AN ENTERTAINING BIOGRAPHY.
JUST PUBLISHED.
THE LIFE TRAVELS AND BOOKS OP
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BAYARD TAYLOR.
One handsome 12mo. volume, uniform with " The Let-
ters of Von ffumboldt," elegantly bound in muslin,
with an original steel portrait. Price, $1.25.
Containing a full account of his Life from birth to
death; a picturesque summary of his Travels and
Adventures in the New World and Asia ; biographi-
cal sketches of his relatives and literary associates ;
a complete resum& of his various works, with extracts
from his most important ones ; a lucid statement of
his achievements in all departments of science, &c.
" The Life Travels and Books of Alexander von
Humboldt has already gone into a fifth edition. * * *
It is entertaining as a romance, and contains the cream
of Humboldt's books. * * * The plan of the work is
excellent. The biography is combined with the wan-
derings of the old savant, and the essence of numerous
volumes is here artistically condensed into one. A
more readable and instructive book has not been lately
issued." Philadelphia Daily Press.
%* Sold by all booksellers, and it will be sent by mail,
postage free, on receipt of the price, $1.25, by
KM>I> & CARLETON, Publishers,
No. 130 Grand Street, New York.
LETTERS
OF
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT
TO
VARNHAGEN VON ENSE.
From 1827 to 1858.
WITH
Extracts from Varnhagen's Diaries, and Letters of Varnhagen
and others to Humboldt.
ranjslate& from tljt 3>onfc CStrman 3E&tium,
BY FRIEDRICH KAPP.
NEW YORK :
RUDD & CARLETON, 130 GRAND STREET,
LEIPZIG: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
M DCCC LX.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
BUDD & CAELETON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
B. CKAIGHEAD,
Printer, Stereotype!-, and Electrotyper,
Carton IS milling,
81, 83, and 85 Centre Street.
" Your last favor doing me so much honor contains words
about which I wish to prevent every mistake. 'You are
afraid to confess yourself the exclusive owner of my impieties.'
You may freely dispose of this sort of property after my not far
distant departure from life. Truth is due to those only whom
we deeply esteem to you therefore."
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
Letter of December ^th, 1841.
0?
UHI7BESIT7
CONTENTS.
1. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . - 17
2. Humboldt to Varnhagen, ....... 18
3. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 19
4. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . . .20
5. Humboldt to Varnhagen, ,21
6. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 22
7. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 23
8. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 25
9. Humboldt to Rahel, 28
10. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 29
11. Humboldt to Rahel 31
12. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 32
13. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 33
14. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 34
15. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 35
16. (No Address.) 35
17. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 40
18. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 41
19. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 43
20. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 44
21. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 45
22. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 46
23. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 49
24. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 49
25. Humbold to the Princess von Pueckler, .... 51
26. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 52
viii Contents.
PAGH
27. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . . . . . . 54
28. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . ... . . . 56
29. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . ... .68
30. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . , . . . . . 59
31. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . ,. . . . . . 60
32. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . . . . 61
33. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 62
34. (No Address.) V . ... 66
35. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . v * . . . 67
36. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . .70
37. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . , . . 73
38. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . . .74
39. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . . . . 75
40. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . * . . 76
41. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . .'..*. 77
42. Metternich to Humboldt, . . . . . . . 79
43. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 82
44. King Christian VIII. of Denmark to Humboldt, . . 83
45. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . 85
46. (No Address.) 86
47. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, ' . 87
48. Humboldt to Yarnhagen , ;. . . 89
49. Guizot to Humboldt, . ....-'* . -- ., - . 93
50. Arago to Humboldt, . . . .... . 94
51. Humboldt to Bettina von Arnim, . . . -. . . 96
52. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . , . . 97
53. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, .. >*^' . . . . 100
54. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 101
55. Humboldt to Spiker, 104
56. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 105
57. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 106
58. King Christian YIH. of Denmark to Humboldt, . . 108
59. (No Address.) . 110
60. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 112
61. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 115
62. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, ., 119
63 Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 120
64. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . '. '.122
65. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 127
66. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 128
67. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, .... 130
68. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . ". '.131
69. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 138
70. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 139
71. (No Address.) ] 140
72. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, .... 141
73. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 142
Contents. ix
PAGE
74. Humboldt to the Prince of Prussia. 144
75. (No Address.) 146
76. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 151
77. J. W. T. to Humboldt, 154
78. Count Bresson, French Ambassador, to Humboldt, . . 155
79. Arago to Humboldt, 158
80. Four Notes of Frederick William the Fourth to Humboldt, 160
81. King Christian VIII. of Denmark to Humboldt, . .163
82. John Herschel to Humboldt, 164
83. Balzac to Humboldt, 168
84. Robert Peel to Humboldt, 1 69
85. Metternich to Humboldt, 170
' 86. Prescott to Humboldt, 171
87. Madame de Recamier to Humboldt, . . . .174
88. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 175
89. Leopold. Grand-Duke of Tuscany, to Humboldt, . .175
90. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 177
91 Humboldt to Varnhagen, 178
92. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 180
93. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 182
94. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 183
95. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 184
96. (No Address.) 185
97. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 186
98. Metternich to Humboldt, 188
99. Jules Janin to Humboldt, 189
100. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 192
101. Huraboldt to Varnhagen, . . . . . 193
102. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 196
103. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 196
104. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . . . .198
105. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 199
106. Humboldt to Varnhagen 201
107. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 203
108. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 204
109. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 205
110. Humboldt to Friedrich Wilhelm IV., . . .206
111. Bessel to Humboldt 208
112. Victor Hugo to Humboldt, 215
113. Friedrich Rueckert to Humboldt, 216
114. Alexander Manzoni to Humboldt, 217
115. Thiers to Humboldt, 220
116. The Princess of Canino, Lucien Bonaparte's Widow, to
Humboldt, 220
117. Duchess Helene d'Orleans to Humboldt, . . . .221
118. Duchess Helene d'Orleans to Humboldt, .... 222
119. Duchess Helene d'Orleans to Humboldt, . . . .223
Contents.
PAGE
120. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 223
121. Humboldtto Yarnhagen, ..' . . . . .225
122. Metternich to Humboldt, ...*'-.. . . 225
123. Humboldt to Varnhagen, ,, ,- * . -,."" . 229
124 Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . ,- . . ;.:.,-.?.. 229
125. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, ,, .. . ... . . .>. . 231
126. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . ... ,. .. . 232
127. Mignet to Humboldt, .... _-, . . . . 233
128. Humboldt to Baudin, . . . . ;* : . . 235
129. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 238
130. Metternich to Humboldt, . . . .-': . . .; . 240
131. Prince Albert to Humboldt, 241
132. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 242
133. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, - . 243
134. (No Address.) 248
135. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, -* . . . . . 251
136. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . .w. ... 252
137. Metternich to Humboldt, 253
138. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 254
139. Helen, Duchess of Orleans, to Humboldt, . . .254
140. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . ; > . . , . . 256
141. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . ...-.:.. . 259
142. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 260
14.3. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . ..'..$;. . 160
144. Humboldt to Bettina von Arnim, . ... . 262
145. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 263
146. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 266
147. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . . 268
148. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . : . , 271
149. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, .' 271
150. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 275
151. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 276
152. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 278
153. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 279
154. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . .281
155. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . . . \ .284
156. Humboldt to "VJfcihagen, 286
157. Arago to Humboldt, ..' '.287
158. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, ,289
159. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, '. 289
160. Yarnhagen to Humboldt, 294
161. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 297
162. Humboldt to Bettina von Arnim, ." . * * .' 300
163. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 302
164. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, ' 3o3
165. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, . . \ 304
166. Yarnhagen to Humboldt, [ 305
Contents. xi
PAGE
167. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 306
168. Humboldt to Yarnhagen, 308
169. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 313
170. The Princess Lieven to Humboldt, 316
171. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 317
172. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 318
173. Humboldt to Varnhagen, ...... 320
174. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 321
175. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 323
176. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 324
177. The Prussian Minister Resident, von Gerolt, to Humboldt, 325
178. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 327
179. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . - . . . . 329
180. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 330
181. Grand Duke Charles Alexander of Saxe- Weimar to Hum-
boldt, 330
182. Varnhagen to Humbpldt, 331
183.- Humboldt to Varnhagen, 333
184. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 334
185. Metternich to Humboldt, 336
186. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 338
187. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . 338
188. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 341
189. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, to Hum-
boldt, 343
190. Jobard to Humboldt, 344
191. Lines by Varnhagen on Hildebrandt's Painting of Hum-
boldt's Apartments, and the Motto Attached. . . 346
192. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 347
193. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 360
194. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, to Hum-
boldt, 351
195. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 352
196. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 354
197. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 356
198. Varnhagen to Humboldt, . . . . . . . 359
199. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . . . . .360
200. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 362
201 Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, to Hum-
boldt, 363
202. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 364
203. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 366
204. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 368
205. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 368
206. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 370
207. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, to
Humboldt, 371
xii Contents.
PAGE
208. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 372
209. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 374
210. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, to
Humboldt, V .. . 375
211. Thiers to Humboldt, ..' . . V . . . 376
212. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 377
213. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . ." . . ".379
214 Humboldt to Varnhagen, . . . .... 382
215. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 383
216. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 385
217. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 387
218. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 380
219. Prince Napoleon, Son of Jerome, to Humboldt, . . 390
220. Varnhagen to Humboldt, 393
221. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 394
222. Humboldt to Varnhagen, 395
223. Humboldt to Varnhagen, . .* . . . 397
224. Humboldt to Varnhagen, '. < . . . . .399
225. Humboldt to Ludmilla Assing, 402
1HIVSXIS1TY
PREFACE.
THE following letters of Humboldt furnish a con-
tribution of the highest importance to the true, correct,
and unveiled representation of his genius and charac-
ter. That they should be delivered to publicity after
his death was his desire and intent, which have found
their positive impression in the words preceding this
book as its motto. Never has he spoken out his
mind more freely and sincerely, than in his communi-
cations with Yarnhagen, his old and faithful friend,
whom he esteemed and loved before all others. In
him he placed an unlimited confidence ; with him he
deposited those letters received by him, which he
desired to be saved for their importance, while he
used to destroy nearly all others. He presumed that
Varnhagen, the junior of the two, would survive him.
xiv Preface.
Varnhagen, however, died first and transmitted the
duty a doubly sacred one to me, of publishing
this memorable evidence of the life, the activity, and
the genius of this great man. In the accomplishment
of this charge it was a religious duty to leave every
word unchanged as written down. I would have
thought it an offence to Humboldt's memory had I
had the arrogance to make the slightest alterations of
his words. For the same reason I did not think
myself authorized to grant the request however
well-meaning it may have been of the publisher,
that I should make such alterations, nor could I
accord the least influence to my own feelings or to
personal regards. There was but one consideration
to be obeyed the eternal truth, for an adherence to
which I am responsible to Humboldt's memory, to
History and Literature, and to the will of him who
enjoined this duty upon me.
And therefore the legacy, intrusted to my hands,
will appear full and complete, as it was received. The
interest of Humboldt's letters is sometimes pleasantly
heightened by entries in Varnhagen's diary they will
Preface xv
indicate the verbal sentiments of Humboldt in addi-
tion to those written by him. Of Yarnhagen's letters
few only were preserved or could be found. In the
little, however, which is known, the noble friendship,
the constant, never-ceasing mental activity, the faith-
ful fellowship in their mutual efforts in behalf of
science and liberty, in all of which Humboldt and
Yarnhagen were so many years united, find a suffi-
cient expression.
The letters of many other distinguished and cele-
brated persons, which are also added, will show
Humboldt in his world-wide connexions, in his mani-
fold relations to savans and authors, to statesmen and
princes, all of whom approached him with reverenc \
LUDMILLA ASSING.
BERLIN, February, 1860.
HUMBOLDT'S LETTERS.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September 25th, 1827.
MY HONORED FRIEND:
ALLOW me to present you with the best copy of my
essay* left me.
The end of it will, I hope, secure me your indulgence
for the whole.
Tuesday. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
* On the Principal Causes of the Variation of Temperature upon
the Earth.
i8 Humboldt's Letters.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, November 1st, 1827.
You recollect having once uttered some affectionate
words in acknowledgment of my endeavors to describe
Nature vividly and truly (that is, with strict correctness
as to what we do observe).
That your words have left agreeable impressions, you
will perceive from this insignificant token of my grati-
tude.*
I have altered nearly all " the Explanations," and
added " The Genius of Rhodes," for which Schiller has
shown some predilection^
With friendship and the highest consideration,
Yours,
A. HUMBOLDT.
Is it not strange, that Koreff has never acknowledged
what we did for him here ?
* With a copy of " Yiews of Nature," new edition.
Humboldt's Letters. 19
8.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BEELIN, November 21, 1827.
WEDNESDAY, AT NIGHT.
TRUSTING more to your friendship for me and to my
memoranda, which always guide me in my lectures,
than to the notes taken by the students, I send you
herewith the entire fifth lecture, together with to-day's
recapitulation. I am sure, you will not find anything
anti-philosophical therein. You may make whatever
use you like of them except a copy for publication
please send them back before Saturday. That the
memoranda were made for my own use only, you will
observe by the confusion in their composition the
desire, however, to be always frank, makes me forget
any consideration which vanity could suggest.*
A. HUMBOLDT.
* The memoranda were intended to be communicated to Professor
Hegel, who was told that Humboldt had indulged in attacks on Phi-
losophy in his lectures.
2O Humboldt's Letters.
a.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April 15th, 1828.
yon allow me to disturb you for some moments
between 2 and 3 o'clock this afternoon, that I may ask
your literary opinion? My book shall bear the title:
" Sketch of a Physical Description of the World."
I should like to embody in the title itself the occasion
of these lectures, so as to make it understood at onoe
that the book contains more and something else than
the lectures. " From reminiscences of lectures in the
years 1827 and 1828, by A. v.Humboldt," is considered,
I am told, ridiculous and pretending. I do not insist on
it ; but " Souvenirs d'un cours de Physique du monde,''
or, " Souvenirs d'un voyage en Perse," seemed simple
enough. How shall I arrange the title of the book ?
" Sketch of the Physical World, elaborated from lec-
tures by A. v. H. ; or, " Partly treated from Lectures ?
All that seems rather awkward. Adverbs will not do
for titles. What if I add in small type : " A part of
this work has been the subject of lectures in the years
1827 and 1828?" This is, however, rather long and
Humboldt's Letters. 21
then the verb! " Occasioned 5y," &c., would perhaps
be better. I trust to your genius ! You will help me
out of this labyrinth, I am sure ! With the sincerest
attachment,
Your obedient,
A. HUMBOLDT.
NOTE BY VARNHAGEN. I had objected to the first herein mentioned
title myself when I once dined at Prince August's, and Humboldt had
heard it from Beuth.
5.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, 3d of April, 1829.
I SHALL call and thank you and enjoy your being
home again, and the good effects which the exercise of
your new duties have everywhere had. And I will
implore pardon of your gifted lady, so dear to me
through the misfortunes that happened in my own
fcouly. It is never allowed to present a book to the
King, not even by Prince Wittgenstein. It must go the
usual way. But I will entreat Albrecht very, very fer-
vently.* I am quite exhausted and will be off in a week.
Friday. A. HT.
* It was a book of Ranke (the Historian).
22 Humboldt's Letters.
e.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, 26#A of April, 1830.
I HAVE just come home from Potsdam, and find your
dear letter and your present, so very agreeable to me.
The " Zinzendorf" * will delight me very, very much.
He is an individual physiognomy like Lavater and Car-
danus. The recent pietism, which began to break out
at Halle, made me smile. I rejoice that you will kindly
accept my " Cri de Petersbourg" it is a parody recited
at Court the forced work of two nights ; an essay to
flatter without self-degradation, to say how things
should be. As you and your high-gifted wife, my
ancient and kind friend, rejoice in anything agreeable
that happens to me, I wish to say that the King sends
me to the Emperor to attend the meeting of the
Potentates. I shall probably go with the Crown-Prince,
who will meet the Empress at Fischbach.
Yours,
A. HT.
Zinzendorf >s letters to the Saviour were rather more
legible, f
* Biography of Count Zinzendorf by Varnhagen. Translator.
f Humboldt wrote a very illegible hand, hence this allusion.-
Translator.
Humboldt's Letters. 23
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, July 9A, 1830.
PLEASE accept for yourself and your highminded
and excellent lady my sincerest thanks for your new
present, so agreeable to me.* I was not personally
acquainted with the man whose eccentricities you have
so aesthetically described. He was one of those who
shine by their personal appearance ; their lives are of
greater effect than their writings. A man who boasts
that his recollections go back to the first year of his
life (how differently the Margravine judged things,
when she says : " J'etais un enfant tres precoce a
deux ans je savais parler, a trois ans je marchais !") ; a
man who owns a guardian angel in a black cloak, like
Cardanus who makes love to old maids, without being
drunk, only in order to convert the same to virtue and
reading ; a man, to whom the fate of German profes-
* Memoirs of John Benjamin Ehrhard, Philosopher and Physician.
