plished amid the hardships and turmoil of a sailor's life.

No man

in the country knew more of maritime subjects than Mr. Maury. He determined to use this knowledge for the benefit of the public; to work out his experience and observations with the pen and the press.

His first attempt was to effect a reform in the navy of the United States, by pointing out the evils of which he had been an attentive observer. A series of articles published in the Southern Literary Messenger drew public attention to the defects of the service, and the facts which Mr. Maury adduced as occurring under his own observation led to an animated warfare on paper. We have not space to recapitulate the arguments which were employed in the course of this controversy; it is sufficient to know that the attacks of Mr. Maury upon naval abuses have not been unattended by useful results. The title he gave them was the unique one of "Scraps from the Lucky Bag.”

The peculiar channel into which Mr. Maury's thoughts have been almost exclusively directed of late years was suggested to him as long since as the year 1831. While going out in the capacity of sailing-master on his cruise of that year, he was struck with the fact that all information concerning the routes from the United States to Cape Horn was derived chiefly from tradition, sailors having their individual theories, and captains conglomerating the scraps of nautical wisdom which years of experience at sea had developed. Mr. Maury saw in this a field for the display of his peculiar characteristics. His observations upon the tides and currents of the ocean had already suggested to his mind the expediency of preparing a series of instructions for navigators ; and the manifest ignorance on these subjects which prevailed at the time, even among seamen the most celebrated for their skill, led him to put his thoughts in shape for the benefit of the service. The "Wind and Current Charts" were the result of this resolution. Beginning at once, he presently brought his scheme into useful activity. He commenced by collecting from all practicable sources the log-books of vessels which had accomplished the passage around Cape Horn. The preparation of a series of charts was the object of a labored and minute comparison of results. This work is yet in progress (1858), and, when completed, will no doubt contribute largely to the high fame of the author.

In the year 1842 Mr. Maury was placed in charge of the hydro

graphical department of the American Navy, and was furnished. with a great amount of valuable data taken from the old log-books of the government vessels. No one can apply such material to better purpose. In 1844 he became the superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington, and holds that office at the present time. He has not been slow to improve his opportunities. From time to time new charts have been issued, and, under instructions from this department, officers of the naval and merchant service regularly transmit to the Observatory the log of each of their outward and inward voyages. The publication of the "Wind and Current Charts" is now sanctioned by the American government, and new editions of Mr. Maury's "Instructions to Navigators" are issued at short intervals, embodying the latest results of the investigations which he is always actively prosecuting.

The practical utility of Mr. Maury's system having been fully established in Europe, a maritime conference was, at Mr. Maury's suggestion, held at Brussels in 1853, for the purpose of devising a uniform series of meteorological observations at sea. At this conference formulæ were prepared, which are now generally used by vessels under all flags.

A kindred subject to which Mr. Maury's attention has been directed is the establishment of a series of deep-sea soundings. Growing out of this subject, he has given to the world one of its most remarkable books, "The Physical Geography of the Sea." Mr. Maury claims to have demonstrated the much-talked-of subAtlantic Plateau, which is said to be available for the use of a trans-Atlantic telegraph. This position has not been allowed to pass without incurring severe criticism. Mr. Maury contends for the existence of an elevation or ridge at the bottom of the Atlantic, extending from the shore of Newfoundland to the coast of Ireland, and maintains, of course, the practicability of the same for the purposes mentioned.

Mr. Maury has led and still leads an active life. His leisure moments have been devoted to the popular exposition of science in the lecture-room. As a lecturer, he possesses every requisite to enchain an audience, and a rare faculty of imparting information in a ready and communicative way. He is looked upon with respect and admiration by a larger public than most scientific men can call their own, especially on a speciality such as that which Mr. Maury has made his peculiar study. Foreign

governments have acknowledged the value and importance of his contributions to nautical science, but, in conformity with the regulations of the navy, which forbid the officers of the service to accept complimentary awards from other powers, Mr. Maury has declined all offers of the kind. The last tender was a knighthood offered by the King of Denmark, with expressions of the most flattering regard. This honor, like its predecessors, was declined, and Mr. Maury yet continues a simple lieutenant in the American Navy, debarred by his physical incapacity from active service, but occupying, with undiminished honor and usefulness, his post as the superintendent of the National Observatory.

