Alexander von Humbolt, or, What may be accomplished in a lifetime

mBHMB^BI

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

ALEXANDEE VON HU1BOIDT.

ALEXANDER VON HTJMBOLDT;

OB,

WHAT MAT BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A LIFETIME.

BY

F. A.^SCHWAKZENBERG.

" Earnestness alone makes life eternity." — CAHLTLB.

" He was a being of deep reflection — one
That studied nature with intensest eye ;
Watching the works of air, earth, sea, and sun,—
Their motion, altitude, their form, their dye —
Cause and effect. The elements which run,
Or stagnant are, he traced to their source,
With vivid study, till his pencil makes
A perfect likeness ; or by fancy's force,
A new creation in his heart he takes,
And matches nature's progress in his course
Towards glory. In the abstractions of the mind,
Harmony, beauty, and identity,
His genius, like the summer sun, was shrined,
Till union and perfection he could see."

WORDSWORTH.

LONDON:
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.

1866.

Per aspera ad astra!"

If 3

TO

SIR RODERICK I. MURCHISON, K.C.B.

G.C.ST.A. D.C.L. LL.D. F.R.S.
DIEECTOB-GENEBAL GEOLOGICAL SUBVET J

PRESIDENT OP THE BOYAL GEOGBAPHIOAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,

ETC. ETC. ETC.

AND TO

GENERAL EDWARD SABINE, R,A. D.C.L. LL.D.

PBESIDENT OF THE BOYAL SOCIETY,

ETC. ETC. ETC.
THE FRIENDS AND FELLOW-LABOUBERS OF BABON A. VON HUMBOLDT,

2Tfje folloiuing iSiograpfjtcal .Sfatrfj is EnscrtbeK,

WITH EVEBY SENTIMENT OF PBOFOUND BESPECT AND GBATITUDE.

JVJ368343

PREFACE.

I HAVE with great diffidence ventured upon
the following biographical sketch, based
upon Professor Klenke's " Denkmal." My
sole apology is that my humble effort to popu-
larize the memory of Humboldt . has received
encouragement from many men renowned in
science — some of them personal friends of that
illustrious man. I indulge the hope, however,
that the interesting nature of the subject will
go far to atone for my inadequate treatment of
it. The reader will no doubt meet with many
defects of style inseparable from efforts to think
in one language and express those thoughts in
another; and I therefore bespeak his indul-
gence for my attempt to write in a tongue I
never learned from my mother's lips.

To treat a great theme greatly, requires
something of cognate greatness. To this I do
not pretend.

F. A. S.

ALEXANDER VON HTJMBOLDT.

OUR researches into the phenomena of the
physical and the human cosmos present
us with many curious parallels. In those two
distinct, yet inseparably united realms, there
are periods when the creative energies seemed
to slumber, and periods when they seemed to
manifest themselves in splendid and unwonted
energy. Like the aloe, which, according to
popular belief, flowered but once in a hundred
years, then putting forth a blossom of marvel-
lous beauty ; so nature atoned for her seeming
sleep by the creation of minds which became
new vital forces in the world of man. One
star did not rise alone in the twilight of heaven :
great men dawned upon the world in constel-
lations. Sometimes a decade of years saw the
advent of those who were to give character to
the century in which they lived. Sometimes a

2 SKETCH OE THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

single year was marked in this way ; and such
was the year 1769. Between the chimes of its
new year's morn and the last setting of its
December sun, were born into the world,
Cuvier, Wellington, Napoleon; Sir Thomas
Lawrence, long the first portrait-painter of
the age, and President of the Royal Academy ;
William Smith, called the father of English
geology, and Alexander von Humboldt. Vari-
ous sciences and arts were thus represented.
I would not attempt to trace characters so
varied, — destinies so unlike : for me the life
of Humboldt, in its consistency, its integrity,
its success, and its rewards, possesses a com-
plete power and symmetry which none of his
renowned compeers could show. Few men have
lived for so long a time under the eyes of the
world. There is no life, however insignificant
it may appear, which does not in some way
advantage the world. But a life like Hum-
boldt Js, enriched with the experience of two
centuries, and illuminated by a long series of
splendid achievements, opened a new avenue
into the realms of truth and of science. I
would, therefore, attempt to speak of the mind
and the heart of Humboldt, of his capacities,
his ideas, his character ; of his place, not
merely as a man of science in the world of

OF BAKON HUMBOLDT. 3

knowledge, but pre-eminently as a man in the
world of men. It is good to contemplate the
union of a well-balanced character with a com-
pleted and harmonious destiny. Like the Gre-
cian mother, who feasted her eyes on perfect
statues, that her unborn child might possess
something of their beauty, so that divine order
which Humboldt sought for with religious fer-
vour throughout the material world, seemed at
last to be reflected in the wonderful symmetry
of his life. Fortune, however, was less partial
than people were apt to suppose. And, though
Humboldt was born under a happy planet, —
and it is difficult to imagine circumstances
more favourable than those which surrounded
his childhood, — yet the same good fortune in
hundreds of other instances would only have
produced mediocrity. The germ of character
lay far below the influence of circumstances.

The history of Humboldt' s early life, though
meagre and imperfect, yet furnishes the neces-
sary clue to its grand development. His first
teacher * was the translator of that wonderful
fiction, more real than reality, " Robinson Cru-
soe." His friend and companion was George
Forster, who had accompanied the celebrated

* J. H. Campe.
B 2

4 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Captain Cook in his second voyage round the
world. All his early recollections were mingled
with stories of travel, adventure, and discovery;
and, wandering among the pine-woods of his
father's estate, his imagination enlarged them
into vast continents, the arms of the lake ex-
panding into breadths of ocean, hiding some-
where in the distance unknown islands. And
long afterwards, when much of his labour had
been accomplished, and his sacred fame was all
secure, he observed that the impression aroused
within us in early childhood always took a
graver direction in after-years. The educational
method of Rousseau had already found entrance
and acceptance in Prussia, and had given rise
to more liberal plans for the education of youth;
and to those ideas Humboldt was indebted for
a course of training which developed his body
and mind in an equal degree, and allowed full
play to the gratification of all his natural tastes.
He was not the only child for which that crazy
philosopher received a father's blessing; but in
no other instance was his system so nobly jus-
tified as in Alexander von Humboldt. Noticing
that the boy exhibited a more than ordinary
interest in trees and plants, his teacher made
him acquainted with the rudiments of botany,
and explained to him the twenty- four classes of

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 5

tlie Linnasan system. He soon perceived, how-
ever, child as he was, that one science was but a
single door to the great temple of nature ; and
he was not satisfied without possessing the keys
to all; and his researches, commencing with
the blossoming of a nettle by the wayside,
finished their course among the beams of the
remotest star.

A survey of the whole life of Humboldt,
enriched by the manifold conceptions of three
parts of the globe, manifests the ever clear and
calm mind, which, in the storms of the sea,
upon the cold glaciers, in the beautiful and
fertile valleys, the great forests, and the im-
measurable space of the heavens, calmly with an
observant eye, received the world into himself,
and reflected it again in the transfiguration of
higher comprehension, awakening in him feel-
ings of rapture for the beautiful and the sublime.
But these impressions, instead of distracting his
mind, did rather concentrate its powers ; they
conducted him to the depth of a phenomenon,
not to the mere surface only; they prompted
him to solve the part in its natural connection
with the whole, and to comprehend the all-
consolidating and mysterious forces of nature.
With these splendid results of his knowledge,
he appeared as a holy stream flowing over

6 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

the banks of strict science into the fields of the
civilized world : he broke through the barrier
which separated science from actual life ; his
object was not only to labour for the advance-
ment of science, but more for the benefit of
humanity. From this point of view we must
consider the expression of an enthusiast who
somewhere exclaimed that Humboldt was re-
lated to, and identical with, a conqueror of
worlds; a reformer, a founder of a religion.
Few ever painted with so much fidelity the
remarkable scenes he had witnessed. This
faithful representation of nature is the rare and
the peculiar merit of Alexander von Humboldt.
No one could reproduce to me, who had him-
self seen and felt it, with more power the fiery
atmosphere of the South American valleys.
His habits of observation as a naturalist aided
in giving character to his descriptions of scenery.
In his voyage on the Upper Orinoco, he referred
again and again to the saddening impression
produced by those magnificent scenes, where
a savage vegetation seemed to have usurped
the whole earth, and man was nothing in com-
parison. In those reflections the man's heart
seemed rather to speak than the philosopher's
brain. This equinoctial journey may be con-
sidered a great personal achievement of Hum-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. /

boldt's life, consuming almost his entire fortune,
and twenty years of labour. It caused a con-
siderable sensation in Europe, because such a
gigantic undertaking of a private individual was
without a parallel, — free from all personal
egotism, a voluntary sacrifice for science and
humanity. Humboldt's way, prepared through
the discovery of the western hemisphere in
the fifteenth century by Columbus, reflected
with peculiar interest on the consequences of
these discoveries ; because he became, in con-
trast to Columbus, the geographical explorer
of America ; the scientific discoverer of these
regions. Humboldt's name ought, therefore,
to be placed at the side of Albertus Magnus,
Roger Bacon, Vincent de Beauvais, Columbus,
and Gama. The two latter are the discoverers of
that space from which Humboldt dispersed the
darkness ; and, in reality, he discovered America
for science. Thus were offered to the western
nations of Europe the most valuable materials
for the foundation of a physical description of
the earth, in an already agitated period of time,
when a great number of Europeans came in di-
rect and intimate connection with the gorgeous
tropical regions of South America. All know, at
least partially, what the results of Humboldt's
labours are ; but his researches were too varied

8 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

and too vast to have enabled him to obtain pre-
eminence in any one science ; or rather, he was
so equally eminent in all, that his true greatness
seemed to be accepted rather than critically
understood in the world. Perfect symmetry
never produces the effect of vastness ; and this
was the case with Humboldt. With, perhaps,
the exception of Aristotle and Bacon, no man
ever stood forward so prominently as the repre-
sentative of the aggregate knowledge of his
age. And it was impossible to estimate the
influence he wielded in advancing the sciences,
not only directly, but indirectly, in the impulse
he had given to other minds, in aiding by his
counsel and his means those who were strug-
gling against difficulties. Never was a man
less exalted by his own individual achievements ;
never was there a teacher so eager to be taught
in turn; never a mind so humble under its
wonderful weight of knowledge. From my
own personal impression, as well as from a
study of his works, I would venture to guess
the motives of that vital inspiration which gave
shape to his life ; to go behind what he accom-
plished, and speculate on what he designed;
for common minds only work out their ideas ;
great minds look to a goal which they can
never reach. All the labours of Humboldt's

OF BARON HUMBOLDT.

life were but colossal fragments of a plan
too vast, perhaps too sublime, for any single
life to complete. It is true lie enjoyed a
much longer life, more abundant opportuni-
ties, more vigorous and tractable powers of
mind, than were given even to the most fortu-
nate of men ; but this was not enough. He
desired not merely a scientific survey of the
earth, but the discovery of those eternal laws
which governed its creation, and which still
regulate its existence.

If his life and his powers had been adequate
to the task, he would have devoted several
years to the exploration of Central Asia. After
that he would have wrested from Africa the
secrets it contained. He then, from the know-
ledge thus collected, could lay down the science
of climate, sketch the geographical outlines of
continents, define the boundaries of the various
systems of plants, animals, and men ; and from
the height of his vast experience, strive to
comprehend the secrets of that divine system
to which the whole order of creation moves.
"When the astronomer Kepler, after twenty-five
years of labour and suffering, discovered those
mathematical laws by which the planets are
balanced in space, and the whole solar system
was unfolded to his view, he cried out, in a

10 SKETCH OF THE LIEE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

truly religious triumph, " Oh, Almighty God, I
think thy thoughts after Thee." To Humboldt
the active forces of nature were equally the
thoughts of God. Such noble daring as urged
him to comprehend them, was, indeed, one of
the sublimest devotion. There are, I know,
shallow-headed critics, who endeavour to throw
doubt on Humboldt5 s Christianity, because
his feelings were too deep, too profound to
be ordinarily exhibited ; and there are those
who, because there did not happen to be in
botany or astronomy, or physical geography,
anything which substantiated special doctrines,
denounced all science as atheistic. Now, I
would ask, who does best understand the sun,
the owl or the eagle ? For iny own part I
always approach with awe the profound reli-
gious sentiments which underlay the life and
the character of such a man as Humboldt.
The ideal of his life, like that of every true
man, was too great to be offered for miscel-
laneous public exhibition, and a pearl too costly
for those ready to trample it under foot.

The mind of Humboldt was in one respect
almost a phenomenon, — in its power of gene-
ralization, and at the same time entering into
minute details. It was not inaptly described
by Lady Morgan "as reminding her of the

OF EAEON IIUMBOLDT. 11

trunk of an elephant; it could snap an oak,
and pick up a coin." As a proof of his mar-
vellous intellect, I would here refer to a series
of sixty-one lectures, delivered in Berlin, and
perhaps one of the most remarkable courses of
lectures ever delivered. They were : —

Five lectures treating of the Nature and the Limits of
Physical Geography, and including a General
Sketch of Nature.

Three on the History of Science in General.

Two on the Study of Natural Science.

Sixteen on the Heavens.

Five on the Form, Density, Latent Heat, and Magnetic
Powers of the Earth ; and the Polar Light.

Four on the Crust of the Earth, Hot Springs, Earth-
quakes, and Yolcanos.

Two on Mountains.

Two on the Form of the Earth, the Connection of Con-
tinents, and the Elevation of Ravines.

Three on the Sea as an Elastic Fluid Garment of the
Earth.

Ten on the Atmosphere, and the Distribution of Heat.

One on the Distribution of Matter in General.

Three on the Geography of Plants.

Three on the Geography of Animals.

Two on the Races of Men.

These lectures formed the foundation of
the stupendous production, — " The Cosmos."
Humboldt had previously delivered the same
course in Paris.

12 SKETCH OE THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The first of this cyclus of lectures caused
such an extraordinary sensation, that not only
all the men of learning in, and the immediate
neighbourhood of, Berlin assembled, but from
the most remote parts of Germany, the friends
of science hastened to Berlin, in order to hear
at least one of Humboldt's lectures, and to make
his personal acquaintance. Mght after night,
the late King of Prussia, the members of the
royal family, the principal members of the aris-
tocracy, were present; and all classes of the
people, through the lively interest they took in
these lectures, testified their pride in the cele-
brated Alexander von Humboldt. Nay, more,
even the uneducated and the lower orders heard
now his name. His personality appeared to them
something wonderful and mysterious, and they
were anxious to see him who had discovered a
new world. Humboldt, unlike most other men
of renown in the scientific world, in thus appear-
ing publicly before the people, gave the noble
and cheering example that a baron, a high
officer of state, and a confidential counsellor of
a king, did not consider it below his dignity
to appear before the world, as a teacher in
the science for the advancement of which he
had made such great sacrifices, and in which
he occupied perhaps the most distinguished

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 13

position ; lie testified that a true disciple of
science ought not to consider himself to belong
to an exclusive class ; that the representative
of science should ignore all the prerogatives of
his social position, if in the higher service of
science. Baron Humboldt fulfilled at the same
time the noble obligation which the higher
gifted owes to the people, because from the
treasures of his knowledge he instructs them,
brings them nearer to himself, to truth, and to
reality.

These lectures spoken of were commenced
on the 3rd of November, 1827, and concluded
on the 26th of April, 1828 ; delivered extem-
pore and without notes.

The memory of Humboldt was really won-
derful. Even Macaulay, who could repeat the
whole of " Paradise Lost" from beginning
to end correctly, would have to yield to him
in that respect. His memory, even to the last,
seemed as keen, as vigorous, and as active as
ever. He never hesitated for a name or a date,
and never confounded the order of events. A
friend once called upon him to discuss some
points relative to the topography of Jerusalem;
and, astonished at what he considered his
marvellous memory of the streets and the
houses of the Holy City, asked how long it had

14 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

"been since lie was there. " I never was there,"
was the answer ; " but I intended going sixty
years ago, and therefore prepared myself." A
still more striking instance of this power of
memory was exhibited when some ladies were
brought to his house to be introduced to him.
Among them was the daughter of a gentleman
in Philadelphia, with whom he had resided in
1804, — long before she was born. On entering
the room, Humboldt exclaimed, without the
slightest doubt or hesitation, — " You must be
the daughter of my old friend in Philadelphia."
The most prominent traits in Alexander von
Humboldt's character, — universally acknow-
ledged,— were his sincerity and his simplicity.
Possessed of all the tastes of a man of the
world ; endowed with all the graces which the
best societies in Europe could impart ; with all
the prerogatives of his birth and position;
with all the tempting prospects of an exalted
station in his own country, he, with charac-
teristic sincerity, followed rather the natural
yearning of his soul, and consecrated himself a
servant of science and humanity. He sacrificed
cheerfully ease and comfort, and laid upon
the altar of science all, in search for that
knowledge, which would expand the concep-
tions of ourselves and the world in which we

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 15

live ; and this I consider to be his high moral
position as a man in the world of men. Hum-
boldt, in discovering the secrets of nature and
in explaining them to mankind, caused of
necessity a great change in the prevailing ideas
of the human race, and their purpose of life
and reality approached nearer to man. His
object was to labour for the whole : his actions
are interwoven with the history of mankind.
He did not overlook the limits which separate
the genius from the great mass, one period of
time from another. His idea concerning the
purpose of human life was to perceive below
the surface of phenomena the soul; and for
that purpose he searched for the germs of
truth, even in the darkest ages ; corrected
errors, and assisted in bringing to light facts
hitherto overlooked or ignored. Thus did he
reach the present high point by the conquered
steps of the past ; and it is no empty phrase
when some one, speaking of his " Cosmos,"
remarked,- — " In order to further Humboldt's
researches, the Phoenicians and the Greeks
must, two thousand years previously, navigate;
Aristotle originate a system of astronomy ; and,
from the beginning of modern times, Coperni-
cus, Kepler, and Galileo must wage the battle
against the prejudices of the people and the

16 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

inquisition of the Church." Instruments must
be invented to pierce through space ; the spirit
of history, in alliance with philosophy, must
break through the barriers of the world. We
are led to such general considerations if we
compare the physical sciences before Hum-
boldt's time with the present high position
attained through his unwearied and active
co-operation.

Before Humboldt's appearance, it was in
reality only an endeavour after a correct
classification of things which the celebrated
Linngeus, after a long period of philosophic-
theoretical abstractions and scholastic tradi-
tions, attempted and encouraged. The manifest
forces of nature were considered incompre-
hensible miracles, because the physical sciences
were subject to religious dogmas. Humboldt
appeared with Cuvier, a reformer in classifi-
cation. Soon afterwards, a zeal was manifested
for comparisons on all points of the globe, and
an attempt made to explain the complication of
various forms of phenomena through the facts
thus elicited. On the one hand, the school of
Cuvier strictly excluded all speculation, and
decided only in accordance with facts dis-
covered ; on the other hand, a direct opposite
tendency was manifested in classifying not in

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 17

harmony with distinguishing facts, but in
accordance with principles, and a natural
philosophical school constituted itself, which
found in Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Schelling, and
Oaken, the principal representatives. Hum-
boldt and Cuvier entered simultaneously upon
their researches as naturalists. He directed
himself to facts ; he examined and compared,
without ever taking a direct part in the battle
of the philosophers, because he had entered
upon a new road — a higher and a more compre-
hensive point of view. He endeavoured to
comprehend the universe in all its grandeur.
Nature should, through a perfect comprehension
of its powers and its laws, in general and in
particular, become a lively object of human
knowledge — an open book in which the isolated
and the small explains itself through the whole
and the great. The immense territories of
his researches were : — 1 . The knowledge of
the earth and its inhabitants ; 2. The dis-
covery of the higher laws of nature, which
govern the universe, men, animals, plants, and
minerals ; 3. The discovery of new forms of
life; 4. The discovery of territories hitherto
but imperfectly known, and their various pro-
ductions ; 5. The acquaintance with new
species of the human race, — their manners, Ian-

18 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

guages, and historical traces of their culture.
In this extensive field Humboldt laboured with
unwearied activity, care, and perseverance.
The natural consequences of his researches
manifested themselves in all the branches of
scientific and practical knowledge, and found
application in numerous circles of life. His
vivid and glowing description, never yet
surpassed, of scenes witnessed in distant
countries, awakened a desire for travel ; they
furnished new instruction ; the charm of
his descriptions inspired numerous youths
with a love for nature's beauty; many a
thoughtful man, with the resolve to study the
laws of nature ; and even many a female heart,
attracted by the fabulous tropics and the love
for grandeur of scenery, learned to pronounce
with veneration the name of him whose person
is surrounded, in the conception of many, with
the enchanting brightness of the mysterious
and the marvellous, when they meet him in the
description of adventurous mariners, or the
perilous wanderings in the wild burning terri-
tories of the southern hemisphere.

It has been already said that Humboldt' s
researches were too varied and too vast to gain
for him pre-eminence in one branch of science
exclusively. Scientific travellers have either

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 19

the one or the other general object in view;
they either collect a great variety of material —
animals, plants, or stones ; institute special
examinations, and record their opinion ; or else
they endeavour to arrange and to classify
the results of scientific inquiry ; point out
the natural continuity, by which process not
only facts already known receive additional
light, but who introduce new acquisitions
in their order and place. It has been said,
that while physical science month by month
marches upward with sure and rapid steps, —
never falling back or returning on its pathway,
but scaling the height of knowledge with a
ladder which is built of adamant as it ad-
vances,— ethics can do no more than illuminate
the thoughts of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and
the Stoics, with some light of Christian inspira-
tion, or emasculate them with flimsy modern
sentiments. Professor Henry Hennesey, F.R.S.,
in his excellent discourse, delivered before the
Philosophical and Literary Society of Leeds,
on Tuesday, January 7th, 1862, " On the
Eelation of Science to Modern Civilization," —
to which I listened with considerable interest, —
pointed out, in forcible and eloquent language :
66 the permanency of all the real acquisitions
of science." " The temporary supremacy of

c 2

20 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

erroneous or incomplete theories, " said the
learned professor, " and their necessarily ulti-
mate abandonment, cannot depreciate the gene-
rally distinguishing -character of departments
of knowledge which are founded upon experi-
ence. Results derived from observation and
reasoning, no matter when obtained, perma-
nently retain a scientific value, which no sub-
sequent progress can entirely efface." Vainly,
therefore, does a modern poet exclaim, —

" Call Archimedes from his buried tomb,
Upon the grave of vanished Syracuse,
And feelingly the sage will make report
How insecure, how baseless in itself,
Is the philosophy whose sway depends
On mere material instruments :
He, sighing with pensive grief
Amid his calm abstractions, would admit
That not the slender privilege theirs
To save themselves from blank forgetfulness."

It has been well said, that it would be
scarcely possible to condense into a briefer
space so many elegantly-expressed absurdities.
The philosophy here alluded to is physical and
mathematical science. Far from depending
solely upon material instruments, this philo-
sophy chiefly uses such as are of a purely intel-
lectual character. Most of its material instru-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 21

ments have been devised only by the rarest
exertions of mental skill ; their successful
application ever demands the co-operation of
intellectual agencies.

Those scientific travellers who possess both
the capacity to collect material and to present
new scientific acquisitions in the natural order
and place, are very rare; but to this class
belongs Alexander von Humboldt; and here
he occupies a most conspicuous place, which
secured his sacred fame in the world. It
is requisite for such a purpose to possess
general and positive knowledge; an intimate
acquaintance with all known scientific facts ;
and further, a considerable talent of observa-
tion, and the power of generalization ; the
peculiar capacity to perceive in new-discovered
facts, with certainty and intuitively, their
positive place and natural connection with
older scientific facts; so that by this con-
tinued process the unity of the whole is, by
every step in advance, more firmly esta-
blished. And perhaps no one understood this
better than Alexander von Humboldt; and
his intellectual superiority is above all percep-
tible in the order and place which he assigned
to the rich treasures of his own observation
and experience, in connection with all former

22 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

acquisitions of science, from the earliest periods
to our own time, establishing science on a
firmer basis.

The wonderful capacities of Humboldt ap-
pear from the fact that he, in his early days, —
at the time when certain sciences made their
first appearance, — as, for example, Physi-
ology, the science of animal and vegetable
organism, — made observations and produced
results, whose importance and truth were,,
only fifty years afterwards, fully compre-
hended and appreciated, and which proved
the remarkable talent of observation of the
youthful Humboldt.

Which are the great labours which immor-
talize the name of Alexander von Humboldt ?
Which new branches of science did he encourage
and originate ? What harvest did he bring for
the physical sciences in general? We will
endeavour to give a brief and general reply to
these questions, ere we proceed with the per-
sonal history of the great savant.

Humboldt was the first who obtained a clear
insight into the relation of all elements of the
earth to the universe in general; and he arranged
the former complication, in the planless classi-
fication of isolated facts, with keen penetra-
tion and perfect distinctness ; — he separated

OF BAKOX HUMBOLDT. 23

the absolute from the accidental, the certain
from the hypothesis ; the apparent lawless
he brought under known laws ; united the
isolated bodies of the earth into absolute and
natural groups. He thus became the founder
of a new science, " the comparative descrip-
tion of the earth," whose importance for the
life and progress of nations becomes every year
more evident.

All the territories of physical geography
opened themselves to his mind ; he perceives
the laws, according to which the organic crea-
tures are distributed upon the surface of the
earth, with regard to the various gradations
of heat, the soil and the air ; and in observing
attentively the composition of the air, in
different parts, and various heights above the
level of the sea ; in the bowels of the earth,
and on the openings of volcanoes, — he con-
vinced himself that the distribution of heat in
the atmosphere ; in its horizontal and perpen-
dicular position in space ; and also in relation
to the seasons, and the locality upon the
surface of the earth ; the temperature of the
oceans, and the solid earth, furnishes the most
important ground for a distribution of crea-
tures, in accordance with fixed laws. Principal
Forbes, in his learned dissertation " upon the

24 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Progress of Physical Geography," has paid a
just tribute to Baron Humboldt, in saying
" that no one now living contributed more to
the advancement of physical geography." But
Humboldt became also the originator of another
science, — " Hydrography/' — i. e., the descrip-
tion of the waters of the earth. He had early
perceived the importance of the ocean-rivers, and
had offered to geography important information
with regard to limitation, rapidity, temperature,
and changes of the courses of the seas ; their
influence upon the development of commerce, on
navigation, and the history of mankind; and
the great project to save the mariners the cir-
cuitous road from the Atlantic into the great
ocean round Cape Horn, the most southern
peak of America, and to make a canal across
Central America, was first represented by Baron
Humboldt in its true light; and this great
project, undertaken for the benefit of naviga-
tion in general, was based upon his observa-
tions respecting the inequality of the ground
and the relation of the waters.

The formation of the crust of the earth was
likewise a principal object of Humboldt' s in-
vestigation, and science is indebted to him for
wide extensions, in his examinations and study
of the conditions of the crust in the old and

OP BARON HUMBOLDT. 25

the new world; and his ever clear and quick
perception soon recognized an absolute law in
the seeming chaos. He became an important
labourer in geognosy, — the science of the com-
position and the formation of the solid crust of
the earth ; and here he opened a new avenue,
presented a new aspect, dismissing the old
theories regarding the causes in the changes
of the climatic condition of the earth, which
must have been, according to existing testi-
monies, quite different many thousand years
ago from the present condition, — because rem-
nants of animals and plants, natives of the
south, were exhumed in cold northern regions,
which was accounted for by the liberated heat
of down-crushed masses of mountains, and
similar causes ; he recognized the more im-
portant activity of volcanic powers in the bowels
of the former earth, and concluded, in a most
ingenious manner, the then higher tempera-
ture of our planet. His labours in this depart-
ment of physical science are of a most im-
portant and positive nature, and exercised upon
general science a powerful influence ; but as
Humboldt never advanced any new opinion
without some practical proofs, he brought with
him a valuable collection of various kinds of
rocks from America, compared them with the

26 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

strata as presented in the crust of the earth in
Europe, and thus arrived at the important con-
clusion, that, on the whole, one and the same
law operated in the formation of the crust of
the earth.