Edited by Varnhagen von Ense. Stuttgart and Tubingen. Cotta.
1830.
24 Humboldt's Letters.
sors under German princes appears more tragical than
that of the Greeks such a man cannot but be admired
as a curiosity! The " Kirchen-Zeitung" will never
inscribe his name in the list of "the faithful," and
the Schimmelmanns will hardly thank you, my most
honored friend, that the work recalls the Danish-
Holstein saturnalia of sentimental demagogism.
I am very much gratified that you will take " Har-
denberg" in hand. It is a difficult but satisfactory
task, if you be careful to separate the epochs, and pro-
vided his life be judged without party hatred, which
seems to have subsided at last, with regard to Hegel
in the Academy.
Thankfully yours, A. HUMBOLDT.
We find in Varnhagen's diary the following entry
referring to the above : " Alexander von Humboldt
said to Gans, after the July revolution, when he heard
him express very exalted hopes of the new govern-
ment, ' Believe me, dear friend, my wishes go as far as
yours, but my hopes are very feeble. I have seen
changes of government in France fbr forty years.
They always fall by their own incapacity; the new
ones give always the same promises, but they never
keep them, and the march to ruin is renewed. I
was personally acquainted with most of the men in
power, some of them intimately; there were distin-
Humboldt's Letters. 25
guished, well-meaning men among them ; but they did
not persevere ; after a short time they were not better
than their predecessors nay, they became even greater
rascals. Not one of all the governments there has
kept the promises made to the people not one of them
has subordinated its own interest to the welfare of the
country. And until this be done, no power can pos-
sibly take a lasting root in France. The nation has
always been deceived, and will again be deceived ;
when it will punish the treason and the perjury of its
rulers ; for it is strong and mature enough to do this
at the proper time.' "
8.
VARNHAGEtf TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, January 23d, 1833.
CERTAINLY it was I who met your Excellency some
time ago at the sunny hour of noon and who recognised
you too late, as I was recognised too late by you.
How I should have liked to run after you, but it would
not do, the distance was already too great. I would
have liked to have told you something concerning Mr.
von Bulow at London, which I had just got from the
2
26 Humboldt's Letters.
best authority, and which I thought would be new to
you, as it was to me. It was about the danger in which
that bold ambassador was for some time, and which,
according to a declaration of the King, had passed over.
Since then your Excellency has heard it from other
sources, and my information will be but stale.
Now we Prussians are also gratified at last by a
general representation of the people, or, to speak more
correctly, we had it a long time ago, only we did not
know it! Bishop Eylert has lifted the veil from our
eyes. He is the first to speak out the great truth, like a
second Mirabeau, in clearness of thought and boldness
of words. I can vividly imagine how the " Rittersaal,"
nay, the whole palace, was shaken to its foundation,
when he thundered that powerful truth to the assembly,
that the representation of the whole people, of all the
classes and interests, ought to be found in that solemn
lodge of the Order of Knights ! I bend my head in
deep reverence to such a colossal boldness, to such a
new unheard-of combination, by which other miserable
institutions, until now regarded as national representa-
tions, as for instance Parliaments, Assemblies, Cortes,
and the like, were annihilated and blown into nothing-
ness! I have listened to the orator from the silent
mouth of the official gazette only ; but your Excellency
was present without doubt at the solemnity and pitied
me, to be sure, and will say, what in ancient times was
Humboldt's Letters. 27
said when a speech of Demosthenes was read : " Oh !
had you heard it delivered by him !" And the smiling
approval, the gracious satisfaction of the high audience,
the amazement of all present at the wonderful discovery,
how much the impression must have been heightened
by all that !
Oh, our Protestant parsons are on the best road, they
promise to leave behind their Catholic brethren as they
were when in the most flourishing condition of their
priesthood. Such hypocritical black coats make us
the laughing-stock of the world. Representation of the
people or no representation, may we have it, or may it
be denied, I care little about it just now, but that such
a scoundrel should assume to call the meeting of the
Knights of an Order a national representation, is an
attempt which should be rewarded by the lunatic
asylum or the State prison. And there is not even a
song, a street ballad, a caricature, to make merry of
such a monstrosity all is silent !
But as this is the time of sleep, I will go to bed and
wish you and myself good night and sweet dreams.
With the highest respect, &c.,
V.
See A. v. Humboldt'a note to Rahel, Varnhagen's wife, of the 1st
of February, 1833.
28 Humboldt's Letters.
9.
HUMBOLDT TO EAHEL.
BERLIN, February 1, 1833.
MY speedy reply has no good foreboding, my dear
friend. When anything is to be done in this country,
it wants fourteen months' maturing after that there is
hope. The inclosed letter, which, however, you are
entreated not to leave in the hand of your lady friend,
explains all. I was listened to in my words and letters
kindly and promisingly. This morning, however, the
drawingsthose beautiful drawings were sent back.
The underlined word in the accompanying note might
give some hope ; but I like better to give myself up to
illusions than to nourish them in others, and the firm-
ness with which Beuth, who alone has to decide in the
matter, sticks to his will, bars all prospects. That I
have done my best in the matter, as you yourself have
desired it, does not require further words this should
be a sort of historical faith with you. Please send me
a word of comfort about my dear Varnhagen the only
brilliant star in the literary world of our country that
country in which, as the bishop with the drawn sword
Humboldt's Letters. 29
says, even the most eminent talents, as such, ought to
have no distinction whatever ! I do not wonder that
such things are spoken out, but what depresses me is the
vileness of the society in which we are here living, and
which is Dot even aroused by such contemptible asser-
tions. May both of you preserve your nobler selves.
A. HT.
10.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, 3d of Feby., 1833.
I am eternally grateful and affected by your noble
letter. Grace and euphony of language should always
be joined to purity of character and gracefulness of
manners.
My brother was here for two days, but almost always
under the shock of the waves, dashing from the Court.
Princes have the right to pray without ever being depre-
cated. He ordered me to tell you, dear friend, how
very sensible he is to the flattering nature of your offer ;
but he is just now so much occupied with the publica-
tion of the quarto edition on the affinity of Asiatic
languages with the Sanscrit, that he cannot accept
30 Humboldt's Letters.
what he considers, nevertheless, as highly important.
He desires, in honor of the celebrity of the great
departed one,* that you should undertake the task. I
am painfully concerned to hear that you enjoy, together
with your ingenious friend, but a small bit of health,
which you kindly lend each other something of a
mutual self-instruction, or Azais-compensation, which
afflicts me very much. I have received a long letter of
Mrs. Cotta. It seems she will assume the editorship of
the Allgemeine Zeitung, an anti-salique enterprise alto-
gether. Is it not strange, how, at certain epochs, a
certain principle seems to penetrate all mankind ? Resus-
citation of reverence for the past, not-to-be-disturbed
love of peace, distrust in the possibility of amelioration,
hydrophobia against genius, religious compulsion for
unity, mania-diplomatica for protocols Cardi-
nes rerum.
NOTE BY VARNHAGEN. I had replied in Rah el's name, who was
prevented by sickness, to the note of the 1st inst, directed to her, and
in a postscript had expressed the desire Minister de Humboldt
should write the critique of Faust, just then to be published for tho
Jahrbucher der Kritik.
* Goethe. Translator.
Humbolck's Letters. 31
11.
HUMBOLDT TO UAHEL.
BERLIN, February 9tk, 1853.
I have seen Beuth once more, to remind him of his
ancient friendship with L. His opinion is, that it
would be advantageous for the family to separate the
architectural subjects from what belongs to landscape
merely, and also to leave out the engravings. Only the
architectural drawings were of any use to his institute,
and if the family wanted the money, he would be
enabled to purchase to the amount of some hundred
Thalers (perhaps four to five hundred?). However un-
inviting such an offer may be, I thought it my duty,
dear friend, to impart it to you. In case of acceptance,
Beuth wishes to deal forthwith with some agent, who
should come and see him in his house.
May the sun of gentle spring give you both warmth,
cheerfulness, and vigor ! The "Byzantine empire"
(ours I mean) is seriously divided into two parties about
" Bunsen's Psalm Book," and " Eisner's Collection of
Hymns ! " The military power and the adjutants are
in favor of the " Collection of Hymns." As for myself,
I have not yet made up my mind.
Saturday. * A. HT.
32 Humboldt's Letters.
is.
HUMBOLDT TO VAENHAGEN.
SATURDAY, March 9th, 1833.
To a mind like yours, noble friend, solitude and calm
are necessary. You draw only upon yourself. Think,
that I received the painful news* only last night by Prince
Carolath. You know what a warm-hearted, long-proved,
and kind friend I lost in her, the honor of her sex ! how
amiable she was, when lately she instructed me to trans-
act the little business with Beuth. So experienced in
all the vicissitudes and illusions of life, and yet so cheer-
ful, and so gentle ! With such an intellect, so full of
soul, and so true of heart ! The world will appear to
you a solitude for a long time, but the consciousness of
having imparted to such a lovely woman, until her very
last breath, all that genius, and heart, and gracefulness of
intercourse like yours can afford, will be a balm to
your wound, dear Varnhagen. I conjure you, take care
of your health !
A. HUMBOLDT.
* Of Rahel's death.
Humboldt's Letters. 33
la
HUMBOLDT TO YABNHAGEN.
BERLIN, December 3, 1833.
PAEDON, a thousand pardons, for not sooner return-
ing the classical studies of Friedrich Schlegel. I stu-
died them diligently and I am convinced that many
views of Grecian antiquity, which modern authors ascribe
to themselves, are buried in writings dated from 1795
(a deucalionic time of yore !). Angelus Silesius, whom I
have but now learned to appreciate, has also gratified me
and my brother very much. There is a*piety in the book,
which breathes on the mind like the balmy air of spring,
and the mysterious and hieroglyphical marks of your
departed wife, render your gift doubly dear to me.
Spiker,* very curiously mistook the genitive in the
" astronomical observations of Alexander von Hum-
boldt," for my signature, when he informed the public
of Oltmann's death. I will pass it over, however, with-
out correction.
With everlasting affection, yours,
A. HUMBOLDT.
* At that time editor of the Haude and Spenersche Zeitung in
Berlin. Tr.
2*
34 Humboldt's Letters.
14.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, December 9, 1833.
I ENCLOSE you, most honored friend, some words of
the lovely Duchess of Dessau. Anything honoring the
memory of our departed lady friend must be dear to
your heart.
Sunday. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
DESSAU, December 1, 1833.
ACCEPT my best thanks for the books you sent me.
Each in its way interested me very much. I am sorry
not to have been personally acquainted with Rahel.
Her mind now lies so clearly before me, that I should
have been happy to have been acquainted with her
exterior appearance, that it might suggest to me the
intellect within.
FKIEDEKIKE, Duchess at Anhalt.
Yet full of admiration for R. the book of all books.
May I ask you, my honored friend, for Friedrich Schle-
gel's works, third volume ?
Humboldt's Letters. 35
15.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
BERLIN, December 19, 1833.
I HAVE been prevented by the irksome and noisy
Court-life from inquiring personally after the dear health
of my friend. I am sorry that I must request you, by
the present note, to return me the letter of the Duchess
of Dessau, containing the amiable words concerning our
sainted friend.
Tuesday. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
le.
BERLIN, Oct. 24, 1834.
I BEGIN the printing of my work (the work of my
life). I have the extravagant idea of describing in one
and the same work the whole material world all that
we know to-day of celestial bodies and of life upon the
earth from the nebular stars to the mosses on the
36 Humboldt's Letters.
granite rocks and to make this work instructive to the
mind, and at the same time attractive, by its vivid lan-
guage. Every great and sparkling idea must be noticed,
side by side with its attendant facts. The work shall
represent an epoch of the intellectual development of
mankind in their knowledge of nature. The prolego-
mena are, for the most part, ready. They are my
amended " discours d'ouverture " as they were delivered
from memory, although immediately afterwards care-
fully written down ; the picture of physical nature
incentives to the study of nature in the spirit of our age
these latter are threefold: 1. "Poesie descriptive"
and vivid description of natural scenery in modern
works of travels. 2. Landscape pictures, sensitive
description of an exotic nature when it originated,
when it became a necessity and a pleasure to the
mind ; the reason why antiquity (too passionate) could
not feel it. 3. Plants grouping of them, according to
the physiognomy of plants (no botanic gardens). His-
tory of the physical description of the world. How the
idea of the world of the connexion of all the pheno-
mena, became clear to the nations of the world in the
course of centuries. These prolegomena are the most
essential. They contain the general part of the work,
which is followed by the special part, the particulars
of which are arranged in systematic order. I send also
a part of the tabular register ; space of the universe; the
Humboldt's Letters. 37
whole physical astronomy ; our globe, its interior, exte-
rior ; electro-magnetism of its interior ; vulcanism, that is,
the reaction of the interior of a planet upon its surface ;
organization of the masses ; a concise geognosy ; ocean ;
atmosphere ; climate ; organic matter ; vegetable geogra-
phy; animal geography ; human races and languages; the
physical organization of which (articulation of sounds) is
controlled by the intellect, the product and manifestation
of which is language. In the special part all numerical
results, the most minute, as in " Laplac&s Exposition
du Systeme du Monde." As these particulars do not
admit the same literary perfection of style as the general
combinations of natural science, the simple facts are
stated in short sentences, arranged in tabular order. The
attentive reader will find condensed in a few pages all
results on climate, magnetism of the earth, etc., which it
would take years of application to learn by study. The
intimate relations of the fundamental details, for the sake
of literary harmony with the general plan, are effected by
brief introductory remarks to each chapter. Otfried
Mueller, in his ably written " Archaeology," has very suc-
cessfully pursued the same method.
It was my wish that you, my dear friend, should get
a clear perception of my undertaking from myself. I
have not succeeded in concentrating the whole in one
single volume, however magnificent the effect of such
conciseness would have been. I hope, however, that
38 Humboldt's Letters.
two volumes will contain the whole. There will be no
notes under the text, but at the end there will be notes
appended, containing solid erudition, and minuteness of
detail ; these, however, may be left unread.
The work is not what is commonly called " Physical
Description of the Earth." It comprises heaven and
earth everything existing. I began to write it fifteen
years ago in French, and called it " Essai sur la Phy-
sique du Monde." In Germany I thought first of
calling it " The Book of Nature /" a title already
adopted in the middle age by Albertus Magnus. But
all this is too vague. The title shall be "JZbsmos,"
Sketch of a Physical Description of the World, by A. v.
H., enlarged outlines of his Lectures in 1827 and 1828.
Cotta, Publisher.
I wanted to add the word Kosmos, and to force
people to call the book by this name in order to avoid
their calling it "Humboldt's Physical Geography,"
which would throw the thing in the class of Mitter-
sacher's writings. " Description of the World" (formed
after History of the World) would, as a designation
seldom used, always be confounded with " Description
of the Earth." I know that " Kosmos" sounds rather
pretending, and the word is indeed not without a
certain " Affeterie ;" but this title says in one and the
same striking word, "Heaven and Earth," and is quite
opposed to " Gaea," the title of that rather imperfect
Humboldt's Letters. 39
description of the earth by Professor Zeune. My brother
is also for the title " Kosmos." I myself hesitated for
a long time. Now, grant me a favor, my dear friend.
I cannot prevail upon myself to send away the com-
mencement of my manuscript without entreating you
to cast a critical eye over it. You possess such an
eminent talent for style, and you have at the same time
so much genius and independence of judgment, that you
do not quite discard the style of others because it differs
from your own. Please read the " Discours," and put
in a little sheet on which you write without giving
any reasons. " So .... I would better like, so ....
instead of . ..." Do, however, not condemn without
assisting me ! and do also ease my mind as to the title.
With the utmost confidence, yours,
Monday. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
The principal faults of my style are an unhappy inclina-
tion to hyper-poetical forms, long constructions upon
participles, and too much concentrating of manifold
views and sentiments in one and the same period. I
think, however, that these radical evils, founded in my
individuality, are somewhat lessened by a grave simpli-
city and generalization, enabling me to contemplate my
subject with a complete mastery of its details, if I may
be permitted so much vanity. A book on nature should
produce an impression like nature itself. I have been
40 Humboldt's Letters.
always careful, as in my " Views of Nature," and in
that work my manner is quite different from that of
Forster and Chateaubriand. I have always endeavored
to describe faithfully, to design correctly, and to be
even scientifically true, without losing myself in the dry
regions of knowledge.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEK
BERLIN, October 28th, 1834.
