at the first dissection at which he was present. He now resolved to study theology. Some gentlemen to whom he became known, and who immediately interested themselves in his favor, procured him an appointment in Frederic's College, where he was at first tutor to some scholars, and, at a later period, instructor in the first philosophical, and in the second Latin class, which left him time to study. During this period he became known to the celebrated Kant, who permitted him to hear all his lectures gratuitously. He formed a more intimate acquaintance with Hamann. His unrelaxing diligence penetrated the most various branches of science, theology, philosophy, philology, natural and civil history, and politics. In 1764, he was appointed an assistant teacher at the cathedral school of Riga, with which office that of preacher was connected. His pupils in school, as well as his hearers at church, were enthusiastically attached to him, so much that it was thought necessary to give him a more spacious church. His sermons were distinguished by simplicity, united with a sincere devotion to evangelical truth and original investigation. While on a visit to Strasburg, in 1767, he was invited to become court preacher, superintendent and consistorial counsellor, at Buckeburg, whither he proceeded in 1771. He soon made himself known as a distinguished theologian, and, in 1775, was offered a professorship in Gottingen, which he, however, did not accept immediately, because the king had not confirmed his appointment unconditionally; and, contrary to custom, he was

expected to undergo a kind of examination. But, being married, Herder did not feel at liberty to decline the appointment. On the very day when he had resolved to go to Gottingen, he received an invitation to become court preacher, general superintendent and consistorial counsellor at Weimar. This appointment was through the influence of Goethe. He arrived at Weimar in October, 1776. It was at the time when the duke Augustus and the princess Amelia had collected many of the most distinguished German literati at their court. Weimar was greatly benefited by Herder's labors 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 of the nobility. Herder was subsequently made a nobleman by the elector of Bavaria. He says himself that he accepted the rank for the sake of his children. Herder died on the 18th of December, 1803. 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 of that country. His works were published in forty-five octavo volumes, in 1806. Another edition is now publishing in sixty small volumes. As a theologian, Herder contributed to a better understanding of the historical and antiquarian parts of the Old Testament. "In early years,' says Herder, "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 recurred 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 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. "It is," says Frederic Schlegel, "the very perception and feeling of the poetical, in the character of natural legends, which forms the most distinguished feature in the genius of Herder. He has energy of fancy by which he is enabled to transport himself into the spirit and poetry of every age and people. The poetry of the Hebrews was that which the most delighted him. He may be called the mythologist of German literature, on account of this gift, this universal

feeling of the spirit of antiquity. His power of entering into all the shapes and maifestations of fancy, implies in himself a very high degree of imagination His mind seems to have been cast in so universal a mould, that he might have attained to equal eminence, either as a poet or philosopher."

Notwithstanding his genius, Herder had great difficulties to surmount; want of early education and encouragement, poverty, and a serious and lasting disease of the eyes. He was a most laborious and indefatigable student. He did not attempt to arrive at truth by metaphysical speculation, 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.

In 1819, the grand duke of Weimar ordered a tablet of cast iron to be placed on his grave, with the inscription, Licht, Liebe, Leben-(Light, Love, Life.)

THE SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS.

These were, First: The brass Colossus of Rhodes, 120 feet high, built by Cares, A. D. 288, occuping twelve years in making. It stood across the harbor of Rhodes 66 years, and was then thrown down by an earthquake. It was bought by a Jew, from the Saracens, who loaded 900 camels with the brass. Second. The Pyramids of Egypt. The largest one engaged 350,000 workmen thirty years in building, and has now stood at least 3,000 years. Third. The Aqueducts of Rome, invented by Appius Claudius, the censor. Fourth. The Labyrinth of Psammethicus, on the banks of the Nile, containing within one continued wall 1,000 houses, and 12 royal palaces, all covered with marble, and having only one entrance. The building was said to contain 3,000 chambers, and a hall built of marble, adorned with statues of the gods. Fifth. The Pharos of Alexandria, a tower built by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, in the year 282, B. C. It was erected as a light-house, and contained magnificent galleries of marble-a large lantern at the top, the light of which was seen near a hundred miles off, mirrors of enormous sizes were fixed round the galleries, reflecting everything on the sea. A common tower is now erected in its place. Sixth. The Walls of Babylon, built by order of Semeramis, or Nebuchadnezzar, and finished in one year, by 200,000 men. They were of immense thickness. Seventh. The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, completed in the reign of Servius, sixth king of Rome. It was 460 feet long, 200 broad, and supported by 126 marble pillars, 70 feet high. The beams and door were of cedar, the rest of the timber cyprus. It was destroyed by fire B. C. 365.