This study of Humboldt respecting the in-
fluence of volcanoes, the appearance and the
effects of fire in our earth, urged him to.
examine the nature of earthquakes ; and, on
this important subject, he produced the first
notable facts, and the first specific informa-
tion. He taught that the hidden multitude of
volcanos in the interior of the earth, though
many hundred miles distant one from the other,
maintain a mutual connection ; and hence earth-
quakes are felt upon a space of several thousand
square miles simultaneously. He proved the
existence of certain volcanic veins in the in-
terior of the earth, from the directions in which
earthquakes propagate themselves, and the
order they observe in their continuity ; and
here again Humboldt presents us with new
aspects in the study of natural science. The
laborious and careful calculations of Humboldt
place the number of known volcanoes at 225 ;
of which 198 are found surrounding the basin
of the Pacific. " Thus, while the bed of the
Pacific itself is, considering its vast magnitude,

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 27

wonderfully free from any break in its crust,
"the Pacific Ocean," as Humboldt writes,
" whose surface is nearly one-sixth greater than
that of the whole dry land of our planet, whose
breadth in the equatorial regions, from the Gali-
pagos to the Pelew Islands, is nearly two-fifths
of the whole circumference of the globe, pre-
sents fewer smoking volcanoes, fewer openings
through which the interior of the planet still
maintains active communication with its atmo-
spheric envelope than does the single island of
Java. On the other hand, we find this vast
basin surrounded by a well-marked line of vol-
canic fracture, at present containing, as already
stated, seven-eighths of the known volcanoes of
the globe."

Thus, " beginning from New Zealand," in the
words of Humboldt, " and proceeding first for
a considerable distance in a north-west direc-
tion, we can pass through New Guinea, the
Sunda Islands, the Philippines, and the east of
Asia, and, ascending to the Aleutian Islands,
can redescend to the southward through the
north-west portion of America, Mexico, Central
and South America, to the extremity of Chili,
thus making the entire circuit of the Pacific
Ocean, and finding it surrounded, throughout a
length of 26,400 geographical miles, by a

28 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

series of recognizable monuments of volcanic
activity." *

But should not Humboldt, who so well knew
the interior of the earth, have directed his atten-
tion to the precious treasures — the metals ? In
America and in Siberia he searched for the laws
which necessitate the presence of metals ; and
he thus discovered the most important fact, with
regard to mining, that to a certain degree, with
reference to the beds and the distribution of gold
and platina, there must have been in America
and in Siberia analogous circumstances ; and, at
his suggestion, diamonds were discovered in the
gold-mines of the Ural Mountains. It would
be a subject worthy of consideration to notice
in detail the conspicuous examples of the influ-
ence which the discovery of precious metals
exercised on the rise and the progress of nations.
"Gold dust led more Spaniards to follow in the
footsteps of Columbus, of Cortez, of Pizarro,
than the spirit of adventure, or the religious
zeal which sought to ennoble it. Its influence
is perceptible in the commercial greatness of the
Phoenicians, certainly as old as the days of
Abraham, when all was gold, from the earrings
of the Midianites, their carriers of the desert,
* Narrative of Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Fly.

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 29

to the chains that were about their camels'
necks ; we trace it through the fleets of Hiram,
laden with the gold of Opm'r ; through the
glory and the splendour of Solomon ; through
Carthage and her hundred cities along the
shores of the Mediterranean; through the
ancient refinement and barbaric splendour ;
through the history of Jews and Gentiles ;
through settlement by land and by sea."

" Hugely as the shores of the Mediterranean
are exceeded by the shores of the Atlantic, so
are the shores of the Atlantic exceeded by those
of the Pacific. Already, along the vast and
hitherto silent shores of that great ocean —
from California to Australia, from JSTew Zealand
to British Columbia — empires are springing up,
and cities grow, as it were, in a day. Eapid as
has been the progress of the United States of
America, it has been found that the state of
California has increased as much in one year as
many of the Atlantic states in a whole century.
It has been said that Melbourne has grown
more populous, more wealthy, and of greater
political importance, in ten years, than Sydney
in fifty."

The series of gold discoveries, which com-
menced with 1847, has, within the last few
years, assumed gigantic proportions. Already,

30 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

in 1846, Sir Roderick Murchison, who, two
years previously, compared the eastern ridge
of Australia with the Ural Mountains, and first
suggested in print the auriferous character of
the former, advised the Cornish tin-miners, who
were then out of employment, to emigrate, and
dig for gold in Australia, and wash it as they
did their tin ore (see Trans. Geol. Soc. of Corn-
wall, 1846). In 1848 some results were in the
possession of this eminent geologist, and he
wrote a letter to Earl Grey, then Secretary for
the Colonies, indicating that the all-important
question of the gold of Australia, and the laws
relating thereto, should be well considered by
the Government (see Parliamentary Papers,
third series). However, three years elapsed
before 1851, when Mr. Hargreaves opened the
diggings. It appears that the geologists who
at first sought to restrict the deposits of gold
to a narrow compass were mistaken ; and
although the range of territory in which gold
has been discovered is thus extensive, the great
principle laid down by Sir Roderick Murchison
in his earlier researches, and repeated in the
last edition of his " Siluria," should not be for-
gotten, viz. ; " that the rocks which are the most
auriferous are of the Silurian age, and that a
certain geological zone only in the crust of the

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 31

globe is auriferous at all." Sir Eoderick has
furnished valuable information on this im-
portant subject, not only in his " Siluria," but
"Russia and the Ural." His views regarding
the durability of the auriferous quartz reefs of
Australia were almost unanimously accepted by
the scientific men of the colony. Humboldt's pre-
vious and extensive researches afforded valuable
material, and opened a wide field for these
investigations. His general views on this
subject are perhaps the most satisfactory, and
have certainly remained undisturbed.

Whilst Humboldt thus furnished valuable in-
formation regarding the mysterious life of our
planet in the great features of its phenomena,
his mind was also directed to the silent world
of plants, in order to discover the great law of
their existence. He did not despise, besides
his more important general labours, to collect
a variety of herbs ; and in his sublime con-
ception of the life of plants, relative to
the condition of the soil, he was enabled to
establish a new science, — " the Geography
of Plants," i. e.9 " the science of the distri-
bution of plants and their laws." He proved
distinctly the connection of their propagation,
with regard to various heights and climatic
conditions, and uniting his observations with

32 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

those of others, from the most remote parts,
into a natural circle of order and law ; — Hum-
boldt described a world of unknown plants,
and raised the science of botany, before that
time much neglected, and only a matter of
memory, to the position of one of the most
attractive of all the physical sciences, in showing
the remarkable influence of the, in itself, silent
world of plants, upon the formation of the soil,
the condition of peoples, and the historical
development of the human race, from the
primitive period of the world's history. Hum-
boldt awakened thereby a new interest in the
physical sciences in general, in connecting them
inevitably with the history of the human race,
and liberating science from all mysterious inter-
pretations ; thus even those less acquainted
with science might become interested in it ; for
his representations were based upon clear facts,
and a practical conception of nature, presented
in an elegant form, and with considerable
power in the delineation of his perspective
views of the whole picture.

In close connection with the researches
respecting the condition of soil, is Climatology ;
and in this department Humboldt became again
the founder of a new science — " the Compara-
tive Climatology." He originated a new science,

OF BAEOX HUMBOLDT. 33

founded upon his researches into the territories
of meteorology, the conditions of heat and elec-
tricity ; the distribution of heat upon the earth,
in so-called isothermal lines, by which he con-
nected all places upon the surface of the earth
which have an equal medial annual temperature,
which proved that the equator of heat — the line
which one discovers in connecting the hottest
points of the earth one with another — in nowise
harmonizes with the earth-equator ; wherefore
those parts of the globe situated near the
equator, and having the rays of the sun per-
pendicular, are not always the hottest.

These isothermal lines form an important
part in Humboldt's scientific researches ; and
more especially in his maturer years, the study
of this branch of science was a very favourite
pursuit. Already, in 1817, when he published,,
in the third volume of the French journal, his
" Memoires d'Arcueil," — a part of the treatise
" de la Distribution de la Chaleur et des Lignes
isothermes,55 he had been long engaged with the
distribution of heat upon the earth, and had
endeavoured to fix more accurately the direc-
tion and form of the isothermal lines. Thus,
ten years later, on the 3rd of July, 1827, he
delivered a lecture at the public seance of the
Academy of Science " respecting the principal

D

34 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

causes of the difference in the temperature of
the globe ;" and, lastly, in his " Fragmens
Asiatiques," he offered the results of his com-
prehensive investigations with reference to this
subject to the world. He showed that, whilst
Western Europe has a more insular coast
climate, the eastern parts and the whole of
Asia are distinguished by a continental climate,
which, in the heat of the summer and the cold
of the winter, produces regular opposite re-
sults ; and though, on the southern confines
of Siberia, the continual perpendicular rays
of the sun cause necessarily heat, the effects
are no others but that, in that part, very hot
summers invariably succeed extremely cold
winters.

Nowhere found Alexander von Humboldt
finer grapes than at Astrachan, on the shores
of the Caspian Sea; and yet there, and even
. more southward, at Kislar, on the mouth of
the Tarek, — in the same latitude as Avignon
and Eimini, — the cold in the winter reached
from 28 to 30 deg. Celsius' thermometer.
This great contrast between the heat in the
summer and the cold in the winter, Humboldt
calls a peculiarity of Siberia. In these parts
they are compelled to bury the vine deep in the
earth during the winter months ; and in sum-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 35

mer, in consequence of great drought and
heat, the vitality of the same must be pre-
served by artificial watering. Up to 58 deg.
latitude, Humboldt could, with tolerable cer-
tainty, determine the mean temperature of
these localities from the degrees of the heat in
the springs. More northward, the soil is from
12 to 15 feet deep always frozen ; whilst in
Norway, — situated equally high, and higher
towards the North Pole, — even in winter, grass
and moss are growing under the cover of the
snow. Humboldt had a well sunk in the midst
of summer, and encountered already, at a depth
of 6 feet, ice 9^ feet thick ; and it is a remark-
able phenomenon that, in spite of these subter-
ranean masses of ice, the short but powerful
heat of the sun during the summer months
rapidly causes the upper soil to thaw, assisting
in the production of an abundant harvest. The
subsequent results of this Asiatic journey of
Humboldt were of the greatest importance to
science. After he had left on many points of
Siberia, in the hands of experienced or able
men, carefully compared thermometers, and had
more especially awakened in the officers of the
Russian Government mines a zeal for such
mensurations and comparative examinations,
he urged the Imperial Academy of St. Peters-

D 2

36 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

burg to co-operation, and presented an ex-
cellent plan, showing that, in all parts of that
vast empire, a regular system of observation,
regarding the daily changes of the barometer,
the thermometer, and the hygrometer, — the
temperature of the soil, the direction of the
winds, and the moisture of the air, — might be
originated. To the interest which the scientific
men of the Academy evinced in Humboldt's
plans, an additional impulse was given by the
attention of the Emperor ; and if we bear in
mind that the Russian empire is a continent, —
an area more extensive than the surface of the
moon, presented to our view, — it becomes evi-
dent that important laws relative to the whole
life and activity of our planet would be investi-
gated and explained. The Russian Government,
in recognition of the importance of the plans
submitted by Alexander von Humboldt, caused
the erection of an observatory at St. Peters-
burg, which was charged with the selection of
suitable places for scientific observations, with
the selection and examination of the necessary
instruments : further, to ascertain the precise
position of these selected spots in an astro-
nomical point of view ; to watch with special
care the magnetic and the meteorological
investigations ; to arrange and to estimate the

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 37

facts thus obtained ; and publish regularly
the medial results of these united researches.
The special mineralogical and geognostical
investigations of this Asiatic journey becams
a separate field for the companion of Hum-
boldt's expedition, Gustav Rose, who published
the results under a special title, — " Mineralogi-
cal-Geognostical Department, and Historical
Account of the Expedition. " The whole work
is entitled, " Expedition to the Ural, Altai,
and the Caspian Sea, by order of the Emperor
of Russia, in the year 1829, undertaken by
Alexander von Humboldt, Gr. Ehrenberg, and
Gustav Rose." Before, however, the third part
of the work, which contained the results of
Ehrenberg's botanical and zoological researches,
and the geography of plants and animals, had
appeared, Humboldt himself published a new
work, entitled ; " Asie Centrale, Recherche s
sur les Chaines des Montagues, et la Climato-
logie cornparee," — Paris, 1843, — in three
volumes.

In this important undertaking, Humboldt
received the voluntary and cheerful assistance
of the most able scholars in the Oriental lan-
guages, and likewise the co-operation of such
renowned scrutateurs as Klaproth, who fur-
nished new notes from Chinese sources ; Stanis-

38 SKETCH OF THE LIFE ANT) ACHIEVEMENTS

laus Julien, member of the Institute of France,
who offered physical and orographical (descrip-
tions of mountains) notes, and by whose friend-
ship, as Humboldt publicly declared, he felt
himself honoured ; Eugene Burnouf, who made,
in furtherance of Humboldt' s plans, important
ethnographical and geographical researches in
the Zend books, — studies which Humboldt
highly valued. Physical geography was thereby
enriched with new sources of valuable informa-
tion,— the acquaintance with the direction, the
formation, and the geological peculiarities of
the great mountain-chains of Asia. The method
of Humboldt to compare continually all ele-
ments of science one with the other, produced a
wonderful solidity and exactness. The constant
direction to similar and to opposite observations
in Asia, America, and Europe, laid the founda-
tion of the present position of climatology ; in
furtherance of which all physical sciences fur-
nished most important explanations.

Only those well initiated in all branches
of physical science can here perceive and com-
prehend Humboldt's greatness. The masses
of the people can only admire the mystery
of his achievements. Thus • Mahlmann, the
German editor of " Central Asia," who had
already some years previously furnished an in-

OF BAftOX IIUMCOLDT. 39

teresting sketch of Humboldt' s achievements,
concluded his preface in these words : — " If
Alexander von Humboldt is the principal origi-
nator and representative of the spirit of the
age which manifests itself in a general endea-
vour after universality, — and if, for that reason,
already each of his works is a valuable legacy
for coming generations, — we shall also, in his
investigations regarding the formation of the
crust of the earth in the Old World, be filled
with admiration, in perceiving in Alexander
von Humboldt, in unison with the most ex-
haustive studies of innumerable sources of in-
formation,— a comprehensive acquaintance in
all departments of human knowledge ; we shall
regard with increasing interest the rare and won-
derful talent which enabled Humboldt to com-
prehend the mutual penetration of all branches
of physical science, and the unexpected sim-
plicity in which he presents these facts, together
with the everlasting influence which nature
exercises upon the life and the destiny of
peoples."

But Humboldt did not restrict himself to the
investigation of those laws which governed the
creation of this world, and which still regulate
its existence, exclusively ; — man became also to
him an object of observation and meditation.

40 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

He learned to know the various tribes of
America ; and followed the traces of their
culture. Thus Humboldt acquaints us with
the ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Peru.
He made himself intimately acquainted with
bhe condition of these peoples in the Spanish
colonies, inasmuch as he could represent
their commerce, their mining, their agricul-
ture, their political constitution, their missions,
— nay, more, even their peculiar diseases.
Humboldt likewise originated another im-
portant undertaking, which had for its object
to bring the great scenes of nature of the
mountain- chains of the Andes, and the me-
morials of the departed civilization of the
aborigines of Central America, before the eyes
of Europe in a series of pictures. For the first
time appeared in Europe landscapes which,
with the artistic conception of a country,
united a most faithful representation of nature,
and speedily banished, in the higher circles of
artistic taste and education, all illusive land-
scapes ; and originated the historical land-
scape-painting which, especially through Eu-
gendas, and other German and foreign artists
of our days, has attained to such great per-
fection. Tn the opinion of Alexander von

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 41

Humboldt, landscape-painting gave an im-
portant and characteristic impulse to the
study of nature. The epoch of the greatest
landscape-painters was, as well known, the
seventeenth century. In that period lived
Claude Lorrain, the successful painter of light ;
Ruysdael, great in dark forests and threatening
clouds ; Gaspar and Nicolas Poussin, in repre-
senting heroic forms of trees ; Everdingen,
Hobbema, and Cuyp, in faithful representation
of nature. Humboldt considered it a higher
step in representing individual forms of nature,
which could, however, only be accomplished
when our geographical . knowledge, through
travels in foreign climates, became more ex-
tended, and the ideas of classification and the
conception of beauty more elevated and per-
fected. We now arrive at the period when
single forms of exotic plants, fruits, branches,
and blossoms were painted. In this de-
partment we recognize John Breughel, the
painter of the individual character of the torrid
zone ; Franz Post, of Harlem ; Eckhout, and
others.

Although Alexander von Humboldt had ac-
complished an amount of labour in the earlier
period of his life which was rarely equalled,

42 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

certainly never surpassed, lie did not rest in
his latter days from the labours of his very
eventful life; the latter years belong to the
great impulse he gave to the mathematical
investigation of the laws of the earth-magne-
tism, for which he had prepared the way, by
his former observations regarding the oscil-
lations of the magnet-needle. In order further
to illuminate this but dark territory, he encou-
raged, by his name, his influential position, and
his scientific counsel, the learned men of all
nations to an united effort in search of the laws
of the earth-magnetism, and to indicate the
changes of physical instruments hitherto used in
the service of meteorology ; and he originated, in
furtherance of the physical sciences in general,
the erection of numerous — one corresponding^
with the other — magnetic observatories, which
now, like a great network, are spread over all
parts of the earth ; and in the desert of Siberia,
and in Pekin, formerly closed to all science,
these observatories may be found. His fame and
influence became so great, that when Russia
and England had made great sacrifices, in fur-
therance of science, and the accomplishment of
Humboldt's plans, not only the Pasha of Egypt,
but also an Indian prince, offered to increase
the number of these magnetic observatories,

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 43

and thereby to honour Humboldt and science.*
We may well apply the words of a modern poet
to the great savant : —

" I am become a name ;
For always roaming with a hungry heart,
Much have I seen and known ; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all ! "

Through Alexander von Humboldt a whole
world is opened to the view of the educated
classes. One may see him upon the summits of
the Cordillera and the Altai, and penetrate into
all open fields of nature ; into the depths of
the seas, the immense space of the heavens ;
a seer and a prophet. In the marvellous
results of his great activity, he appears a
scientific sun, whose rays illuminate the whole
earth, giving everywhere light and encourage-
ment to scientific researches. In following the
great explorer to another field of intellectual

* The discoveries of Oerstedt with reference to electro-
magnetism, and the results of the observations of Arago
and Faraday, intimately connected with this subject,
materially aided the investigations of Baron Humboldt.
Oerstedt discovered that electricity in the vicinity of a
body which acts as a conductor of electricity, produces
magnetism ; whilst Faraday remarks that, on the contrary,
liberated magnetism would also occasion electric flows.

44 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

culture, from which he had obtained, through
his life-long studies, valuable information, we
meet him in the history of the physical
aspect of the universe, the knowledge of
the gradual development and extension, regard-
ing the unity of all forces of nature. This is at
the same time a part of the development
of the human mind in general ; for the endea-
vour of humanity to become acquainted with
earth and heaven, to comprehend the united
activity and actual co-operation, of the great
forces of nature, in both spheres, is, in its origin,
perceptible in the most primitive endeavours of
peoples. Beautiful are the words of Gothe : —

" Wie Alles sich zum Ganzen webt,
Eins in dem. Andern wirkt und lebt,
Wie Himmels-Krafte auf- und iiiedersteigen,
Und sich die goldiien Eimer reicheii ! "

The consideration of the phenomena of
nature, and the laws of evolution, have been
recognized, by the more educated portion of the
human race, in the earliest periods of human his-
tory ; and the gradually extended and developed
insight in nature, and the continuity of all
forces in the universe, advanced always side by
side with the history of the moral culture
of human kind. It commenced like all other

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 45

knowledge ; this first perception of nature,
with isolated objects, and the presentiment of
the internal combination of phenomena, as a
whole- — a cosmos. Only in a more advanced
stage in the development of the mental life of
mankind, this mere presentiment of the abso-
lute unity of all things and all phenomena
became a recognised fact. The intelligent
imagination of a Plato, a Columbus, and a
Kepler pointed to the goal which exact science
subsequently reached in different ways. This
gradual consciousness of humanity has been
the means by which the ideas of the unity of
all phenomena in the universe became pos-
sible and more extended. This result is due,
according to Humboldt, first, " to the indepen-
dent efforts of the human mind to perceive and
comprehend the laws of nature, to the contem-
plation of the phenomena of nature; — secondly,
to the historical events, which suddenly ex-
panded the horizon of observations; — and,
lastly, to the invention of telescopes, micro-
scopes, and instruments for scientific observa-
tions in general. These new and improved
organs brought mankind not only in closer
connection with various objects of the earth,
but with the remotest space, and perfected
and multiplied our physical perceptions."

46 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

From these three separate points of view,
regarding the causes of the development
of physical science, Humboldt proceeded in
the study of its history. He considered the
gradually extended acquaintance with nature
to be the cause of the exertion of the human
mind ; he examined the results of the achieve-
ments of the ancient Greeks in this department ;
to him the historical events appeared sudden
means, in order to extend and to accelerate the
progress of natural philosophy, more especially
with reference to the condition of those peoples
who once inhabited the shores of the Mediter-
ranean. His method of profound and thorough
research led him to consider the voyage of
Colseus of Samos beyond the Pillars of Her-
cules ; the expedition of Alexander to India,
the universal conquest of the Romans, the pro-
pagation of Arabian culture, and, subsequently,
the discovery of America, &c. He perceived
the decided influence which these events ex-
ercised upon the condition of nations; and
here he recognized the great importance of
languages, which were the medium, of the inter-
course between the various tribes, separated
from each other by considerable distances. The
mutual comparison of these languages enabled
him not only to ascertain their formation, but

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 47

likewise the degree of tlieir relation, which
materially assisted and accelerated the study of
the various races of mankind.

In all investigations of Alexander von Hum-
boldt, for the purpose of leading to more
general aspects, it was his favoured method to
select a given point, and to start from it in
an exact manner onward. This circumscribed
point, accessible to physical observations, he
found in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea,
which was surrounded by those peoples who
laid the foundation of the subsequent civiliza-
tion in the West. From this basin of the
Mediterranean Sea he followed the stream of
civilization, and found that the history of
natural philosophy proceeded in an exact line
of development, not emanating from one but
several primitive races ; for we discover in the
earliest periods, as it were several points of
light on the extreme horizon, from which the
rays of civilization emanated, — Egypt, Babylon,
Nineveh, Cashmir, Iran, and China. Humboldt
observed on that occasion, — " These central
points remind one of the greater of those
sparkling stars in the firmament, — of the
everlasting suns in the immeasurable space
of the heavens, the power of whose rays we
may perhaps know, but not, with the excep-

48 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

tion of a few, their relative distance from our
planet."

In pursuit of the exact method of investiga-
tion in the selection of the Mediterranean Sea
as the point from whence he started, with the
history of physical science, Humboldt noticed
likewise in the Mediterranean three separate
and smaller basins, one near the other, — the
-^Egean, Ionian, and the Tyrrhenian. He dis-
covered in these forms of the Mediterranean,
three times contracted, the great influence both
upon the earliest limitation and earliest exten-
sion in the exploration of the Phoenicians and
the Greeks; he pointed out the important in-
fluence of the physical form of the sea-coasts
upon the process of events, the direction of
voyages, the changes in the supremacy of the
sea; — all assisting to develop and expand our
ideas ; he followed the historical traces of the
primitive civilization of the Hellenes ; their navi-
gation in a north-eastern direction, caused by
the expedition of the Argonauts to Colchis ; —
southward in consequence of the Ophir voyages ;
westward through Colaaus of Samos, and his
campaigns under Alexander the Great ; all
these events opened new roads to civilization,
and extensive parts of the earth became by con-
quest, and in consequence of the dissemination

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 49

of the Greek langiiage and literature, new fields
of operation. Greece aided materially the in-
tercourse and the mixture of the peoples from
the Nile to the Euphrates, from the Jaxartes* to
the Indus. The physical aspect of our earth
became, through extended observation of nature,
and the intercourse with ancient civilized and
commercial nations, suddenly accelerated and
more general. Humboldt followed the pro-
gressive traces of the advancement in natural
science, under the reign of the Ptolemies,
after the dissolution of the great Macedonian
empire, and the intercourse of Egypt with
distant countries; the explorations in Ethio-
pia; the hunting of the ostrich and the
elephant, the menageries in the royal houses
of Brachium, &c. All these events assisted
the progress of natural science ; all contri-
buted to the increasing stock of information.
Humboldt directs here our attention to the
establishment, about that period, of the mu-
seum of Alexandria, and of two collections of
books, as the result of the practical apprecia-
tion of science, the importance of comparative
observations, and the more general dissemina-
tion of the scientific achievements of that

* The modern river Syr Daria.
E

50 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

period. It was the age, as Humboldt observed,
of encyclical learning, the combination of geo-
graphical and astronomical progress, of a better
acquaintance with the motions of planets,'
though with regard to the knowledge of the
absolute size, the form, the matter, and
physical constitution of the globe, they re-
mained stationary.

In the great Roman empire, Humboldt per-
ceived the first union of the three basins of the
Mediterranean before mentioned, together with
other extensive territories, under one govern-
ment. He fully appreciated the influence of
the union of many states under one rule upon
the progressive advancement of science, be-
cause the isolated channels of culture and
civilization here converge. Rome became the
centre of this new great circle; commerce
by land advanced geography; Strabo and
Ptolemy became the recognized guardians
of geographical and of mathematical science ;
mathematical optics and chemical science com-
menced ; and Pliny made the first attempt of a
physical description of the globe. Strabo, a
native of Amasia, in Cappadocia, in the year
20 A. D., became the author of the first work on
geography, in 17 volumes — the result of pre-
vious and extensive travels. The seventh volume

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 51

of tliis work is incomplete. In the collection of
his material, he carefully used all former tradi-
tion and the resources of the older literature.
Not only in a scientific, but also in an historical
point of view, this work is of considerable im-
portance, and was held in high esteem during
the Middle Ages. The first Roman to whom
the honour is due of having collected the
accounts of all previous travellers, and whose
work is distinguished not only by an acquaint-
ance with the subject in question, but by
superiority of style, was Pomponius Mela, 48
A.D., a native of Spain. The older Pliny, 23—79
A.D., devoted in his Natural Philosophy a con-
siderable part — four volumes — to geography,
and furnishes some very interesting notes, cha-
racteristic of the Roman, regarding the west
and the north of Europe, and of India.

In the introduction of Christianity, Humboldt
recognizes the cause of the gradually developed
conviction of the oneness of human kind, — the
important source of humanity, — the humanizing
of peoples in their manners and organizations.
Having regard, with reference to the develop-
ment of a more perfect knowledge of the unity
of nature, to the four principal events : 1. The
attempts to proceed from the basin of the Medi-
terranean eastward to Pontus and Phasis, —

E2

52 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

southward to Opliir and the tropical gold re-
gions,— and in western direction beyond the
Pillars of Hercules into the ocean; 2. The
Macedonian campaign under Alexander ; 3 .
The age of the Lagides, — of Alexandria ; and
4. The great Eoman empire. Humboldt recog-
nized another powerful influence in the invasion
of the Arabs, who introduced a foreign element
into European civilization ; and further, the dis-
coveries of the Portuguese and Spaniards six or
seven centuries afterwards. These events gave
a characteristic impulse to the advancement of
physical and mathematical science, to geography
and astronomy. "From that period on," said
Baron Humboldt, " the spread of cosmical
science no longer depended on isolated political
events."