You have encouraged and cheered me by your amia-
ble letter, and your still more amiable solicitude. You
have quite entered into the spirit of my efforts. But
the expression of my affectionate confidence in you [a
manifestation of the acknowledgment of your talent in the
Humboldt family] has rendered you too considerate and
inclined to praise. Your remarks have a degree of refine-
ment, of taste, and acuteness, which makes emendation a
highly pleasant task. I have adopted all, or nearly all
more than nineteeu-twentieths. Some obstinacy, how-
ever, must always be allowed an author. I beg a thousand
pardons for sending you some sheets, in which (towards
the end of the Discourse) I had not corrected the newly-
Humboldt's Letters. 41
annexed parts. Some sentences were really confused.
You will permit me to call one of these days, and thank
you personally. I will then show you the emendations
at the end of the discourse. How happy I would have
been to have laid some of these travels before her, the
dear departed one !
Yours gratefully,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
1 would there were in Germany as excellent a book
of synonyms as the inclosed one, which, I am sure, you
did not see before now. Abbe Delisle has advised me
to use it, and indeed it spares much time ; if a similar
word is wanted, one finds it at once. I shall come and
take the book back.
18.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Sunday, 6 o'clock A.M.,
April 5th, 1855.
You, my dearest Yarnhagen, who are not afraid
of grief, but who trace its phases through the depths
of sentiment, you should receive at this sorrowful
time a few words expressing the love which both
42 Humboldt's Letters.
brothers feel for you. The release has not yet come. I
left him last night at 11 o'clock, and I hasten to him
again. The day, yesterday, was less distressing. A
half lethargic condition, frequent, though not restless,
slumber, and after each waking, words of love, of com-
fort; but always the clearness of the great intellect,
which penetrates and distinguishes everything and
examines its own condition. The voice was very feeble,
hoarse, and thin, like a child's leeches were therefore
applied to the throat. Full consciousness ! " Think often
of me,'' he said the day before yesterday, " but always
with cheerfulness ! I was very happy ; and this day also
was a beautiful one for me ; for * Love is above all.'
I will soon be with mother, and will have an insight into
a higher* order of things." I have no shadow of hope. I
never thought my old eyes had so many tears ! It has
lasted near eight days.*
* Wilhelm von Humboldt died on the 8th of April, 1835, at Tegel,
at 6 o'clock in the evening.
Humboldt's Letters.
19.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, May 15th, 1835, Tuesday.
MY time is, unfortunately, so much occupied by the
many princely strangers, and I am so affected by the
cold, though not at all bracing weather, that I can
scarcely find leisure to thank you, dear friend, for the
" Bollmann" * and the biographical sketch of him, in
which I recognised at once your pen, and also the
" retouchings," when the " Staats Zeitung" fell into my
hands. One should not undertake to speak of distin-
guished men in such papers ; it is a difficult task, even
for a man of your genius, to keep the proper course
between the family, the censor, and the cold, indifferent
public.
The name of " Mundt" has recalled to me some
remarkable pages of his " Madonna," on the tendency
of the Germans to sentimental lucubrations. There is
* Bollmann, a German who resided a long time in the United
States, and who is known by his bold attempts to liberate Lafayette
from the prison of Olmutz. Translator.
44 Humboldt's Letters.
much truth in these observations, and I thought to read
my own sentence in them. So much, dear friend, on
this world, to us, now unhappily deserted.
Always gratefully, A. HUMBOLDT.
I feel some sorrow, nevertheless, that you refuse to
see the Grand-Duchess.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
BERLIN, May 6th, 1835.
I SEND back the communicated sheets, as they might
interrupt the series. I was personally acquainted with
almost all those whom Bollmann describes so vividly
and faithfully. One perceives how he rises as he enters
into more important situations. What a strange course
of life, " Medecin de Sauvetage !" I have now a better
impression of him, thanks to you; for, without being
capable of divining the true cause, I noticed some cool-
ness towards Bollmann in Lafayette's family, for some
years past. A. HT.
Humboldt's Letters. 45
si.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Saturday, 23d of May, 1835.
IP the " Morgenblatt" of the 18th of May should
fall into your hands, dear friend, please glance at a
rather offensive article therein, entitled " Wilhelm von
Humboldt's Funeral." My brother is said to have died
abandoned by his family. I take but little notice of
such misrepresentations. I should wish to know, how-
ever, is " that other thing" which my brother was
" ignorant of, besides music, and which one dare not
name" is it God, or some lewdness ? I do not know
what it possibly can be ! Please, dearest one, to find
out how this assertion is explained by the public. The
cause of my brother's retiring from public life is also
so world-known, that it is singular to intimate that
one did not know whether it was by his own fault. I
call with pleasure on your acuteness and affection.
Supply my deficiency in the first.
Most thankfully yours, A. HUMBOLDT.
46 Humboldt's Letters.
HUMBOLDT TO YARITHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 28th, 1830.
A MIND like yours, my generous friend, understands,
in its mildness and fortitude, how to discover some
justification for everything. I do not fear, therefore,
to appear this morning again before you as a petitioner,
after a winter distracted by the dashing court-waves
and festivities. You are the only one in this harmony-
barren, genius-deserted city who possesses a harmony
of style and a sense of moderation in the utterance of
painful sentiments. May I beg you to cast a critical
glance over the inclosed sheets ?* The variations
played on the praise-chanting lyre for forty individuals
were a tedious, style-spoiling necessity. It was arranged
who should be invited to the great table. As for me,
I think I came out not quite awkwardly, by some indi-
vidual characteristics, and by a sort of graduation in
my praise. Allow me to call to-day, about eleven
* Preface to Wilhelm von Humboldt's work about the Kawi lan-
guage.
Humboldt's Letters. 47
o'clock, to receive the sheets, which are much wanted
by the printer, together with your verbal remarks at
the same time. I can alter, if necessary, sous votre
dictee, at your home. It would be humane in you to
receive me in bed.
Respectfully yours,
Monday. A. HUMBOLDT.
At eleven o'clock I shall be with you.
Varnhagen made, on the llth of May, 1836, the fol-
lowing entry in his diary :
" Very early this morning, Alexander von Humboldt
came to see me, and remained an hour and a half. The
principal subject of our conversation was the French
princes, who arrived here to-day. The embarrassment
of the King is very great ; he would like to show the
greatest attention to the strangers, while at the same
time he desires his attentions should have the appear-
ance of insults at St. Petersburg. State Secretary
Ancillon had not courage enough to advise the Crown-
Prince for their coming here as a certainty. He trusted
to chance to acquaint him with it. Our princes go
into a violent passion, and complained bitterly of the
unwelcome visit. The Princesses Augusta and Maria,
who showed themselves pleased with it, had hard words
to hear. It was said that there would be a demonstra-
48 Humboldt's Letters.
tion in the theatre : some would applaud, and a greater
number would hiss, it was hoped. At Treves, some-
thing of that sort had already happened, on their way
through that city. No doubt, however, that our
Princes, notwithstanding their ill-feelings, will behave
very civilly, as the King has expressed his wishes in this
respect too positively. The Queen of the Netherlands,
who is just now here, and who was believed to be the
most violently opposed to them, leads the way with a
good example, and declares that she will receive the
strangers. The Ambassador, Mr. Bresson, and Mr. von
Humboldt, at first disapproved of this excursion. That
it is carried out notwithstanding is owing to Prince von
Metternich, who desiring to secure the influence of
France in the Oriental affairs, and at the same time to
preserve the friendship of Russia, puts Prussia in the
foreground, whose conduct in receiving the French
Princes will form a precedent which must necessarily
be followed at Vienna. The thing is, indeed, an event
of great importance, and must tell effectively on public
opinion. It is a fact, and, as such, speaks to every one.
Every one will say that our Court has not the principles
it pretended to have, or that it is too weak to avow
them openly, and is driven, therefore, to try hypocrisy.
A bad thing either way !
Humboldt's Letters. 49
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, May 31**, 1836.
[Concerning the article in the Allgemeine Zeitung, against Raumer,*
written, it was said, by Major von Radowitz.]
THE correspondent had, it seems, little to fear from
the mendacious declaration of this " defloured." In the
general view on the shallowness and dough-facedness,
of the great historian, I am of his opinion. Moreover
reading Herr von Raumer's books is like being
" whipped," and that I neither suffer nor pardon.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
Monday, April 24<A, 1837.
IT is very consoling, that both brothers in this intel-
lectually desolated city (how brilliant it was when Rahel
was in her zenith) live in the memory of the only one,
to whom have remained good taste, refined manners, and
gracefulness of style.
* Professor of History at Berlin.
3
50 Humboldt's Letters.
All my researches concerning the separate print of the
essay were in vain to-day. I have not even the single
volume of the Academical Proceedings of 1822, because
at that time I lived in Paris. Yet, in a few days, I will
bring you this one. I will then also show you a list of
all the remaining works of my brother, which I have
made with great care, and which you may perhaps in-
crease. Cotta will print all of them ; also, the eight
hundred sonnets, and likewise the hitherto unprinted
ecclesiastical poems from Spain. I make the prepara-
tions for this edition in a spirit of sincere piety that I
may not die regretting its non-completion.
How could I ever suspect, dear friend, that you
would let me become a Madame Sontag, at the house of
the excellent Princess (as in the saloon of the Princess
Belgiojoso), and make an exhibition of myself! I will
read witli pleasure in a small circle of twelve or fifteen
persons, certainly not otherwise, because Berlin is a small
illiterate town and more than malicious, in which
people would find it ludicrous, if I, in addition to two
alas ! already so public theatres were to offer a third
entertainment. But happily, I certainly am no Madame
Sontag in Berlin, and the lecture can therefore well
remain a secret de comedie. You are certainly suffi-
ciently humane to understand all this, and not to blame
me.
With all reverence, yours, A. v. H.
Humboldt's Letters
35.
HUMEOLDT TO THE PRINCESS YON PUECKLER.
I ARRIVED this very night from Potsdam, and I accept
with pleasure the amiable offer of Madame la Princesse
for to-morrow, Wednesday night, at eight o'clock pre-
cisely, for the spectacle lasts one hour. I feel some
fear in fixing it for Thursday, considering the planetarian
perturbations. Any persons selected by you will be
agreeable to me. I would only beg Madame la Prin-
cesse not to invite Rauch, Grans, and Mr. and Mrs.
Ruhle, because they have already been bored by this
affair. Mr. de Varnhagen may add whomever he pleases.
This tact in selecting only those who will have some
indulgence in listening to me is unsurpassed.
Thousand respectful and affectionate devotions.
A. HlTMBOLDT.
THURSDAY, ZdMay, 1837.
52 Humboldt's Letters.
ee.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
I CAME, dear friend, for two purposes: 1, to bring
you the opinions of Minister Kamptz (casus in terminis,
only twenty-five copies printed), which you, perhaps, had
not seen before, and which has elicited a vehement reply
from Herr von Oertzen, the Minister of Mecklenburg-
Strelitz, burned in the Lord. Read (p. 30 and 32), how
one can whitewash a person. I would beg of you not to
laugh at me, when you are invited to-morrow to a lec-
ture at the Princess's. I can assure you there is less
vanity, from which, by the bye, I am not at all free,
than weakness of character and good nature in it.
Thus, I believed that I owed this satisfaction to the
Princess ; the daughter also pressed me, and she showed
me a harmless list of ten persons. If you will propose
or bring with you one or more persons, it will be agree-
able to me ; only bring no one who has heard me
already. Your friends are mine ; from yours I may expect
indulgence. I insist upon it, that a man is not without
merit, who after spending his life with cyphers and
Humboldt's Letters. 53
stones, has put himself to the trouble of learning to
write German.
Yours,
A.HT.
I hope also to procure for you the vehement " opus"
of the Strelitz Minister, which is by far more spirited
than might be expected.
Varnhagen remarks in his Diary, under May 3d : In
the evening, at the Princess of Pueckler's, the long-
promised lecture by Herr von Humboldt. The lecture
was very fine, and made an excellent impression. I had
a conversation with General von Ruhle on Humboldt's
genius. He totally agreed with me, saying, " When
he shall have died, then only shall we understand well
what we have possessed in him."
Herr von Humboldt was with me yesterday, and
brought me the. little note of Minister Kamptz, of which
twenty-five copies only were printed, " Casus in termi-
nus," in which he puts the best face on the French change
of rulers, and in which he justifies the Mecklenburg mar-
iage. So much in contrast with his old principles,
that I could exclaim : " If he could only cut him-
self in two, he certainly would put one half in prison.''
There is still no opposition wanting against the mar-
riage. Duke Charles of Meckleuburg-Strelitz has for-
54 Humboldt's Letters.
mally intrigued against it, and tried to form in the
Mecklenburg and Prussian dynasty an alliance, a cove-
nant and obligation, against all marriages with the house
of Orleans. There was even talk of a formal protest.
All this is the most vehement opposition to the expressed
views of the King. Duke Charles is now really sick
from annoyance and trouble, not only in this but also
in other things.
J37.
EUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, May IQth, 1837.
AT last, my dear friend, I can send you the volume of
the Academical Proceedings, which contains the import-
ant treatise on history. I shall soon exchange this bor-
rowed volume for another, which you may keep. It
seems that there never were separate copies made of
this essay. You disappeared so quickly after the last
performance, that I fear very much your appearance on
that fated day was only a sacrifice to me. I move eter-
nally like a pendulum between Potsdam and Berlin.
To-morrow again to Potsdam, where we expect, on the
Humboldt's Letters. 55
16th, the amiable Princess,* who has set at variance the
whole hellenic camp, and whom they will now be happy
to find " by far not beautiful enough."
Most gratefully yours,
WEDNESDAY. M. HUMBOLDT.
I knew long ago that General Bugeaud did not speak
French. I now see that his real language is Mongol.
What a Timurid proclamation of the " armee civilisa-
trice."
The essay of thy brother is one of his most perfect
works as to style. "God governs the world (p. 317) ;
the task of history is to trace these eternal mysterious
destinies." This is the essence of his production. I have
sometimes discussed with my brother, not to say quar-
relled about that. This result certainly is analogous to the
oldest ideas of mankind, expressed in every language. My
brother's treatise is a commentary developing, explaining,
praising, this dim perception. In the same manner the
physiologist creates so-called vital powers, in order to
explain organic phenomena, because his knowledge of
physical powers, which act in what they call lifeless nature,
does not suffice to explain the play of living organisms.
Are vital powers demonstrated by this ? I know that
* Helene, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, afterwards Duchess of
Orleans.
56 Humboldt's Letters.
you will be angry with me, because you divine that the
fundamental idea of this wonderful treatise is not entirely
satisfactory to me.
23.
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEK
WEDNESDAY, May 11th, 1837.
You have prepared for me, my highly esteemed
friend, a delightful pleasure. I hope that these remarks
upon the composition of history will hereafter form a
part of your miscellaneous writings ! The mind cer-
tainly becomes dizzy in contemplating the abundance
of material which springs copiously from every fresh
source. You point out how this material may be
moulded by a man of genius. In the approaching
millennium everything will be simplified the individual
life of nations is preserved, in spite of warlike expedi-
tions over continents. Since the great epoch of Colum-
bus and Gama, who made one part, one side of this
planet known to the other, that fluctuating element,
the ocean, has established the omnipresence of one
kind of civilization (that of Western Europe). Its
influence breaks through the rigid barriers of continents,
Humboldt's Letters. 57
and establishes new customs, new faith, new wants of
life even in the most unorganised parts of the earth.
The South Sea Islands are already Protestant parishes ;
a floating battery, a single vessel of war, changes the
fate of Chili
Princess Helene, by her charming grace and intel-
lectual superiority, also yesterday made many conquests
over the raw and obstinate material which had opposed
her. It was ludicrous to see how some persons tried to
appear serious, dignified, and silly. That she leaves
in good spirits for her new country, I am much rejoiced.
AVould that she passed the Rhine with less retinue !
Her mother is good and refined, but of retired habits ;
but some other members of her suite had better remain
on this side of the river. Fortunately, people in the great
French world are entirely free from* the paltry gossip
and fault-finding that rule in Berlin and Potsdam, where
they subsist for months, in thoughtlessness, upon the
self-created phantasy of a weak imagination.
I made Privy Councillor Mueller, who knows how to
estimate you and your genius, participate in my joy.
But he also, as a jurist, strayed away to the first sheet,
No. 63 (Criticisms on the Provincial Law, by Goetze).
Will you not, dear friend, send me, for Mueller, the
commencement of that criticism ?
Most gratefully yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
3*
58 Humboldt's Letters.
239.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
MONDAY, May BQth, 1837.