THE VALUE OF A GOOD NAME.

First. A good name is something valuable, in itself considered. Without it, man sinks to the level of the brute creation, whilst with it, he is elevated to the society of God and holy angels. He feels that he was originally designed for some high position in the universe, and though he be now fallen, through sin, he still possesses upward longings and aspirations. Any attempt that is made, therefore, to degrade or dishonor him, is resented, and usually with more spirit than when he receives any other kind of assault. No person can be found, who does not care more or less for the good opinions of others, unless he be found among those who have already sunk to the lowest degree of shame.

The desire of honor, so far from being sinful or wrong, as some rigid moralists would have us to believe, is one of the noblest feelings of our nature, and the natural basis of that which is great and good in man. It is only a false honor which is reprehended in scripture-the honor which comes from men, who are morally disqualified either to appreciate true honor, or to award the credit of it to such as have it. There is an honor which comes from above, which it is our duty as well as our right to seek, and this our Saviour commends. The saints. are described as those who by patience in well doing seek for glory and honor, and immortality.

Men do not only need the approbation of their own consciences; they feel that they must have the approval of God and their fellow man, who are competent to judge of their characters. It is no matter how they are regarded by such as are corrupt in their moral taste, and whose judgment of their conduct or actions must be generally wrong. It is otherwise, however, in reference to the opinion of the wise and good. It is necessary that they should enjoy this, in order that they may be enabled to sustain themselves in any course of action. Next to the word of God and our own consciences, the approval of Christian men around us is the best guaranty, which we could desire, that our actions are pure and upright; it indeed serves to remove any doubts or fears which we may entertain, that we have not erred in understanding the law of duty as contained in the Bible, or as it is written on the tables of the heart. The person, therefore, who has no regard for the estimation in which he is held by the Church, shows that he is deficient in moral sensibility, and that he is not alive to the pleasure that is derived from the discharge of duty. The language of him who is morally cultivated ever is: sooner take away from me property

or any earthly good, than to deprive me of the love and esteem. of the pious and the good; sooner cast me upon some frozen coast, or some burning desert, than to tear me from the affections of the children of God. No person was more keenly alive to the estimation of his brethren than the apostle Paul. He sought to enjoy this not merely for the sake of the influence for good, which it gave him, but for his own comfort and edification; hence he resisted false teachers with holy indignation, when they attempted to separate him from their love.

Second. A good name is valuable, because it serves to give us influence in society, and thus enables us to perform the work for which our talents qualified us.

If we look upon men generally, we meet with an infinite variety of talents and capabilities. No two persons can be found anywhere that are precisely alike in mind or body. Whence this difference, and why were not men everywhere alike? Evidently the wants of society require this difference. There are different stations in the world that call for diversity of talents or dispositions, fully commensurate with the difference observable in men. It is seen, however, very frequently, that men are not in the places for which they seem to have been designed. Their talents run to waste, and they continue to stand in the market all the day idle. Why is this? They cannot reach. their positions if they desired to do so. They have lost the odor of a good name, and therefore the confidence of their fellow men, who have either cast them out, or are indifferent about them. They who are now lying in our prisons, our penitentiaries, or, it may be, in our streets intoxicated, are altogether out of their places. Their talents were such as might have rendered them useful somewhere, and, as it regards some of them, in the highest stations of society. They have never found the level for which they were designed, because, what can alone give them value in the eyes of others, has been lost, and measurably, for ever.

A good name is necessary to prepare an individual to discharge the various duties of life considered under a secular view. Though he may to a certain extent attend to his duties as a citizen, or as a member of the community when his good name is partially gone, yet never so well as when his name breathes a sweet fragrance around, for then, "whatsoever he doth shall prosper. But he has other duties to discharge, as an immortal being, as one who is related to another world. He is designed to labor not only with the sweat of his face for a sustenance, but for the spiritual interests of his fellow men gener