CHRISTIAN GOTTLOB HEYNE.

MEN of great learning are common to all ages, the thirst for knowledge being insatiable. The few who rise to pre-eminence. have this fact to contend with, and, ere they can rise to distinction, have to pass a critical ordeal which can not be over-estimated. An author by an inward gift reaches the goal at once, like Burns. All the learning he needs, if he have genius, is that which teaches him to express his thoughts in the most fluent and natural way. A scholar, however, needs the patient talent to become learned, and when he has achieved this, he must possess force to carry him past the great learning of his greatest contemporaries, or he gains but a share of their general reputation. One who did this was Christian Gottlob Heyne, the greatest classical scholar of his age. Mr. Heyne was the son of a poor linen-weaver of Silesia, a district long and chronically affected with poverty. He was born at Chemnitz, in Saxony, on the 25th of September, 1729, in the midst of the saddest indigence. A large family were dependent on the exertions of the father, and, in spite of his exertions, often needed food. Want was the earliest companion of his childhood. "I well remember,” he says, in the Memoirs of his own Life, "the painful impression made on my mind by witnessing the distress of my mother when without food for her children. How often have I seen her on a Saturday evening weeping and wringing her hands, as she returned home from an unsuccessful effort to sell the goods which the daily and nightly toil of my father had manufactured."

Notwithstanding this lowly condition, young Christian was sent to school, and with unusual rapidity acquired the little learning within his reach. Before his tenth year he had made himself master of all that could be taught, and was able to pay a portion of his school-fees in teaching younger members of the seminary. He displayed his passion for the classics at this time by a craving desire to learn Latin, and made an arrangement with the schoolmaster's son, who had studied at Leipsic, to do so, at the rate of fourpence a week. This enormous remuneration was the subject

of much agitation to him. At first it seemed an impossible sum to raise, and he almost gave up in despair. One day he was sent to procure a loaf of bread from his godfather, who was a baker. As he trudged along, he thought sadly of the great project, and he wept at the disappointment which seemed inevitable. The baker was a good-tempered man, and he was quite affected by the tears of the boy. He inquired the cause of his distress, and when poor little Heyne sobbed out that it was because he could not afford fourpence a week to take lessons in Latin, his godfather patted him on the head, and made him glad and happy by promising to defray the ruinous fee. Heyne tells us that he was perfectly intoxicated with joy; and as he ran, all ragged and barefoot, through the streets, tossing the loaf in the air, it slipped from his hands and rolled into the gutter. This accident was attended with a sharp reprimand at home, and brought the young enthusiast to his senses. He immediately commenced taking lessons, however, and in less than two years had completely exhausted the classic resources of his instructor.

་

It seemed probable at this time that Heyne must abandon his studies for the more irksome duties of the world. His father had already made arrangements for placing him at a trade, when, fortunately, another godfather of the boy, a clergyman, agreed to bear the expense of continuing his education at the principal seminary of his native town of Chemnitz. His new patron, although a plethoric churchman, was decidedly stingy, and doled out his bounty with such an unwilling hand, that Heyne was frequently put to great straits to obtain the necessary books for study. After a little while, however, he obtained the situation of private tutor in the family of a citizen, and the stipend he received for this addition to his labors enabled him to become less dependent on his godfather.

Heyne was determined to continue his studies at the University, and for this purpose resolved to go to Leipsic. He arrived in that city of learning and literature, having his whole fortune, consisting of two florins, in his waistcoat pocket, and nothing else to depend upon except the small assistance he might receive from his godfather, who had reluctantly promised to continue his bounty. He had to wait so long, however, for his expected supplies from this source, which were accompanied with much grudging and reproach when they did make their appearance, that, desti