You can, my revered friend, dispose entirely of the
volume of the Academy until I shall procure you a copy
for yourself. I am particularly pleased with the com-
munication to the ingenious Gans. The historical stu-
dies of Hegel will interest me particularly, because, until
now I nourished a wild prejudice against the idea that
each nation individually is bound to represent an idea.
In order that the prediction of the philosopher may be
fulfilled I shall nevertheless read it attentively, and
gladly abandon my prejudice.
Yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Humboldt's Letters. 59
so.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
SATURDAY, July 1st, 1837.
TO-MORROW to Tegel,* and on Monday I depart for
the eternal spring,f at which the sight of the Prince of
Warsaw will not lessen my sadness ; I cannot, therefore,
thank you personally. Sophie Charlotte J and Hegel's
Philosophy of History will accompany me, and both
will delight me greatly. My soul rather turns to you.
I shall certainly find a torrent of ideas in that Hegel,
whom his editor, Gans, in so masterly a manner has not
deprived of his great individuality ; but a man who is
as I am, like an insect, inseparable from the earth and its
natural variations, feels himself uneasy and constrained at
an abstract assertion of totally unfounded facts and views
on America and the Indian world. At the same time I
appreciate what is grand in the conception of Hegel.
* Tegel, Humboldt's country-seat near Berlin. Tr.
\ Toeplitz, a Bohemian bathing-place. Tr.
J Biography by Vamhagen. Tr.
6o Humboldt's Letters.
With you all is profound and subdued, and you pos-
sess what is wanting in the other, unceasing grace and
freshness of language.
A. HUMBOLDT.
I have badly arranged my life ; I do every thing for
becoming prematurely stupid. I would gladly abandon
" the European beef," which Hegel's phantasy presents
as so much better than the American, and I could almost
wish to live near the weak inanimate crocodiles (which,
alas! measure 25 feet). Pp. 442-444, are certainly made
more palatable to me by our noble friend.
31.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
BERLIN, October 4th, 1837.
You delight sometimes in arresting fleeting events,
and in preserving what the winds usually carry away. I
therefore send you, dear friend, the little speech, which
the papers have published in such a mutilated form. The
sense of it will please you, although its neglected style
might be better. Political Hanover I found, as you
supposed ; and private conversations with King Ernest,
Humboldt's Letters. 61
which at the same time express wrath and fear, confirm
the view. Leist of Stade with his report, which lasted
five hours, has lately done harm by his flattery.
Yours,
A.HT.
Stieglitz, Wilhelm's oldest friend, and who once saved
his life in the Leine river (my brother cried out to him,
with unexampled stoicism ; " I die, but it does not
matter,") was to me a serious apparition of a ghost.
The effect of his spirit upon me is uncomfortable.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
SUNDAY, October 22d, 1837.
Six o'clock, A. M .
I -FIND after a week's residence in Potsdam, which
has very much discouraged me, your amiable souvenir.
Receive, revered friend, this very evening, my warmest
thanks; you have praised me for my most cherished
aim, which is, that I may not become a fossil, as long
as I move, and cling to the belief, " that nature has put
her curse upon stagnancy and inertia." Youth is the
62 Humboldt's Letters.
symbol of progress, and those, who rule now (the Berlin
world's elephants) sont des momies en service extra-
ordinaire.
Good night,
A. HUMBOLDT.
33.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAOEK
BERLIN, TUESDAY, November 1th, 1837.
THE commencement of my letter is weak, the end of
it more reasonable. But you should not lose the dra-
matic effect of the whole.
What you ask, my dear friend, is very perilous, for the
question is not about my feelings, but about a family who
anxiously interpret. The more striking and spirited your
delineation is, particularly p. 10-15, ("He s-tarted from
ideas." ..." That which many deny to him entirely.") . . .
it impresses me uncomfortably, the more because it is in
so short an essay, and because it would appear less harsh
in the description of a whole life which was, in a literary
and political point of view, not unimportant. But this
more complete description is impossible now ; therefore,
my wish is incessantly to secure his renown by the pub-
lication of his literary works. To leave out anything,
Humboldt's Letters. 63
or to alter anything in this fine essay of yours, would
rob it both of its charm and vigor. You have written the
whole in the noblest mood; but there are points
(Reineke Fuehs, the relation to Frau von Humboldt),
which it is not pleasant to allude to just now. Since
you only demand of me to enumerate individual impres-
sions, I will give you these. Often they are merely
doubts. P. 5 : " Foreign to abstract thinking." The
term " Conservative philosophy" points, I believe, to
Kant, to whom he adhered most. He just believed that
metaphysics, ante-Hegelian, had been the chief study of
his youth. I only wished a more decided expression.
P. 6 : " In the proper sense not productive." Philosophy
of language according to entirely new views, genius of
antiquity, treating of history, deep understanding of
poetry in all these branches he produced nothing that
was not of importance. P. 8 : u Style all ice ;" make it
somewhat milder. You do it yourself (p. 30), where
the word "warms." P. 13 : "Thus the call is soon
decided, and the name is Mephistopheles or Reineke."
One would wish the two significant names left out, since
all is said before in the happiest, liveliest style. " Me-
phistopheles" reminds one of Duke Charles.
P. 14. The question about tender feeling, and the
saying of Talleyrand, which I did not know before, and
which can have a sense only by secondary relations of
political irresolution, are not agreeable. "C'etait un
64 Humboldt's Letters.
des hommes d'etat dont 1'Europe, de mon temps n'en a
pas compte trois ou quatre," was an expression heard
from Talleyrand.
P. 15. "What many denied to him entirely," very
ingenious and fine. Old Princess Louise said of you :
"You are most to fear when defending."
P. 18. My brother often narrated that Stieglitz saved
him ; but those words, which would have sounded
vain-glorious coming from his lips, I only just now
learned from Stieglitz. They are very characteristic
and true. Therefore, I wished only an explaining word,
to prevent misunderstanding.
P. 23. That he admired Rah el infinitely, is very, very
true !
P. 28. " Constitutional principles." If you ever make
use of these sheets, my dear, please add, at any rate :
" Although he afterwards, in other essays, pressed in the
most distinct manner the necessity of a general repre-
sentative constitution." This limitation is necessary. I
myself had in my hands his plan for a constitution, and
for the mode of election, and he died with these ideas.
P. 31. In place of " avarice," say too great economy.
I read once more, with more peace of mind. I con-
sider this your best effort.
Pp. 6, 7, 10-12 ! 13-20, 24-27, 30 ! ! all almost all;
and you have treated with infinite consideration those
Humboldt's Letters. 65
things which you yourself, here and there, hardly
approved of.
" II n'y a rien de maudit," said the great painter,
Gerard, " que de consulter la famille sur la ressemblance
du defunt. II y a de quoi se prendre, telle est leur
exigeance ! Us auraient fait bon marche du parent
vivant." Thus you will speak of me. I now ask my-
self, at the close, whether I am not depriving the
brother whom I loved so tenderly and so watchfully r , of
a great renown, by asking you in the beginning not to
print your article ?
Certainly I would deprive him of renown, for who
will ever write of him so very truly and eloquently.
Therefore, what I wish to sacrifice, what I dare to beg,
is so trifling, so easy to change with* your versatility of
style! It refers to the few lines, which I underlined,
pp. 13 and 14, Rahel's opinion, pp. 14 and 15, not
included ; for she always is mild and just and charming.
Take my warmest, most heartfelt thanks, my revered
friend ! Do not answer me. I shall call on you to-
morrow morning, about twelve o'clock.
Yours, A. HUMBOLDT.
66 Humboldt's Letters.
84.
BERLIN, June, 9th, 1838.
I AM very happy, revered friend, that I can offer to
you as a present the only volumes of the great Russian
poet hitherto published. Shall I come to you to-morrow,
Sunday, at one o'clock, that my eyes may see the
beautiful eyes which have enticed you (for our literary
benefit) into the Slavonian lingual labyrinth ?
I called twice at Mr. K.'s ; but, as he was not in, I
left cards. Moreover, I wrote him a tender letter, with
offers for Petersburg (concerning his journey to Geneva)
but I have not heard a word from him since. Such
conduct in a young man, who without me would still
sit in Orenburg as a Cossack clerk, is difficult to under-
stand.
Most gratefully yours,
SATURDAY. A. HT.
Do not answer, if you permit me to come.
Humboldt's Letters. 67
35.
HITMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, August Sd, 1838.
You are for me, my dearest friend, the standard
of refinement as well as my authority in matters of
elevated taste. I have written two articles (not hereto-
fore published) for Cotta's "New Quarterly," with
which his advisers are very much delighted, viz.: a
natural description of the Plateau of Bogota, and on the
fluctuations in the production of coin since the middle
age. He sends me for them (they fill four printed
sheets) an exchange for fifty fredericksdor's, or more
than twelve fredericksdor's per sheet. I have a mind
(although very much in need of money) to return one
half the sum. Before carrying out, however, the reso-
lution, I thought it best to ask, what at the present
time may be considered as a maximum of an author's
payment for such articles? Is it six, eight, or ten
fredericksdor's? I would then return only in pro-
portion. It may be of some importance hereafter to
me. Excuse the prosaic question, and send me some
word of answer one of these days. I am going to the
Island to-day.
HT.
68 Humboldt's Letters.
In Varnhagen's Diary is the following entry, dated
August 9th, 1838. Humboldt told me in a long visit
the news of Toeplitz. The King of Prussia and the
Emperor of Russia have both avoided meeting each
other alone, each of them fearing the embarrassment of
a tete-a-tete. The Emperor spoke on several occasions
quite contemptuously of the present French Govern-
ment, and still worse of the King Louis Philippe himself.
Prince Metternich's conduct was frivolous, light-minded,
and without fear for the present ; he is not alarmed,
though haunted by the gloomy thought that at Louis
Philippe's death things must take a new turn, and that
then war will become inevitable. Does he think to make
people believe this, I ask ? With Metternich one always
ought to examine first, how far an opinion adapts itself
to the position of the moment.
Under date of April 9th, 1839, Varnhagen wrote in
his Diary : " Humboldt called quite unexpectedly and
made the greatest excuses for not having called on
me before. And then he opened his newsbag and
recited a thousand stories from Paris and Berlin at least
for two hours. Things in France bear a very gloomy
aspect, he thinks ; and he has lately written about
it to Prince Metternich. The crisis in France is yet a
latent one but to-morrow it may burst forth, and how
needful it would then be, and, in this event, how neces-
Humboldt's Letters. 69
sary, that Germany should be strong and united, and
the farces at Cologne and Hanover be settled !
Under 19th of April, 1839, Yarnhagen says in his
diary : " I saw Humboldt to-day, who told rue many
things, and showed me abeautiful portrait of Arago, which
pleased me very much. He talked much about the dif-
ficulties between Russia and England, as to their inte-
rests in the East Indies and in Persia, and repeated what
he had heard about it from the Russian Emperor himself.
The Czar was in a great passion against the English,
and thought it highly important to oppose their supre-
macy in Asia. Humboldt agrees with me that the Eng-
lish have nothing serious to fear for the next fifty years
from Russia in the Indies, but that fear and jealousy
may engender a quarrel in Europe prior to any conflict
in the East, although conflicting parties will certainly
think twice before allowing it to come to that pass."
Under date of May 25, 1839, Varnhagen wrote in his
diary :
" I met Humboldt c unter den Linden :' we had a long
talk together. He told me that the death of Gans had
been the object of the meanest slander at court by all
except the King, who never speaks ill of the dead, and
the Crown-Prince, who had even uttered a word of sor-
row. The other princes were delighted, and the Prin-
cess of Liegnitz showed herself very ill-natured."
yo Humboldt's Letters.
sa
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEtf.
BERLIN, MONDAY, June 3d, 1839.
THE book which you lent me, dear friend, is delight-
ful,* as everything must be called which characterizes
the individuality of men. My brother's letters are
excellent indeed. His opinion of the State Chancellor
does much credit to his character, and the conclusion,
which seems to take away something from the praise
bestowed on him, is full of a deep political meaning.
He alludes to some other result of greater magnitude,
which the development of the world-wide events in
question might have produced.
What pleases me most is the acknowledgment of
your talents, of your power of writing; the praise of the
high-mindedness exhibited in HahePs letters (to the few
who can appreciate them). Adam Mueller's aristocratic
fancies and coarsely but naturally sensual princess,f a
* Dorow's Memoirs and Correspondence, 3d vol
f Sophia Wilhelmina, Princess of Baireuth.
Humboldt's Letters. 71
little lewd no doubt from being hunchbacked afford
the most striking contrast of political and human filth.
" To save the country," says Gentz, in his Primary Politi-
cal Position, " means to restore to the nobility of Prus-
sia their ancient privileges, to liberate all the noblemen
from taxes, so that they may spontaneously, after some
negotiation, offer their c don gratuit' to the monarch.
To enable them to do this the peasant must be indis-
solubly bound to the soil." How charmed " the Montrno-
rencys of the Ackermark " must have been to see what,
until then, was uselessly concealed in their miserable
souls, expressed in refined language by a talented
writer, and moulded into such systematical dogmas.
This narrow spirit of caste knows neither place nor
time. Like a threatening spectre it will reappear
when I shall be no more. I frequently ask myself
whether Adam Mueller could not, at the present time,
again canvass for votes among the " cross-bearers," who,
like Homerian heroes, take their repose stretched on
their bags in the wool market? Benjamin Constant
has exquisitely pictured this aristocratic idea of self-
importance in the parable of the Shipwrecked. He cries,
" Grand Dieu, je ne suis pas assez indiscret pour vous
prier de nous sauver tous ! Sauvez-moi tout seul !"
If you have a moment's leisure, please read in the
3d volume of my " History of the Geography of the
Middle Ages," what I have said of the natural views
72 Humboldt's Letters.
and the style of Christopher Columbus, vol. iii. p. 232.
This dream, p. 316, was the object of a lecture at
Chateaubriand's and Madame Recamier's, and had a
good effect, as the utterance of sentiment always will
have, on the barren fields of minute erudition. I hope
to offer you shortly the five volumes that have already
been printed. The negligence of the publisher prevents
my doing so now.
A. HT.
On the 9th of June, 1839, Varnhagen writes in his
diary : " Humboldt agrees with me in the assertion
made by me at different times, that too much cannot
be inferred from the silence of the historians. He
refers to three highly important and undeniable facts,
which are not mentioned by those whose first duty it
should have been to record them. In the archives of
Barcelona, no vestige of the triumphal entry held there
by Columbus; in Marco Polo, no mention of the
Chinese wall ; in the archives of Portugal, nothing of
the travels of Amerigo Vespucci, in the service of that
crown." (History of the Geography of the New Con-
tinent, part iv., p. 160, sgr.)
Humboldt's Letters. 73
37.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
FRIDAY, Sept. 13th, 1839.
Mis. PIAGET has made a very favorable impression on
me. In my opinion, he would be most useful as " Pro-
fesseur de Litterature ou d'Histoire" at the " College
Fran9ais." A pedantic examination, however, stands
in his way. I will try my best with Mr. von Werther.
I have, however, some fear that the rather illiterate-
looking mustaches, and the long, straight, South Sea
hair, will be found a little odd in that quarter.
Ever with the same attachment,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Is it not remarkable that the ISTeufchatel Councillors
in the cabinet, have tried to dissuade Mr. Piaget " par
jalousie de metier ?"
74 Humboldt's Letters.
38.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNS AGEN.
BERLIN, 29*A Dec., 1839.
IT is kind in you, and very humane, dear friend,
sending me that little pamphlet,* which otherwise
would certainly have escaped my attention. The praise
which you bestow on it is of great weight, as you
understand so well sketching a life-portrait and adorning
it gracefully, without discoloring its characteristic traits.
Kries is one of my earliest friends. We were students
together in Heyne's Seminary.f I will return the
print very soon.
In great haste, A. HUMBOLDT.
* FT. Jaco's Jubilee Oration for ELries, at Gotha.
f At Gottingen.
Humboldt's Letters. 75
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, Feb. 26to, 1840.
I DEEM myself unfortunate, dear friend, in having
missed you. I have been suffering from a miserable little
boil on my foot, and went to-day (for the first time) to my
neighbor, Leopold von Buch. Best thanks for Sesen-
heim.* You certainly were right in snatching the little
work from oblivion, a work which possesses a German cha-
racter in the highest degree, and derives a tender inte-
rest from your preface. There is in this little work a
nice appreciation of what must ever be important and
sacred to a German in his literature. The author searches
Sesenheim and Drusenheim as others do the Troade.
The proper names, alas! are less poetic. The pas-
sages (p. 12 and 13), are written in a charming style;
afterwards the philologist becomes heavy and doubtful
about what he only half examined ; doubtful, as if he
had superficially read an old code. Whether the sisters
* Pilgrimage to Sesenheim. By August Ferdinand Nacke. Pub-
lished by EL A, Yarnhagen von Ense. Berlin, 1840.