The Arabs, a Semitic primitive tribe, not only
opposed barbarity, but re-opened the sources of
Greek philosophy, and new roads to civilization.
Humboldt, who showed in such a genial man-
ner that the destiny of peoples, independent of
their intellectual capacities, is also in a great
measure determined by a variety of external
conditions, the soil, the climate, and their rela-
tive distance from the seas, recognizes further-
more, in the peculiar form of the Arabian
peninsula, an important cause of the great

OF BARON HUMJJOLDT. 53

intercourse of this people with the world ; and
lastly, the natural propensity of the Arab to
enjoy an uninterrupted intercourse and intimate
acquaintance with nature and her powers, all
these facts exercised an important and bene-
ficial influence upon the progress of science.
The Arabs cultivated, above all, physics and
chemistry; and in the latter branch of science
they created a new epoch.

The age of the Oceanian discoveries — • the
fifteenth century — directed all intellectual ac-
tivity to one common end. The Middle Ages and
their scientific acquisitions came to a close ; a
new period was inaugurated. The western hemi-
sphere of the globe was opened ; the first ineffec-
tual attempt to discover America in the eleventh
century became through Columbus a new field
of civilization. Humboldt dwells with peculiar
interest on this event and its consequences,
because he became, in contrast to Columbus,
the geographical discoverer, the scientific ex-
plorer of America. (Compare Humboldt's
critical investigation relative to the historical
development of geographical science of the new
continent, and of nautical astronomy in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.)

Humboldt was engaged even down to our own
days with astronomic-mathematical geography,

54 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

which science, perhaps, made in no period more
important progress. He opened new avenues
in this branch of science, in consequence of his
scientific discovery of America. He likewise
accelerated its progress, in animating and en-
couraging other able men to investigate this
special department. It is, indeed, impossible
to estimate the influence Baron Humboldt
wielded, in advancing, not only directly but
indirectly, the cause of science. His own
researches in this department made him more
intimately acquainted with the geography of
America, and with the history of nautical
astronomy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ries. The fifteenth century, in consequence of
the discovery of a new world, became, so to
speak, the multiplier of the works of creation ;
and brought within the scope of the old world
a great multitude of new objects, which neces-
sarily caused pen a pen a change in the condition
and the ideas of Europe. This period had for
Baron Humboldt a special interest ; for, with
the discovery of America, mankind had made
a most important step in the advancement of
intellectual and material progress ; new roads
of intercourse and a more comprehensive view
into a new nature were thereby opened. Per-
haps no one was better qualified to estimate

OF BAKOX HUMBOLDT. 55

and trace the history of these grand and
courageous explorations than Alexander von
Humboldt. Had he not, also, set out first
from the shores of Spain into the great ocean ?
Had he not visited the same parts where
Columbus first set foot upon the new con-
tinent ?

The discovery of the western hemisphere
opened likewise new fields for astronomy. The
conquests of Columbus in geography were
contemporaneous with the discoveries of Coper-
nicus in astronomy. The use of improved
telescopes expanded the circle of human pene-
tration into immensity.* Kepler discovered
the mathematical laws by which the planets are
balanced in space, which had been anticipated
by Copernicus ; and lastly, the great science of
gravitation, discovered by Newton, changed
physical astronomy into a mechanism of the
heavens.

* " Our range of vision has been in this way immeasurably
enlarged by the telescope and microscope : ingenious acoustic
instruments enable us to appreciate, to study, and record,
sounds which could never be mastered by our unassisted
ears : variations of temperature, electricity, are now made
sensible to observation by delicate contrivances, long before
our unassisted senses could take any note of such changes."
— Prof. H. Hennesey's Essay, Science and Civilization.

56 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

We cannot accompany Humboldt in his
description of the history of astronomy, from
the time of Galileo to Kepler, and the mathe-
matical epoch, from the time of Newton to
Leibnitz, because he was here less individually
active, and only represents the results of his
predecessors, in the exact manner, order, and
place. He was, however, intimately connected
with all discoveries of his contemporaries ; for
in every scientific conquest he was either an
individual pioneer, or else he assisted and
encouraged the attempts of others. Hence
his valuable co-operation in furtherance of
geography and astronomy, in cosmical science
in general, is conspicuously manifested in the
important departments of heat, light, mag-
netism, and all the more active and important
forces of the universe, whose more intimate
recognition is the intellectual triumph of
our days.

To those who have profoundly studied the
history of science, and are therefore familiar
with the general progress of human events, and
the particular achievements of Alexander von
Humboldt in all its branches, I ought to offer
some apology for many of the foregoing general
accounts of Humboldt's position as a man of
science in the world of knowledge, before I

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 57

proceed to give a sliort sketcli of his personal
history, Iris position as a man in the world
of men.

The noble family of the Humboldts came
originally from the interior of Pomerania, where
they possessed landed estates. The father of
Alexander yon Humboldt was major in a dragoon
regiment, and, during the Seven Years' war,
the adjutant of the Duke of Brunswick, who
frequently sent him with verbal reports to
Frederick the Great. He was lord of the
manors of Hadersleben and Bingewalde, and
rented subsequently the Castle Tegel, situated
between Berlin and Spandau.

This little castle had been originally a hunting-
box of the great Elector of Brandenburg ; and
even in the time of Frederick the Great a royal
preserve was kept in th e neighbourhood. Major
von Humboldt selected this place for his abode
after he had retired from public life, and had
made considerable alterations and improvements
for that purpose ; but, alas ! death called him
early away. Lady Humboldt, his wife, was the
widow of a Baron von Holwede, and a niece of the
Princess Bliicher. The issue of this marriage

58 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

were two sons ; the elder, Carl Wilhelm, was
born at Potsdam, June 22nd, 1767; the younger,
Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, lie who engages
our special attention, was, as already stated,
born in the year 1769, September 14th, at
Berlin.

Both brothers spent a great part of their
youth at this castle of Tegel, and their earliest
impressions are intimately connected with this
place. A mysterious, though by no means
uncommon rumour, was connected with this
residence. It is said that in the year 1797 a
ghost haunted this castle. Professor JSTicolai,
of Berlin, delivered a lecture on the subject,
before the members of the Academy ; and
Go the, offended by his (Mcolai's) attack on
" Werther," addresses the ghosts of Walpurgis
in these words : —

" Ihr seid nocli immer da 1 Nein, das 1st unerhort !
Verschwindet doch ! Wir haben ja aufgeklart !
Das Teufelspack, es fragt nacli keiner Regel,
Wir sind so klug — und dennoch spukt's in Tegel."*

During the lifetime of Major von Humboldt,
this old castle was a place of great hospitality,
and the rendezvous, not only of princes and
high officers of state, but also of men renowned

* Gothe's Faust.

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 59

in literature and science. It appears that Gothe,
in the month of May, 1778, — having accompa-
nied his friend, the Duke of Saxe- Weimar, to a
great military review in Berlin, — walked, one
morning, by way of Schonhausen to Tegel, re-
mained there to dinner, and returned by way
of Charlottenburg to Potsdam. On that occa-
sion he met two lively boys, ten and eight years
of age, and could certainly not anticipate the
subsequent intimate relation between himself
and both brothers, especially the elder.

Their education fell in a period when, as
already said, important changes were intro-
duced into the system of education in Prussia.
The method of Eousseau found a cordial ac-
ceptance by the ablest men of the day. Campe
— before mentioned, who subsequently with
Klopstock enjoyed a high reputation as a
linguist — became the first private tutor of the
brothers Humboldt. He soon relinquished,
however, his appointment, and accepted the
rectorship of the principal educational institute
of Dessau, which was offered to him in conse-
quence of his signal success as a teacher.
He established afterwards a celebrated private
seminary at Hamburg. In search of another
tutor, Major von Humboldt appointed a young
man only twenty years of age, and without

GO SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

the renown of his predecessor, Campe, who
had, nevertheless, awakened great hopes in
the father, which were, as the sequel proved,
abundantly justified. His name was Christian
Kunth ; and, though poverty had compelled
him to discontinue his academical studies, he
possessed, nevertheless, sound knowledge in
Latin, German, and French literature, in philo-
sophy and history. The relation of Kunth to
his pupils, Wilhelm and Alexander von Hum-
boldt, was of the most intimate and affectionate
nature, — • different from such relations in
general ; perhaps with but few parallels ; and
certainly difficult, if not altogether impossible,
in England, even under the most favourable
conditions. Kunth availed himself, in further-
ance of his object, of all the means within
his reach ; and his success not only fortified
the confidence of the parents, but awakened
in the boys a pure and lasting love for their
teacher and guide, — an affection and a con-
fidence > which, through all the various and
eventful periods of their lives, never abated,
but continued in an undiminished degree until
death. "When, in after-life, Alexander was
engaged in his memorable explorations of
distant lands, or when "Wilhelm, the elder
brother, mused upon the ruins of classical

OF BAROX HUMBOLDT. 61

antiquity, it was always their faithful former
tutor and friend who managed in the interim
the property of the brothers at home with
parental care. Kunth endeavoured to assist
and to satisfy the aspirations of his pupils after
universality in knowledge, but did not for a
moment overlook the necessity of a profound
acquaintance with the separate branches. The
former tutor, Canape, had inspired them with a
love for languages and geography ; and Kunth
made these branches an important auxiliary in
their progressive acquaintance with general
knowledge. Both brothers very early mani-
fested their peculiar inclinations. The elder
brother selected mental philosophy, — the study
of the higher results of human intellect and
feeling, and, of necessity, languages, the
natural expression of these results, — the special
field for his labours. Alexander, on the other
hand, devoted himself more exclusively to the
various branches of the physical sciences.

A sad calamity soon visited the family von
Humboldt, in which Kunth had been tutor
since 1777, in consequence of the death of
Major von Humboldt, in January, 1779. The
influence of the widowed Lady Humboldt
became henceforth more conspicuous ; and the
perfect confidence of this high-minded lady in

62 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

the tutor of her sons was so great that she
granted him almost parental rights. The
noble disposition of Madame de Humboldt
swayed beneficially the whole family circle,
and inspired her sons, whose progress was one
of the most important objects of her life, with
an enthusiastic love for herself. An eminent
personage, whose influence upon the mental
progress of both brothers is notable, became,
soon after this sad event, the friend of the
family, — a Dr. Heim, subsequently a most
celebrated physician, and professor of the
University of Berlin. His frequent visits to
Tegel, probably occasioned by the illness of
Major von Humboldt, are of importance ;
because he instructed, after dinner, on each of
these occasions, both boys in the rudiments of
botany, and explained to them the twenty-four
classes of the Linnsean system.

Significant is a remark of Dr. Heim about
this period; viz., that the elder boy, Wilhelm,
without difficulty apprehended the given in-
struction, and almost immediately remembered
the botanical names ; whilst Alexander, eleven
years old, experienced great difficulties, — a
phenomenon which manifested itself on various
other occasions, and made both Madame de
Humboldt and the tutor, for a time, apprehen-

OP BARON HUMBOLDT. 63

sive regarding the capability of Alexander for
any studies whatever.

In the company of Dr. Heim, the young
Humboldts made short excursions in the neigh-
bourhood of Tegel, and witnessed together the
annual review of Frederick the Great at Spandau
on August 19, 1783. In the same year they
removed to Berlin, in order to prosecute in
the capital more advantageously their united
studies. Wilhelm, the elder, was chiefly en-
gaged with ancient languages. In general they
had their lessons together, assisted by private
tutors. Feeble health prevented Alexander
from prosecuting his studies with the same
vigour as his older brother, until, by degress,
both his physical health and his mental capa-
cities improved and developed. The brothers
Humboldt were assisted in their studies by
the ablest men of Berlin : their position and
prospects were most favourable ; and hence
the first years of their youthful days in Berlin
passed away in unmixed happiness. The
love for their native country — characteristic
of both brothers during their whole lifetime —
manifested itself more prominently at this
period. From their earliest childhood on, the
picture of the great Frederick was presented to
them, and with it the ideal reforms and actual

64 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

conquests of Prussia. Not before they were about
to leave Berlin, and to continue their studies
elsewhere, the great king died, and they were
spared the humiliating spectacle of approach-
ing weakness, internal dissolution, and moral
corruption, which subsequently visited Berlin.

Having pursued together their earlier studies,
the brothers entered also at the sa.me time upon
their academical career. The neighbouring
university of Frankfurt an der Oder enjoyed
at that period a high reputation ; and this and
other reasons induced Madame de Humboldt
to select this seat of learning for her sons.
In the company of their friend Kunth they
left Berlin in the year 1786, in the same year
in which Frederick the Great died, and pro-
ceeded to Frankfort, with the intention to
remain for two years. Here they prosecuted
their studies with diligence and success, and
removed in the spring of 1788 to Gottingen,
much to the satisfaction of Alexander, who
manifested daily his great predilection for the
study of natural philosophy ; for in Gottingen
he would have an opportunity to meet a star of
first magnitude, — Blumenbach, the eminent
professor of physical science, — who, in a most
brilliant manner, surveyed and classified the
varied branches and domains of science. Here

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 65

lie would likewise find Heyne, the successful pro-
fessor of antiquity, and Eichhorn, the historian.
At Gottingen, Alexander von Huniboldt received
likewise a new and lasting impulse through
his acquaintance with George Forster, who
had, as previously stated, accompanied, for the
purpose of scientific researches, the celebrated
Captain Cook on his second voyage round
the world. Another two years' residence in
Gottingen brought their academical career to
a close. Alexander had pursued, during this
time, with unceasing diligence, his physical,
archaeological, and philological studies, under
the personal influence of celebrated men. They
were now sufficiently prepared for active life, and
their future career had been positively determined.
The outbreak of the French revolution about
this time, made necessarily a more powerful
impression upon the elder brother, Wilhelm,
who had prepared himself for public life,
than upon Alexander, who engaged in the
more peaceful study of Nature, and her unerring
and unchanging laws. He paid at this mo-
mentous epoch almost exclusive attention to
physical science, to the extension of our geo-
graphical knowledge ; and, encouraged and
animated by his friend Forster, he meditated
upon future Transatlantic explorations.

F

66 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The renown of Werner, of Freiburg, an
eminent geologist, attracted Humboldt's atten-
tion, and in pursuit of this important branch
of the physical sciences, which became hence-
forth one of his favourite studies, he undertook,
accompanied by his friend Forster, in the spring
of 1790, a journey on the Rhine, to Holland
and to England. On his return he published
these first results of his own individual obser-
vations, in a little work, entitled " Mineralo-
gische Beobachtungen iiber einige Basalte am
Ehein " (Mineralogical Observations on the
Basaltic Formation on the Rhine), endeavouring
to establish the Neptunic origin of these rocks,
which, he asserted, owed their formation to the
great revolution of the waters of our earth.

Humboldt next applied himself to book-
keeping, the study of mineralogy and botany, at
an academy in Hamburg ; and it is related that
during the winter months of 1790-91, he often
went out alone in search of those mosses which
blossom during the winter season. His resi-
dence in Hamburg was of short duration.
Anxious to prepare himself for his intended
travels, he resolved to visit the celebrated
mining-school of Freiburg, in order to study
another important branch of science, — Geo-
gnosy,— the composition and formation of the

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 67

crust of the earth, under Werner, equally emi-
nent in both branches, Geology and Geognosy.
The short sojourn of Alexander von Humboldt
at this mining-school, where he met with a
former acquaintance, Leopold von Buch, an
earnest student of botany, and other young
men, all anxious to profit by the teaching of
Werner, proved not only a most agreeable, but
a highly beneficial period in his memorable
career. , After these elaborate preparations he
appeared, at the commencement of the year
1792, not only in his social position, but took
his place amongst the authors of his day.
He received the appointment of Assessor
to the mining and smelting department of
Berlin, but relinquished it after a short time,
in order to superintend some new mines at
Bayreuth, in the capacity of Director- General
of Mines in the principalities of Bayreuth and
Anspach. In this new position he manifested
great zeal in promoting public institutions of a
scientific and educational character, anxious to
improve the condition of the miners. He re-
linquished voluntarily this appointment in the
year 1795. Although he was quietly engaged
in realizing his great object — the exploration
of distant countries — he found in his more
immediate neighbourhood, his practical occu-

F 2

68 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

pation, — continual observation, and the produc-
tion of a series of articles in divers German and
French publications on scientific subjects, —
abundant means to prove his efficiency as a
naturalist.

Humboldt's most important literary produc-
tion at this period appeared in the year 1793,
entitled " Florse Freibergensis Specimen," or
"Flora of Cryptogamic * Growths in the En-
virons of Freiberg," the results of his obser-
vations in the mines of that district, especially
with reference to the fungi, or mushrooms,
which grow there ; together with the Aphorisms
of the chemical physiology of plants, which
contain his observations regarding their irri-
tability, the process of their nutrition, their
colours, &c. It may be said that even now,
after the remarkable changes in this branch
of science during the last twenty-five years,
Humboldt's opinion, confirmed by the clear
and acute manner of his early observations,
still deserves the highest consideration.

Every facility was afforded to Alexander von
Humboldt in his scientific studies at home, and

* A name applied to a class of plants, such as ferns, mosses,
sea- weeds, and fungi, in which the fructification, or organs
of reproduction, are concealed. Etym. : KOVTTTO^ kryptos,
concealed, and ya/^or, gamos, marriage.

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 69

liis position in that respect was most favourable ;
yet lie could no longer suppress his earliest
desires to visit foreign lands, and engage in
Transatlantic explorations. He resigned his
public appointment in the year 1795, with the
view of making some short excursions to Switzer-
land and to Italy, preparatory to his intended
travels in more distant lands. He first visited
Vienna; cultivated in that city the acquaintance
of an eminent geognost, Freiersleben, and used
a beautiful collection of exotic plants, which he
found in the Austrian metropolis, in furtherance
of his study in botany. In the company of a
friend he left Vienna for Italy, with the inten-
tion of visiting more especially the volcanic re-
gions of Naples and Sicily ; but was compelled,
on account of the war, to restrict his researches
to Upper Italy only.

About this time was announced the great
discovery of Galvani, of that force of nature
which has achieved in our days such signal
practical results, and which is called, as well
known, in honour of the discoverer, " Galvan-
ism." Humboldt received this announcement
with considerable interest, and followed and
observed the influence of this power, in va-
rious subsequent experiments. His scien-
tific labours received very sad interruptions

70 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

at this period. His mother, to whom lie was
most tenderly attached, had already suffered
for a considerable time, from increasing in-
firmity ; and in the early part of December, his
brother Wilhelm communicated to him the sad
news of the demise of their excellent parent
on the 20th of November. This painful event,
and the consequent regulation of their family
affairs, caused a short suspension in his scien-
tific labours, and the execution of his projected
travels in foreign lands.

Alexander von Humboldt remained during
this winter with his brother Wilhelm, who had
chosen the university town of Jena for his tem-
porary residence. Here he enjoyed renewed
intercourse with his friend Freiersleben ; and
in the month of February received the visit of
Gothe. His practical study of anatomy, which
he had commenced some time previously,
awakened a lively interest in his brother Wil-
helm, and even in Gothe, who had frequent dis-
cussions with him on the subject of zoology. He
likewise renewed his former experiments, com-
menced in Vienna, with regard to galvanism,
and paid special attention to the laws of the ir-
ritation of the muscles, and the affinity existing
in the nerves of living animals ; and here he
encountered a phenomenon of life, in many

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 71

points analogous to galvanism. The results of
these observations and experiments he pub-
lished in a work entitled " Ueber die gereizte
Muskel und Nervenfaser " (the Irritated Fibre
of the Muscles and the JSTerves), furnishing new
and important information regarding the effect
of galvanic chains from animal substances. His
interest in the phenomena of this power of
nature upon living animals we find in his sub-
sequent observations in South America, with
reference to the peculiar operation of electricity
in so-called electric fishes.

Much regretted by his numerous friends,
Humboldt left Jena in the spring, engaged in
the realization of his plans to visit the West
Indies. Even Gothe had profited by the ani-
mating influence of Alexander von Humboldt
during his short sojourn in Jena ; for in a sub-
sequent letter addressed to Schiller he said :
" I spent my time with Alexander von Hum-
boldt very pleasantly and usefully. My labours
in natural philosophy have been, by his pre-
sence, again aroused from their winter sleep."

A variety of circumstances conspired to
cause delay and disappointment in Humboldt' s
intended travels ; and even a short visit to the
south of Italy was frustrated on account of
the war. For although the French had been

72 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

compelled to evacuate the south of Germany,
in consequence of the victories of the Archduke
Charles, the bold tactics of Bonaparte had
gained many important points — the possession
of the Adriatic provinces, and other victories
in Italy — and forced the Austrian Government
to negociations, which, though considerably pro-
longed, effected no change in the fate of Italy.

In the spring of the year 1798, Alexander
von Humboldt arrived in Paris, at the house of
his brother Wilhelm, whose residence was the
point de ralliement of all the higher educated
Germans. Here he was informed of an intended
expedition, originated by the National Museum,
under Captain Baudin, in order to explore the
Southern hemisphere. His desire of visiting
unknown countries urged him to offer himself
as a companion, even if compelled to defray
his own expenses. Two naturalists had been
already engaged to accompany this expedition
in the interest of science — MM. Michaux and
Bonpland. Humboldt' s first object was to seek
at once the acquaintance of these men. In the
latter — Aime Bonpland — he found a congenial
friend. He was a young man, and one of the
most distinguished pupils of the Medical School
and the Botanical Gardens of Paris. The offer
of Humboldt to accompany this expedition was

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 73

readily accepted, and lie made all necessary-
preparations. He commenced to study the
Arabic language, and animated his brother
Wilhelm to the study of the multifarious lan-
guages of America. Humboldt became soon
acquainted with the most celebrated naturalists
and mathematicians of Paris ; and here he con-
tinued his former researches regarding " the
composition of the atmosphere,5' assisted by the
celebrated physicist Gay-Lussac. He instituted
eudiometric experiments, in order to further
the "chemical analysisof the atmosphere," which
he repeated in all kinds of weather, and in all
seasons. Humboldt rendered important ser-
vices to this branch of science. But already,
at the commencement of his preparations for
the contemplated expedition under Captain
Baudin, he experienced new disappointments.
Clouds arose on every side ; the political horizon
darkened. A renewal of the war in Germany
and Italy was imminent, which caused the post-
ponement of the intended expedition, because
the French Government retained the funds
granted for that purpose. He next proposed
to accompany an expedition of French natu-
ralists to the lower parts of Egypt ; but this
also became impossible, because, after the battle
of Aboukir — which was lost by the French in an

74 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

engagement with the English under Nelson —
the communication with Alexandria had been
suspended. In the early part of the year 1799,
Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by
Bonpland, visited Spain, in order to realize
their intended departure to some Transatlantic
country. But this journey served also as a
scientific excursion. Humboldt, by the aid of
his rare instruments, was enabled to ascertain
the height and astronomical position of many
important points. He ascended the high Den-
telles of the Montserrat, and ascertained the
exact height of the central plains of Castile ;
whilst Bonpland examined the world of plants,
and secured rich treasures. Soon after their
arrival in Madrid, circumstances assumed a
more favourable aspect. The ambassador of
Saxony, M. de Forell, evinced a lively interest
in Humboldt' s plans, and presented him and
Bonpland to the intelligent Spanish Minister,
Don Mariano Luis de Urquijo, by whose influ-
ence Humboldt obtained an audience from the
Spanish Court, at Aranjuez. Here he had an
opportunity of explaining to the King the sci-
entific reasons for his contemplated travels,
and also the material benefits of his probable
discoveries. He was so fortunate in his repre-
sentations, that the King of Spain expressed

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 75

liis entire concurrence in Humboldt's plans, and
granted him the rare permission to explore,
without any hindrance, the Spanish territories
of America; whilst the minister offered his
influence in giving effect to this permission.
Rejoicing at the sudden change of their pros-
pects, they left Madrid in the month of May, in
order to reach the harbour of Corunna.

On their arrival in this harbour, a new obstacle
presented itself. The English had blockaded
it, in order to cut off the communication of
the mother country with her American colonies.
Both travellers had been furnished with letters
of introduction from the Spanish Secretary of
State to the commander of the harbour of Co-
runna, Don Raphael Clavigo, who endeavoured
to make their sojourn as agreeable as possible,
until the blockading English frigates should
clear the port. The corvette Pizarro, lying in
the harbour, was destined to proceed to Havana
and Mexico, but had been likewise detained in
consequence of the blockade. The officer Cla-
vigo advised Humboldt to embark in this cor-
vette, and await a favourable opportunity to
reach the open sea. This advice was accepted
by the travellers, and as they were not only very
anxious with regard to the safety of their
instruments, but wished also, if possible, to ex-

76 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

plore the island of Teneriffe — Clavigo instructed
the captain to secure the former and to land
at the island, and wait until the travellers had
visited the harbour of Orotava, and ascended
the Peak.

At the moment of embarkation Humboldt
wrote a letter to Captain Baudin, reminding
him of his former promise, that if the delayed
French expedition should take place, and he
took the road round Cape Horn, he would
meet him either at Montevideo, Chili, or Lima,
or in whatever part of the Spanish colonies he
might be. In consequence of a severe storm,
the two English frigates and a line-of-battle
ship, which blockaded the harbour of Corunna,
were compelled to leave the coast of Spain, and
seek for a while the more open sea. The Com-
mander Clavigo urged the travellers to seize this
favourable moment. Humboldt and Bonpland
speedily brought their luggage on board, and
embarked in great haste ; but had, in conse-
quence of the increasing western gales, to con-
tend four days with the elements. At last
they succeeded, unobserved by the English
cruisers, in leaving the harbour. They passed
the lighthouse near Corunna in the afternoon
of the 5th of June, and reached towards evening
the open, boisterous sea. Who can describe

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 77

the feelings of Humboldt when, at a late hour
of this summer day, he saw the realization of
the hopes and wishes which he had nourished
for nine years, and in which he had been
so frequently disappointed ! — what were his
thoughts on that evening, about nine o'clock,
when he perceived the light from the hut
of a fisherman of Sisargo — the last visible
object of the western coast of Europe- — which
in the continually increasing distance mingled
with the light of the stars which now appeared
in the horizon. His and Bonpland's eyes were
involuntarily directed to this phenomenon. Hum-
boldt observed many years afterwards, in rela-
tion to this event : " These impressions can
never be obliterated from our memory ! How
many memorials of the past are brought before
our imagination, by even a single illuminated
spot, which appears in the midst of a dark
night, alternately above the moving waves, in-
dicating the shores of our native land."

The travellers passed the small Canary
islands, whose conical rocks and volcanic erup-
tions engaged their attention, and which be-
sides offered many interesting sea-plants. Their
captain mistook a basalt-rock for a fortress,
and despatched one of his officers to the spot.
This gave Humboldt and Bonpland an oppor-

78 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

tunity to set foot on the little island La Gra-
ciosa, — the first ground they touched which
was not European. Humboldt' s sensations on
this occasion are thus expressed : — " It is im-
possible to describe adequately the feeling which
possesses the naturalist who for the first time
stands on entirely foreign ground. Our atten-
tion is attracted by such a variety of objects,
that it is difficult to account for the impression
produced. At every step we expect to discover
new products, and under the influence of these
thoughts, we often fail to recognize those plants
which are the most common in our botanical
and historical collections."

Humboldt expected to see the celebrated
Peak of Teneriffe from a considerable distance,
but found it enveloped in a dense fog. This
rock is not always covered by snow, and is
surrounded near its summit by large blocks of
black lava, and a vigorous vegetation; and
hence is less visible at a great distance.

