HEINSIUS, Daniel, a Dutch philologist, was descended of a distinguished family, and born at Ghent in 1580. In the troubles of the Low Countries, his father, a man without ambition, but of an elevated character, took a part, which proved fatal to his own repose and that of his family. Daniel was sent to Veere, in Zeeland, whence, with his parents, he passed over into England; and soon afterwards he accompanied them on their return to Holland. They established themselves first at Delft, then at the village of Ryswick, and lastly at the Hague. The father of Heinsius consoled himself under his misfortunes by devoting his attention to the education of his son; but circumstances obliged the latter to return to Zeeland, where he was placed under good masters, though at first he showed no great disposition to profit by their instructions, and preferred play to study. Having, however, evinced a predilection for verse, he composed, at the age of ten, a Latin elegy, which gave a favourable presage of
future eminence. As his father intended him for the bar, he was, at the age of fourteen, sent to Franeker to study law; but this intention was defeated by the passion which he had conceived for Greek. Having remained about six months at Franeker, he passed thence to Leyden, whose rising university already shone with great lustre. Here he attracted the notice of Scaliger, whilst Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde, and the elder Douza, honoured him with particular attention. Between Heinsius and Scaliger there was established an intimacy, founded on affection on the one hand and veneration on the other. A noble emulation now fired the soul of Heinsius, who, though ambitious to rival, despaired of ever approaching so great a model, and spent many sleepless nights in the most anxious and unremitting labour. Douza, however, judiciously attempted to moderate the ardour of his young friend without repressing his ambition, and procured him agreeable relaxation by occasionally carrying him to his country residence at Nordwick, two leagues distant from Leyden. Heinsius was only eighteen when he was attached to the university of Leyden, first to explain the Latin classics, and not long afterwards the Greek; and at the age of twenty-five he was appointed to the chair of history and politics. Scaliger, who died in 1609, had wished to leave him the whole of his library; but Heinsius only accepted part of it. On the death of Paul Merula, the office of librarian to the academy of Leyden devolved on him, and he also discharged the duties of secretary. His increasing reputation now attracted to Leyden a great number of pupils; and as other countries envied Holland the possession of a man of such distinguished merit, propositions were made to him on the part of France, Germany, and Italy. In 1616 Heinsius writes that the Italians had paid him flattering compliments, and that he was strongly solicited to repair to Rome. "Valde Italianos amant, et iam clanculum is gratulacionem, ingenti premio, videndæ urbis causa, invitamur." If we may credit Balzac, Heinsius, in his relations with Rome, acted with more adroitness than sincerity ("ménageait un peu la chèvre et le chou"). In the apology for his Herodes Infanticida against the strictures of Balzac, a work which he sent to Rome, a passage of the text in which the pope is mentioned as ipsum Ecclesiæ caput, is rectified in the errata into ipsum Ecclesiæ Romanæ caput. "The text," says Balzac, "was for Rome, the errata for Leyden; on the one hand Heinsius wished to please the pope, who would probably not read his errata, and on the other to have the means of justifying himself to the ministers, if he should be accused of being a bad Huguenot, and of keeping up an understanding with the enemy." But, in the first place, this duplicity is irreconcilable with the known character of Heinsius; secondly, it was not Heinsius himself who edited his Epistola qua Dissertationi D. Balzacii ad Herodem Infanticidam respondetur, but Boxhorn; thirdly, the erratum in question is not placed, as usual, at the end of the volume, but is interposed between the dedication and the Epistle; and, lastly, it appears from the statement of Thysius, in his funeral oration on Heinsius, that, in the propositions made to him by Pope Urban VIII. and Cardinal Barberini, in order to draw him to Rome, nothing had been stipulated in reference to religion. Various honours were, however, conferred upon Heinsius. The republic of Venice created him knight of the order of St Mark; the king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, named him his historiographer, to which he added the title of privy councillor; and the states of Holland rewarded him for his attachment to his country, and the refusal of various foreign propositions, by choosing him their historiographer, and attaching to the title a liberal salary. Heinsius alienated many friends by accepting, in 1618, the office of secretary to the famous sy-
nod of Dordrecht. At the age of thirty-five he married Ermengarde, sister of Janus Rutgersius, by whom he had a son, Nicolas, and a daughter, Elizabeth, and whom he survived many years. Being endowed with a strong constitution, Heinsius, notwithstanding his unremitting labours, was rarely indisposed; but a particular symptom accompanied the decline of his days, namely, an almost total extinction of memory. He died at Leyden on the 23d of February 1665, when he had nearly completed the eighty-fourth year of his age. Heinsius was not less remarkable for the excellence of his character than for his vast erudition. Modesty, sensibility, benevolence, and candour, formed its distinctive features; and, though he was naturally grave, he loved to joke with his friends, and to indulge in innocent pleasantries. He had some disputes, more or less serious, with Salmasius, Balzac, and a minister of the gospel called John de Croy, who had sought his acquaintance by means of adulation and sycophancy; but being naturally of a mild and peaceable disposition, he avoided controversy as much as possible, and had probably fewer enemies than almost any eminent man of his time. Notwithstanding his great knowledge, or rather because he knew so much, he adopted as his motto, Quantum est quod nescimus. The works of Heinsius are, 1. Editions of the Greek and Latin classics, or works of criticism connected with them, amounting to eighteen in number; 2. Latin poetry, particularly Iambi, Auriacus a tragedy, Herodes Infanticida also a tragedy, De Contemptu Mortis a poem in four books, fugitive pieces under the titles of Extemporanea and Juvenilia, and some Greek poems; 3. Latin harangues, which have been collected under the title of Orationes Varii Argumenti, Leyden, 1615, 1620, in 12mo; 4. Rerum ad Sylvam Ducis atque alibi in Belgio aut a Belgis anno 1629 gestarum Historia, Leyden, 1631, in folio. (A.)