76 Humboldt's Letters.
of Friederike, " of whom one has not to care at all"
(p. 48), whether the Catholic clergyman who, according
to some, caused, and according to others, did not cause,
and then did cause her fall, will rejoice at all this, I do
not dare myself to decide. About the Troade and the
Skamander, they never could exactly determine, and
Helen had to suffer much from Hellenic gossip.
In old friendship most gratefully,
Yours, A. v. HDT.
40.
HTJMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
MONDAY, March 9$, 1840.
THE Crown-Prince, to whom I brought, this morning,
your thoughtful " Lebensbuch? has ordered me to
express to you, revered friend, his " most friendly
thanks." It reminded him, at the same time, of your
" Sophie Charlotte," your " Seydlitz," your always
delightful language, and your skill in portraying diffi-
cult relations of life. The liberal passage on Grimm I
read to him. It pleased him much, and brought on a
conversation on Hanover. He expressed himself very
sensibly in regard to it. " The King of Hanover does
not understand how to treat Germans : he does not
Humboldt's Letters. 77
know how to win them, by availing himself of their
loyal emotions. On the day when the news of the final
election in Gottingen arrived in Hanover, I would have
sent an aide-de-camp or a civil officer to Gottingen, to
thank the professors, and ask them whether they would
like to have the whole seven professors reappointed."
These are words flowing from a noble soul. Of your
article on Niebuhr, I do not speak to the Crown-
Prince, though I entirely agree with you regarding it.
With old attachment,
Yours, A. v. HDT.
41.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
WEDNESDAY, March ISffi, 1840.
AN insipid polemical book of Mr. Gretsch, against
Melgunoff, and against the book of Koenig, which is
entirely unknown to me, full of Siberia, strangulation,
secret funds, and Russian patriotism an insufferable re-
hash ! Will you read it, my dear friend ? For you alone
understand it entirely. The book might almost recon-
cile me with Mr. Melgunoff, against whom I have felt
some anger. I have, it is true, neither a recollection
of him nor of my conversation with him ; but he must
78 Humboldt's Letters.
have strangely interpreted and translated into his own
language, what I said to him, when he represents me
as condemning one whose great talents and delight-
ful style and manners I praise everywhere. How is it
credible that I could have spoken unfavorably of you
in the only conversation I ever had with a man who
brought me a letter from your own hand ? Who
recognises in me such careless, Orinoco manners ?
Marheineke also has made a campaign in the " Kri-
tische-Blatter," more against Savigny than against
Stahl. There is a good deal of acrimony in the air,
and the black-coats are not merciful. The conclusion
of the philippic is very eloquent, in the climax from the
rationalists, vid St. Hegel, to Galilee. It is a pity that
the preceding twelve pages are so indifferently written
in the most mediocre style.
Goerres and Schelling understand coloring better. I
thus feel only interested in what is dramatic and in the
talents exhibited, or not exhibited, therein. Caesareo-
papacy, territorial system, nay, even "the authority
of a distinctly positive doctrine, and marked physiog-
nomy," for which Marheineke (p. 41) has a tendency,
are abominations, and are mere carnival buffoonery to
me. Both parties are mere compressing machines of
different kinds, and a philosophically proved Christian
dogmatism of " marked physiognomy," this seems to me
the most offensive of all strait-waistcoats.
Humboldt's Letters. 79
Raumer (Carl) has published " Crusades" crusades
against the geognosts. The Saracens are Leopold von
Buch (your newly converted one), and myself.
A. HT.
And Sintenis at Magdeburg and the State's Council
at Neufchatel, "who have prohibited the deluge!"
And all that in the year 1840 ! Three comets are not
enough !
I received a letter from the Marquis Clanricarde, at
St. Petersburg, on the 5th of March, stating, "that
nothing was heard for four or five weeks from the expe-
dition to Chiwa. It is purely an attack upon the Khan,
whom they propose to dethrone, and to put his brother
in the place." You see that he wishes to appear very
tranquil ! What meek politics !
40.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
VIENNA, 29ih of March, 1840.
MY DEAR BARON Though I do not doubt that the
Crown-Prince, to whom I had the honor of replying to-
day, will inform you of my declaration, I refer you to my
letter to his Royal Highness. You will see that I have
8o Humboldt's Letters.
placed myself at his disposal, with a reservation, however,
prescribed by my ignorance of archaeology. To my igno-
rance upon this point must be added my ignorance upon
another I mean the duties of the Presidency. I desire
to state, at all events, what I think of the relations of a
single member with any scientific association. There
are three sorts of men some are true savans ; the num-
ber of these is small : others are friends of science in
general, or of some branch of it ; these are more nume-
rous : the third class the largest of all comprises the
narrow-minded, the barren hi spirit, the " viveurs," to
whom, though often they are very good fellows, art and
science are quite superfluous. I enrol myself in the
second of these classes. My brethren and I can be of
some service to mental cultivation, provided we do not
meddle too much with details. When I feel that I can
do a good work, I consider it my duty to devote myself
to it. In the present case, however, I can only throw
my good will into the scale.
My confession of faith is set forth in the explanations
given to the August Protector ; and to what I took the
liberty of stating to him, I also talLe the liberty of refer-
ring you.
It is so long, my dear Baron, since you paid us a
visit, that when you feel inclined to judge for yourself,
you will be more than gratified by the real progress
we have made in the departments of which you are the
Humboldt's Letters. 81
acknowledged master. The place of Jaeger, whose loss
was greatly to be regretted, is well filled by Endlicher
a man of eminent genius ; Baumgarten and Etting-
hausen, are savans of great distinction. The Polytech-
nic School goes on admirably and is training up savans,
and thoroughly educated mechanicians. Roesel is the
best optician of our time, and the young Voigtlander
follows in his footsteps.
The establishment of Baron Charles Huegel has
opened a new and vast field to botany. The arts and
sciences advance quite to one's liking; all that is wanted
is a supervisor like yourself.
You complain, my dear Baron, at finding yourself
the oldest of the foreign members of the Institute ; this
indeed is a dreary lot, but it is inevitable and quite
natural provided one does not commit the folly of
going off before the others. I have the same feeling
and that in a field which is certainly the greatest of all
fields. Of all the Kings and the Ministers of State in
office, between the year 1813 and the year 1815, the
King of Prussia and myself are the only survivors ! And
yet the time does not embrace more than a quarter
of a century so true is it that twenty-five years are
quite an historical epoch. Let us not lose courage at
such trifles, but go on as if they were nothing at all.
My sincerest homage, dear Baron.
METTEKNICH.
4*
82 Humboldt's Letters.
HUMBOLDT TO VAJINHAGEN.
THURSDAY, April 9th, 1840.
HEBE are two Salamanders. The black (black bor-
dered) king of Denmark is not only a Norwegian
constitutional, but also a mineralogical king, who has
written pretty good memoirs on Vesuvius. The prede-
cessor having been an astronomical king, who proposed
prize questions on comets, presented great men like
General Mueffling and myself with chronometers, and
died of a comet on the night of the discovery of Galli's
comet, the Danish astronomers were, probably, rather
anxious for their heavenly pursuits under the reign
of such an earthly (or rather subterranean) monarch.
I was called upon to remind the King of his old predi-
lection for me. I therefore resorted to the pretext,
never before made use of by me, of congratulating him
on his accession to the throne. This is the cause of the
black drama. The letter is plain and sensible.
A. HT.
Please read in Mr. Quinet's the passage on Goethe
and Bettina, and return the venom to me.
Humboldt's Letters. 83
44.
KING CHRISTIAN VIII. OF DENMARK TO HUMBOLDT.
COPENHAGEN, the 13th January, 1840.
MONSIEUB LE BARON DE HUMBOLDT :
OP all the letters received on the occasion of my
accession to the throne, none has afforded me so sensible
a pleasure as that which you addressed me under the
date of the 17th of December last.
Your remembrance is of the highest value to me, and
I recall with the greatest interest, Monsieur le Baron,
our conversations many years ago at Paris-. Since that
time you have enriched science by new discoveries.
Siberia, explored by you, as you before explored Ame-
rica, offers to natural science new views for which, Mon-
sieur le Baron, it is entirely indebted to you. Really
I shall be happy at some future day to converse with you
on these new researches.
The natural sciences are constantly presenting fresh
interest, and I shall certainly not neglect to do every-
thing that depends upon me for their advancement.
The astronomical and geodesical labors of your dis-
tinguished friend Schumacher, certainly deserve my
84 Humboldt's Letters.
patronage. He has acquired a European name as a sa-
van, and I appreciate his rare merits. As to the mag-
netic observations after the method of Gauss I am
occupied in amplifying them here at Copenhagen, where
an observatory, established since 1834 near the Poly-
technic School, is about to be removed to a more suitable
place on the outskirts of the city. It will be provided
with two different " emplacements," one for " observa-
tions on declination," and another for experiments in
" inclination." The establishment will be under the
superintendence of the celebrated Oersted.
I esteem myself happy, my dear Baron, in being able
to speak to you of the advancement of natural science in
my own country, and you must consider it a proof that
I shall not neglect any occasion of justifying the good
opinion you 'entertain of my interest in the sciences and
in everything which can tend to the enlightenment and
happiness of my subjects.
I hope, Monsieur le Baron, that you will frequently
find leisure to communicate with me, and I shall en-
deavor, upon my own part, to cultivate relations so agree-
able to myself.
The Queen charges me with her compliments to you,
and I embrace the occasion of assuring you of my high-
est consideration, Monsieur le Baron Humboldt.
Your most affectionate,
CHRISTIAN.
Humboldt's Letters. 85
45.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAQEN.
SATTJBDAY, April llth, 1840.
THE Crown-Prince would like very much to see that
interesting letter of Prince Metternich to you. Could
not you send it to me before half-past seven o'clock
to-night, my dear friend ?
A. HT.
In regard to the said letter, Varnhagen says in his
diary, under date of April 2d, 1840: " When returning
home, found a letter from Prince Metternich a long
one, under his own hand. He declares my picture of
the Congress of Vienna to be a perfectly faithful one, a
few points excepted, which ought to be corrected. He
himself corrects, in detail, the description of the effect
of the news at Vienna, that Napoleon had left Elba.
It is a letter of historical value."
Under date of the 5th of the same month, Varnhagen
mentions again the Metternich letter. "In the after-
noon," he says, " Humboldt called. He had heard of
the letter from Wittgenstein, who had spoken of it to
86 Humboldt's Letters.
Count Orloff and others, as a most remarkable produc-
tion. Humboldt also was astonished and delighted.
He showed me a letter which Prince Metternich
had addressed him, as to the position of several natu-
ralists at Vienna, and the presidency of the Archaeolo-
gical Society at Rome. Humboldt tells me of dark
tendencies of the Westphalian nobility, which the
Crown-Prince favors. They think of establishing a
great Catholic seminary for young noblemen a proper
nursery for Jesuits. On Humboldt's remarking that the
Crown-Prince, perhaps, out of absence of mind, had
not reflected on the important consequence of the
King's illness, Minister von Rochow made the follow-
ing reply : " Oh, certainly he has thought of it ! And
he has prepared various things, which he means then to
propose. But to his views and commands in ecclesias-
tical matters I should be highly opposed."
40.
April 13th, 1840.
THE Crown-Prince has expressly charged me to offer
you, dear friend, his thanks for such an interesting com-
munication. Count Alvensleben was present. Every
one considered the letter a gratifying testimonial to
Humboldt's Letters. 87
you and to your description of the Congress, and
praised it for the noble simplicity in which one of the
most remarkable events is recited. " Et tout cela
prouve que ma fille est muette," and that a talent like
yours (in advising, in describing, and in knowledge of
mankind) is allowed to be idle, so that after your death,
as after my brother's, people will express their astonish-
ment at your not having been employed in time.
A. HT.
I am quite " turned Quaker." Mrs. Fry and William
Allan little sermons in the penitentiaries (the most
horrible ones which the Quakeress has ever seen), and
little tracts against brandy-drinking !
47.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
FRIDAY, March 29tfi, 1840.
DECIDE, master of eloquence and euphony : I had it
thus, "As far as humanity (civilisation) extended on
earth !"
Now, it pleases me better to put: 1, "It has influ-
enced rulers and nations equally, as far as civilization and
commerce extend" (extend, not extended, which latter
88 Humboldt's Letters.
I abhor) ; or, 2 " As far as civilization and commerce
ennobled mankind ;" or, 3, " Made mankind suscepti-
ble ;" or, 4, " United mankind."
Would No. 4 (the last), not be the better ?" Per-
haps you have an inspiration. Put clandestinely, to-
night at Staegemann's, a bit of paper in my hand. Per-
haps the first conception is the best.
A.HT.
" Humanity" I give up at any rate, having just read
so many mockeries regarding it in the last volume of
Campe's dictionary.
" Sed quamquam, pritno statim beatissimi saeculi ortu,
Nerva Caesar res olim dissociabiles miscuerit, principa-
tum ac libertatem; augeatque quotidie felicitatem im-
peril Nerva Trajanus." Tacitus in Agricola, cap. 3.
Also, of the same old Nerva (noble and gifted with
literary taste) :
" Quod si vita suppeditet, principatum divi Nervae, et
imperium Trajani, uberiorem securioremque materiam
senectati seposui : rara temporum felicitas, ubi sentire
quoB velis, et quce sentias dicere licet." Tacit. Hist. I.
1. I, of course, in order to avoid all detail, shall give
only the numerical quotations, sic : Tacit. Vita Ag. c. 3
Hist. I. 1.
HT.
Humboldt's Letters 89
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, TUESDAY NIGHT, Oct. 27th, 1840.
IP I have delayed so long in coming to you, my dear
friend, both before and after my campaign to the North,
it is only because there are impossibilities in life against
which we battle in vain. Immediately after the festi-
vities in this city I intended to hasten to you, but the
uncertainty whether I should go to Paris (I refused,
because then it would not have been honorable either
to me or to the king, if Prussia did not dare to act
independently !) the approaching departure of Bulow,
the arrival of the sick General von Hedemann and his
family, together with a rheumatic fever, which kept me
in the house for six days, spoiled all my intentions. To-
morrow morning, at 8 o'clock, I have to move over again
to Sans Souci; but (I hope) only for some days. I,
therefore, now take up my pen to chat with you. First
my best thanks for your talented and noble treating of
the rather mediocre " Erinnerungen von M. Arndt /"
I certainly had observed his hostility towards you. The
tone of your criticism is the noblest kind of revenge.
go Humboldt's Letters.
%
The man, whom I never knew personally, was raised by
the great events of his time and not by himself. Strange
enough that the government attached to him in these
latter days, in the evening of his life, an importance not
arising merely from a simple love of justice.
Since you like everything individual, I shall answer
your kindness with another very small one. I make
you a present of a letter of Guizot, which he wrote to
me to Koenigsberg, not without design. The under-
lining belongs to me, as you would guess yourself. I
showed the letter to the King. It was written when
the Belgian (the King of Belgium), Bulow, and Guizot
had been in Windsor, and when his affairs looked pro-
mising, as they do now again, as Thiers at once shows
himself so weak and yielding, and Palmerston so dog-
matical and defying. But do not let the letter out of
your hands.
For the news about the brothers Grimm I thank you
most cordially. It is very important to me to keep
" au courant" with the course of passing events. In the
months during which I lived on the " historical hill,"*
I moved uncontrolled in the same direction, though
surrounded by conflicting elements.
Respecting the brothers Grimm, the King had given
orders to others, not to me ; but up to the return from
* Sans Souci, the King's residence near Potsdam. Translator.
Humboldt's Letters. 91
Konigsberg, nothing was done. I therefore addressed
a memorial to the King on the actions in Konigsberg
of the Provincial Diet, and on the necessity of acting
authoritatively in things which interest ah 1 hearts, in
order to secure their affections and therefore to bestow
a professorship upon the brothers Grimm, Albrecht, and
Dahlmann. There is little hope for Dahlmann. Albrecht
received a call, but refused it, giving as a reason his
gratitude to Saxony. It would have been a satisfaction
to the seven professors, could Albrecht have become
professor in Berlin.