Humboldt and his companion Bonpland, on
their arrival at Santa Cruz, received from the
Governor, in consequence of their recommend-
ations from the Court of Madrid, immediate
permission to explore the island. They set out
on their tour the very day of their arrival,
because, on account of the English blockade,

OP BAKON HUMBOLDT. 79

their ship could only remain four or five days
in the harbour. They hastened, in order to
reach the harbour of Orotava, and intended
to engage from thence a guide to the peak.
It was the most important object of Humboldt
to examine this rock. A very charming road
conducted the travellers from Laguna, a city
1,620 feet above the level of the sea, to the
harbour. They traversed a country of match-
less beauty. Enchanted by this magnificent
panorama, the travellers reached Orotava, and
proceeded from thence through a splendid grove
of chestnut trees, towards the summit of the
volcano.

Perhaps no part of the globe was more
calculated to increase Humboldt' s desire for
travels, to elevate his thoughts, and cheer his
spirit, than these first tropical sceneries. No
wonder that the naturalist Anderson, who
accompanied Captain Cook on his third voyage
round the world, recommended this island to
all the physicians of Europe, as pre-eminently
fitted for invalids of every kind, calculated to
infuse into sinking hearts and feeble limbs — by
virtue of its genial climate, and the ever-green
picture of a most luxuriant vegetation — new
hope and new strength. His picture is certainly
not overdrawn. Humboldt calls it an enchanting

80 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

garden, and himself experienced the powerful
influence of this great panorama, being highly
susceptible to the sway of nature's beauty,*
though it is possible that in the eyes of the
geologist this island is only a rock of interesting
volcanic formations, indicating different geo-
logical epochs. Humboldt and his. companion
instituted highly interesting observations re-
garding the formation of the Peak of Teneriffe,
its geological history, and the variety of vege-
tation by which it is surrounded. Here he
arrived at most important general conclusions ;
viz., that the inorganic forms of nature —
mountains and rocks — maintain a resem-
blance in all parts of the earth; whilst the
organic forms — plants and animals — always
differ from each other. The rocks, perhaps
older than the causes of the climate, appear
alike in both hemispheres. Humboldt recog-
nised the difference in plants and animals — de-
pending on climatic conditions, and their eleva-
tion above the level of the sea. He made very
interesting investigations with reference to the
geographical distribution of plants and animals,

* ""Whom nature's works can charm, with God himself
Hold converse ; grow familiar, day by day,
With his conceptions ; act upon his plan,
And form to his the relish of their souls."

Dr. Percival.

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 81

and his subsequent extensive examinations in
other parts enabled him to originate the new
science, " The Distribution of Plants and their
Laws." The remarkable powers of observa-
tion of von Humboldt enabled him already,
on the noted Peak of Teneriffe, to recognise the
important influence of various heights upon
the distribution of plants and animals. He con-
tinued his geological observations on the opening
of the volcano with signal success. Here he
collected new materials for his subsequent view
and interpretation of the volcanic agency in the
formation of the solid earth, and the phenomena
of earthquakes.

A sudden glance from their high elevation
upon the sea and along the coast, convinced
the travellers that the Pizarro was ready for
departure. With considerable anxiety they
hastened from the mountain, in order to reach
the ship with all possible speed.

Humboldt obtained from this first and short
excursion on entirely foreign ground, important
scientific lore, in furtherance of his future
explorations. The group of the Canary islands
had been to him a valuable book, the variety
of whose contents, upon a very circumscribed
space, must necessarily conduct a mind like
Humboldt' s to a further and more general in-

G

82 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

sight into Nature's laws. He recognised intui-
tively the true object of the naturalist, and the
importance of special observations. The ground
which we traverse in joy and in sorrow is sub-
ject to constant and unceasing changes, and
displays in its evolution a marvellous activity
in the process of destruction and reproduction ;
it is possessed of a power which regulates and
shapes the chaotic — rivets the planet to its sun
— infuses into the cold and lifeless mass the
animating breath of heat, and shatters the
apparent complete and perfect, and places new
and different forms upon the ruins of the
former. "What power is this ? How does it
create and destroy ?

These were the next and most important
problems which forced themselves on Hum-
boldt's attention, and to the scientific solution
of which he had devoted his life. " What is a
day of creation?" he exclaimed; "will a turn
of the earth round its own axis suffice ? — or
is it the result of a series of millenniums ?
Did the solid earth first rise above the waters,
or did they recede to the interior of the
earth ? Was it the force of water or of
fire which caused the elevation of the moun-
tains, levelled the plains, and marked the limits
of the sea and the land ? What are vol-

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 83

canoes ? How did they originate, how do they
operate ?"

The island of Teneriffe offered to Baron
Humboldt the first practical reply to these im-
portant questions. Here he became thoroughly
convinced of the soundness of that principle
which underlies all his researches ; viz., to re-
gard all isolated bodies only as a part of an
inseparable chain, ranging throughout all parts
of nature, the result of general great causes
and effects ; to discover the thread of unison in
the apparent labyrinth of infinite multiplicity ;
not to regard with indifference the seeming
small, but learn to perceive the great in the
small, the whole in the part. In this sense the
volcano of Teneriffe became to Humboldt a key
to the great secrets of the united life and acti-
vity of our planet. He apprehended the various
means which Nature employs in order to con-
struct and to destroy; the history of a part
afforded the means to solve the history of the
whole. The fire of the volcanoes which he ex-
amined in the island of Teneriffe had been long
extinguished, but the remaining traces became
to Humboldt large letters, enabling him to com-
prehend the mighty element which once per-
vaded our earth, penetrated its crust, buried
men, animals, plants, and cities, by means

G 2

84 > SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

of earthquakes ; and which, still permeates its
veins in the interior of the earth, in order to
shake here and there violently the ground, or
discharge, by means of its ventilators, the
mouths of volcanoes, flames and burning lava.
This is what Baron Humboldt taught us.

On his further voyage towards Central
America, Humboldt witnessed a beautiful and
sublime sight, in the night of the 4th to 5th
of July, under 16° latitude, the sparkling con-
stellation of the southern cross. At this first
sight of the phenomenon of a new world, he
saw, with deep emotion, the realization of the
dreams of his early childhood. What he felt at
this hour of his memorable life, he discloses in his
own words : — " If we commence to cast our eyes
on geographical maps, and peruse the accounts
of travellers, we are inspired by a love for certain
countries and climes, for which, in riper years,
we can scarcely account. These impressions
influence, very materially, our decisions ; and
we endeavour almost instinctively to come in
close connection with those objects which had
for a long time a secret charm for us. When I
commenced to study astronomy, I experienced
a fear unknown to persons who lead a sedentary
life. It was painful to me to renounce the hope
of seeing the beautiful constellations near the

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 85

south pole. Impatient to explore the territories
of the equator, I could not raise my eyes
towards the starry sky without thinking of the
southern cross and the sublime passage of
Dante :"—

When to the other pole mine eyes I turn'd,
And there beheld four planets on the right,
By none save those in Paradise discern'd :
Heaven seem'd to view their lustre with delight.
0 northern region, how bereaved art thou,
These starry splendours banish'd from thy sight ! *

The hitherto prosperous passage of Humboldt
and his companion assumed an alarming aspect
in consequence of a malignant fever which seized
several of the passengers, and increased the
nearer they approached the Antilles. Those still
preserved from infection resolved to leave the
ship at the first opportunity, and continue their
journey by the next vessel sailing their way.
They persuaded the captain to land his passen-
gers at the harbour of Cumana, on the north-
eastern coast of Venezuela. This circumstance
caused a change in Humboldt' s plans, and
induced him, for the first time, to visit the coasts
of Venezuela and Paria, still but little known,
and to continue afterwards their journey to

* Dante, translated by J. C. Wright, M.A. Fourth
edition : Purgatorio, p. 150, 19 — 25.

86 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

New Spain. They left the ship at Cumana, and
thus the accidental disease became the more
immediate cause of the great discoveries of
Humboldt in these territories — on the Orinoco
to the confines of the Portuguese possessions
on the Rio Negro.

The forty- one days which occupied their
passage from Corunna to Cumana enabled both
Humboldt and Bonpland to make important
observations relative to the temperature of the
air, based on the material which science had
already afforded them. Another very interest-
ing phenomenon engaged Humboldt during this
voyage, — viz., the colour of the sky. He not
only enjoyed the splendid changes of colours,
from soft green to a beautiful yellow and red,
as reflected in the sea, but he yielded involun-
tarily to the impressions which the azure above
produced. He examined the cause and effect
of this phenomenon, and became the first na-
turalist who instituted scientific observations
upon the sea near the equator, with reference
to the colour of the sky. Already, in 1765,
Deluc called the attention of scientific men to
the azure of the sky, and inquired into the cause
and the condition of this phenomenon ; and, in
1791, Saussure invented an instrument, which
he called " Cyanometer," This instrument was

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 87

used by Humboldt on this occasion with con-
siderable success, in ascertaining the degree
of the blue, and the nature of those vapours
in the atmosphere which are not transparent.
At Cumana the travellers witnessed the traces
of an earthquake which had taken place
eighteen months previously. Humboldt exa-
mined the coast, the town, the fortress, and
the vicinity. This place, frequently visited by
earthquakes, afforded him the material for a
thorough investigation of the volcanic soil.
He studied the history of this phenomenon in
order to obtain more correct views ; to discover
the direction and the expansion of these earth-
quakes, and to bring them under a yet undis-
covered law. On the 9th August, 1799, the
travellers made their first excursion to the
peninsula of Araya, a place formerly noted
for its slave-trade and its pearl-fisheries. They
found, after the exploration of a forest of con-
siderable extent, in the hut of an Indian family,
a hospitable reception. Having spent two days
in exploring these regions, they proceeded soon
afterwards to the missions of the Chaymas
Indians, a district of wonderful plants and
animals, and a people still in their primitive
condition. They passed through a district
covered by trees of gigantic height and dimension.

88 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

"When," said Humboldt, in describing this
place, " a traveller finds himself for the first time
in the forests of South America, he encounters
most extraordinary and astonishing phenomena
of nature. The environs are but little calculated
to remind him of the description of distin-
guished travellers with regard to the shores of
the Mississippi, Florida, and other temperate
parts of the New "World ; for here, in Central
America, the traveller perceives at every step
that he is not on the confines, but in the very
heart of the torrid zone. It would be, perhaps,
difficult to say which feeling dominates in the
mind of the spectator of these magnificent scenes;
whether it is the awful silence of the solitude,
the splendour of the various forms of nature,
the vigour and luxuriance of the vegetation
which distinguishes the climate of the tropics."
What feelings must have been awakened in
Humboldt at the sight of these varied and
captivating scenes ! In this part he saw, like-
wise for the first time, the peculiar and artistic
nest of the oriola, a bird related to the thrush,
whose hoarse noise pierces through the forests,
and surpasses the roaring of some considerable
cataracts in the neighbourhood. He had also
the advantage of becoming acquainted with the
mode of life of the monks in these missions.

OF BAECXN1 HUMDOLDT. 89

The old prior smiled at Humboldt Js researches,
his instruments, and the collection of dry plants ;
all which he pronounced useless things, whilst
he asserted " that, in his opinion, of all the
enjoyments of life, sleep not excepted, nothing
could equal a good piece of beef."

Humboldt explored the volcanic regions of
these parts, visited the principal place of the
mission, the Convent of Caripe, the other
stations, San Antonio and Guanguana, and
the cavern Guachoro, in the valley of Caripe.
He was the first who acquainted Europe with
the existence of this cavern ; in the interior of
which, according to the tradition of the abori-
gines, the spirits of their ancestors dwell; to
them a sacred place, in which no one ventured
to enter. The travellers reached the town of
Cariaco, which they immediately left on account
of a contagious disease, and returned to Cumana,
where Humboldt continued his studies respect-
ing the tribes and the languages of the Indians,
with whom he had already become acquainted.
His second visit to Cumana was characterized
by more extraordinary events. It appears that
Humboldt and Bonpland took their accustomed
walk on the shores of the gulf, on the evening
of October 27th, 1799, when they were sud-
denly attacked by a Zambo, a mixture of the

90 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AKD ACHIEVEMENTS

negro and the Indian, who aimed a mortal blow
at Humboldt with a heavy club, which he
fortunately evaded; whilst a second stroke
aimed at Bonpland felled him to the ground.
He arose with the assistance of Humboldt, and
the very moment the Zambo attempted to meet
the united self-defence of the friends with a large
knife, Biscayan merchants appeared upon the
scene, rescued the travellers, and captured the
Zambo. Humboldt noticed, from the 10th
October, a red vapour which covered the sky
for some minutes each evening, and was
soon succeeded by other remarkable pheno-
mena of the air ; the fog became more dense,
the hot night-air smelled offensive, the usual
sea-winds were absent, the sky assumed the
colour of fire, violent eruptions of the ground
occurred in divers places. These preparatory
phenomena culminated, on the 4th November^
in an earthquake, — a memorable afternoon for
Humboldt, who, for the first time, witnessed
this great phenomenon and shared its dangers.
The impression which this event produced, and
the manner in which he acquainted himself
with its dangers, he records in these words : —
" From our earliest childhood we acquire a
notion that the water is the movable, and the
earth the immovable element. This early con-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 91

ceived notion we encounter every day. A sudden
violent shock of the ground dispels in an in-
stant all former delusions. It is a sudden
awakening, and a disagreeable one. We become
convinced that the apparent quiet of nature has
deceived us ; henceforth the least noise arouses
our attention, and, for the first time, we begin
to suspect the safety of the ground upon which
we have walked so long with unshaken confi-
dence. A repetition of these shocks, at short
intervals during several days, will again dispel
the uncertainty ; man gathers new courage and
confidence, and becomes, by degrees, as well
acquainted with the vacillating condition of the
ground as the experienced mariner regards the
violence of the waves which toss his ship to and
fro."

Only a few years ago, when Humboldt, after
the lapse of fifty years, recalled these events, he
said : "An earthquake has something omni-
present in itself, whose influence we cannot
escape. Even the lizards, which quietly live
at the bottom of the rivers, run on that occa-
sion, with a peculiar noise, indicating extreme
fear, towards the forest. Everywhere, in the
presence of this phenomenon, man stands on
dangerous ground."

A third violent shock, on the same evening,

92 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

towards nine o'clock, accompanied by a sub-
terranean noise, caused a state of great con-
sternation amongst the inhabitants of Gumana.
Many persons came in great haste to Humboldt
and Bonpland, in order to ascertain if their in-
struments indicated further repetitions. The
sublime spectacle of that afternoon must have
exercised a marvellous influence upon Hum-
boldt, if we consider the part of the world where
this great phenomenon manifested itself, and the
rare powers of description possessed by him
who recorded this event. In an immeasurable
height above, and with accelerated speed, the
thunder roared, whilst at the same moment the
earth was violently shaken; add to this the
terror of the people, who filled the air with cries
of despair and amazement. Watch the sequel
to this terrible picture of the raging elements
of destruction which convulsed the earth ; — a
magnificent sunset, upon an indigo -blue sky,
lined with golden clouds, and illuminated by
prismatic rays of colour ; whilst in the interior
of the earth a threatening noise accompanied a
new shock.

On the 18th November, Humboldt and his
friend Bonpland left Cumana, in order to
make a voyage along the coast to Guayra,
and remain to the close of the rainy season at

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 93

Caracas ; visit subsequently the extensive plains
— Llanos,* near the Orinoco ; pass the mighty
river south of the cataracts, and follow its course
upward to the Rio Negro ; approach the frontier
of Brazil, and return by way of Guiana —
whose capital is called Angostura — to Cumana.
This was a journey of more than five hundred
* miles, two-thirds of which must be executed
in boats. Furthermore, the districts to be
explored were as yet unknown, and with the
existing missions in these regions no commer-
cial intercourse ha'd been established. Courage
and resolution, animated by a zeal for the
advancement of science, were here, as always,
the guides of Alexander von Humboldt. The
unfavourable descriptions of the colonists, who
represented to him in vivid colours the multi-
farious dangers incident to his intended journey,
with reference to the ground, the wild beasts
and savages he must encounter, did not daunt
Baron Humboldt : he pursued with unfailing-
steps his great purpose. He reached safely
the harbour of New Barcelona, near the mouth
of the Rio Eeveri, noted as a favorite abode of
crocodiles. Here he observed from a hill the

* A vast plain of more than 16,000 square miles, witlioiit
an elevation, and called by the inhabitants "Mar de
Yerbas," — sea of herbs.

94 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

level of the sea, in order to ascertain the geo-
graphical longitude of the place. He left on
the day following, and his companions, fearing
the danger of the small conveyance on a bois-
terous sea, resolved to continue their journey
by land, together with Bonpland, who proposed
to institute botanical researches. Humboldt,
accompanied by a single pilot, crossed the sea *
to Guayra, whose harbour is a resort of sharks,
and its environs more like a desolate rock than
a continent. He remained only a few hours,
chiefly on account of the ravages of the yellow
fever, and reached, on the evening of November
21st, Caracas ; whilst his companions, after a
difficult journey in these inhospitable and damp
regions, arrived four days later.

The sight of Caracas, a town which con-
tained at that time above 30,000 inhabitants,
and where Humboldt remained two months,
awakened in him serious and gloomy thoughts.
One might almost suppose that he had a
kind of presentiment with regard to the
fearful calamity which, in 1812, visited the
place, when an earthquake buried 12,000 in-
habitants under its ruins. Fogs descended
nightly from the mountains, and enveloped the
valley ; the environs reminded Humboldt of
the well-known " Harzgebirge " and its pine-

OF BABOX HUMBOLDT. 95

trees. The valley of Caracas, Humboldt calls
a paradise — an abode of perpetual spring —
where even in the night the temperature is not
below 18° Celsius.

The more immediate object of Humboldt' s
scientific investigation was the Silla,* an im-
portant mountain, whose summit nobody living
near its foot had yet been able to reach ; and
hence he experienced some difficulty in ob-
taining the necessary guides. The Governor,
however, procured the assistance of a few
negroes. On the day appointed for the expe-
dition— January 22nd, 1800 — sixteen persons
assembled in order to accompany Humboldt
and Bonpland. The exploit, which the guides
hoped to accomplish in six hours, proved
difficult, but rewarded abundantly the adven-
turers, by unfolding to them magnificent scenes
of nature's beauty; but demanded also a
considerable amount of courage and perse-
verance— unfortunately not possessed by all the
attendants of Baron Humboldt ; for they had
scarcely proceeded half-way, when most of them
were disheartened, — amongst them a Capuchin
monk, who was a professor of mathematics,
and had shown a considerable amount of

* Silla de Caracas, or Cerra de Avila — height 8,100 feet.

96 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

courage at the outset. He remained half-way
in a plantation, from whence he watched, by
the aid of a telescope, Baron Humboldt and his
more resolute companions, who climbed with
difficulty upward. At a height of six thousand
feet they met still with pastures, covered by
the blackberry-bush and little yellow flowers
in the form of lilies. In vain did Humboldt
hope to find a wild rose, of which he met not a
single species in all his travels in South
America, with the exception of the Montezuma
rose, in 19° latitude, on the mountains of
Mexico.

On the summit, Humboldt enjoyed, with his
friend Bonpland, a magnificent view, similar
to that which had met him seven months
previously on the Peak of TenerifFe. From
this elevation he surveyed a landscape of rare
beauty, where a savage nature, not yet subdued
by man and civilization, exercised undisputed
sway over regions perhaps as extensive as the
whole of France ; a beautiful and wide solitude,
usurped by a savage vegetation, wherein the
voice of human joy and sorrow had never yet
been heard. On the precipice of an abyss of
eight thousand feet stood Baron Humboldt, en-
raptured by the sublime spectacle before him,
until the evening fog and the approaching

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 97

niglit compelled the renowned travellers to
descend. Having completed their observations,
they reached, at ten o'clock in the evening, a
ravine, where they had to pass a perilous road,
in order to find a resting-place for the night
in the rock, aggravated by the fact that their
guides had secretly sneaked away, which com-
pelled them to carry their instruments, they
suffering at the same time from hunger and
thirst.

We have more especially noticed these travels
in order to show in Baron Humboldt that coura-
geous perseverance which does not hesitate at
the prospect of difficulties and dangers, having
constantly one great object in view — the ad-
vancement of science and a more intimate ac-
quaintance with the world. No distance could
deter him, if the peculiarities of a country and
its natural treasures required investigation;
and hence he left Caracas, and wandered in the
extensive plains, the Llanos, rarely ever trodden
by human feet. For the same reason he did
not choose the shortest road ; because his finely
organized perceptions of nature's beauty would
not permit him to forego the sight of the
splendid valleys of Apogua ; his scientific zeal
urged him to examine the more important
parts of the mountain-chains near the coast ;

H

98 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

descend the Eio Apure, which winds its way
through these extensive plains to the mouth of
the Orinoco. The same object brought him
likewise to the warm springs of Mariara, on the
luxuriant shores of the Valencia Sea, and the
extensive pastures of Calaboza, in the eastern
parts of the province Varinas, and to San Fer-
nando de Apure, on the Rio Apure.

This journey conducted Baron Humboldt,
during the month of February 1800, through
the valleys of the Tuy, where he visited the
sugar-plantations, the gold-mine, the noted
zamang-trees, with their gigantic branches, the
colonies at Hacienda de Oura, and the cot-
ton-plantations near Cura ; he examined the
condition of agriculture in these regions, and
subsequently reached the Sea of Valencia.
Here he commenced important investigations
regarding the decrease of the water of this sea ;
and discovered the cause in the destruction of
the forests, the cultivation of the soil and of
indigo, and likewise the dryness of the atmo-
sphere.

In the environs of Mariara, Humboldt
found also the lofty tree " Yalador," whose
winged fruits he, together with Bonpland,
collected and transmitted to Europe, which
now grow in the gardens of Berlin, Paris, and

OF BAROX HUMBOLDT. 99

Malmaison. He himself declared that the
numerous trees now to be found in many hot-
houses of Europe came originally from the one
which he discovered near Mariara. On his re-
turn from Porto-Cabello, on the road to the
beautiful valley of Araguay, Humboldt met, at a
farm called Barbula, the celebrated cow-tree,
whose remarkable qualities he had long doubted.
Here he stood by the side of this tree, which,
by a slight incision, yielded a sweet aromatic
milk, and furnished the negro with a healthy
kind of food. This tree deserves special notice
in the memorable life of Humboldt ; for he him-
self stated that, amongst the great number of
remarkable phenomena he had witnessed in his
travels, few made such a lasting impression
upon him as the sight of this cow-tree, because
everything related to milk and grain awakens
in man involuntarily a lively interest, which has
not alone its origin in the desire to become
more intimately acquainted with nature and
her productions, but which is interwoven with
the general idea of mankind, that without milk
and grain their existence would have been im-
possible. This is probably the origin of the
religious veneration with which both ancient and
modern peoples have ever regarded corn, and
the animal which furnishes milk. The universal

H2

100 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

notion that milk is only an animal production,
must all the more forcibly strike us at the sight
of a milk-yielding tree, whose existence had long-
been doubted. " Here/' said Baron Humboldt,
" are no beautiful forests, no majestic courses
of rivers, no mountains enveloped in per-
petual snow, which must powerfully impress
us : the few drops of the juice of a plant remind
us of the omnipotence and the fertility of
nature. On the barren slope of a rock grows
a tree, whose leaves are dry and tough, whose
roots penetrate with difficulty the stony soil ;
for several months during the year no rain
refreshes its withering leaves, its branches
seem decayed; but if you bore the stem, a
mild and nourishing milk flows from it. At
sunrise this vegetable source is the richest,
and the natives approach from every direction
with large basins in order to collect the milk,
which soon produces on the surface a kind of
cream. Some consume their milk under the
tree, others bring it to their children, and we
fancy we see the assembled household of a
shepherd distributing the milk of his flock."
Humboldt relinquished his intended visit to the
eastern issues of the Cordillera of New Granada,
in order not to delay too long his voyage to the
Orinoco. His chief object was now to discover

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 101

the connection of the Orinoco, the Rio Negro,
and the Amazon. On the 6th of March he left,
with his companion, the valleys of Araguay, in
order to continue his journey through the desert,
whose peculiar character, in contrast to the
African desert, engaged his particular notice.
Baron Humboldt traversed the pastures in
these immense plains, covered by gigantic
grasses, and here he noticed the breeding of
horses and other cattle, which furnish an article
of export for the harbours of the north coast.
By way of Calaboza he continued his travels in
the midst of the desert, the Llanos of Caracas,
where he encountered a new and interesting
object of observation — the electric fishes — gym-
notes. He traversed this wilderness for two
days without any indication of a road, and
where the eye does not even meet a single
object five inches high. Much to his surprise,
he discovered a small society of Capuchins. On
April 20, 1800, Baron Humboldt arrived with
his attendants at San Fernando de Apure.
He remained three days in that place, in order
to examine the district so frequently visited by
inundations — reminding us of the lower parts
of Egypt — where the Orinoco and the Amazon,
in consequence of a peculiar water system, find
their natural connection. He sailed down the

102 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Orinoco, rich in fishes, tortoises, &c., and on
whose shores birds not unfrequently furnished
their meal. In sight of any important object
presented to his view, he took his notes ; to
this he generally adhered, because in the face
of the object under observation any such notice
bears the seal of truth.

Humboldt proposed to sail down the Apure,
and ascend the Orinoco ; and proceed sub-
sequently to examine the Rio Negro. The
brother-in-law of the governor of Yarinas, Don
Nicolas Sotto, accompanied Baron Humboldt
on this expedition. The amiable character and
cheerful spirit of this gentleman often banished
from the mind of the naturalists the difficulties
and dangers of this voyage. It is certain that
any one less courageous would have shrunk
from such an expedition ; for tigers and other
wild beasts were not at all alarmed by the
approach of the boat ; and crocodiles, 18 to 22
feet long, looked with confidence and unconcern
on the travellers. The wild grandeur of nature,
and the traditions which the negroes related
with reference to this river, much interested
Humboldt and his companions. A severe gust
of wind and the awkwardness of the pilot
nearly caused a fatal accident — the boat almost
capsized ; the papers and other things belonging

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 103

to Humboldt were already under water; and in
a remarkable manner the great explorer and his
friends were preserved from a watery grave.

Tho Orinoco, though still about 194 miles
from its source, is here very broad, and near
Pararuma the pilot would not proceed further.
Humboldt hired another ship from a missionary,
and continued his journey on the upper Orinoco
on the 20th of April. The difficulties and
dangers they had to encounter were numerous
and varied : first, the inadequate room of their
ship ; the fires they had to keep in the night,
in order to chase away the jackals, who sur-
rounded their resting-place ; the oppressive
heat ; the troublesome mosquitoes ; and other
inevitable impediments, too numerous to relate.
Baron Humboldt said, in retrospect of these
days, " that only a naturally cheerful disposi-
tion, mutual kindness, and a soul alive and
susceptible to grand scenes of nature's beauty,
could vanquish such difficulties and privations."

An unusual rise of the river afforded Hum-
boldt an opportunity of instituting observations
regarding the condition of the waters. On his
voyage on the upper Orinoco, the ship passed
several smaller rivers — its tributaries ; espe-
cially the greater Meta, which much resembles
the Danube. They passed the city of Atures,

104 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

where Humboldt, besides the missions, visited
tlie great cataracts,* which produced a lasting
impression on his mind. This was the case also
at the sight of the cataracts of Atures and May-
pures, where the travellers remained five days.
He visited afterwards San Fernando de Ata-
bapo, and continued his voyage on the Cassi-
quiare, which in reality unites the Orinoco and
the Rio Negro. At the little place called Atabapo
a new route had been projected, at the suggestion
of the principal of the mission in that district.
Humboldt and his companions resolved, ac-
cordingly, to navigate first the river Atabapo,
and follow afterwards the course of the rivers
Temi and Tuamini. Baron Humboldt found
himself suddenly in an entirely new country,
and on the shores of a river whose name he
had never before heard. He penetrated regions
where man had scarcely left a trace of his

* " Cloud-girdled thunder ! embodied storm !
Whether enrobed in vapours dark and dun,
Or looms, magnificent, thy giant form
Through the prismatic broidery of the sun.
Wondrous alike ! what floods have swept thy brow
Since the bold plunge of thy primeval wave !
From whose tremendous advent, until now,
Thou hast not paused nor failed. Yon boiling grave
Hoars from its depths the song creation gave."

