Page:Hans Christian Ørsted - The Soul in Nature - Horner - 1852.djvu/10



the north of Europe, and especially in Denmark, there appeared at the end of the last century a number of distinguished men, among whom we may mention the names of Oehlenschläger, Thorwaldsen, the Swede Berzelius, the Norwegian Steffens, Rask, the greatest philologist of modern times, who died so prematurely, the philosopher Sibbern, and the two brothers Oersted. The younger brother still lives, and is the most eminent and acute jurist of the north; by his ardent and intellectual study of Kant and Fichte when still a youth, he gained for himself in the meridian of life a distinguished reputation in Germany. The eldest was the physicist, whom we will now consider from a somewhat nearer point of view.

Hans Christian Oersted, the subject of our present memoir, was born in the year 1777, in the little town of Rudkjoking, on the Island of Langeland. His brother was also born there in the following year. Their father was an apothecary, and in narrow circumstances; he had, therefore, but little to spare for the education of his children, even if the small town in which they lived had not been almost entirely deficient in means of instruction. The young Oersteds, however, learned to speak and to understand German from a native of Germany, who lived in their neighbourhood. The eldest taught himself arithmetic from an old school-book, and immediately imparted his newly-acquired knowledge to his brother. Thus the two boys, eager to gain information, passed several years under their parents' roof, educating themselves