They certainly will at least hear in Hanover that
the King has called the " Elbinger." In respect to the
brothers Grimm, the King insists upon his plan, that
minister Eichhorn should offer to them a place in the
Academy, with a pension to both, as they live like hus-
band and wife. That the King wants these things to be
arranged with tact, you may see from the negotiations
with Tieck. For librarians, although excellent men,
they are very unfit. Whether Wilhelm Grimm, as a
correspondent of the Academy, lectures or not is also
very irrelevant. The chief thing is to get them. Of
"smuggling them in," "a debasement," "to think of them
so late," dans un regne de cent jours it is nonsense
to talk ! It does honor at least to the administration
of Ladenberg, that I was able to propose Dahlmann in
due form, and in flattering terms for the university of
92 Humboldt's Letters.
Breslau, where there was a vacancy. I have cleared
the way as it was my duty to do, but the appointment
itself is not in my hands. As soon as I return from
Potsdam, I shall trouble minister Eichhorn, to settle this
patriotic affair officially and at once. The interference
of many in these things is injurious, although it can be
pardoned where the interest is so natural. I know not,
my dear friend, whether you will be able and willing
to read these lines, the sense of which is more blameless
than the style. I need not conjure you, the diplomatist,
not to read my letter to the " child," * but she ought to
hear how these matters stand, respecting which I have
neglected nothing.
A. HT.
An inexpressible misfortune has happened in the
death of the only son of my friend the astronomer,
Bessel, only twenty-five years old, a young man of the
most eminent mathematical talents. He died yesterday
of nervous fever.
* Bettina von Arnim. Bopp's critique is to me a source of great
pleasure.
Humboldt's Letters. 93
GUIZOT TO HUMBOLDT.
LONDON, August 24, J 840.
MONSIEUR LE BAEOX :
IT was very amiable indeed in you to have thought of
sending me the two new volumes of your brother's works.
I thank you not only for this gift, in itself so very valu-
able, but also for your remembrance which is at least
equally dear to me. I hope that notwithstanding all our
afiairs, for they are yours as well as mine, I shall manage
to read something of this great work. I should like to
employ my time in so complete and varied a manner as
you occupy yours. Preserve a little of it for the ad-
vancement of a good and a wise policy, which though
it already owes you much, still needs you.
I envy Baron von Bulow the pleasure of seeing you.
I regret extremely losing his society in London. Con-
versation genuine conversation profound, pregnant,
and free, is very scarce among us. His I shall miss very
much. I should like to go some day to see you at your
home, to visit your country, in which, beyond all
others, human intellect acts the greatest part, and to see
94 Humboldt's Letters.
your new King, who is worthy, it is said, of such a
country. In the meanwhile, Monsieur le Baron, pray pre-
serve for me your old kindness and believe in the lasting
sincerity of the sentiments which long ago I conceived
for you.
GUIZOT.
NOTE OP HUMBOLDT. Received at Konigsberg during the festivals.
A. VON HUMBOLDT.
50.
k
ARAGO TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, March llth, 1841.
I MUST not, I will not, believe that you asked me
seriously whether I should look forward to your journey
to Paris with pleasure. Could it be that you ever
doubted my invariable attachment ? Be it known to you
that I should consider the slightest doubt upon this
point a most cruel offence. Beyond the immediate circle
of my own family you are, without comparison, the per-
son whom, of all others, I love the most dearly. But
you must be resigned to the duties of this position, as
you are of my friends the only one to whom I would
look in my difficulties.
Humboldt's Letters. 95
I am truly happy in the anticipation of spending some
evenings with him to whom I am indebted for my taste
in meteorology and physics. There will be a bed for you
at the Observatory.
Poor Savary is in a lamentable state. The physician
assures me that the disease of his lungs leaves no hope.
What a calamity !
You will arrive at Paris at the opening of my course
of astronomy. My new amphitheatre is got up with
a profligate luxury.
I am charmed with the news of poor Sheiffer's* reco-
very (is it true ?). Your good heart has always secured
you a numerous family.
Adieu, best of friends. My attachment to you will
only cease with my life.
FE. ABAGO.
NOTE OF HuiiBOLDT. I had asked whether he thought it possible
that the difference of our political wishes [war with Germany] might
disturb our intercourse.
NOTE OP HUMBOLDT. To his highly gifted friend, Yarnhagen von
Ense, with the most earnest request to avoid all publication of this
autograph before Arago's death.
A. HUMBOLDT.
* Probably Seiffert, Humboldt's servant. Tr
96 Humboldt's Letters.
51.
HUMBOLDT TO BETTINA YON ARNIM.
[A copy in Varnhagen's handwriting.]
SATURDAY, November 21, 1840.
How could you doubt, most honored Madam, my
being thankful for the news of the real situation of
those noble men, who after so many undeserved suffer-
ings, and after so long and so shameful a neglect, are at
last to be placed in an independent position. I thought
that, to have given them such a situation in Berlin,
three thousand thalers would be a sufficient salary for
both, and with this view I have continued my efforts.
The King has adopted it as a principle never to issue an
order in financial matters on his own account ; like all
princes, he has no standard by which to measure the
wants of learned men. The superior intellects with
whom we wish to surround ourselves have wants as pro-
saic as their inferiors. Whoever wishes to obtain the
end must also be willing to employ the means, and espe-
cially in an affair which attracts every eye and which
touches the honor of the country. The minister Eich-
Huraboldt's Letters. 97
horn, upon whom everything now depends, is happy in
the arrival of the two Grimms. He was formerly on the
most friendly terms with Jacob Grimm. I called on the
minister an hour ago in order to support my view of the
matter. He declares that by-and-by he will arrange the
affair in the best manner, but that we must confide in
him, and allow him to act without obstruction.
Receive, gracious Madam, the expression of my vene-
ration and of my sentiments of gratitude.
A. HUMBOLDT.
52.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, August 22d, 1841.
YOUR letter has done me an immense deal of good.
I see that we feel ourselves both equally attracted to
each -other, and that you attributed my long, and to me
very gloomy, seclusion, only to the distracted state of my
life, and to the application of my faculties, to an aim
which they never can reach. Towards the close of a
much troubled life which has but imperfectly realized its
aspirations, it is a happiness to remain secure in, and
to possess the esteem of those to whose mind and
5
98 Humboldt's Letters.
intellect and wishes we are irresistibly drawn. I shall
personally thank you, and this very afternoon apply for
Mr. L. to the Princess of Prussia, and beg her Imperial
Highness to assist me with all earnestness. "With old
veneration and love, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
At the request of the King I took the opportunity of
reading to him Schelling's discourse on nature and art.
(Philosoph. Werke, tome 1st, 1809.) The passages con-
cerning Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and about the
possibility of a resuscitation of the arts, are the most
pleasing in our language. This lecture produced on the
King the effect of a beautiful song. But the bird is
now sixty-seven years old, and goes from one golden
cage to another.
Varnhagen says in his diary, under date of April 28,
1841: "Humboldt came and remained more than an
hour and a half; I found him looking ill, but lively,
cheerful, and more communicative than ever. He praises
the King for his disposition and his intentions, but
thinks that he is no man of action, and that whenever
he acts, he does it by starts, without system or method.
Whether it be from kindness or timidity, at all events,
he often does not dare to do what he most wishes and
could do quite easily ; thus he expects impatiently that
the minister Von Werther will resign, and asks of Hum-
Humboldt's Letters. 99
boldt, whether the minister has given no intimation
of it."
On the 30th April, 1841, Varnhagen says: " Humboldt
has a great many enemies, as well amongst the savans
as at court, who are constantly seeking an opportunity
to malign him, but the moment he is praised all vitupera-
tion ceases for it is all vituperation. It is seldom that
anybody is able to maintain it. Some time ago a gentle-
man said to me, that he did not know what to think of
Humboldt, and that he could not come to a conclusion
concerning him. I answered : ' Think always the best
of him, believe him always capable of the best action,
and you always will be nearest the truth.' Another
said, same day, sneeringly: 'Humboldt was a great
man before he came to Berlin, where he became an
ordinary one.' Moritz Robert remarked that Rahel
had already said several times : c Nothing holds its
ground in Berlin, everything has a downward tendency ;
indeed, if the Pope himself came to Berlin, he would not
continue long to be Pope, he would sink into the ' com-
monplace,' down perhaps to the standard of a groom.'
What Rahel said is true, and I remember that she said
so, but had made no note of it. This peculiarity of
Berlin ought to be examined closer ; it indicates a strong
stratum of undeveloped greatness, and may, when posi-
tively brought forth to a point, bring the highest
honor on Berlin; but if allowed to act negatively, it
ioo Humboldt's Letters.
will, of course, become a shame to this city. ' The Ber-
liners are such a daring race of men,' said Goethe,
once. That is much the same definition. 5 '
53.
SUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
SATURDAY, April Uth, 1841.
A DISAPPOINTMENT, dear friend, not to have found
you. Correct this title-page for me ; I have to send it
away. As it is necessary to state, " that this is not the
lecture of 1828," I thought of having the long sentence
printed on the title-page, in small type, like an apho-
rism. It may look strange after the name, but I hope
you will be able to approve of it.
HT.
" Kosmos. Sketch of a Physical Description of the
World, by A. von Humboldt. From Sketches and Lec-
tures delivered in the years 1827 and 1828, enlarged
and corrected according to the latest researches.
" ' Naturae vero rerum vis atque majestas sin omnibus
momentis fide caret, si quis modo partes ejus ac non to-
tam complectatur animo.' Plin.Hist. Nat., lib. 7. c. 1.
Stuttgart."
Humboldt's Letters. 101
54.
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEN.
WEDNESDAY, April 28th, 1841.
BE very kind and indulgent in reading my work.
I am anxious that you should get a complete idea of the
composition of it. In A, I have made large corrections.
Notice especially p. 37 and the notes; Schelling's name,
pp. 37 and 68 ; Hegel, p. 66. The positive declaration
at p. 64, that it is not the creator of Natural Philoso-
phy whom I accuse, will, I hope, make my biting seve-
rity at the " gay Saturnalia," le bal en masque of the
craziest of all natural philosophers, seem more pardon-
able to him. " II faut avoir le courage d'imprimer.
Ce que 1'on a dit et ecrit depuis trente ans." It has
been a lamentable period, in which Germany has sunk
far below England and France. Chemistry, without so
much as wetting one's fingers.
The diamond is a pebble arrived at consciousness.
Granite is ether. Carus.
The side of the moon turned towards the earth is of a
different convexity from the reverse. The cause of it :
the moon fain would stretch out her loving arms she
cannot, but gazes at the earth, and protrudes her lower
jaw.
1O2 Humboldt's Letters.
The granite blocks on the rocks are the convulsions of
nature.
It is well known that the forests are the hair of the
earth-animal. The swelling equatorial region is the
belly of Nature.
America is a female figure, long, slender, watery and
freezing at 48. The degrees of latitude are the years
woman gets old at, 48 years. The East is oxygen, the
West hydrogen; it rains when clouds from the East
are mixed with clouds from the West. Schelling.
Petrifactions in rocks are not the remains of former
living beings. They are the first attempts of nature at
making animals and plants. In Siberia some dogs lived
for years on such an experiment a stinking elephant at
the mouth of the Lena.
These are the Saturnalia ! Cast your eye particularly
on the notes, en masse, of which I inclose a few. P. 40
49; p. 55-57.
I wish to give to the work the greatest generality
and breadth of views, a lively and, if possible, grace-
ful style, and to replace all technical terms with well-
chosen, graphic, and descriptive language.
Correct freely, my friend ; I gladly follow where I can.
Some not very common erudition I intend to banish to the
notes. This book should be the reflex of my own self,
of my life, of my own very old person. This freedom of
treatment enables me to proceed more aphoristically.
Humboldt's Letters. 103
More will be suggested than elaborated. ' Much will be
well understood by those only who know thoroughly
jne special branch of natural history ; but I think my
style is such as to confuse no one, not even the superfi-
cial. My real aim is to hover over those results which
are known in 1841. Mens agitat molem, may the
mind still be there !
That such a work cannot be finished by one born
in the comet-year, 1769, is as clear as daylight. The
separate fragments will appear in parts of twelve to
fifteen sheets each, so that those who may see me buried
will possess in each fragment some one subject com-
plete. Thus of the "Prolegomena," there will be
No. 1-4 ; My " incentive, " descriptive poetry, which
you have not yet seen, is a chief feature of the work
on which I rely a good deal. Xo. 5. The history of
man's conception of the world, which is quite finished,
will form the entire second book. Plain scientific
description will always be intermingled with the orato-
rical, like nature itself. The glittering stars fill us
with joy and inspiration, yet in the canopy of heaven
all bodies revolve in mathematical figures. It is essential
to preserve a dignified style, so that the impression
of nature's greatness will not be wanting. I hope
you will not find fault with my quoting (C) in a note
the passage from Shakespeare which is but little known.
All the notes are to be printed in very small type at
104 Humboldt's Letters.
the end of each chapter, never at the bottom of the
page. I had said that a knowledge of nature is not
absolutely necessary to enjoy it, but that it increases
the enjoyment. Pardon this hasty writing. I leave
to-morrow morning with the King for Potsdam, to stay
there six or seven days. With thanks and friendship,
your illegible
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
55.
HUMBOLDT TO SPIKEK.
(C.)
\Biron speaks to the King of Navarre^]
"These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights,
That gave a name to every fixed star,
Have no more profit of their shining nights,
Than those that walk, and wot not what they are,
Too much to know, is to know nought but fame ;
And every godfather can give a name."
SHAKESPEARE, Love's Labor Lost. Act I. Scene 1.
BE so kind as to send me back this page. I make
use of your fine translation in a note which is now being
printed in my Ifosmos. You will permit me to say:
Humboldt's Letters. 1 05
" according to Spiker's translation." It will give me
pleasure to do so. Shall I excite the ire of the Marquis
August von Schlegel or of Tieck Acorombonus ? Please
tell me whether they have also translated that passage ?
Many kind regards.
HT.
NOTE OF YARNHAGEN. Unfortunately Spiker's translation is bad in
every respect.
56.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAG-EN.
MONDAY NIGHT, May 3, 1841.
I AM afraid, my dear friend, that I shall be obliged to
go to Potsdam again on Thursday, and thence to Paris
on the 10th or 12th. I am to send Cotta more copy
before I go. Let me not be suspended so long between
condemnation and indulgence. Pray send me a few
words with the parcel.
Yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
io6 Humboldt's Letters.
57.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
TUESDAY, May 4th, 1841.
MY DEAR FEIEND : Even after deducting the kind
expressions written expressly for my tranquillity, there
still remains more than enough in your letter of to-day
to comfort me. The penance,* therefore, which I
assign you is to receive me to-morrow morning at
11 o'clock, for a few moments, to accept my thanks.
The " schmeichle mich " must be a clerical error ; as
for me I am unconscious of it. The false use of the
accusative case at p. 44, you will have to show me.
It cannot be " Einsicht in den Zusammenhang ?" be-
cause it is looking into. I shall expunge Mr. Spiker.
I had a presentiment of the end, and would rather even
omit the English as well, which, after all, is rather a
praise of ignorance, than indicative of the increase of
enjoyment to be derived from science.
I see that you give me full liberty concerning the
" Saturnalia." Speaking of the Dane, you say : " I
only mention, I do not object."
* The 5th of May was a day of penance.
Humboldt's Letters. 107
I did not wish to mention Steffens, however much he
might deserve a reproach for his utter barrenness in.
experimental science, and for his vain and criminal idle-
ness. " Saturnalia " I call that merry but short farce,
of which lately I gave you some specimens, but which
are not from Steffens ; they are by some of his wor-
shippers several degrees lower down. Were Steffens a
poor savan, oppressed by the powerful, I would be
more careful ; but as you are an amateur of autographs,
I will give you one from which you will see how north-
ern kings believe that there exists in Berlin a Stef-
fensian philosophy, which is consoling to the theologians,
et qui tfest pas cette de Hegel! Steffens will believe
that he is included among those deep and powerful
thinkers, whose advice has been disregarded. Besides
the dangerous passage is immediately followed by
another : " Abuse of youthful talents ; for serious
minds, devoted equally to philosophy and to observa-
tion, have kept aloof from those Saturnalia." Such a
sentence is a defense, a fort detache, and Steffens cer-
tainly thinks that he, too, devoted himself to observa-
tion, when he once descended into a mine at Freiburg.
By softening anything I should spoil the whole, and
we ought in writing to show the same courage as in
speaking, but should do both in the same easy and
cheerful manner.
Did you find out from Steffens's tiresome biography,
1 08 Humboldt's Letters.
with which I was bored at Sans Souci, how his pietism
and aristocracy is explained by the twofold inoculation
of his old grandparents, performed by an archbishop
and a king, ce sont des heritages !
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
53.
KING CHRISTIAN VIIL OF DENMARK TO HUMBOLDT.
MONSIEUR LE BARON I am doubly obliged to the
illustrious counsellor Dieffenbach for his attention hi
presenting me with a copy of his work on the cure of
strabism and stammering, since it was the cause of
your dear letter of the 9th February. Introduced by
you, Monsieur le Baron, any one is sure of success. In
the present case, the reputation and the works of the
author could have dispensed with all further recommen-
dation; but you only do justice to the great services
which Counsellor Dieffenbach has rendered to mankind,
and I hasten to acknowledge them by bestowing my
Danebrog Order on that distinguished savan. My let-
ter to him on this subject will be remitted by the Envoy
Count de Reventlau, and I shall particularly recommend
to Chevalier Dieffenbaoh any Danish surgeons going to
Humboldt's Letters. 1 09
Berlin to learn the art upon which he has thrown so
much light.