Howison.

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 105

existence. Indians, man-hunters, inhabited
these deserts, and caused frequent annoyance
to the missionary stations. In these wild re-
gions of America, Humboldt believed himself
translated to that period when the earth became
gradually inhabited. He appeared in these
primitive regions a witness to the first forma-
tion of human society. The human beings
with whom he here became acquainted knew
no other object of worship than the forces of
nature.

On the 6th of May Baron Humboldt reached
the Rio Negro, noted on account of its serpen-
tine course, after he had spent thirty-six days
in a narrow boat, on a most perilous voyage.
The rise of a single person from his seat, without
giving due notice to the pilot, would have
caused the boat to overturn. Although Hum-
boldt suffered much from the sting of insects,
the unhealthy climate and other inevitable
difficulties had not injured him ; and therefore,
on his arrival at the isthmus of the Orinoco and
the Amazon, he reviewed with satisfaction his
past dangers and difficulties, supported by the
assurance of having accomplished the most
important object of this voyage, viz., that of
determining astronomically the course of that
arm of the Orinoco which flows into the Rio

106 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Negro, and of confirming its existence, which
had been for half a century both asserted
and denied. Baron Humboldt's experience in
these regions was of the greatest importance,
for the purpose of rectifying the mistakes of
existing maps.

Humboldt's feelings in sight of this region,
in close approximation to the equator, are best
expressed in his own words : — " In these interior
parts of America we become almost accustomed
to regard man as something non-essential in
the order of nature. The earth is overburdened
by a vegetation unrestrained in its process of
development. Immense banks testify to the con-
tinual operations of organic forces; the crocodile
and the boa rule the rivers ; the jackal and
other wild beasts rove without fear or danger
through the forests. The sight of a luxuriant
nature, in which man is nothing in comparison,
is strange and saddening. Here, in a most
fertile region, ever green, one searches in vain
for traces of human activity, and believes oneself
to be in a different world. These impressions
become fortified in proportion to their duration."

Baron Humboldt visited the various Roman
Catholic missions which are here dispersed ;
amongst others Maroa, and the still more
southern fortress St. Carlos — the extreme

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 107

southern military post of the Spaniards, and
scarcely two degrees from the equator. At
this station he had the option either to descend
the Amazon towards the coast of Brazil, or,
on the river Cassiquiare and Orinoco, to reach
again the north coast of Caracas. The latter
route was chosen by him. The voyage on the
river Cassiquiare was, independent of other
difficulties, much aggravated by the presence of
the mosquitoes, whose number increased the
further they removed from the Rio Negro. He
found only miserable Christian settlements on
the eastern and the almost uninhabited western
shore of the river. The human beings which he
encountered ate with the same satisfaction the
large ants which here abound as the Australians
their spiders. But Baron Humboldt found here
a still greater barbarity — the eating of human
flesh. Only a few years before his arrival in
these primitive regions, an alcalde, born here,
had eaten one of his wives, having carefully
fattened her. The protest of the Europeans
against this detestable usage was of no avail.
These different tribes looked upon each other
as different beings, and claimed the same right
to slay each other as they had to kill the jackal
in the forest.

Baron Humboldt called this voyage on the

108 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

river Cassiquiare the most difficult of all his
American expeditions. At last, having success-
fully overcome all obstacles, he and his at-
tendants arrived, on May 21st, 1800, three
miles below the mission Bsmeralda, the current-
bed of the Orinoco. The division of this mighty
river Humboldt called an imposing spectacle ;
and in sight of the granite rock, 7,800 feet
high, where the arms of the river divide, the
remembrance of past dangers and difficulties
dwindled away — he was amply rewarded, and
science enriched, by most valuable acquisitions.

Here Baron Humboldt collected valuable
information and important material for com-
parative hydrography. His general researches
furnished most valuable contributions to the
history of physical geography. In these regions
he decided the physical relation of the soil,
compared equal phenomena of the Old world
with the condition of the soil in Central
America, and gave to science an insight into the
analogy of the process of formation in nature,
and in the existing laws of our planet with
reference to the structure of its water-veins.

At the mission of Esmeralda, Humboldt be-
came acquainted with the noted poison called
curare, prepared from the fruit of a plant
of the same name. His experiments with this

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 109

poison proved that if it immediately mixed with
the blood, in consequence of a wound, it would
be deadly ; whilst, taken internally, it was an
excellent means of strengthening the intestinal
parts.

Baron Humboldt positively established the
union of the Orinoco and the Amazon; and
achieved this scientific conquest, partly by
means of his own penetration to the cataracts,
and partly through the information obtained
from soldiers from San Carlos, who had under-
taken an expedition in order to discover the
sources of the former river. This region was,
before his time, entirely unknown, and to pre-
vious historians a pure enigma. The discovery
of the sources of the Orinoco was reserved to
a later traveller, Schomburgh,* who explored

* At the last anniversary meeting of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, May 22nd, 1865, the President, Sir
Roderick Murchison, commented in his obituaiy on the
career of this extensive traveller, Sir Robert Hermann
Schomburgh. " By his journey," said the President of the
Royal Geographical Society, " across the interior, from the
Essequibo to Esmeralda, on the Orinoco, he was enabled to
connect his observations with those of his illustrious country-
man Humboldt, who had always been his patron, and thus
to determine, astronomically, a series of fixed points, ex-
tending across the watershed of the great rivers of Equatorial
America. Humboldt was stopped at San Carlos, on the
Rio Negro, but Schomburgh descended the mighty affluent

110 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

these regions in the interests of the Geogra-
phical Society of London.

The continued voyage on the upper Orinoco
brought the travellers, May 3rd, to the eastern
shores of the river, near " Puerto de la Expe-
dicion," where they examined the Cavern of
Ataruipe — probably the burial-place of a
whole tribe which here perished. In a short
period Baron Humboldt discovered six hundred
skeletons, well preserved, and regularly laid
out in baskets. He examined closely the pecu-
liarities of these graves, and brought away
some skeletons and skulls, which the natives
very reluctantly removed. On a silent and
beautiful night, Humboldt left this place of
death — the place of the extinction of a whole
tribe of Indians.

After a voyage of seventy-five days, during
which time they had travelled three hundred and

of tlie Amazon to its junction with the Rio Branco, and re-
turned to Guiana, by ascending the latter stream. During
this remarkable journey, he made a survey of an extensive
and previously unknown region. In the year 1840, M.
Schomburgh received one of the Gold Medals of the Royal
Geographical Society. During his researches in South
America, he discovered and sent home the magnificent lily,
Victoria regia, now so well established in Europe. Sir
.Robert Schomburgh died at Berlin on the llth March,
1865."

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. Ill

seventy- five geographical miles, under consider-
able difficulties and dangers, and on five great
rivers — the Apure, Orinoco, Atabapo, Rio
Negro, and Cassiquiare — the illustrious tra-
vellers arrived in the middle of June, 1800, at
Angostura, the capital of the province of
Guiana.

After a short sojourn in this city, Baron
Humboldt and Bonpland undertook an expedi-
tion, by way of St. Domingo and Jamaica, to the
island of Cuba, in order to ascertain the geo-
graphical position of the southern parts of
this island. They returned again to South
America, explored the valley of Cauca, the
river Magdalena, and the Cordilleras of Quin-
din, Choco, Quito and Peru. On June 23rd,
1802, the travellers arrived at the Chimborazo,
and reached the height of 3,036 toises,* a height
never before attained by any mortal.

In December, 1833, Boussingault — the only
person, as far as I could ascertain, who again
ascended this mountain — though he did not
reach the summit, yet climbed four hundred feet
higher than Baron Humboldt. The travellers
explored subsequently the territory near the
Amazon, of whose course Humboldt prepared
a geometrical sketch. For the fifth time they
* 18,31 6 feet English.

112 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

crossed the high chains of the Andes, returned
to Peru, ascertained the position of the mag-
netic equator, visited the rich silver-mines of
Hualguayok, where silver is found 2,000 feet
above the level of the sea ; they examined the
hot springs of Caxamarca, and the ruins of the
ancient city of Mansiche, with its old pyramids,
in one of which was accidentally discovered, in
the early part of the 18th century, pure gold
of the value of more than four million francs.
Humboldt and his friend Bonpland crossed the
western Cordillera of the Andes, and arrived at
Truxillo, where they for the first time enjoyed
the sight of the Pacific, surveying at the same
time the long and narrow valley, noted on account
of the entire absence of either rain or thunder.
He explored the arid regions of the south coast
of the Pacific, and arrived at Lima, the capital of
Peru. Here he sojourned for several months,
and instituted important climatic and astro-
nomical investigations. Baron Humboldt ex-
amined a remarkably cold river on the coast
of Peru ; and in after-years, science, in recog-
nition of the important services of the great
naturalist, called the waters " Humboldts-
Stromung."

The travellers reached, by way of Cuernaraca,
and through the fogs of Guchilaque, the beauti-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 113

ful city of Mexico. In January, 1804, Hum-
boldt undertook a greater excursion in order
to examine the eastern Cordillera of Mexico.
The heights of the volcanoes Popocatepetl and
Iztacchiuatl he measured trigonometrically ;
he also ascended the pyramid of Cholula, in
consequence of the beautiful view it affords of
the snow-covered summits of the surrounding
mountains and the valleys of Tlascala.

Having finished these observations, the tra-
vellers visited Perote and Xalapa, where they
passed through almost impenetrable forests of
oak and pine. Humboldt succeeded, never-
theless, in measuring this district three times
with the barometer ; and in consequence of the
results of these observations, a high road was
made through these regions. His prolonged
sojourn in this part, and the results of his
numerous and varied observations, rendered
valuable service to science. After other inter-
esting investigations, Humboldt and his friend
Bonpland arrived at Yera-Cruz, on the Gulf of
Mexico, where they took passage on board a
Spanish frigate for Havana, in order to take
possession of the valuable collection which they
had left there in the year 1800. Two months
afterwards they departed for the United States
of America, and, after a violent storm on their

I

114 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

passage, which raged for seven days in the
canal of Bahama, arrived in Philadelphia.
- During his short residence in the United
States, Baron Humboldt — in contrast to his
former investigations — made himself acquainted
with the political institutions, and the condition
of the people of these states, and returned, after
an absence of five years, to Europe. In the
month of August, 1804, the renowned travellers
landed at the harbour of Bordeaux.*

The safe arrival of Humboldt and his com-
panion caused unfeigned delight amongst their
numerous friends, and more especially to the
family of his brother Wilhelm, who occupied at
that time the post of ambassador at Rome.

* Professor Agassiz — to whom Humboldt proved himself
a kind and generous friend — is at this time pushing forward
his explorations in South America. His party consists of
four divisions, one of which has for its field the peninsula
lying south of St. Paulo and between the Parana River and
the Atlantic Ocean. The second division has the sea-coast
extending from Bio de Janeiro to Bahia, and as far west-
ward as San Francisco River. The third division has the
interior, lying west of the San Francisco and between the
tenth degree of south latitude and the tropic of Capricorn.
The fourth division, at the head of which is Professor
Agassiz himself, has for its tract the great valley of the
Amazon, including its tributaries. This and the coast
section are the most interesting, if not the most important,
fields.

OF BAKON IIUMBOLDT. 115

Madame de Humboldt, his wife, after a visit to
Weimar, remained for some time in Paris, still
hoping for the speedy arrival of Alexander,
notwithstanding the many sad rumours con-
cerning his fate. It appears that in the month
of March of that year, Wilhelm received a letter
from Havana, in which Alexander announced
his immediate return to Europe. A rumour
had been widely circulated that Baron Hum-
boldt, shortly before his embarkation, had
become a victim of the yellow fever, and though
this news had not been confirmed, it produced
in the family of his brother, at Rome, a con-
siderable amount of excitement. We can,
therefore, in some degree, imagine the sur-
prise of Madame de Humboldt, when, in May,
1804, the news of the safe arrival of her
renowned brother-in-law, together with his
valuable collections, at Bordeaux, was com-
municated to the National Institute of Paris,
and at once, through the kindness of the Secre-
tary, transmitted to her. Equally great was
Alexander von Humboldt 's surprise to find,
on his arrival in Paris, his sister-in-law, Madame
de Humboldt, because he had not expected to
see his brother and family before the commence-
ment of the following year, at Rome.

Humboldt commenced, soon after his arrival

116 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

in Paris, to arrange, with the faithful friend and
companion of his travels, the abundant material
which had been collected. He received the co-
operation of the most distinguished men of
Paris, viz., Cuvier, Gay-Lussac, Arago, Vau-
quelin, Oltmann, Laplace, and others. Nearly
a whole year was occupied in preparation
for the publication of his great work. In the
spring of 1805 Alexander von Humboldt could
no longer resist his earnest longing to see
Wilhelm, and he left accordingly for Rome,
with the intention to remain for some time.
The house of Wilhelm von Humboldt was at
this time the centre of a circle of the most
eminent persons present in Rome, and the
arrival of Alexander must have added very
materially to its lustre. To witness the meeting,
after a separation of some years, of these
remarkable brothers,* who were so tenderly
united by love, and intellectually so great and
intimate, must have been a sublime spectacle.
Wilhelm, above all others, could comprehend
and appreciate the new views of his brother
concerning the great phenomena of nature in the
New World ; and he, himself, in consequence of
Alexander's discoveries, could realize a more

* The brothers Humboldt were called " German Dioscuri."

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 117

universal stand-point in his special department
of classics and politics.

A new phenomenon of nature, and in the im-
mediate vicinity of Rome, called Alexander von
Humboldt, in the summer of 1805, away from
the city. Vesuvius gave indication of greater
activity, and an eruption appeared imminent.
Humboldt, accompanied by two friends, Leo-
pold von Buch and Gay-Lussac, who had come
purposely to Italy in order to witness this phe-
nomenon, arrived on the 12th of August, during
a remarkable eruption. The experience which
Baron Humboldt had already obtained with
regard to the volcanic phenomena of the earth,
and the presence and assistance of celebrated
men of science, made these observations more
especially valuable. He added new experience
to his former observations of the magnetic
needle, already commenced during his resi-
dence at Paris in 1798. He examined more
especially the magnetic properties of certain
kinds of rock.

Alexander von Humboldt left Italy for Berlin,
where he remained during the years 1806 and
1807, and had to witness the sad political
degradation of his country, but where he
nevertheless achieved new scientific conquests.
He continued his observations of the mag-

118 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

netic needle ; and his numerous investigations
during his travels, at this time, and subse-
quently, on one and the same magnetic needle,
not only animated other able naturalists to in-
stitute similar observations, but furnished the
material afterwards used by Biot in the calcu-
lation of the magnetic equator.

Humboldt had, together with Gay-Lussac,
with whom he entered into a most intimate
elation, continued these observations, and dis-
covered that neither the great mountain-chains,
nor yet the active volcanoes, exercise a per-
ceptible influence on the magnetic force, but
that it gradually changes with the distance
from the equator.

It is supposed that Baron Humboldt prepared
one of his few w^orks in the German language
in Berlin, because in the following year (1808)
appeared his " Ansichten der Natur," dedicated
to his brother Wilhelm. The powerful impres-
sion produced on Wilhelm von Humboldt by
a perusal of this work is strikingly reflected in
a poem, in recognition of this dedication, which
Alexander concealed from the eyes of the world
until the death of Wilhelm. In this poem Wil-
helm placed himself amid the same wild and
sublime nature, in the midst of the undeveloped
higher existence, and realized also the conscious-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 119"

ness and the hopes of the new world unfolded
to his view. He compared the poverty and
the grandeur of the new with the old world ;
he placed the Pelasgians and Greeks vis-a-vis
to the Indians ; and discovered in the contrast
mighty laws of historical life.

After Baron Humboldt Js return to Paris, he
pursued more exclusively his literary labours,
and the supervision of the gradual publication
of the great work concerning his American
travels. These results of varied and import-
ant investigations embraced many branches of
science. His studies and observations afforded
rich material for further researches and com-
parisons ; and it became absolutely necessary
for Baron Humboldt to unite with other scien-
tific men, in order that special attention might
be paid to the several departments of science.
The most distinguished men of the day con-
sidered it an honour to co-operate with Hum-
boldt in this gigantic work. The whole is
written in the French language, and divided in
different series of. publications, relating to the
special departments of science. In the regula-
tion of the collected astronomical observations
and barometrical measurement of heights
Oltmann laboured successfully under the guid-
ance and with the assistance of Humboldt ;

120 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

in the chemical and the meteorological depart-
ments, Arago and Gay-Lussac assisted ; the
zoological part of the work was enriched by
valuable contributions from Cuvier and La-
treille ; in the mineralogical department, Vau-
quelin and Klaproth afforded valuable assist-
ance ; in botany, Professor Kunth of Berlin
lent his aid.

This great work is entitled, "Voyage aux
regions equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent,
par A. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland," of which
a folio and an octavo edition appeared ; besides
an " Atlas geographique et physique, " and a col-
lection of picturesque drawings. Four volumes
contain more especially a description of his
American travels : " Eelation historique." The
comprehensive nature of this colossal work may
be superficially estimated, considering that, in
spite of its commencement forty years ago, and
the assistance of a number of able and com-
petent men of science, its completion reaches
our own time.

A survey of the whole work, irrespective of
the time in which the various parts appeared,
but rather in harmony with the order of the
date of the discovery of the original material,
furnishes us with the " Yue des Cordillieres et
Monuments des Peuples indigenes de TAme-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 121

rique," in two volumes, containing sixty en-
gravings, black and illuminated; a striking pic-
ture of the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics ;
the formation of the mountain- chains of the
Andes, and an interesting account of the origin,
manner of life, travels, languages, &c. of the
natives; likewise important observations with
reference to the ancient architecture and monu-
ments of the primitive inhabitants of Mexico
and Peru. Two volumes, " Bssai politique
sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne,"
with an atlas, and the " Essai politique sur
Tlsle de Cuba," furnish a valuable picture of
the political condition of Mexico and Cuba, and
afford still, in spite of the great changes in
those parts, excellent information regarding
them.

The observations of Baron Humboldt with
reference to the various kinds of animals —
zoology, are contained in two volumes, " Eecueil
d5 Observations de Zoologie et d'Anatomie com-
parees, faites dans un voyage aux Tropiques,"
in which section, as already intimated, Cuvier
and Latreille offered valuable assistance. The
science of botany comprised a series of works,
and was the most important field of Bonpland's
labours. This faithful friend and fellow-labourer
of Humboldt had, during, their travels, collected

122 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

above 6,000 kinds of new plants, observations
upon which enabled Humboldt to open new
avenues with regard to the laws of plants and
their relation to the earth. The great work,
" Essai sur la Geographic des Plantes," and
a still more elaborate account in the " Prolego-
mena de Distributione Geographica Plantarum
secundum coeli temperiem et altitudinem mon-
tium," establish in a striking manner, enriched
by manifold experience, the importance of geo-
graphy with regard to botany, and the imme-
diate relation of the geography of plants to
their history and the science of climate.* It
shows, furthermore, how the number, the rela-
tion, and the local distribution of plants must of
necessity vary in accordance with general laws
in the different zones, from the pole to the
equator ; from the depth of mines and the
bottom of the sea, to the summit of mountains
covered perpetually with snow ; relatively to the
geographical position of the locality, and the
condition of the environs. The special history
of the new discoveries in botany Humboldt
was obliged to leave to his fellow-labourers.

* See the profound essay of Mr. William Hopkins, of
Cambridge, "On the Causes of Changes of Climate at
Different Geological Periods," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.
London, vol. viii. p. 56.

OF BARON IJUMBOLDT. 123

Thus Bonpland alone published two works,
viz., " Plantes equinoxiales au Mexique, dans
1'Isle de Cuba, dans les Provinces de Caracas,
Cumana," &c., a methodical description of plants
in the French and Latin languages, with notices
regarding their medical qualities and industrial
applications. The other work is called " Mono-
graphie des Rhexia et des Melasthomas," fami-
lies of plants almost exclusively confined to
South America, and, for the most part, trees
and shrubs.

In the departments of geology and astro-
nomy, Humboldt contributed a series of works.
With the assistance of Oltmann, two volumes
appeared : * ' Observations Astronomiques," which
contained the results of Humboldt' s observations
between 12° S. and 41° N". lat., with regard to
the passage of the suns and the stars through
the meridian ; with reference to eclipses, the
refraction of the rays of light in the torrid
zone, and likewise barometrical mensuration
of the Andes of Mexico, Venezuela, Quito, and
New Granada.

Humboldt furnished an interesting history of
the geological formations of the earth in the
Old and the New World, in his " Essai sur le
Gisement des Eoches dans les deux hemi-
spheres." The price of a single copy of the

124 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

folio edition of this comprehensive work of
Baron Humboldt's travels, closely connected in
its separate divisions, was, even in 1844, when
many parts which we now possess had not
yet appeared, about £391 (2,700 Thaler), twice
as much as the well-known national work of
France, " Description de TEgypte," and for
whose completion the French Government had
to advance about £115,000 (800,000 Thaler).

The enormous expenses of the whole edition
become evident from the price of a single
copy, and more so when we learn that the cost
of printing, paper, and engraving, for this
gigantic work, amounted to more than 226,000
Thaler (about £32,487. 10s.). Yet this great
literary undertaking has been successfully ac-
complished by the assistance of the intelli-
gent public in all parts of the civilized world,
and the great pecuniary sacrifices of Humboldt
himself.

From the year 1808, Alexander von Hum-
boldt lived almost exclusively in Paris. In
1811 he visited Vienna to take leave of his
family (his brother Wilhelm being at that
time the Prussian Ambassador to the court of
Austria), before setting out on his projected
journey to Central Asia and Tibet. The Russian
Government had made an offer to Baron Hum-

OP BARON HUMBOLDT. 125

boldt to acompany an expedition by way of
Kaschghor to Tibet, which was at once ac-
cepted. He was anxious to visit the noted
mountains of India, in order to ascertain their
geological relation to the mountains of the
New World. Unfortunately the outbreak of
the war between France and Russia, in 1812,
frustrated this project, and Humboldt returned
by way of Vienna to Paris, still determined to
execute this journey on some future day. For
this purpose he studied for some years the
Persian language, and decided to proceed by
way of Teheran or Herat to India. He
acquired a theoretical knowledge of the struc-
ture of the mountain-chains of Asia, and could
give a satisfactory opinion with reference to
the achievements of naturalists who had already
visited the Himalayas. A variety of circum-
stances made this projected journey especially
attractive to Baron Humboldt. The table-
land of Central Asia, where tradition places the
cradle of mankind, the mountains of India, the
remarkable conditions of the limits of perpetual
snow — inspired Baron Humboldt with a pecu-
liar love for the study of Asia. Although the
French Government and the King of Prussia
had, in the interest of science, offered assistance
in furtherance of Humboldt' s intended explora-

126 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

tion of Asia ; circumstances wilicli we cannot
here discuss, caused the abandonment of this
plan.

Towards the close of the year 1818, Hum-
boldt left Paris. In that year he experienced the
painful separation from his friend Bonpland—
a separation for ever in this world. The fate of
this eminent naturalist — -the faithful companion
and participator in Humboldt's perilous explo-
ration of America — awakens a lively sympathy.
It appears that soon after his return, with Hum-
boldt, from America, his amiable disposition
made him a general favourite in Paris. The
Empress Josephine being passionately fond of
flowers, Napoleon appointed Bonpland — with
whom he had become acquainted — Director of
the Gardens of Malmaison, which contained
already a splendid collection of exotic plants.
After the downfall of the Empire, he left France,
and proceeded, as Professor of Natural Philo-
sophy, to Buenos Ayres.

For a long time nothing was heard of Bon-
pland, until at last the news of his sad mis-
fortune reached Europe, and came thus to the
knowledge of his friend Humboldt. Bonpland
had originated an Indian colony in the interior
of Paraguay — at St. Anna, on the eastern
shores of the river Parana; and visiting this

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 127

place in the year 1820, lie had scarcely arrived,
when soldiers surrounded him, and took him a
prisoner to St. Martha, after they had first
destroyed the plantations. This violent act
was due to the revenge and the selfishness of
the Dictator of Paraguay, Dr. Francia. This
personage had long watched with a jealous eye
the tea plantations established by Bonpland on
several points of Brazil ; tea being the principal
article of export of that country. Bonpland was
detained at St. Martha, where, however, he was
permitted to be at large and practise as a
physician.

Humboldt immediately interceded on his
behalf, and made representations to all his in-
fluential friends ; but unfortunately his inter-
cession produced no favourable result at Para-
guay. It was not until the year 1829 that
Bonpland regained his liberty, and returned to
Buenos Ay res.

In the month of September, 1818, Alexander
von Humboldt arrived in London, where he met
his brother "Wilhelm, who at that time occupied
the post of Prussian Ambassador there, and who
had taken considerable interest in the suppres-
sion of piracy, and the extinction of the slave-
trade. Alexander appeared also in an official
capacity. The Allied Powers had instructed

128 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

him to prepare a political survey of the colonies
of South America. In the month of October,
the King of Prussia called him to Aix-la-
Chapelle, where he remained until the 26th
November. From thence he returned to Paris,
where he lived for a series of years exclusively
engaged in his studies.

No European city afforded Baron Humboldt
greater facility in furtherance of his objects;
there he enjoyed immediate intercourse with
his celebrated friends and fellow-labourers,
Arago, Gay-Lussac, Julian, Cuvier, Valan-
ciennes, and others ; Paris being, moreover, at
that time, a great intellectual centre.

In the autumn of 1822, the King of Prussia,
on his road to the congress of Verona, met with
Alexander von Humboldt, and invited him to
accompany him on a tour through Italy, espe-
cially to Venice, Rome, and Naples. During
that period — from November 22nd to De-
cember 1st — Humboldt ascended Vesuvius three
times, in order to repeat his former obser-
vations, conducted in August, 1805, in com-
pany of Leopold von Buch and Gay-Lussac, and
also in order to examine the condition of the
borders of the crater after the recent eruption.

At the beginning of the year 1823 he arrived
with the King of Prussia in Berlin, where he

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 129

enjoyed for a brief period the society of the
most noted men of the capital, and returned
soon again to Paris, in order to accelerate the
publication of his great work. It had long
been the wish of Wilhelm von Humboldt to
see his brother Alexander permanently esta-
blished in Berlin. Now he received a formal
invitation from the King of Prussia, who was
anxious to secure his society and scientific
counsel. It is, however, certain that it was
not the favour of this accomplished prince that
determined Baron Humboldt' s choice. It was
his brother Wilhelm, for whose society he
yearned, with whom he was united by more
than one tie, and from whom he had been so
long and constantly separated. After the ne-
cessary arrangements in Paris, he arrived in
Berlin, and his brother Wilhelm said already, in
a letter addressed to Gentz,* May 21st, 1827,
" Alexander is now permanently established
here; he is very active and cheerful, and we often
speak about you." Henceforth he lived in the
immediate society of the King, whom he ac-
companied on his varied journeys, and only for

* The celebrated " Scliriftsteller - Staatsmann," — this
writer-statesman — -justly and happily so termed by Varn-
hagen von Ense. — (See Edinburgh Review, January, 1863,
P- 44.)

K

130 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

a short time he paid an annual visit to t!ae
French capital, which had become to him, in
consequence of numerous associations and long
residence, a second home. In Berlin, Baron
Humboldt met many of his former friends, and
especially, on his arrival, the celebrated Baron
von Stein, and in May, A. W. von Schlegel, who,
after an absence of twenty years, arrived again
in Berlin, he having been appointed, through
the influence of Wilhelm von Humboldt, in the
year 1818, a Professor of the University of
Bonn. The presence of Schlegel was more
especially marked by his public lectures " on
the History of Art and Science," patronized by
a numerous and intelligent portion of the
public. The society of these eminent men
exercised necessarily an animating influence
upon Alexander von Humboldt, and on July 3rd,
he delivered, before the Academy of Sciences,
a lecture on his favourite subject, " The Causes
of the Difference in the Temperatiire of the
Earth."

Here he commenced also, on November 3rd,
1827, the sixty-one lectures, already mentioned
in the earlier part of this essay, on Physical
Cosmography — a sketch of his celebrated
" Cosmos," the results of his long observa-
tions and researches in all the various depart-

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 131

ments of science. The anxiety manifested by
all classes of society to hear these lectures, in-
duced Baron Humboldt to commence a second
course at the same time, intended for a more
mixed audience, in the music-hall of Berlin.

His brother Wilhelm remarked, in a letter
addressed to a friend in Vienna, who regarded
every extraordinary phenomenon as something
of a demoniacal nature : " Alexander is indeed a
c puissance,' and has gained, in consequence of
these lectures, a new kind of renown. They
are unsurpassable ! It is now, as it always has
been, a characteristic of his to exhibit a pecu-
liar timidity, an undeniable diffidence, in the
manner of his public appearance."

Alexander von Humboldt yielded to a general
wish, expressed in all parts of Germany, and
supported by the press, to consent to the publi-
cation of these lectures, in order to enable the
intelligent public to become acquainted with
them, and he resolved accordingly to have them
published, under the comprehensive title —
" Cosmos." — A variety of circumstances delayed
the publication for several years.

We have already noticed that Baron Hum-
boldt postponed his contemplated journey to
Asia, in 1812, on account of the war of France
and Russia. In 1827, during the time Hum-

K2

132 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

boldt delivered his public lectures in Berlin,
the Emperor Nicholas of Eussia made him the
munificent offer to undertake an extensive
journey through the Eussian Empire, at the
sole expense of the crown, and with the express
wish to regard the possible advantages which
might accrue to mining and industry, in con-
sequence of his researches, as an entirely imma-
terial object of this journey, the advancement of
science being of paramount importance.

Humboldt accepted this generous offer, though
he could not immediately set out on his
journey. During his preparation, in 1828, the
Society of Naturalists — originated by Oken —
held their seventh annual meeting in Berlin,
and elected Alexander von Humboldt and Lich-
tenstein the presidents. The practical mind of
Humboldt found here new scope. It appears
that this annual meeting did not adequately
fulfil its object, because the various branches of
science were not distinctly divided, and the
enormous accumulation of material could not
be thoroughly surveyed, much less properly es-
timated, considering the limited time of their
assembly. Humboldt at once recognised this
defect, and proposed a division into different
sections, which would enable the members to
communicate their more special experience in

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 133

separate departments, and to indicate any
further progress ; whilst the collected material
belonging to science in general, might be re-
served for united consideration.

Humboldt opened this scientific meeting with
a most important speech concerning the object
and the value of these annual gatherings ;
and his opinion, as usual, exercised a powerful
and animating influence upon the whole civi-
lized world. A few years afterwards both England
and Italy originated similar associations and
meetings, whose influence and importance is
every day more widely recognised.

The career of Alexander von Humboldt,
though on the whole very prosperous, was
nevertheless, as has been already shown, inter-
mixed with disappointment, care, and anxiety.
To this was added, in the year 1829, a sad
bereavement. Madame von Humboldt, the wife
of his brother "Wilhelm, had been for some years
in a feeble condition of health. She had re-
ceived temporary relief from the waters of
Gastein, to which she again resorted in the
summer of 1828. She returned with her husband
in the middle of September to Tegel, and soon
afterwards the chronic disease assumed such
an alarming aspect, that, towards the close
of November, she was in a state of gradual

134 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

dissolution. The feelings of Alexander on this
occasion may be estimated by the profound
sentiments which he exhibited in his private
life, and in the description of his memorable
travels. The sight of his beloved brother, who
mourned hopelessly at the deathbed of a most
tender wife, he himself watching the gradual
approach of the threatened hour of final dis-
solution of his dear sister-in-law, so highly
accomplished, and of such noble and gentle a
disposition — what a pain and anguish to his
own soul ! The final dissolution of Madame
von Humboldt was, however, prolonged far
beyond expectation, and she lingered to the
new year, 1829. On Sunday, January 22nd, after
a visit to Tegel, Alexander von Humboldt gave
a description of the dying Madame von Hum-
boldt to his friend Rahel ; * and his few words
testify his profound grief: "She was dying,"
he said ; " she opened her eyes and said to her
husband, ' I am ready 1 ' She herself welcomed
death. But in vain. Again she rallied and
participated in the passing scenes. She prayed
much." This state continued until March 26th,
1829. On that day the news arrived in Berlin
that death had at last relieved Madame von
Humboldt from her long sufferings.

* The. wife of Yarnhagen von Ense.

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 135

Her early departure caused considerable grief
and mourning. Her various travels had brought
her in an intimate relationship with the chief
celebrities in science and art, and her house in
Rome, Vienna, Paris, and Berlin was always
the centre of a most refined and intellectual
society.

Alexander von Humboldt remained with his
brother Wilhelm until April 12th, 1829, when
he left Berlin on his journey to Central Asia. He
had endeavoured by all possible means to soothe
the grief of his brother, and in anticipation of
the probable results, which the absolute loneli-
ness of Wilhelm at Tegel, mourning over the
grave of his Caroline, might cause ; considering
the peculiar trait of sentimentality and of
enthusiasm which distinguished Wilhelm von
Humboldt, — Alexander interceded on behalf of
his brother with the King, intimating that
active service would be the best antidote to his
overwhelming grief. Certain it is that soon
after Alexander's departure the King called
Wilhelm von Humboldt to Berlin, in order to
preside over a commission charged with the
internal arrangements of the new museum — a
post for which he was pre-eminently qualified.
On April 12th, Alexander von Humboldt took
leave of his brother, and proceeded on his

136 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

second journey, — the exploration of the interior
of the great Russian empire, to the Ural, the
Altai, and the Caspian Sea.

We had occasion, in the earlier part of this
sketch, while giving a glimpse of Humboldt's
position as a man of science in the world of
knowledge, to refer to this journey. Baron
Humboldt was accompanied by Gustav Rose
and Ehrenberg, and in order to afford every
facility to the renowned traveller, the Russian
minister, Count Cancrin, noted as a friend and
protector of science, caused every arrangement
to be made which could insure the comfort
and the security of the travellers. A mining
officer, Menschenin, was ordered to be the
constant attendant of Baron Humboldt, in
order to give the necessary information re-
garding the route and the localities, and to
demand, in case of need, the assistance of the
authorities. Enjoying, by this means, all the
comforts of imperial hospitality, the travellers
left Petersburg May 20th, and proceeded by
way of Moscow on their journey. Near
Mschnei-Novgorod, they embarked, and ar-
rived, after a short voyage on the Yolga,
June 4th, at Kasan. They examined the Tartar
ruins near Bulgari, the ancient capital of
the Mongols, and continued their journey by

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 137

way of Perm to Ekatharinburg, on the Asiatic
slope of the Ural mountains. There Humboldt
remained four weeks, during which time he
made a series of important investigations on the
middle and northern part of the mountain-
chain, which afforded most interesting material
with regard to their position and formation, and
their metallic contents. " Their highest peaks
(according to Sir Roderick Murchison — Silwria,
chap. xix. p. 480) rarely rise above 5,000 to
6,000 feet." The manner of their expansion,
and their position in the meridian, reminded
Humboldt of the analogous position of the
Andes of America. The central and northern
parts of the Ural mountains are auriferous, more
especially where the alluvial formations pre-
dominate. This circumstance led Humboldt
to interesting investigations, and, in spite of his
short sojourn of only four weeks, he attained
splendid results with reference to the com-
position and the formation of the alluvial strata,
which contain gold * and platinum, the existence
of new metals, and the condition of the different
formation of rocks.

It would no doubt be a matter of surprise how

* " No country furnishes a clearer example than Russia,
of the dependence of gold on certain geological and mineral
relations." — Siluria, third edition, chap. xix. p. 479.

138 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

all this could have been accomplished in such a
limited time, if we were not already acquainted
with the great diligence, and the remarkable
powers of observation possessed by Baron
Humboldt.

It is possible that the peculiarities of this
mountain-chain induced Sir Koderick Murchi-
son to examine the Ural in the year 1842.
The results of his elaborate investigations are
contained in his Siluria, chap. xix. ; and at
pages 479-80, occurs the following important
passage : — " The study of this Uralian chain
enabled me to suggest, in the year 1844,
by comparison of the rocks of the two
countries, that Australia would also prove to
be an* auriferous region. The survey of the
Ural mountains in 1842 led me further to define,
within certain limits, the period when the
Silurian rocks were chiefly impregnated with
gold, and also to affirm that gold, as a distinct
metallic mass, is of younger date in that
region than the associated ores of copper
and iron."

Humboldt visited the noted magnetic moun-
tain Blagodad, and the celebrated topaz-bed of
Murzinsk, ^near Nischnei-Tigitsk, which re-
minded him of Choco, in South America;
Humboldt found a piece of solid platinum,

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 139

weighing more than eight kilogrammes. After
he had determined the astronomical position of
several localities, made magnetic observations,
and ascertained various heights, he continued his
journey from Ekatharinburg by way of Ijumen
to Tobolsk, on the Irtisch ; and further by way
of Tara, through the horrible Borabinskian
desert. This wilderness, noted on account of
its numerous insects belonging to the family
of the Tipulse — a region notorious throughout
the land, and especially dreaded by those who
dwell near it, — Humboldt traversed with the
same self-sacrifice and perseverance in the
service of science, which we already admired in
his heroic exploration of the Orinoco.

On August 2nd, Humboldt reached Barnaul,
on the shores of the Obi ; from thence he visited
the picturesque sea of Kolywan, and the rich
silver-mines of Biddersk and Zyrianowskoi, on
the south-western slope of the Altai, whose
highest peak Bjelmha is equal in height with
Etna.

From Biddersk he took a southern direction,
towards the small fortress of Ust-Kamenoigorsk ;.
and arrived by way of Buchtorminsk on the
frontiers of the Chinese Dsungarey. Here he
obtained permission to pass the frontiers, which
enabled him to visit the Mongol station of Bati,

140 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

and arrived, August 17th, in about the centre of
Asia, north of the Dsaisang sea.

On his return to the fortress of Ust-Kamenoi-
gorsk, Humboldt observed on the lonely shores
of the river Irtisch, in an expanse of more
than 16,000 feet, enormous masses of granite
in an horizontal position, underlaid by clay-
slates, parts of whose strata appeared in per-
pendicular position, and partly at an angle of
85 degrees. This phenomenon became of great
importance to Humboldt, with reference to the
formations of granite.

From the fortress above named the travellers
journeyed through the steppes of Ischim towards
the South Ural; visited Semipalatinsk, Omsk,
&c., and arrived at Mjask. From this place
Humboldt undertook several excursions in the
environs ; and discovered in this district, on a
small space, and only a few inches below the
surface, three pieces of solid gold. Continuing
his journey southward, he arrived at Orsk, where
he examined the noted strata of green jasper,
and collected other valuable material for geolo-
gical investigations on the river Jaik, which
broke through the mountain- chain in a north-
western direction.

Humboldt pursued his journey to Orenburg,
where he arrived by way of Gruberlinsk, on

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 141

September 21st. At this place, where caravans
of some thousands of camels annually arrive,
Humboldt became acquainted with a M. de
Gens, a well-informed man, much interested
in the geography of Asia, relative to which he
had collected a considerable amount of valuable
material.

This gentleman afforded important informa-
tion to the naturalists, the results of his own
travels. He acquainted Humboldt with the
existence of a high mountain, once a volcano,
which, in consequence of violent storms sup-
posed to be occasioned by it, still alarmed the
passing caravans. Passengers are in the habit
of sacrificing sheep to this mountain, which is
situated in a north-eastern direction from the
great Balcasch lake, which receives the waters
of the river Ili. This information Gens had
obtained from a Tartar ; and Humboldt imme-
diately remembered the volcanoes, described in
Chinese books as situated at a considerable
distance from the sea, and which had aroused
the curiosity of geologists in consequence of
the representations of Klaproth and Amusat.
Humboldt, furnished with additional informa-
tion by the Russian director of police at Semi-
palatinsk, further investigated this subject with
special care ; and in order to establish the

142 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

organic connection of this noted volcano with
other phenomena and the condition of the
soil, Humboldt published, soon after his return
from this expedition, a most interesting account
of the geography of this zone, still but im-
perfectly known. He next examined the noted
salt-mine of Ilezk, the principal place of the
Uralian Cossacks ; visited the German colonies
on the Volga, in the department of Saratow,
the great salt lake Elton, the beautiful settle-
ment at Sarepta, and arrived in the middle of
October at Astracan on the Caspian Sea.

The more immediate object of this journey to
the Caspian Sea was the minute chemical
analysis of its waters — being the most important
lake known; a task specially undertaken by
Gustav Rose. Humboldt instituted likewise
barometrical observations, in comparison with
his measurements of Orenburg, Sarepta, and
Kasan ; and hoped lastly for some zoological
acquisitions, intending to collect fishes in the
Caspian Sea, in order to complete, by the addi-
tion of new specimens, the great work of Cuvier
and Valenciennes, on fishes. For this purpose
Humboldt and his companions undertook a
short fishing voyage on the lake.

Having accomplished the desired investiga-
tions, the travellers returned from Astracan, by

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 143

way of the isthmus which divides the two rivers
Don and Volga, in the vicinity of Tischinskaya ;
through the country of the Don Cossacks,
through Woronesh and Tula, and arrived again
at Petersburg November 13th. Here Humboldt
only remained as long as his obligations towards
the Court and Government required, and until
his collections had arrived. On December
28th, 1829, he reached the city of Berlin in
perfect health and safety.

Baron Humboldt had been absent from Berlin
from April 12th, until December 28th; and
rarely has been, in so short a time, a more
extensive territory investigated ; for, in little
more than eight months, a journey of 2,500
miles had been accomplished ; considered in a
direct line, nearly one-half of the whole circum-
ference of the earth.

The important results of this journey, already
noticed in the earlier part of this sketch, will
be found in the " Reise nach dem Ural, &c."
by Humboldt, Ehrenberg, and Rose.*

* In retrospect of his first visit to Russia in the year
1840 — eleven years after Baron Humboldt — Sir Roderick
Murchison, the President of the Royal Geographical Society,
in his address at the Anniversary Meeting, May 22, 1865,
said : — " When we look back to the condition of the
geography of Russia in the year 1840, when I first visited

144 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Although Alexander von Humboldt had
selected Berlin as his permanent residence, the
publication of his new works required a pro-
longed residence in Paris, in order to obtain the
personal co-operation of his scientific friends.
Thus he lived alternately in both cities. The
French Revolution of 1830 caused a sudden

that country, and consider its present advanced state, we
may truly say that the strides made in the quarter of a cen-
tury which has elapsed are most surprising. At that time
there was not even a reliable map of Russia in Europe ; no
railroad had been commenced, and now such lines of com-
munication are in the course of extension over wide tracts
of European Russia. Nay, more, the electric telegraph is
about to be carried on the one hand across Eastern Siberia
and Mongolia to Pekin, and on the other from the mouth of
the great river Amur northwards, to the shore of the Sea
of Okutsk, passing by Kamschatka to Behring's Straits ;
across which there will be no difficulty in establishing a sub-
marine cable. Thence traversing Russian North America
and running along the shores of British Columbia, this gigan-
tic line will terminate in California and the United States."
The numerous important changes which have been made in
the position of places and the contour of the vast countries
of Eastern Siberia, and all that portion of Asiatic Russia
which borders Mongolia and China, will soon appear in a
general map, the numerous and laborious researches on
which it is founded, being mentioned in the Compte Rendu
of the Imperial Geographical Society. Other highly im-
portant works in the great province of the Caucasus, and
the results of the surveys around and soundings in the
Caspian Sea, are also enumerated.

OP BAEON HUMBOLDT. 145

agitation in Europe; political changes were
imperatively demanded; and Germany in
general, and Prussia in particular, were placed
in critical positions. Though Alexander von
Humboldt had never taken any active part* in
political matters, the peculiar nature of the
difficulties to be encountered, the absolute con-
fidence of the King of Prussia in Humboldt5 s
integrity, and the fact that in his scientific
sphere he belonged to two nations — for the
French considered him a great contributor to
their national literature, and an honour to their
country ; whilst Germany claimed him as her
natural son — all these circumstances singled
him out as pre-eminently qualified to act as a
mediator between two nations who were equally
proud of his renown.

For this purpose, Alexander von Humboldt
undertook, at the request of the King of
Prussia, a diplomatic mission to Paris, in order
to congratulate Louis-Philippe and the new
dynasty on their accession to power. His
brother, "Wilhelm, had likewise been called from
private life, and had been appointed a Coun-
cillor of State. Thenceforth, the two brothers
lived almost exclusively together. While the
elder brother contemplated the laws of the
intellectual and historical life, or examined

L

146 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

the traces of departed nations and their lan-
guages, and had his researches not nnfrequently
concentrated on one single point, the younger
brother surveyed the physical aspect of the
globe. Both found their point of union again
in the study of the various races of men, their
intellectual capacities, and the variety of their
languages.

Alexander von Humboldt must about this
time have paid a visit to Gothe, at Weimar,
because in a letter addressed by the poet to
"Wilhelm von Humboldt, December 1st, 1831,
we find the following passage : — " I am much
indebted to your brother, for whom I cannot
find a surname, for a few hours of unrestrained
conversation ; and although his geological
views, and manner of investigation, make my
cerebral systems altogether impossible, I have
observed, with sincere regard and admiration,
how facts of which I cannot convince myself,
appear to him perfectly clear, and in absolute
continuity with his comprehensive acquaintance
of nature, preserved intact by the rare symmetry
of his amiable character."

Already in the year 1830 Wilhelm von Hum-
boldt regarded the vigorous health of his brother
a fortunate phenomenon, and cherished the
hope that he, if the survivor, would watch over

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 147

his literary remains ; for lie could not conceive
better hands to which this legacy could be
entrusted. Alas ! this expectation was soon
realized. Only for a short time were these
remarkable brothers permitted to live more
closely together ; during which time Alexander
entered in an intimate relation with the friends
of his brother Wilhelm: with Gothe, Wolf,
Frau von Varnhagen, Korff, Cotta, Gentz, &c.
Many of the friends of Wilhelm von Humboldt
had been already called away ; amongst them,
Niebulir and Stein in the year 1831 ; Gothe and
Gentz in 1832 ; Hegel and Schleiermacher. In
the winter of 1834-35, Wilhelm von Humboldt
was seized by weakness, during his residence
at the Castle Tegel, attended by his eldest
daughter, Caroline. Alexander, who resided
in Berlin, watched with anxiety the state of his
brother's health. His physical prostration and
bended gait awakened his apprehension. A cold
which seized him, in addition to his other ail-
ments, on visiting the tomb of his deceased
wife on the return of her birthday, accelerated
his demise. On April 8th, 1835, he expired in
the arms of his brother Alexander. During
the last death-struggles of his beloved brother,
Alexander addressed a letter to Varnhagen,
which expressed his profound grief at the

L2

148 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

early departure of Willielm ; and in a subsequent
letter to Arago, April 10th, he relates the sad
loss of his brother in these words : — " Je suis
dans le plus profond abattemeiit. Dans les
plus grandes douleurs on pense a ceux qui
nous sont les plus chers ; je me sens un pen
soulage en vous ecrivant. . . . Je reste bien
isoleV'

Alexander von Humboldt honoured the
memory of his departed brother, above all, by
the regular publication of his literary works.

Soon after this sad event, Humboldt was
again exclusively engaged in his scientific in-
vestigations ; and contributed continually to the
general acquisitions of science. The publication
of the results of his expedition to Central Asia
demanded still his principal attention : a variety
of other scientific works already commenced,
and especially his " Critical Examinations with
reference to the Historical Development of the
Geography of the New World, and the Progress
of Nautical Astronomy in the 15th and 16th
Century." In four regular divisions, Humboldt
treated of, — 1. "the Causes which originated and
accomplished the discovery of the New World ;
2. some facts more especially connected with
Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci,
and various dates of geographical discoveries ;

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 149

3. the first Maps of the New World, and the
epoch when the name "America" was univer-
sally applied ; 4. the Progress of Nautical
Astronomy and Geography in the 15th and 16th
century." In the year 1838 Humboldt pub-
lished, in Gotta* s Quarterly Review, " A Politico-
Economical Treatise with reference to the va-
cillating Condition of the Production of Gold,
based on his Investigation of the Ural Moun-
tains ;" and during the years 1839-40 he pub-
lished " A New Hypsometric Map of the Moun-
tain-chains and the Volcanoes of Central Asia."
In the midst of these important labours, the
death of Friedrich Wilhelm III., king of Prussia,
an event which concerned Humboldt more im-
mediately, occasioned a temporary interruption
in the progress of his works, though his position
remained, after the accession of Friedrich Wil-
helm IV., entirely unchanged. The new king
had long enjoyed the acquaintance of Humboldt ;
his love for art and science, and his desire for
refined society, drew him naturally towards the
great philosopher, notwithstanding their hete-
rogenous views concerning political and religious
matters. Baron Humboldt became the confi-
dential friend of the new king ; his companion
and scientific counsellor. He lived henceforth
in the immediate vicinity of the king, whom he

150 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

generally accompanied on his various journeys.
In 1840, Humboldt was engaged on a treatise
regarding his ascent of the Chimborazo, and
the mean height of the continent ; a critical
memoire respecting some important points of
Guiana ; the gradual completion of his " Cos-
mos ; " with the additional achievements of
science since its first commencement ; likewise
with the publication of the posthumous MSS.
of his brother Wilhelm; and assisted, lastly,
as a member of the royal commission charged
with the publication of the works of Fre-
derick the Great. From these various and im-
portant labours, the king called Humboldt in
January 1842, in order to accompany him to
England, to the baptism of the Prince of Wales.
Though he enjoyed this special mark of the
king's favour, and met with a respectful recep-
tion from the Court of England, his personality
gave to this royal visit a special significance.
The intelligence of England paid, on every
public appearance of Baron Humboldt, a well-
deserved homage to the great savant. In Berlin,
Potsdam, and the other royal residences, apart-
ments were reserved for him, and he was in daily
intercourse with the king. Notwithstanding his
years, his industry was remarkable ; he observed
a great punctuality in his immense correspond-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 151

ence, and answered with modesty every letter.
Nearly all the inhabitants of Berlin and Pots-
dam knew him, and received him with the same
marks of respect as the king. He might be
frequently seen in the streets and public walks
of these cities, walking with a firm and measured
step, though somewhat stooping gait ; nearly
always alone, and apparently engaged in deep
thoughts. His garments were plain and unpre-
tending, in harmony with his whole manner of
life. Wherever he appeared, he received universal
proofs of respect. Groups of the lower order
were frequently observed to watch him in his
walks, with every sign of veneration.

Those who had the good fortune ever to
converse with the illustrious philosopher will
scarcely forget the impression which his natural
manner of conversation inevitably produced.
Every utterance of Baron Humboldt evinced
his profundity in all branches of knowledge,
and the perspicuity of his representations. He
had been educated in the great world ; in
him were concentrated the noblest manners of
Europe !

In his advanced age he still sought the
schools of the young, in order, as he declared,
to repair, if possible, earlier neglect. Thus,
during the winter term of 1834-35, he appeared

152 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

at nine o'clock in the morning at the University,
in order to hear the lectures of Professor Boekh
on Greek literature and antiquity. Here Hum-
boldt took his seat on the fourth or fifth form,
below the window, produced from a small map
a piece of paper, and noted the leading features
of these lectures. He likewise attended the
lectures of Carl Eitter on general science ; and
not unfrequently it happened that the lecturer
quoted him as an authority on geognostic ques-
tions. On these occasions the students turned
involuntarily towards the venerable hearer,
whose presence gave a powerful incentive to
their studies.

A survey of the life of this distinguished man,
specially chosen to be an interpreter of nature
and her laws, and the results of his intel-
lectual activity, we endeavoured to furnish, in
general outlines, at the commencement of this
essay. We will once more consider the main
results of his -life-long investigations. Alexander
von Humboldt was in so many branches of
science the first who introduced perspicuity
and intelligibility, that it is, indeed, difficult to
know where to commence. It is due in general
to state of Humboldt, that he was the first who
regulated and classified isolated scientific facts
of the past and the present, and who assigned

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 153

to everything its proper place, in order to
establish the necessary harmony of the whole.
His critical insight assigned to the apparent
lawless a fixed law; the isolated found its kindred
groups. He thus revealed and laid open the
united life and activity of our planet in its
actual being. He became, as testified by his
life, the founder of a comparative cosmography,
the originator of the science of geognosy, and
indicated, with his friend Leopold von Buch,
the volcanic activity which influences the forma-
tion of our earth. He was the founder of the
geography of plants, an entirely new science,
regarding the laws of their distribution. He dis-
covered a new world, with new forms, new life,
manners, languages, and the remains of an
unknown antiquity. He likewise was the re-
former of geographical maps ; and, lastly, the
originator and the representative of a new
method in the investigation of general science,
which is daily becoming more developed. He
endeavoured to realize a more universal stand-
point, tracing continually the mutual connection
of the divers branches of science, watching
nature in her secret laboratory, searching for
new facts, and discarding all kinds of specula-
tions. The internal complication of cause and
effect, isolated, and in its relation to the whole,

154 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

afforded him a guide to the discovery of its
laws. He originated the modern school which
unites physical science with human history,
and which has produced, in its mode of in-
vestigation, remarkable results. This mathe-
matical, exact method of research is due to
Humboldt. It is at present the acknow-
ledged method of the most eminent naturalists,
though it cannot be denied that it led to the
most trifling empiricism in those who only
adopted Humboldt' s method, without possessing
his powers of combination, and his lofty insight
into the laws of the physical Cosmos.

When we consider the style in which Hum-
boldt5 s works are written, we find repeated
confirmation of the well-known motto : " The
man himself is the style."

Two nations, the Germans and the French,
claim Humboldt as a classical author. In both
languages he is equally eminent in the striking
simplicity of his literary productions, although
he had frequently to deal with subjects in them-
selves dry, and notwithstanding that the repe-
tition of strict scientific facts is ill adapted for
elegant forms. His scientific dissertations are
distinguished by certainty and consecutive evi-
dence. His descriptions of nature are faithful
pictures, which produce an immediate and vivid

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 155

impression. The exact manner of Humboldt's
conception of nature enabled him to portray the
great features of her phenomena in a most
attractive manner.* Repossessed the rare capa-
city of avoiding all rhetorical embellishments.
His views concerning the great waters of our
earth ; his descriptions of the prairies of Central
America, the immense forests, the desert, and
the ravines of the mountain-chains of Mexico
and Peru ; the lofty peaks covered perpetually
with snow/ and void of all traces of vegetable
life ; the craters of numerous volcanoes ; are
the faithful reflex of nature. Humboldt, in
describing any isolated object, a phenomenon,
or a discovery, never indulges in poetical excla-
mations or possible exaggerations, but brings
us face to face with reality. He not only sustains
but increases our interest in the great pictures
of the united life and activity of our earth. To

* " When genius arrives, its speech is like a river, it has
no straining to describe, more than there is straining in
nature to exist. When thought is best, there is most of it.
Genius sheds wisdom like perfume, and advertises us that it
flows out of a deeper source than the foregoing silence, that
it knows so deeply and speaks so musically because it is
itself a mutation of the thing it describes. It is sun and
moon and wave and fire in music, as astronomy is thought
and harmony in masses of matter." — (fi. W. Emerson1 s
Oration, " The Method of Nature")

156 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

him the whole is an open book; he surveys
nature in her entirety. In his considerations of
the great and the small, of majestic and awful
phenomena, the description of a mineral, a
plant, or a law relative to formation and
development, we have a uniform and correct
representation of nature. These impressions
are free both from morbid sentimentality and
subjective peculiarity.