The bearer of the present, whom I beg leave to
recommend to your protection, is the theological can-
didate, Bornemann a young man of talent and know-
ledge, whom I send to Berlin to study Philosophy under
the guidance of my countryman, Steffens not precisely
that of Hegel, who has disciples enough in our Univer-
sity ; but that philosophy which may assist in rectifying
the sometimes rather extravagant doctrines of our
modern thinkers. Steffens is kept at Berlin by a sacred
tie, the gratitude he owes to the King ; but I desire
that his genius and his knowledge may not be lost to us,
and that this young scholar may profit by his light
before it ceases to shine, and to enlighten all those
coining in contact with my illustrious countryman, who,
in my opinion, is in himself worth an entire academic
faculty.
I follow with the greatest interest, founded on sincere
friendship and on the mutual relations of our respective
positions, which I fully appreciate, all that your excellent
King does and projects for the happiness of his subjects,
for German nationality, and for the preservation of
peace. May his efforts be blessed by the Almighty ; his
people will then enjoy an increased and steady prospe-
rity, which will materially contribute to the welfare of
their neighbors.
no Humboldt's Letters.
The King has shown more kindness to my son than I
can thank him for. I look forward to a most happy
future for him, based on his marriage with the amiable
Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
I appreciate the good wishes w r hich you address me
on this occasion, and remain, with the highest consider
ation, Monsieur le Baron de Humboldt,
Your affectionate
CHRISTIAN R.
59.
BERLIN, May Ilth, 1841.
[Written at Yarnhagen's. With the preface to Wilhelm von Hum-
boldt's works.]
I AM very sorry not to be enabled amid the annoy-
ances of to-morrow's departure (first to Potsdam, then
to Paris, until October) to bid you farewell. I appeal
to you once more as the source, until Rtickert's arrival,
the only source of good taste, of pure language, and
of a delicate appreciation of the appropriate sense.
Tell me with all indulgence what I ought to strike out
from the enclosed preface, but give me also your advice
wherever you find fault. I wrote the two pages at
Humboldt's Letters. 1 1 1
night in a gloomy frame of mind. They show perhaps
a too sentimental disposition to praise.
Page 1, line 2, "yet" because it happens during my
life time. Line 10, "The highly gifted souls ," perhaps
displeasing. Should it be men f
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
On the 21st of November, Varnhagen wrote down
the following about Humboldt :
" I read* to-day the dispatches which Al. von Hum-
boldt addressed to the King from Paris in the year
1835. They are not like Humboldt! Anybody else
could have written such dispatches nay, what is still
worse, nobody could have written them otherwise!
Thus it is, however, with political business it con-
sists of mere trifles, not at all important in themselves,
but becoming important because everybody has agreed
to consider them so. Thus the established hypocrisy
of forms, presumptions, and exaggerations drown the
truth. I looked into myself and confessed that were
I engaged in such affairs, I, too, would follow in the
beaten track ; and yet people wonder that in England
and France editors of newspapers become ministers, as
if it were not infinitely more easy to write the usual
dispatches than good newspaper articles."
112 Humboldt's Letters.
eo.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
FRIDAY, 3d December, 1841.
OF all that I have had to thank you for, dear friend,
I like Hormayr's manly letter best. Le style est tout
1'homme. He is not like the people who surround us,
the better ones of whom lose themselves in reticences,
temporizations, in trimming, excitements, and irresolu-
tion. His belief in Muenster's liberalism is perhaps only a
misconception of Muenster's motives. No doubt Count
Muenster has nobly contributed to the liberation of
Germany but assuredly he never did it in order to
open the path to " that light" which, even to-day, is
feared like a spectre. " Bruno" (Bauer) has found me
out to be a pra3adamite convert ! When I was a boy
the court preachers reasoned in this way : I was con-
firmed by one of them, who told me that the biogra-
phies of the Evangelists were finally manufactured out
of memoranda made by themselves during their lifetime.
Many years ago I wrote : All positive religions contain
three distinct parts First, a code of morals, very pure
and nearly the same in all next, a geological dream
Humboldt's Letters. 113
and thirdly, a myth or historical novellette ; which last
becomes the most important of all. I enclose the pam-
phlet of Baron Seckendorf. He also calls for a " repre-
sentation," namely the " re puro," the incarnation of the
people, all explained in philosophical terms. It. must be
acceptable, for without being assured of this he would
not have dared to publish it. Such people must not be
left in doubt about our real opinions. I told him (he is
vice-president) that I would read his essay attentively,
although our political principles on popular constitutions
differed very much.
The political atmosphere is to me thick, dark, and
foreboding.
With the same old attachment, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
On the 2d of December, the day before the above
letter, Varnhagen wrote in his diary : " Humboldt
called yesterday. Talked about Paris. How he finds
things here. He thinks seriously of retiring. He
knows that his name alone is of any value to the King,
and that his active usefulness has long been superseded
by that of others. Thiers told him, in Paris, that
France is much talked about as being revolutionary ;
but he thought Prussia was pretty well agitated, too.
A letter from Guizot to Humboldt spoke much in praise
of the King ; and when Humboldt read it to him, and
114 Humboldt's Letters.
came to the word ' success,' the King interrupted him
with the words, ' Ah me ! there is not much of that ; on
that point we had best be silent.' And really Humboldt
thinks the public feeling here dreadfully changed for the
worse. The King has enemies, and in the highest
circles ! Minister Eichhora is generally hated, and
makes but a poor figure at court. There seems scarcely
a doubt that Bunsen will be Ambassador to England.
Count Stolberg is almost the only one who speaks
openly against Bunsen. Humboldt sneers at Bunsen's
little tract, c The Week of Meditation.'
The 3d of December, 1841, Yarnhagen observes: " I
just received a note from Humboldt, inclosing a pam-
phlet of President Seckendorf 's, which also calls for a
4 representation' the ' re puro,' an incarnation of the
people. Humboldt observes : 4 Must be acceptable,
for without such an assurance he would not have dared
to publish it.' He concludes with significant melan-
choly : ' The atmosphere to me is gloomy and forebod-
ing. It is hard to be Humboldt, and to be obliged to
confess this, at the summit of honor, and in the fulness
of glory.' Indeed, he has but little pleasure, and his
satirical humor alone can make life here at all support-
able to him !
Humboldt's Letters. 1 1 5*
ei.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, MONDAY NIGHT, Dec. 7$, 1841.
I HAVE not the leisure, dear friend, to thank you as
I ought to do for your spirited and historically thorough
biography of Schwerin.* A deep penetration into the
individuality of this great man pervades the whole.
Simplicity is the essential, vital element of description.
A hasty word of advice to ride off, and the winning
of the battle by himself alone,f were constant stum-
bling-blocks in the path of this hero during his life.
His end, the standard in his hand, amid the bloody
massacre of thirteen thousand unsympathizing men, is a
striking conclusion to the life of the old soldier, who,
like Columbus, was at the same time great and unro-
mantically avaricious. What does much honor to your
talent as historian, and what is probably overlooked by
* A Prussian Field Marshal, killed at the battle of Prague, 1757. TV.
\ Allusion to the battle of Mollwitz, 1741, which was won by
Schwerin alone, who, indignant at the blunders of the King, ordered
him to ride off, and assumed the command himself, which Frederick
the Great njver forgave. Tr.
ii6 Humboldt's Letters.
many is, that you do not allow Schwerin's death to
interrupt the narrative of the strife of battle. I will
bring you the " Collected Works" myself, and beg the
second volume of Hormayr's exquisitely spicy produc-
tion. Your last favor, doing me so much honor, con-
tains words about which I wish to prevent every mistake.
"You are afraid to enjoy the exclusive possession of my
impieties." You may freely dispose of this sort of pro-
perty after my not far distant departure from life.
Truth is due to those only whom we deeply esteem to
you, therefore. A. HT.
On the 18th December, 1841, Varnhagen writes in
his diary : " I heard to-day the quite incredulous, mys-
teriously-whispered story, that the King would go to
England for the baptism of the Prince of Wales ; that
it had been agreed upon quite secretly, and that this
flattering communication had contributed a great deal
to make Bunsen's appointment as Ambassador agreeable
to the Court of St. James. The latter part of the story
makes me suspect the truth of the whole. This is by
no means the real diplomatic state of things. Should,
however, the journey have been decided upon, or even
only be under discussion, there can be no doubt that
Bunsen had a hand in it; and then important events
would result therefrom, and very dangerous events, too,
in my opinion. A near alliance with England would in
Humboldt's Letters. 117
itself be hazardous; but to enter into close connexion
with the Anglican Church and the Tories, sure ruin !
And all Prussia, all Germany, all Europe would take it
for granted that such a connexion was really established,
even if it were not ; and the supposition alone would
damage us in a thousand ways ; the king would lose
more hi the loyal attachment of his subjects than he can
now afford. I hope the whole story will turn out a
fable. Humboldt says the spirit of discontent, which
he calls the howling mania, has largely increased here.
When he left, a few were howling ; but now they all
howl. His sharp and witty remarks are really refresh-
ing in our spiritless society."
Before his departure for England Humboldt called on
Yarnhagen to take leave. On this occasion the follow-
ing entry was made in the diary, on the 14th of
January, 1842: "Humboldt called to take leave, he
starts to-morrow night. He came from Count Maltzan's
of whose life but little hope is left to-day. 'His
death will bring Canitz here not Buelow', said Hum-
boldt dolefully. I comforted him with the suggestion,
that Canitz too might be dropped, ' And whose turn
would it then be?' ''Bunsen's.' 'That would be too
frightful ! But as it is, he accompanies the King on his
return. That is already decided upon.' Humboldt dis-
likes Canitz and cannot understand how I am not more
n8 Humboldt's Letters.
afraid of him of this arch-aristocratic, utterly bigoted
(and consequently preposterous, nay, stupid) fanati-
cally anti-French Canitz, with his malicious and vulgar
sneers. ' But then you are a Tory yourself ! ' he added.
'As to that,' I replied, ' that is still somewhat doubtful
but as for Canitz, he is honest, strict, and straightfor-
ward ; he will do much, and as for the rest, business
and circumstances will control him.' "
After Humboldt's return, Varnhagen writes on the
24th of February, in his diary : " Humboldt gave me
some very interesting descriptions of England. At
court the greatest magnificence ; the mode of living,
however, plain and easy; conversation unrestrained;
the tone very pleasant and cheerful, even between
gentlemen and ladies of adverse parties. Peel pleases
him as little as ever ; looks like a Dutchman ; is more
vain than ambitious, and narrow in his views. Lord
Aberdeen is invincibly taciturn, without being able to
convince people that his taciturnity covers anything
worth saying. Bunsen has shown the greatest want of
tact ; every one is against him, except the King, who
likes him better than ever." The whole visit of the
King was an intrigue of Bunsen, and was so understood
even by Englishmen.
"Our affairs here are the subject of much conjec-
ture. As minister of foreign affairs the pious Arnim will,
Humboldt's Letters.* 119
for the present, be recalled from Brussels ; at some
later day Canitz will be appointed, or Bunsen, say I.
Count Alvensleben is to go to Vienna ; Radowitz first to
Carlsruhe, until the embassy to the German Diet become
vacant. Perhaps there is hardly courage enough as yet
to take Bunsen and remove Buelow. Every month, how-
ever, every week must improve the courage, and then
both these appointments will be done. There is no
hope that Maltzan can recover ; the better days have
again been followed by the worse, and light gives way
to renewed darkness. Sad state of things.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEtf.
BERLIN, MONDAY, 2Sth February, 1842.
I AM anxious to hear a few words about your health,
dear friend.
I have succeeded in procuring a pension of three hun-
dred thalers, a miserable sum, but it is only a beginning,
for the impoverished but talented poet Freiligrath at
Darmstadt, involving no obligation on his part, and allow-
ing him to live out of the country. Can you lend me
his poems ?
A. HT.
1 2o Humboldt's Letters.
NOTE BY VARNHAGEN. On Tuesday Humboldt wrote me with
the feuilleton of the Journal des Debate, in which Philarete Chasles,
in the most vulgar manner, abuses the literature of Germany, and
eneers at the most distinguished German authors.
And this miserable fellow has been appointed under
Guizot's ministry Professeur des Langues du Nord (litt.
anglaise, allemande) au College de France.
You need not return the silly, spiteful trash.
A. HT.
es.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, 16$, March, 1842.
BE comforted about the mishap. The King pur-
chases Italian, but, under no circumstances whatever,
French pictures. The portrait of Cherubini is, indeed,
very fine, and if I remember aright, I saw it in Cherubini's
own house. As the author is not dead, and Ingres very
rich, I cannot conceive how the portrait can be for sale ?
You can tell the sprightly " Child"* that you sent me
the feuilleton.
In the last number of the Journal des D6bats there is
* Bettina von Arnim.
Humboldt's Letters/ 121
a strong and very fine article against the abominable
Jew Bill, with which we are threatened, and against
which I have already protested in very impressive
words.
Ever grateful, yours,
WEDNESDAY. A. HT.
It was intended in the preamble of the law to speak of
" the miracle which God performed in preserving the Jew-
ish race amid other nations ;" " of the will of God to keep
the Jewish race separated." I have replied thereto, that
the bill is a violation of all the principles of a wise policy
of unity ; that it is a dangerous arrogance in short-sighted
man to dare interpret the primeval decrees of God.
The history of the dark ages ought to teach us what
abnormities such doctrines lead to.
I live in apparent outward luxury, and in the enjoy-
ment of the fanciful predilection of a generous Monarch,
yet in a moral and mental seclusion, such as can only
arise from the monotonous dulness of a country (a real
steppe) which, though it is not wanting in erudition, is
torn asunder by the opposing influences of similar
" poles," and becomes more and more contracted in its
Eastern proclivities. May you be content with him,
who, though standing alone, has the courage to avow his
own opinions.
6
122 Humboldt's Letters.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 21st, 1842.
MY dear friend, so happily restored to me ! It is a
source of infinite joy to me to learn, from your exquisite
letter, that the really very delightful society at the Prin-
cess's has benefited you physically, and, therefore, as I
should say in my criminal materialism, mentally also.
Such a society, blown together chiefly from the same
fashionable world of Berlin (somewhat flat and stale),
immediately takes a new shape in the house of Princess
Pueckler. It is like the spirit which should breathe
life into the state ; the material seems ennobled.
I still retain your " Christliche Glaubenslehre,"* I
who long ago, in Potsdam, was so delighted with
Strauss's Life of the Saviour. One learns from it, not
only what he does not believe, which is less new to me,
but rather what kind of things have been believed and
taught by those black coats (parsons) who know how to
* A celebrated work on the Christian Dogma by Friedrich David
Strauss. TV.
Humboldt's Letters. 123
enslave mankind anew, yea, who are putting on tbo
armor of their former adversaries. I shall gladly copy
the passage concerning Spinoza. Will not the late date
of the second volume of the " Glaubenslehre" (1841)
be urged against it by these men who pretend to teach
from ancient manuscript ? It would seem to me a better
plan to have published the wonderfully conflicting chro-
nology with some remarks on the new faith in the whole
" roman historique" of the apostolic collectors of myths.
He who teaches so publicly has to subject himself to the
publicity arising from the defence of those who differ
from him in creed. A private statement, clothed in the
mild language of complaint, makes the subsequent public
one very difficult, and elicits only patronizing smiles and
a denial. It is not the mishap of Spinoza, but this degra-
dation of the noblest intellectual faculties in the service
of the narrow doctrines of dark ages, that is really pain-
ful to me. The man* himself had certainly nothing
attractive for me, but I had a kind of predilection for
him, because everything enthrals and enraptures me, in
which, as in his lecture on Art, the gentle breath of
imagination warms and enlivens the harmony of lan-
* Humboldt refers here to ScheUing, the philosopher, who had ,ust
received from the King of Prussia a call to Berlin, and who, in a peni-
tent spirit, endeavored to reconcile Christianity and philosophy, thus
recanting his former views. Humboldt was quite exasperated at his
conduct. Tr.
1 24 Humboldt's Letters. .
guage. Now we are separated. In his last speech, not
the one on art, amid the glare of torchlight, he spoke of
his departure like a well-paid artist who had just accom-
plished a musical tour probably only a sentimental
figure of speech to frighten his listeners.
Now for an answer to enquiries for the biography, of
which, after all, I think with some fear, not on account
of its political contents, but on account of family con-
siderations. I rely on your promise. The man cer-
tainly cannot want to afflict so many !