In the illustration of his American travels,
Alexander von Humboldt instituted a method
which, if not new, was, in this instance at any
rate, signally successful. He adopted in his
progressive descriptions, frequent points of rest,
designed to enable his readers to review the
preceding facts, and to prepare them for the
progressive development of events.

Ordinary accounts of travels absorb a great
part in relating the personal adventures and
achievements of the chief actor. They are
not unfrequently one-sided, subjective, and
monotonous, which is nearly akin to the
tedious.

Alexander von Humboldt never desired to
bring his own personality prominently forward ;
he, on the contrary, evinced a continual anxiety
to affix to the scientific achievements, which
were the more immediate results of his own

OF BAKON HUMBOLDT. 157

investigations, the seal of the purely scientific.
And it is noticeable in the history of this great
man, that he always distinctly indicates which
are the fruits of his own individual labours,
and which the contributions of other men of
science.

This conduct of Humboldt is in perfect har-
mony with his great modesty and conscientious-
ness. He respected the scientific achievements
of others ; he used them as open loans, in order
to benefit, by this mutual exchange, the cause of
objective science.

The perusal of the works of Alexander von
Humboldt will speedily convince us that his
extraordinary memory possessed such an abun-
dance of scientific knowledge, that he continu-
ally compares, quotes, corrects, confirms, or
refutes.

In the explanation of a single fact, the result
of his own experience, he had before his mind,
clear and distinct, the aggregate amount of
scientific acquisitions. Hence his works, es-
pecially those purely scientific, contain, besides
the continuous text of his own hand, a most
valuable appendix, relating to all branches of
physical science, and to almost every period of
human history, — an immense array of notes,
quotations, comparisons, &c.

158 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

These numerous notes are a proof of the un-
exampled universality, immense information,
and extraordinary survey of Alexander von
Humboldt. In the composition of his works
he observed much prudence. They were ori-
ginally written in the French language, the
medium of the civilized world. By these means,
their speedy circulation was much accelerated.

Their general influence insured the progress
of the newly-awakened interest in physical
science, besides securing a comparative exa-
mination of his method of investigation, and its
general acceptance.

His works have been translated into several
languages. Some were translated under Hum-
boldt's own supervision, and from others
extracts and treatises have been incorporated
into the languages of different nations.

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 159

THE COSMOS.

IT has been already intimated that Humboldt
intended to publish the sixty-one lectures de-
livered in the winter of 1827-8, both in the uni-
versity and the music-hall of Berlin, relating to
Physical Cosmography, but that a variety of
circumstances compelled him to postpone this
project to some future day. He considered the
delivery of this series of lectures before a public
of varied degrees of intellectual development, a
means of ascertaining the relative connection of
the various branches of science, and for that pur-
pose he had previously delivered similar lectures
in Paris. He communicated his conception of
science on these occasions extempore and with-
out notes. Not before the year 1843-4, he
wrote down, for the first time, the substance of
these lectures, and, in doing so, he had to re-
gard the signal progress of science in the inter-
mediate period, and the rapid development,
maturity, and certainty in its varied branches.
But in order to give to his subsequent descrip-

160 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

tions uniformity and inherent vitality, lie pro-
ceeds from the position of physical science at
the period mentioned — the year 1827-8, and
notices the progressive development of natural
philosophy.

This may be considered the external history
of the stupendous work which has appeared
in modern days under the name of " Cosmos."

But this work has also an internal history,
and reveals the life of Alexander von Humboldt
in its intellectual development. It is the
testament and the legacy which he left to the
world.

Humboldt himself remarked, "that on the
evening of his eventful life he would offer to the
German nation a work, the picture of which had
been, though in indefinite outlines, for more
than half a century before his mind."

He recognised the importance of his scientific
legacy, for he knew that his individual life must
soon come to a close. The realization of this
great object had often appeared to him impos-
sible. Yet he resolved to complete the results
of his life-long researches, and believed that he
owed the world a general resume of his more than
fifty years' observation and study. Hence he
returned again and again to this great project,
feeling an increasing anxiety to make the mag-

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 161

nificent results of his labors beneficial to Ms own
country, and to the world at large.

The work in question he wrote originally in
the German language.

The principal aim of Humboldt' s extensive
investigation was to regard all natural pheno-
mena in their general and absolute relation —
nature as a whole — pervaded and sustained by-
internal powers. The discovery of a supposed
isolated phenomenon aided the mutual process
of investigation. Humboldt explains the com-
plicated causes of the multifarious forms of
being, and ever directs to the all-pervading
laws relative to the connection of all natural
phenomena.

The favourable position of Baron Humboldt
aided considerably the execution of his work.
His own personal exploration, not only of the
coast of transatlantic countries, but his penetra-
tion into the interior, and the investigation of
extensive regions in two hemispheres, revealed
to him most remarkable contrasts of natural
life, — the South American tropics and the
steppes of North Asia.

These phenomena urged Baron Humboldt to
comparisons and general surveys ; they enabled
him to recognise the union of heaven and
earth — the great picture of the physical Cosmos.

II

162 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The abundance of his material proved a
valuable present to men of science, illuminated,
as it was, by perfect order and classification.
The general survey of his investigations, which
he presented at the evening of his splendid
career to his native country, he dated from the
period when he first appeared as a public
teacher — his lectures in Berlin.

Humboldt perceived, more than any one else,
the great difficulty in producing a work which
would furnish a faithful and lasting picture of
a world engaged in the perpetual process of
formation and development.* He had ever
in view the continually increasing insight of
mankind into nature's laws, and the extension
of natural phenomena.

Works on natural philosophy lose their ap-
plicability in process of time, and disappear.
Humboldt, however, one of the most faithful

* " I grow, I grow. All is nascent, infant. When we
are dizzied with the arithmetic of the savant toiling to com-
pute the length of her line, the return of her curve, we are
steadied by the perception that a great deal is doing ; that
all seems just begun ; remote aims are in active accomplish-
ment. We can point nowhere to anything final ; but
tendency appears on all hands : planet, system, constellation .
total nature is growing like a field of maize in July ; is
becoming something else; is in rapid metamorphosis." —
(R. W. Emerson's Oration, " The Method of Nature")

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 163

disciples of science, inspired by the dignity of
the study of nature, was not discouraged at the
prospect of the inevitable and necessary per-
fection of human knowledge ; for he was con-
scious that in many important branches of
science he had been one of the foremost pio-
neers, and had assisted in laying foundations
not easy to remove.

It is certainly more than probable that yet
isolated phenomena will be subjected to general
laws ; that new forces of nature will manifest
themselves ; that apparent homogeneous matter
may be indefinitely multiplied, or regarded in
its progress according to the laws of evolu-
tion ; — independent of all these probabilities,
the achievements of Alexander von Humboldt
will be of importance for the most remote
periods of time. It is Alexander von Humboldt
who brings us face to face with nature in
her unceasing activity, and directs us to ever-
lasting and unchangeable laws which regulate
all stages of physical transition.

The genial manner in which Alexander von
Humboldt represents nature, furnishes not only
the purest, and the most elevated kind of enjoy-
ment, but aids likewise the progressive develop-
ment of the highest intellectual capacities ;
giving us an insight in the more profound

M 2

164 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

purpose of life. The intercourse with, nature,
manifesting to us in every form and every
motion an intelligent government, is pre-
eminently calculated to ennoble man, by aiding
him to realize his own consciousness.*

In the Introduction to the " Cosmos," Hum-
boldt, speaking on this subject, asserts that the
primary step of man regarding the apprecia-
tion and the enjoyment of nature, does not
depend on his insight into the activity of the

* " There is something in the contemplation of general
laws which powerfully persuades us to merge individual
feeling, and to commit ourselves unreservedly to their dis-
posal; while the observations of the calm energetic regu-
larity of nature, the immense scale of her operations, and the
certainty with which her ends are attained, tend irresistibly
to tranquillize and reassure the mind, and render it less
accessible to repining, selfish, and turbulent emotions. And
this it does, not by debasing our nature into weak com-
pliances, and abject submission to circumstances, but by
filling us, as from an inward spring, with a sense of noble-
ness and power, which enables us to rise superior to them,
by showing us our strength and innate dignity, and by
calling upon us for the exercise of those powers and faculties
by which we are susceptible of the comprehension of so
much greatness, and which form, as it were, the link between
ourselves and the best and noblest benefactors of our species,
with whom we hold communion in thoughts and participate
in discoveries which have raised them above their fellow-
mortals, and brought them nearer to their Creator." — Sir
John Herschel.

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 165

various forces of nature, and is also not mate-
rially influenced by the peculiar or the general
character of a region. He said: " Where in
extensive plains uniformly associated plants
cover the ground, and where the eye sur-
veys an almost unlimited expanse, where the
waves of the sea play gently near the shore,
in every department of nature we realize an
indistinct presentiment of her existence in ac-
cordance with internal and everlasting laws."

If such conception of nature reveals to the
observer a mysteriously-hidden influence, he
will enjoy its invigorating power in his soul.
It will pacify the heart, allay raging passions,
restore peace, and he will admire the remark-
able directness with which nature unfolds her
secret powers. I apprehend that every senti-
ment of solemnity and of seriousness, which in
such moments possess the heart, is based on
the almost unconscious perception of a higher
order of things, an internal law of nature.

The enjoyment offered by nature is within
the reach of all, not only the man of science,
but accessible to those less informed, percep-
tible on all points of our earth, manifested in
the continual changes of both the animal and
vegetable life.

Humboldt recognised a yet higher enjoy-

166 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

merit of nature, not merely in its great fea-
tures, but in the attraction and the interest
which the special character of a region may
afford. He remarked that such impressions
are more vivid, more positive, and especially
suited for certain conditions of the heart. We
may perhaps at one time notice the fierce con-
test of the elements,* or be attracted by the
sight of the apparently immobile and sterile, or
again witness the immense expanse of prairies
•and deserts, and in turn regard the more cheer-
ful picture of a cultivated country.

It has been said that an investigation of the
constitution of nature and of her internal powers
divests her of the charms of the mysterious,
and the character of the sublime. If in that
case the power of our imagination is circum-
scribed and the charm of immensity of necessity
contracted ; if an erring philosopher even sup-
posed "that the ignorance of natural pheno-
mena " was the main- spring of sublimity and
beauty, there is no doubt that an intelligent
insight into the absolute relation of all pheno-
mena, if acquired and exercised in the spirit
of Humboldt, will conduct us to the highest
possible step worthy of thinking man. It will

* See Jarre's "Scenes in the Sandwich Islands; the
Ocean and a Volcano in strife."

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 167

ennoble our heart, awaken our interest in the
pleasures of a higher intelligence, and lead us
to the conception of the divine.

Each law discovered leads to the conclusion
that there is a still higher law yet unknown ;
our increased insight into nature expands the
conception of the infinite. Humboldt has said,
"The opinion that the investigation of nature
interferes with our enjoyment of the varied
aspects of her phenomena is but the result of
contraction, or of sentimental melancholy."
"Those forces of nature which lie beyond the
territory of the generally acknowledged con-
ditions of physical phenomena exert their in-
fluences apparently enveloped in darkness."

The observer who, by the aid of a heliometer
or a prismatic calc-spar, determines the diameter
of planets, who calculates for years the meridian
height of one and the same star, who recog-
nises between dense nebulous spots, telescopic
comets, — feels — and it may be considered for-
tunate regarding the success of his labours —
that his imagination is no longer affected.
Neither is that of the botanist who examines a
flower, or investigates the structure of a leaf-
moss, its simple or double, the free or the
annular inter-grown teeth of the seed-capsule.
The investigation of numerical relations, the

168 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

careful observation of detail, is tlie preparatory
step to a higher insight into the universe and
its laws.*

The physicists who, like Thomas Young,
Arago, and Fresnel, investigate the irregular
long streams of light, which, according to
distance, either annihilate or else intensify
themselves ; the astronomer who, by the aid of
the telescope, investigates the moons of Uranus
on the extreme limits of our planetary system ;
or men who, like Herschel, South, and Struve,
in analyzing glimmering points of light, dis-
cover them to be coloured double stars ; the
botanist who discovers the circulating motion
of the tiny sap-balls, perceptible in the chara-
plant, in almost every vegetable cell, — to all
such investigators, — both the immeasurable
space of the heavens, and the aspect of our
earth in its varied phenomena, is certainly a
more sublime sight than to him who has not
yet obtained this higher insight into the abso-
lute and necessary connection of all natural
phenomena.

* " There is a lesson in each flower,
A story in each stream and bower ;
On every herb o'er which we tread,
Are written words, which, rightly read,
Will lead us from earth's fragrant sod
To hope, and holiness, and God."

OF BABON HUMBOLDT. 169

Humboldt offers in his " Cosmos " a general
picture of nature, a survey of her phenomena.
The word " Cosmos" embraces the universe,
its laws, and its beauties. Beginning with
the remotest nebulous spots in the heavens,
he descends gradually to the multifarious life
of our earth. In this " all " Humboldt laboured
for half a century with keen perception, and
an ever clear and calm mind. His pictures of
the universe are the result of his own exten-
sive experience. If we consider this " all" filled
with a world- ether, a volatile fluid, we perceive
it in the first instance densified in the nebulous
spots of the heavens ; in an increased density
in the comets, yet still penetrable by the rays
of light, until in the planets gradually all degrees
of density are reached, from that of antimony
and metals, to that of honey, water, and fir-
wood; inasmuch as one planet represents the
more, the other the less dense matter.

In the complete picture of the universe, as
it is represented in the " Cosmos," man above
all occupies a conspicuous place. Humboldt
examined with peculiar interest the different
gradations of the various races and their geo-
graphical distribution. For this purpose he
regarded especially the historical development
of mankind, their origin, the fundamental umV

170 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

formity of language, their immutability in an
original direction of heart and mind. He, like
many other philosophers, became convinced of
the oneness of human kind. The various lan-
guages he considered the intellectual creation
of mankind,* which, in their development, in-
timately intertwined, manifest a national form,
and become hence of considerable importance
in the recognition of the similarity and the
diversity of the various races of mankind, t
But here he recognised likewise the limits of
his physical picture of nature, which he will not
overstep.

Professor Max Miiller, in his lectures on the
science of language — second series — intro-
ductory lecture, pp. 7-8, said : " The whole
natural creation tends towards man; without

* It was a profound saying of "Wilhelm von Humboldt,
" that man is man only by means of speech, but in order to
invent speech he must be already man."

t " Some believe that there are 4,000 living languages,
others that there are 6,000. The mode of denning them is
clearly a mere matter of opinion. Strabo tells us that in his
time, in the Caucasus alone — a chain of mountains not
longer than the Alps, and much narrower — there were at
least seventy languages. In South America and Mexico,
Alexander von Humholdt reckoned the distinct tongues by
hundreds." — (See " Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of
Man? ly Sir Charles Lyett, Bart., F.R.S., pp. 458—460,
and 461.)

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 171

man nature would be incomplete and purposeless.
The science of man, therefore, or, as it is some-
times called, anthropology, must form the crown
of all natural science." Bunsen, when address-
ing, in 1847, the newly-formed section of Ethno-
logy at the meeting of the British Association
at Oxford, said : —

"If man is the apex of creation, it seems
right, on the one side, that an historical inquiry
into his origin and development should never
be allowed to sever itself from the general body
of natural science, and in particular from phy-
siology. But, on the other hand, if he is the
end to which all organic formations tend from the
very beginning ; if man is at once the mystery
and the key of natural science ; if that is the
only view of natural science worthy of our age,
then ethnological philology, once established
on principles as clear as the physiological are,
is the highest branch of that science for the
advancement of which this association is in-
stituted. It is not an appendix to physiology
or to anything else ; but its object is, on the
contrary, capable of becoming the end and goal
of the labours and transactions of a scientific
association." *

* Report of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science (1847), p. 257.

172 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

, In his continued activity in all branches of
science, Alexander von Humboldt became con-
scious of the gradual decline of his physical
powers.

In reviewing the latter years of the life of this
renowned philosopher, we find that he inhabited
for a long time, in a quiet part of Berlin, a
house in the " Oranienburger Strasse," formerly
the property of the father of one of Germany's
hero-poets, the well-known Theodor Korner.

In an aged valet, named Seiffert, who had
been the companion of Humboldt in his ex-
ploration of the deserts of Asia, and who was
for nearly forty years acquainted with all his
habits, he found, more especially in the declining
years of his life, a most valuable and devoted
servant and friend.

The peculiar military appearance of this per-
sonage could not escape the notice of the visitors
who entered the house of Alexander von Hum-
boldt, and his whole bearing produced the
impression of his entire devotedness to his
illustrious master.

Those who obtained access to the great
savant were first conducted by Seiffert to the
waiting-room, a place filled with various kinds
of birds, fishes, &c., scientific instruments,
its walls being adorned by landscape paint-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 173

ings ; from thence, through the library, to the
audience-room, which has become familiar to a
great number of the public. Humboldt entered
this room from a private cabinet to receive his
visitors, and pointed them to a seat on the sofa,
whilst he took his place in an arm-chair, near
his writing-desk, being ready to hear, encourage
discussion, or lead the conversation. To listen
to him was undoubtedly the desire of every
visitor, and in a kindly manner he encouraged
their addresses.

Humboldt was a man of middle stature, his
feet and hands were small; his massive fore-
head adorned by snow-white hair; his blue
eyes lively, expressive ; his lips, around which
played a peculiar smile, half benevolent and
half sarcastic, were the involuntary expressions
of his superiority of mind.

He walked at a pretty quick pace, though
with somewhat faltering steps, his head slightly
bent forward.

During his conversation he looked habitually
on the ground, but would frequently raise his
eyes in expectation of a reply, or inviting further
discussion.

An inexpressible sign of sympathy was mani-
fested in his noble countenance, if he recog-
nised in his visitor a man of taste and mind.

174 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

In such a case, his conversation was unre-
strained, full of wit and humour, though he
always expressed his opinion with delicate con-
sideration, and was ever master of the word.
Humboldt knew many languages : the English-
man praised his pure English, the Frenchman
his Parisian accent.

About thirty years ago, Humboldt rose
regularly at four o'clock in the morning during
the summer months; received visitors so early
as eight o'clock, and only about twelve years
ago he stated occasionally, that he was com-
pelled to pursue his scientific labours at a time
when most people were asleep, because he was
during the ordinary business hours obliged to be
with the King; but he could, speaking from
experience, content himself with four hours of
rest. In his latter days, however, after he had
reached the age of eighty, nature demanded her
right. He rose subsequently not before eight
o'clock, over his frugal breakfast perused the
letters received, and answered the more im-
portant immediately. He afterwards dressed
himself, in order to receive visitors, or to make
visits himself. At two o'clock he was again at
home, at three drove, nearly every day, to
dinner at the royal palace, from whence re-
turning at seven, he occupied himself until nine

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 175

with reading or writing ; proceeded again to the
Court, or into other society, and returned gene-
rally about midnight. In the silence of the night
this remarkable man commenced his real scien-
tific labours, and not before three o'clock, when
in summer already the new day greeted him, he
allowed a short rest to his body, so powerfully
influenced by its master spirit. During the
closing years of his life he was, however, com-
pelled, in consequence of frequently returning
illness, to deviate from this rule.

Humboldt was never married. The children
of his brother claimed and received his love.
His birthday, September 14th, was generally
celebrated at the Castle Tegel, the residence
of his niece, Madame de Bulow. On that
occasion his friends assembled, and science
and art presented their cordial homage to the
illustrious man.

Although to all appearance Alexander von
Humboldt led the quiet life of a man of science,
he was, nevertheless, a magnet, who attracted
the foremost minds of all nations, whose intel-
lectual focus he was, and through him all scien-
tific events were directed towards Berlin. His
house was, to the end of his days, the centre
of numerous intellectual aspirations, and he was
intimately associated with all that was good,

176 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

noble, and wise. Every honest effort found in
Mm a warm and sympathizing friend, whilst, on
the contrary, he opposed every kind of unreality.
Having once recognised the true and the good,
Humboldt was ready with encouragement, with
counsel, and with assistance. From the most
remote parts of the globe he received applica-
tions for advice, not only in scientific, but in
public matters. To afford assistance to real
talent, he considered an imperative duty. He
knew neither envy nor resentment, and no
opposite opinions could wound him, if he was
assured that they originated from a desire after
true knowledge.

And though the outward life of the great
savant seemed, in the latter period, calm and
quiet, he was, nevertheless, in active communion
with the whole world, manifesting a youthful
energy of mind. A pension granted by the
King of Prussia, and the well-deserved success
of his published works, afforded him pecuniary
means in excess of what he required, considering
his frugal manner of life. The surplus he em-
ployed in furtherance of science, and in acts of
beneficence.

Towards the close of his life he suffered from
frequent indisposition, especially colds, and as
soon as his illness became known, the whole

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 177

civilized world evinced the greatest concern.
The newspapers furnished bulletins, and the
highest personages in Europe inquired by
telegraph, or personally, concerning the state of
his health.

Alexander von Humboldt was on intimate
terms with kings ; himself a courtier and a
baron, living in the immediate circle of royalty,
he was yet a liberal man, a friend of personal
freedom, a stanch supporter of every free de-
velopment of thought, an admirer of the just,
the true, and the beautiful. He never coun-
tenanced the sinister attempts against public
rights, which frequently manifested themselves
in his immediate circle, and repeatedly expressed
his true conviction concerning them. Hum-
boldt recognised the right of all men to indi-
vidual liberty, assured that it is inseparable
from perfect growth, both in nature and in
mankind.

During the latter period of his more quiet
life, Humboldt was chiefly engaged with his
" Cosmos," which appeared, so far as the first
division of the fourth volume, in 1858. Besides
the gradual completion of this work, he had to
furnish a preface to the works of his friend
Arago, who, like many other of his friends, had
been removed by death. In the spring of 1858,

N

178 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Humboldt received the news that the youthful
friend and companion of his American travels,
Aime Bonpland, had finished his noble career
on May 4th, in that year, at the age of eighty-
five, at St. Anne. We are already acquainted
with a part of the history of this celebrated
botanist, his confinement by the Dictator of
Paraguay, and his liberation and return to
Buenos Ayres. Bonpland manifested in his
energy and intellectual capacities, a striking re-
semblance to Humboldt ; for he not only made
very minute and extensive investigations in his
adopted country, but undertook in his advanced
age (in 1856) a journey to Patagonia. Persons
who met this distinguished man about ten years
ago, at Porto Alegro, spoke with enthusiasm
concerning the amiable character, the youthful
energy, and the intellectual activity of the aged
philosopher. And, be it said to the honour of
the New World, that they knew how to appre-
ciate his scientific importance ; and it is a
cheering proof of the progressive development
of the Spanish territories of America, and, in
general, of the advancement of the population
of Central and South America, that Bonpland,
the founder of a transatlantic botany, received
the general homage of these peoples ; that the
public press, especially of La Plata and Brazil,

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 179

noticed all his movements, and recorded the
progress of his journeys and his arrival and
departure at various places. It may be said
that the growing interest in the progress of
science manifested itself in an equal degree in
those parts ; in the homage paid to Bonpland,
as in Europe in the universal recognition of the
illustrious Alexander von Humboldt.

The journal of Montevideo, Commercio de la
Plata, called Bonpland " a man unaffected by his
age, in the full possession and vigour of his in-
tellectual powers ; still engaged in new projects
and travels, an unwearied servant of science."

Germany likewise cherished the memory of
the ancient companion of Humboldt ; and, in
order to keep his name continually before the
scientic world, the official organ of the Leopold
Academy called itself " Bonplandia," and sur-
veyed, in the spirit of the renowned philosopher,
the entire field of botany.

During the closing years of his life he was
actively engaged in establishing a museum at
Corrientes, in which all the natural productions
of the country should be exhibited. In this
laudable project the Governor, Dr. Pujal, his
friend and supporter, evinced the greatest in-
terest. It is more than probable, judging from
his letters, that he had another object in view,

N2

180 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

if possible, more dear to his heart; viz., to
bring his extensive and well-arranged Herba-
rium to Paris. To unite his collections and
MSS. with those of his fellow-labourer Hum-
boldt, was the ardent desire of his heart, and
expressed by him on various occasions. He
wished to see his native land once more, before
his final departure, once more to behold the
Jardin des Plantes, and, above all, once more
to embrace his beloved and revered friend
Humboldt.

In his unceasing activity to further agricul-
ture and industry in the Argentine States,
and for which he sacrificed many a night's rest,
death overtook him, on the 4th of May, 1858.

From the manner in which Humboldt received
the news .of his friend's demise, it has been sup-
posed that he had a kind of presentiment that
their re-union in another world would not be
long delayed.

One more glance upon the long and eventful
career of Alexander von Humboldt, ere we
follow the great explorer to his final resting-
place. In his continued intercourse with those
powers, which are for ever engaged in the
process of dissolution, he had himself become
infirm.

How beautiful is the picture of his original

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 181

character in every period of his life, in his youth,
his manhood, and his old age ; always faithful,
always consistent. When he first commenced
his geological studies at Freiberg, and was more
intimately associated with one of his fellow-
students, Freiersleben, with whom he, for the
first time, descended into the mines, we find his
character already shaped as it appears in his
latter days. On that occasion his fellow- student
said : " The most prominent features of his
amiable character are unwearied kindness, warm
sympathy for friends, and love for nature;
modesty, simplicity, and sincerity in his whole
conduct ; always attractive powers of commu-
nication ; a cheerful and humorous disposition."

Those qualities which assisted him in after-
years to obtain the good- will of the savage races,
amongst whom he lived for a long time, and in
the civilized world everywhere admiration and
sympathy ; the same traits of character gained
him, in his early youth, the general friendship
and love of his fellow-students.

The expressions of Gothe, after Humboldt
had paid him a short visit in December, 1826,
indicate the further development of his cha-
racter. In a state of considerable excitement,
Gothe said to Eckermann, who entered his
room soon after Humboldt' s departure :

182 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

" Alexander von Hnmboldt has honoured me
with his presence for a few hours this morning.
What a remarkable man he is ! Though I have
known him some time, I am anew surprised,
and ready to say that in thorough knowledge
he has no equal, and a universality which I
never encountered before. Choose any topic
you like, and you will find he is at home. He
will remain a few days, and I feel already as if
I had lived with him for years."

We have hitherto endeavoured to notice
principally the labours of Alexander von Hum-
boldt in a scientific sphere ; but, as he had
been likewise honoured with the unconditional
confidence of his king and his country, he
was charged with various diplomatic missions,
though much against his own inclinations. In
giving a short resume of his political labours, we
find that he undertook his first mission in the
year 1794, charged with the inspection of
certain mining districts in Prussian Poland,
from which he was suddenly called away, in
consequence of the war at that period, and
he proceeded to the Rhine and to Frankfort, in
order to assist in the political deliberations of
the Prussian Minister, von Hardenberg, the
English Ambassador, the Earl of Malmesbury,
and the representative of Holland, Admiral

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 183

Kinkel. Being a personal friend of the
Prussian Minister, and above all suspicion,
Humboldt was requested to accompany him
to head-quarters, charged with the necessary
correspondence, and with missions to Field-
Marshal Mollendorf.

Humboldt became thus engaged in political
affairs without any desire of his own ; a field
quite foreign to him, and certainly not con-
genial to his taste and habits of life. In a letter
dated from the English head-quarters, near
Heden, in Brabant, September 10th, 1794, he
said : — " My life has never been so diversified
as it is at this time. I have been called away
from my proper vocation, and burdened with
engagements connected with the diplomatic
mission of the Minister von Hardenberg. I
have chiefly followed the head-quarters of Field-
Marshal Mollendorf, and am at present in the
English camp. I proceed on the 14th inst. to
the county of Altenkirchen, in order to inspect
certain mining districts ; and from thence to
the camps near Kreuznach and Frankfort.
And although these continual changes afford
me little pleasure, I am, on the other hand,
too much distracted to become sad and me-
lancholy. I have acquired additional informa-
tion in consequence of my travels in mineralo-

184 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

gical districts, which will be of importance in
furtherance of my work on the different strata."

New political differences called Humboldt
again, in 1796, to the field of diplomacy. He
had hastened from Bayreuth to Berlin, in order
to remain for a few months near his mother,
who had suffered for a considerable time from a
lingering disease, when this unexpected sum-
mons arrived. The French army under the
command of General Moreau had suddenly in-
vaded the duchy of Wiirtemberg, and had caused
the flight of the Duke. The King of Prussia
feared that the principality of Hohenlohe might
be subject to the pillage of the advancing army
under Moreau and Jourdan, but hoped, — in
consequence of the existing amicable relations
of Prussia and France, — obtained by the treaty
of peace concluded at Basle, April 5th, 1795,
by the Prussian minister von Hardenberg, — to
dispose the French general favourably concern-
ing this principality.

Humboldt proceeded, in company of a Cap-
tain Pirch and a single trumpeter, to the head-
quarters of the French army. On his road he
observed the noted balloon of Conde, ivhich had
been kept filled for months, and in which General
St. Oyr watched the movements of the enemy
at the battle of Cannstadt.

OF BABON HUMBOLDT. 185

His mission proved successful, and he had
the good fortune to meet with General Desaix,
who had been for some time acquainted
with the designs of Bonaparte concerning
Egypt, and who endeavoured to persuade
Humboldt, instead of visiting the tropics of
America, to accompany the French expedition
to Egypt. Humboldt, however, returned, at
first, to the mountains of Bayreuth, in order
to prepare himself, by practical studies and
observations of various kinds, for his projected
transatlantic explorations.

In 1814, Alexander von Humboldt accom-
panied the King of Prussia on his political
mission to England, and proceeded in Septem-
ber, 1818, again to that country, in order to
execute the commission of the Allied Powers
in preparing a survey of the South American
colonies. In the month of October following,
he was called to the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle,
and appeared likewise in company of the King
of Prussia at the congress held at Yerona in
the year 1822.

He was present with the Crown Prince of
Prussia in May, 1830, at Warsaw, at the open-
ing of the constitutional diet by the Emperor
Nicholas. Soon after this, the news of the
downfall of the Bourbons, and the accession

186 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

of Louis Philippe to the throne, was announced.
Humboldt, who had been for some time on
intimate terms with the family of Orleans, was
chosen as the representative of the King of
Prussia, and proceeded in the month of Sep-
tember to Paris, in order to congratulate the
new dynasty. He was at the same time charged
to furnish the King of Prussia — with the assent
of the Court of France — with reports con-
cerning political affairs. In this capacity he
remained from September 1830 to May 1832 ;
and again during the years 1834-35, he resided
in Paris, the appointed political agent of
Prussia.

On every suitable occasion, his grateful
fatherland offered to him the homage due to
his remarkable activity, extraordinary achieve-
ments, and superior knowledge, though his
characteristic modesty resisted the appellation
of being the first man of learning in Europe, and
he pointed to Arago and Gauss as his superiors.

From every assembly of German physicists
he received either a respectful invitation, or
in latter years a hearty greeting, which he at
all times cordially acknowledged. In August,
1858, the University of Jena invited him to
their jubilee, to which he replied in the follow-
ing significant words : — " My diligence, my

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 187

hearty participation in the free, public and
intellectual development of Germany, are unim-
paired ; but my physical powers are rapidly
declining ; and I am for that reason prevented
to appear, where the dearest memories and the
deepest gratitude require my presence."

But not from learned societies only, received
Alexander von Humboldt public testimonies of
homage ; many private individuals presented,
in various ways, and frequently in a delicate
and affectionate manner, their spontaneous
tribute of admiration ; either in valuable produc-
tions of nature or otherwise.

I would only mention, of the numerous
presents which Humboldt received on his 89th
birthday, a painting offered by two students
of Breslau, representing him as a teacher, sur-
rounded by his celebrated friends and pupils ;
amongst them his brother Wilhelm, Leopold
vonBuch, Lichtenstein, Chamisso, Bitter, Erd-
mann, and others, — a gift accompanied by a
poetic dedication, borrowed from Gothe. At
the same time the public journals announced
that the Nicaragua Society, established to effect
a connection of the Atlantic with the Pacific,
had taken steps to elect Humboldt their hono-
rary president.

In the year 1858 the friends of Humboldt

188 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

perceived every indication of a rapid decline of
his physical powers : they could no longer keep
pace with his ever-youthful mind. From various
sources we learnt that he was prepared to re-
turn his weary body to its mother- earth. He
too — like his friend Gothe — who acknowledged,
in his old age, that existence had been to him
little else than weariness and unrest, " the
eternal rolling of the stone/' longed for rest.
And how affecting is his request in the journals
of the spring 1859, in which he asks the general
public to excuse him now, in the late hours of
the evening of his, life, with their numerous
demands of all kinds ; and not to consider any
longer his house " a public office for general
inquiry. >J How significant is his request to
allow him, after an annual correspondence with
about 2,000 persons, a little time for his own
work.

It is evident that if such an active and ever
willing servant of science and humanity, after a
self-imposed activity of more than half a century,
at last complained of his burden, he must have
been convinced that his time was but short.
A further sign was that the contents of his
letters were shorter, less sure, and less intelli-
gible. Another symptom was his great exhaus-
tion, and the peculiar nature of his disease, which

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 189

caused frequent colds. In April he wrote the
last page of his now completed " Cosmos."
The consecrated priest of nature had studied
his own frame so well, that he did not deceive
himself. At the beginning of May, 1859, his
friends were suddenly alarmed by the news,
that, in consequence of a cold, he had already
for several days kept his bed. The bulletins of
the two physicians who attended Humboldt — ^
Romberg and Traube — confirmed his critical
position. His physical strength had rapidly
diminished, but his mind remained unclouded,
though his speech -had become more feeble.
Till near the hour of his death he was perfectly
conscious ; his last thoughts were with the King
of Prussia, his faithful friend of many years^
who, away from his country, suffered from an
incurable disease. To the last whispered words
of his niece, Madame von Biilow, his nephew
General Hedemann, and his faithful servant
Seiffert, he gave a distinct reply. Soon after-
wards he became silent, and died calmly in the
afternoon, on May 6th, 1859, at the age of 89
years, 7 months and a few days.

The whole city of Berlin received the news of
his demise with profound grief. The electric
spark, the confidential friend of Humboldt, con-
veyed speedily the sad news to all civilized

190 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

nations, from country to country, from one
part of the world to the other. He was indeed
Alexander the Great in science, the greatest
intellectual hero of this century.

The simplicity of his life was in perfect har-
mony with his inheritance. He neither left any
real property, nor yet a will. His library,
jewels, and pictures, he had conveyed, by a deed
of gift, to his faithful servant Seiffert.

He was buried in a princely style on the 10th
May. He had been for many years a most
faithful friend of the royal house of Prussia,
a high officer of state, and an intellectual hero,
who had laboured for more than two genera-
tions, without intermission, in the furtherance
of the intellectual progress of mankind.*

By order of the Prince Regent, his funeral
was a public one. But it is certain, that not
the pomp of the funeral procession prompted
almost the entire population of Berlin, even the
poorest labourer, to line the road, and await,
bareheaded, the arrival of the remains of the
great dead. No, it was the universal con-

* Of him it may be said, in the words of the poet : —

" His virtues walked a mighty round,
Nor made a pause, nor left a void :
And sure the eternal Master found
His single talent well employed."

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 191

viction that a man had died to whom the whole
race owed a great part of their intellectual pro-
gress. At daybreak the people already assem-
bled "unterden Linden " and in the "Fried-
richsstrasse." In the house of the departed
the mourners assembled, in the midst of the
atelier of his labour and thought. In the room,
well known by Hildebrand's picture, stood the
plain coffin with the mortal remains of Alex-
ander von Humboldt. Many persons hastened,
in order to look, for the last time, on that
peaceful countenance, now cold and rigid.
Slender palms, and exotic plants in full bloom,
surrounded the coffin, calling to mind the period
when Humboldt, in the full vigour of youth,
undaunted by the numerous obstacles and
dangers, explored their native land, and opened
a new world for science.

Soon after eight o'clock the coffin was re-
moved to the hearse. The procession was
headed by the servants of the departed, and
other servants of the family von Humboldt,
followed by nearly six hundred students of the
University of Berlin; next appeared eight
members of the clergy, and immediately after
them the hearse, preceded by three chamber-
lains carrying the insignia of the Order of the
Black Eagle, the Order Pour le Merite, and

192 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

other numerous orders of the illustrious Hum-
boldt. Six royal grooms led the horses of the
hearse, besides five court lackeys, and an
officer of the court. On each side of the hearse
walked twenty deputies, specially chosen by
the students, with palm-branches in their hands.
The plain oak coffin was adorned with palm-
branches, wreaths of laurel, and a garland
of white azalea blossom. Behind the coffin
walked the immediate relatives of Humboldt,
headed by the Knights of the Black Eagle.
Next in this cortege appeared the Ministers of
State, the Commanders of the Army, the Officers
of the Court, Foreign Ambassadors, and other
distinguished strangers — the Members of both
Houses of Parliament, the Judges of the Su-
preme Court, the Members of the Academy of
Science — whose senior Humboldt had been — the
Professors of the University, the Members of
the School of Art, the Masters of all the public
schools in Berlin, the Magistrates and the
Council of the City, headed by the Chief Biirger-
meister; and lastly, a long train of persons
belonging to all classes of society. The state
chariot of the King and Queen of Prussia drawn
by eight horses, the carriage of the Prince
Regent, and those of the other members of the
Royal House of Prussia, closed this imposing

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 193

procession. When the hearse reached the
" Friedrichsstrasse," it was received by the
Rector of the ' Gymnasium and his pupils, who
sung appropriate hymns while the hearse passed
by. The procession passed the university, and
during the ringing of bells and the chanting
of appropriate hymns by the Sangerverein of
Berlin, the hearse reached the doors of the
cathedral, where the Prince Regent, the Prince
Friedrich Wilhelm, and the other Princes of the
Royal House, together with Prince August of
Wurtemberg and Prince Friedrich of Hesse-
Cassel, awaited, bareheaded, the remains of the
illustrious man.

At the principal entrance, the Court Chaplains,
headed by Dr. Strauss, received the coffin, and
conducted the mortal remains of Humboldt
to the front of the altar, where they were placed
upon an estrade, surrounded by palms and other
exotic plants, illuminated by numerous wax
candles. Nearest the coffin the chief mourners
and the Royal Princes took their place, and in
a separate box several Princesses. Dr. Hoff-
mann delivered the funeral oration. A short
hymn, sung by the congregation, and another
by the choir, brought the solemn service to a
close.

In the evening the remains of Humboldt were

194 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

conveyed to the Castle Tegel, in order to be
placed in the family vault at the side of his
brother Wilhelm, who had already rested there
for twenty-four years, near the white marble
statue of Thorwaldsen, representing Hope.

On the morning of the funeral, when all eyes
were fixed on the momentous war of France and
Austria in Italy, we found in a conspicuous
place in the Kolnische Zeitung the following
lines : —

O ! einen Blick von kriegsbedrohten Statten,
Nur einen Blick auf ein geoifnet Grab !

Ein grosser Geist will sich zur Ruhe betten,
Ein deutscher Alexander sinkt hinab,

Der ohne Schlacht Unsterbliclikeit errungen,

TJnd weiter als zum Indus vorgedrungen.

Napoleon III., in the midst of this war, as
soon as the news of Humboldt's death reached
him, gave immediately orders that a statue of
the great savant should be placed in the gallery
of the Chateau de Versailles ; at the side of
which the statue of another illustrious man has
recently been placed, that of Richard Cobden.

Humboldt, like all the great lights of the last
century, was the offspring of the spirit of Pro-
testantism, and like them, a true ornament of
genuine Protestantism. During a long life of
three generations, he devoted all the remarkable

OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 195

powers of his master-mind to the one great
object, to explore the whole physical Cosmos, in
order to make his discoveries serviceable to
mankind. In pursuit of this great object, he
not only sacrificed the ordinary enjoyments of
life, but he jeopardized his health and his life,
renounced the possible acquisition of material
wealth, and the happiness of family life. The
unconditional devotion to his great object, and
the cheerful sacrifice of everything in further-
ance of it, — this is Humboldt's moral worth; and
in this devotion he is so great that but few of
the children of men can approach him. This
noble self-sacrifice is true morality, and such
morality is at the same time piety ; for the
devotion to a great moral thought is indeed a
devotion to a thought of God. The self-denying
devotion of Alexander von Humboldt in order
to comprehend nature and her laws ; to realize
its being and its truth, must have shown him,
in the creature, the Creator. He was in his
devotion to the Universe at the same time a
devoted servant of the Spirit of the Universe ;
and he may doubt this who tears God and the
world mechanically asunder. His wonderful
activity, his rare achievements, have exercised
upon the present generation such a powerful
influence, that thousands of his contemporaries

o2

196 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

have long enjoyed the beneficial results, without
even knowing it ; for he was an intellectual sun
illuminating all territories of life ; the salutary
influence of which has been experienced by all
who can feel and think, though moving in the
narrowest limits of existence.

Of all intellectual pursuits, the study of nature
affords unquestionably the most satisfactory
kind of enjoyment. Certainly it is less exciting,
and does in a less degree influence our imagina-
tion and passions, than the study of human
nature ; it being essentially objective, and more
free and positive, than the researches into the
subjective regions of morality, feeling, and
fancy; it rewards the patient inquirer with
more valuable results than any other study can
possibly offer ; it preserves the energy of the
mind, and kindles the love of the sublime, akin
to that higher disposition of the soul, the con-
ception of the infinite and the free, — the realms
of the purely intellectual.* The progress of the

* I converse with the Almighty through the instrument
of nature, through the history of the world. Every con-
dition of the human soul has some parable in the physical

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 197

physical sciences has been in more than one
sense of greater benefit to mankind, the fur-
therance of culture and civilization, than any
other science. Its material benefits are innu-
merable. " Science contributes to almost all our
wants, satisfying those of the most material
and the most intellectual of our nature; and
she serves also to lessen some of the greatest

creation, by which it is typified ; and not only artists and
poets, but even the most abstract thinkers, have drawn out
of this rich store -house. Lively activity we calibre; time
is a stream which rolls violently away ; eternity is a circle ;
a mystery is veiled in midniyht ; and truth dwells in the sun.
Yes, I begin to believe that even the future fate of the human
spirit lies prophesied in the dark oracle of the corporeal
creation. Every succeeding spring, which drives the sprouts
of plants out of the lap of the earth, enlightens me on the
alarming riddle of death ; and refutes my anxious apprehen-
sion of an eternal sleep. The swallow which we find torpid
in winter, and see revive again in the spring-time, the dead
grub, which in the shape of a butterfly rises in the air, young
once again, offer us a striking emblem of our immortality.
How admirable are all things to me now. There is for me
no longer a solitude in all nature. Where I discover a body,
there I anticipate a soul — where I observe motion I conjec-
ture thought ; " where 110 dead man lies buried, there shall
be no resurrection :" still omnipotence speaks to me through
its works, and thus I understand the doctrine of an
omnipresent God." — (Philosophic letters by Friedrich von
Schiller, written in the year 1785, in the 26th year of his
age. See Oxford Quarterly Magazine, March and June,
1825, pp. 175-176 and 177.)

198 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

evils connected with our social state. War is
an evil unhappily incident to mankind at every
stage of advancement ; and history proves that
the more this calamity depends for its support
and its success upon mere physical force and
individual prowess, the more likely is it to be
barbarous and prolonged. ' All that raised
the hero, sunk the man,' said Pope. Every
one must be aware that modern warfare has,
by the aid of science, become more certain,
more decisive, and more brief, and has thereby
done much for human happiness. Professor
Hennessy said in his essay ' On the Relations
of Science to Modern Civilization,' ( The re-
sources which science now places at the dis-
posal of civilized nations engaged in war, not
only allow them to strike more energetic blows,
and thus the more rapidly terminate the con-
flict, but also enable hostile powers to more
accurately estimate each other's strength, and
thus to more equitably weigh all the considera-
tions that may induce them to maintain war or
to return to a state of peace.' And if the for-
midable armaments which science has already
furnished, and is yet able to perfect and to mul-
tiply, ' should ' — to use Professor Hennessy 's
words — ' fortunately not be required, they will
have far more effectually performed their work

OP BAEON HUMBOLDT. 199

by assisting to avert war, than if they were
actually employed with the most overwhelming
results.' The proudest triumph of science is
perhaps its moral influence in elevating the
mind to form judgments strictly derived from
facts, no matter whether such facts tell for or
against our preconceived notions. The method
employed in communicating the truths of
science, as well as the methods by which its
advancement is achieved, are eminently adapted
to impress the necessity of truthfulness, sin-
cerity, and candour upon all its cultivators."

We do, however, not advocate the cause of
physical science to the exclusion of all other
sciences, for we believe that all intellectual pro-
gress must needs exist side by side, if mankind
are to maintain the position in civilization
already achieved. Poesy, religion, and philo-
sophy, almost unconsciously aroused by nature,
prepared in their progressive development, the
human heart for a more perfect enjoyment of
nature. With the investigation of nature man-
kind advanced towards their ultimate destiny.
Only since the time of Newton, mankind learnt
to investigate more systematically the pheno-
mena of nature. The study of natural laws —
the comprehension of which constitutes the
highest degree of our elevation above the mere

200 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

animal creation — is the acquisition of the last
few centuries, not yet concluded, and capable
of a development whose limits we dare not
venture to guess. " The perpetual evolution
of active forces will, — as Humboldt observed,
" bring us by a more profound research to the
gate of new labyrinths ; " but it is even this
multiplicity of untrodden and intertwined roads
which produces at each progressive step a
happy surprise. Each law revealed to the ob-
server leads to the conclusion that there is a
still higher law yet unknown ; for nature is, as
Carus, in his work, " The Original Parts of Bone
and Shell Skeletons," said, " for ever growing,
continually engaged in the process of formation
and development/' A progressive insight into
the law of evolution will deepen in us the con-
viction of the infinitude of life in nature ; we
shall perceive that upon the solid earth, in the
atmosphere by which it is surrounded ; in the
depth of the ocean, and the heavens high above,
the courageous explorer will, after the lapse of
thousands of years, still find immensity. The
recognition of the absolute necessary, the com-
prehension of cause and effect, and the yet un-
solved problem, " the knowledge of the natural
and necessary connection of all things and all
phenomena," is, according to Professor B. Cotta,

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 201

" the most important object for the solution of
the naturalists." Studies which embrace the
minute investigation of separate branches of
science afford valuable material in unfolding
general laws, pervading the united life and
activity of our planet ; and perhaps may in their
progress aid to solve the apparent contradiction,
which is at first sight manifested, in the com-
bined effects produced by the ever-contending
forces of nature. They furnish us with general
ideas concerning the things created, be it the
matter which may form remote planets, or the
nearer tellurian phenomena ; they will elevate
our conceptions regarding the inexhaustible
resources of nature, and the immense scale of
her operations ; they will purify and pacify our
soul. The discovery of laws which not only
regulate the most delicate and intricate tissue
of matter, but govern also the archipelago of
dense nebulous spots, and the terrible vacuity
of the desert, seem endeavouring to adjust the
discord of the elements. A general perception
which enables us to recognise each separate
organism in its relation to the whole, and to
see in the plant or the animal less the individual
or the species ; but rather a form of nature
intertwined with the general process of evolu-
tion, will expand our intellectual capacities,

202 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

and bring us into a more intimate relation with
the universe. An earnest study of physical
science will enable mankind to attain their
high position, for which they are destined on
earth. We became first acquainted with the
physical, next the chemical, and now the or-
ganic laws ;* and it is Confidently hoped,
that continued observation will yet solve the
problem, regarding the cause of all physical
activity, which has been sought for in vain by

* "In respect to that evolution which individual
organism displays, the question has been answered by the
Germans. The investigations of Wolff, Gothe, and von Bear
have established the truth, that the series of changes gone
through during the development of a seed into a tree, or an
ovum into an animal, constitute an advance from homo-
geneity of structure to heterogeneity of structure. In its
primary stage every germ consists of a substance, uniform
throughout both in texture and chemical composition. The
first step is the appearance of a difference between two
parts of this substance ; or, as the phenomenon is called
in psychological language, a differentiation. Each of these
differentiated divisions presently begins itself to exhibit
some contrast of parts ; and by and by these secondary
differentiations become as definite as the original one. This
process is continually repeated — is simultaneously going on
in all parts of the growing embryo ; and by endless such
differentiations, there is finally produced that complex com-
bination of tissues and organs, constituting the adult animal
or plant. This is the history of all organism whatever."-
See Herbert Spencer s essay, " The Law of Evolution"

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 203

mere abstract meditation. Apart from the
pure enjoyment which the study of nature always
affords, the material benefits which result from
it are of considerable importance. The appre-
hension that a more devoted study of natural
laws will prejudice other sciences, appears to
be unfounded. The great savant whom we
endeavoured to describe in these pages, allays
our fears ; and I have pleasure in quoting his
opinion. He says : "If, under protection of wise
laws and liberal institutions, all branches of
culture advance in a healthy manner ; in such
a peaceful rivalry, the various efforts of the
intellect will not injure the relative interests.
Each will offer to the State valuable fruits ; the
one will secure man's subsistence and wealth ;
the other — the fruit of a creative mind, more
enduring than all material prosperity — records
the achievements of human intellect for the
benefit of generations yet to come. The study
of natural laws awakens in us capacities of
which we were scarcely conscious; our acquaint-
ance with nature, though becoming more inti-
mate, does not diminish our interest in all other
concerns of life. We shall become convinced of
the equal importance of all the branches of
physical science, in the furtherance of culture,
and the material prosperity of nations. The

204 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

investigation of a phenomenon apparently iso-
lated, conceals not unfrequently the germ of a
great discovery. When Galvani irritated the
sensitive fibres of the nerves by the touch of
heterogeneous metals, his next contemporaries
did not expect that the contact-electricity of
the Voltaic pillar would reveal in the alkalies
silver-bright metals, swimming upon the surface
of water, and of an inflammatory nature ; that
the pillar itself would become the most important
instrument in analytic chemistry — a thermoscope
and a magnet. When Huyghens commenced
to solve the phenomena of light of the calc-spar,
no one could foresee that the brilliant achieve-
ments of a philosopher of our own days —
Arago's, 1811 — colored polarization — phenomena
would enable us, with the assistance of a small
fragment of a mineral, to discover if the light of
the sun proceeds out of a solid mass, or out of a
gaslike envelope ; if comets reflect their own or
borrowed light. A thorough appreciation of
all branches of science is of great importance in
our own time ; inasmuch as the material wealth
and the growing prosperity of nations is based
upon the careful use of their natural produc-
tions.* Themost superficial glance at the present

* " Civilization" says Baron Liebig, " is the economy oj
power, and English power is coal" — See also Sir William

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 205

condition of Europe will convince us that an
unequal position in the universal competition,
or a continued vacillation, will necessarily
diminish, and ultimately annihilate the wealth
of a nation ; for in the destinies of nations, as
in the operations of nature, there is — -according
to the ingenious observation of Gothe — " Apho-
ristisches uber die Natur " — " in the acts of
formation and of motion no delay ; and a curse
attached to all cessation." Only an earnest
revival of the study of chemistry, mathematics,
and natural history, will arrest the threatening
danger. It will be impossible for man to influ-
ence nature, to appropriate to his use any of
her powers, if ignorant of the laws. Here the

Armstrongs remarks in his address to the British Asso-
ciation, at Newcastle, in 1863, concerning the duration of
the Coalfields of England. — The statistics collected by Mr.
Hunt, of the Mining Record Office, show that at the end of
1861 the quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom had
reached the enormous total of 86 millions of tons, and that
the average annual increase in the eight preceding years
amounted to 2f millions of tons. Assuming 4,000 feet as
the greatest depth at which mining operations can be carried
on, the entire quantity of available coal existing in these
islands has been calculated to be about 80,000 millions of
tons, which, at the present rate of consumption, would be
exhausted in 930 years; but, with a continued yearly
increase of 2f millions of tons, would only last 212 years."
See the excellent article on this subject, Daily Telegraph,
London; Thursday, January 11, 1866.

206 SKETCH OP THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

power is concentrated in the general intelligence
of a people. To know, to perceive, and to enjoy
is one of the great prerogatives of mankind; and
not unfrequently a recompense for those goods
which nature perhaps afforded in a scanty
measure. Nations who remain behind in the
almost universal competition of industrial ac-
tivity, in the application of technical chemistry,
&c., in a careful selection and cultivation of their
natural productions, — nations who disregard
this, will inevitably decline ; and all the more
rapidly, if their neighbours, amongst whom
science, and industrial art, exercise a mutual
influence, advance with daily renewed energy.
But in all departments of physical science, and
likewise in the higher regions of the ideal and
the emotional, — in the pursuit of history, of
philosophy, and of rhetoric, — the first and prin-
cipal impulse must proceed from within, and be
directed to the discovery of natural laws, in
their various operation ; to the perception of
the necessary connection of all changes in the
universe. If such a knowledge pervades the
industrial life of a nation, and thereby raises
the standard of mechanical skill, and of industry
in general, such a happy condition has its
origin in the fortunate intertwinings of human
affairs, according to which the True, the Beau-

OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 207

tiful, and the Sublime, exercise, with the Useful,
as if intentionally, a perpetual alternate influence.
A knowledge of natural laws must be the first
endeavour of all who wish to become acquainted
with the physical cosmos. In proportion to
this knowledge, will be the enjoyment which
nature affords. In the aspect of the visible
nature, with its innumerable diversities of form
and colour, we trace the Beautiful, and in the
ceaseless operations of the resistless forces in
nature we discover the Sublime. " An indisso-
luble bond unites, — and the grain of sand, as
an eloquent writer truly said,- which lies the
most deeply buried, holds — chained to it by
these all-pervading forces — the uncounted worlds
which, like luminous sand, are sprinkled by the
hand of the Great Creator throughout the
glorious universe I" Such a conception of nature
will awaken in us feelings of admiration and
adoration, and we shall obtain glimpses of the
Greatness of that Spirit whose infinite wisdom
ordered all- things, and whose unfathomable
love embraces not only innumerable worlds,
but also the most insignificant worm in the
dust with equal love and compassion !

" To Him, whose temple is all space,

Whose altar, earth, sea, skies !
One chorus, let all being raise !
All Nature's incense rise ! "

COX AND WYMAN.

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ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405

6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk

Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

DhC22l980

8

APR 2 7 2002

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 3/80 BERKELEY, CA 94720

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YC 185848