Wilhelm was born in Potsdam, because his father was
Royal Chamberlain, and at the same time acting Cham-
berlain to the Princess Elizabeth of Prussia. He left
Potsdam when the Princess was sent to Stettin. My
father remained in high favor with the Prince of Prus-
sia, w T ho visited him frequently at Tegel. This explains
to you the passage in the English despatch, running
thus (I believe very early in 1775? Raumer's Beitraege
zur neuern Geschichte, vol. v., p. 297) : " Hertzberg,
Schulenburg could form a ministry, but those have the
greatest chance of success, who, although not of the
same kind, are considered favorites of the Prince.
Among the first of these stands Herr von Humboldt,
formerly an official in the allied army, a man of sense
and fine character; Herr von Hordt, an enterprising
genius " The expression " official" is a strange
mistake. My father was major and aide-de-camp to Duke
Humboldt's Letters. 125
Ferdinand, of Brunswick : after long service in the
Finkenstein dragoons, he was frequently sent to Frede-
rick II., during the gloomiest period of the Seven Years'
War ; thus Frederick II. writes in his letters on the
Wedel disaster : " I told Humboldt everything that
can be told at such a distance." (Manuscript letters
quite recently bought by the King in Eastern
Prussia.)
My family comes from Northern Pomerania. My
brother and I were for a long time the last of our name.
My mother's maiden name was Colomb, cousin of the
Princess Bluecher, and therefore niece of the old Pre-
sident in Aurich (Ostfriesland). She was first married
to a Baron von Holwede. From this marriage sprung
my step-brother Holwede, formerly in the regiment
of gcnsdarmes. To my mother belongs the merit of
having procured for us, at the instigation of old privy-
councillor Kunth, a thorough education. Wilhelm,
for the first years, was educated by our tutor Campe.
The foundation of his profound attainments in Grecian
lore was laid by Loeffler, the author of a liberal book
on the New Platonism of the Fathers of the Church ; he
then was a chaplain in the army, and afterwards chief
ecclesiastical counsellor at Gotha. Fischer, of the Graue
Kloster, instructed Wilhelm in Greek for many years ;
he had, what is little known, a profound knowledge of
Greek, besides that of mathematics. That Engel, Reite-
126 Humboldt's Letters.
meier, Dohm, and Klein lectured to us for a long time
on philosophy, jurisprudence, and political science, is
known to you. When at the University of Frankfurt
(for six months) we lived with Loeffler, who was Pro-
fessor there. In Goettingen, both of us were mem-
bers (for one year) of the Philological Seminary of
Heyne.
To my father belonged Tegel (formerly a hunting
chateau of the great Elector, and it was consequently
only a leasehold property. Wilhelni first possessed the
place in fee-simple, as a manor ; therefore Schinkel
added to it four towers, in order to preserve the old
tower erected under the great Elector). Besides this,
he owned Ringenwalde, near Soldin, in the Neumark.
Ringenwalde afterwards belonged to me, then to the
Counts Reeden and Achim Arnim. Wilhelm, at the
time of his death, possessed Tegel, Burgoerner, and
Auleben (acquired by his wife, as the fiefdom of the
Dacheroeden family had been abolished), Hadersleben,
in the Magdeburg country, and Castle Ottmachau, in
Silesia, the dotation given to him after the Paris
peace.
The Sonnet I., 394, refers to a second child, I believe,
which Frau von Humboldt lost when at Rome. One
was buried in Paris.
I conjure you do not mention to the author anything
as coming from me. He would inevitably state it in
Humboldt's Letters. 1 27
the preface, and then I should become responsible for
a great many things which I dread.
Pardon the stercoran-like* loquacity. A. HT.
NOTE BY YARXHAGEN. He probably had just read of the Ster-
coranists in Strauss's " Glaubenslehre." Hence this allusion.
G5.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
THUESDAY, 31st March, 1842.
On my return from Potsdam with the King I received
the " Loa-Tseu," a work with a peculiar flavor of ante-
Herodotian antiquity. Your note accompanying the
Chinese philosopher impresses me painfully. I find that
you have not yet received the courage arising from a
consciousness of restored physical strength. That the
vigor of your intellect never suffered is shown in each
of your letters. I think I have not lost any of them.
About a week ago I wrote you a long one of four pages
about that " Christianly-dogmatising philosopher," and
my reply to the inquiries of the " Biographer," who
pestered me with his pietistic curiosity. Did that letter
come to hand safely ? It contained also much chit-chat
* The Sterooranists axe those who believe that the Host is subject
to digestion. Tr.
1 28 Humboldt's Letters.
on my brother's first erudition. You don't make any
mention of my talkativeness. I trust it will not be a
source of trouble to me. We have succeeded with
Buelow. He may be here next Saturday. It may be
the beginning of something good ; or the end of it le
bouquet the stage effect of foot-lights. I met with
Tholuk and Bekedorff yesterday at Potsdam at dinner.
!No other occasion would have favored me with their
apparition. With constant devotion yours,
A. HT.
ee.
HUMBOLDT TO YAKNHAGEtf.
BERLIN, April Qtk, 1842.
SINCE the inquisitorial sentence against Bruno (Bauer)
has been so presumptuously published, I deem it my
duty to retain your Strauss no longer. I return you
that remarkable book, which caused me to indulge
in much meditation. Accept my best thanks. The
method of the author is excellent; it makes us ac-
quainted with the whole history of the faith of our
time, particularly so with the Jesuitical trick of so many
people who declare publicly their belief in and their
adherence to all the dogmas of the Christian mythology,
after the fashion of Schleiermacher, and after having
Humboldt's Letters. 1 29
" drained the chalice," are followed to the grave by a
solemn cortege of court equipages, although in fact
they had always discarded the orthodox belief and sub-
stituted for it pseudo-philosophical interpretations.
What displeases me very much in Strauss is his frivo-
lous manner of speaking of natural sciences, which makes
him accept without hesitation the formation of organ-
ism from inorganisms, and which enables him to easily
believe in the origin of man as springing from the
primitive sod of Chaldea. That he seems to think very
little of the blue regions on the other side of the grave
I might cheerfully forgive him ; the more so, as we are
the more agreeably and willingly surprised when we
expect little. As for you, you fortunate man, it could
have caused no surprise. How purely Spanish and revolt-
ing in the present inquisitorial formula was the sentence
that " The culprit would admit himself." Neque aliud
aut qui eadem saevitia usi sunt, nisi dedecus sibi atque
reges illis gloriam peperere.
I send you a copy of "Don Juan." It shows beauty
of language, also a rich imagination. I am anxious to
hear how you are pleased with it.
The constitutional Roi des Landes* repeatedly said
yesterday at dinner in the presence of forty people:
The professors of Goettingen had talked of their patriot-
* King Ernest August of Hanover.
6*
130 Humboldt's Letters.
ism in an address to him. Professors, he said, have no
country at all. Professors, prostitutes, and dancers may
be had every where for money ; they go to the highest
bidder. What a shame to call such a fellow a German
Prince !
With faithful attachment, yours, A. HT.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
67.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April *lth, 1842.
OUR unknown friend is very amiable. I have lost all
apprehension. You have a balm for every wound. I
will show you, with pleasure, the few lines, which fell,
as it was intended they should, into the King's hands
on the following morning. I chose that circuitous way,
because it enabled me to write more freely, and to
openly show my dissatisfaction. The thing is now in a
better way, but it is not yet irrevocably dismissed. I
must entreat you, therefore, most fervently, not to give
the lines in question out of your hand. They would
irrevocably be inserted in the papers, and that would
seriously injure my efforts in a good and important cause.
The King sent for me at a very early hour ; and his
Humboldt's Letters. 131
thanking me very cordially for my frank exposition does
him much honor.
I did not go to Potsdam to-day, because I wished to
advocate in the full board of the Academy the election
of Mr. Riess, the Jewish philosopher, as a member.
His election is very honorable to the Academy. There
were only three black balls.
To-morrow I shall be with the King till Sunday. I
will try to hunt up some interesting autograph some-
thing poetical (by Wilhelm von Humboldt) for Stutt-
gart. All that I possess are unfortunately but copies.
Take care of your health, dear friend, it is not firmly
restored.
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
THURSDAY NIGHT.
68.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
BERLIN, June 21th, 1842.
YOUB kind remembrance, honored and gifted friend,
was very beneficial to me the more so, as I have
returned from Sans Souci rather unwell, affected by a
cold; and as lam involved in all the miseries of moving
into a detestable house in the Siberian ward of the city,
132 Humboldt's Letters.
the Oranienburger Strasse, I have not even an ink? ,and
on my table.
At present, nothing more than my best thanks. I
have told Marheineke myself how dear he is to me. A
thunderstorm, in the form of a cabinet order, suddenly
growling through the papers, and exhibiting a few
flashes of censorial absurdities, would be preferable to
that impracticable law, the assigning of a Grand Inqui-
sitor to the liberty of the press. We have so much to
say to each other, I hope to see you yet before your
departure. Think only of the enlivening presence of
four Crown-Princes and throne-successors one lame in
the knees, and pale ; the other a drunken Icelander ;
the third blind, and politically raving; and the last
capricious and infirm in intellect. And this is the
approaching generation of the monarchical world.
Yours, A. HT.
I accompany the King to the Rhine. That I had no
mind to become a mere color-stand at Petersburg will
be understood by you. The Chancellor has always the
pleasure of being the subject of vulgar recrimination on
the part of those who are either not invited or refuser 1
admittance to the banquet. What an excitement ^lass
beads, peacock plumes, and ribbons can stir up among
men !*....
* Allusion to the new order pour le merite.
Humboldt's Letters. 133
NOTE BY YARNHAGEX. Marheineke's article on the Anglican church
in the " Jahrbuecher fuer wissenschaftliche Kritik," with a couple of
censorial blunders.
On the 26th June, 1842, Varnhagen writes in his
diary about the new order : " Humboldt tells me much
about the foundation of the new order. The King had
at first composed a list, in which he had written the
names with Sanscrit letters. This list was referred for
advice to Humboldt, Eichhorn, Savigny, Thiele; then
it was altered many times ; new names were added and
others stricken out the indecision lasted six weeks.
Originally the King had decided for forty-six members,
to correspond with the number of years embraced by
the reign of Frederick the Great. Afterwards he
thought of adopting forty, but was afraid of doing so,
on account of the ' plaisanteries ' about the number ' qua-
rante ' in the French Academy ; at last he limited the
number to thirty. All was managed by the King in his
own way. Arago was originally placed on the list by
the King. He insisted upon Metternich as his particular
choice. Rumohr was abandoned. Steffens was, in the
opinion of the King, not deserving ' enough neither
as philosopher nor as a naturalist.' Liszt was decidedly
favored by the King, and no objections could prevail.
Spontini was thought of, but Savigny and the cabinet
counsellor, Mueller, succeeded in displacing him. Moore
was objected to as having written satirical verses on
1 34 Humboldt's Letters.
Prussia. 'That is not at all my business,' said the
King. Melloni was opposed as being a Carbonaro, and
having been at the head of a revolutionary Junta. ' I
do not care the least about that,' said the King. ' I
would confer the order on O'Connell, if he possessed such
scientific merits.' The King proposed Raumer and
Ranke. Eichhorn and Savigny assented only to Ranke,
and thereupon both were dropped. Notwithstanding
the view taken in Melloni's, Moore's, and Arago's cases,
Schlosser the historian was rejected on account of his
political views (?). Metternich had railed at the ' bishop-
ric of Jerusalem.' Now to insure the new order against
the same fate, he was to be nominated a member of it
this is deemed the 'secret motive,' in Humboldt's
opinion. And for Metternich's sake Uwaroff was left
out, for with him the other would not have been the
sole representative of his species. Link was weighed,
but found wanting."
On the 27th June, 1842, Varnhagen makes the fol-
lowing addition to his notes of yesterday : " Humboldt
told me he had informed the King in advance of the
intention of the Academy of Sciences to elect Mr.
Riess, a Jew, one* of their members, and that the King
had replied he would confirm the election unhesitatingly.
' I will hope,' he added, ' your brother has not com-
mitted the folly of writing in the by-laws a clause
Humboldt's Letters. 135
against Jews becoming members of the Academy ? '
Minister Eichhorn knew that the King would not create
any difficulty in the matter, but he himself disliked it,
and he thought it likely that Thiele, Rochow, Stollberg,
and others, would also be displeased at it ; therefore he
left the application of the Academy, to have their elec-
tion confirmed by the King, unattended to for six weeks,
and then wrote a letter, by which he inquired of the
Academy, whether they were aware that Riess was a
Jew ? The Academy, indignant at this inquiry, replied
unanimously, that they were only ruled by the by-laws,
in concurrence with which the election had taken place,
and they therefore repudiated the minister's inquiry as
inappropriate and impertinent. Eichhorn pocketed the
insult, and reported the application to the King, who at
once confirmed the election ; feeling, however, a little
disinclined to approve, at the present day, what Frede-
rick the Great had refused. Frederick the Great had
declined to confirm the election of Moses Mendelssohn,
out of regard, as it is believed, for the Empress Cathe-
rine of Russia, who was a member of the Academy, and
who was presumed to be averse to such a colleague."
On the 30th of August, 1842, Varnhagen remarks in
his diary : " Humboldt tells me miserable things of
Eichhorn. Talks also much of the King, his amiability,
good humor, jocoseness. He thinks, however, he will
136 Humboldt's Letters.
not relinquish his favorite views, even when he seems to
abandon them. The King was more satisfied with Count
Maltzan than with any one else of his ministers; he
placed full confidence in him believed him capable of
anything. We had a dispute about the signification of
the word ; ingenious,' and how far it could be applied
to the King. Humboldt thinks the King intends going
to Greece, and to extend his journey to Jerusalem. It
was to be feared, however, that the parsons would at last
get control of him, and destroy his cheerfulness. Hum-
boldt goes to Eu on business, with the King of France ;
then to Paris. Will be back at Berlin in December."
Vamhagen speaks of a call made by Humboldt after
his return from Paris, in his diary of the 18th March,
1843, as follows: "Humboldt came to see me; he
looks much older since I last saw him, but his spirit
and courage are fresh. In Paris he was happy and
gay ; here his spirits sank at once. Things here were
going on miserably, he says ; the old beaten track treat-
ing matters of dangerous character in a spirit of childish
frivolity. And besides that, he is overrun with applica-
tions and requests ; every one wishes to secure his influ-
ence ! ' Influence !' said he ; c nobody has any ! Even
Bunsen and Radowitz, the King's favorites, have none.
All that they are capable of is to anticipate the weak
fancies of the King, and obey them. Should they
attempt anything beyond this, their overthrow is cer-
Humboldt's Letters. 137
tain. The King acts just as he pleases. He fol-
lows the impulses of his early received and firmly
rooted impressions, and the advice which he may now
and then think worthy of hearing, is nothing at all to
him. He speaks contemptuously of Eicbhorn and
Savigny, as hypocritical menials, who receive the word
of command from Thiele, from Gerlach, and from Heng-
stenberg. The King has relinquished nothing whatever
of his cherished designs, and may, at any time, come
out again with them, as with his designs regarding the
Jews' observance of the Sabbath, the Anglican ordina-
tion of the bishops, and the new institutions of nobi-
lity, etc. He has . projects which it would take a
hundred years to accomplish. He contemplates immense
constructions, outlaying of parks, enterprises in matters
of art. There is already the question of going to Athens ;
in the background a pilgrimage to Jerusalem may be
looming ; triumphant promenades a la Xapoleon ; peace-
able ones to London, to St. Petersburg, to the Orient ;
conquered scholars and artists, instead of countries.
Love of art and imagination upon the throne, fanati-
cism and deceit all round, and hypocritical exaggeration
in matters unworthy of attention. And with all this,
the man is really ingenious, is really amiable, and inspired
by the best intentions. What will come out of all this
at last ?"
J 38 Humboldt's Letters.
eo.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April 3d, 1842.
IP I have appeared slow in thanking you, my dear
friend, for your delightful present, it is because all my
leisure time at Potsdam was absorbed by the perusal of
your biography, beginning with your early youth and
terminating with your description of the Congress of
Vienna. To have had such a development as yours is a
gratifying advantage. It is instructive to follow the
career of men like you and to behold them acting before
our eyes.
How unjust we once were in our opinions of the men
who undertook to rearrange Europe at that great Con-
gress I mean to say how much more did we then exact
in our unjust views, while at present, on comparing the
members of that Congress with the mediocre creatures
of to-day, they appear great in our recollection. In
their place we have now court-philosophers, missionary-
devoted ladies of state ministers, court theologians, and
sensation preachers
Minister Buelow complains that you never came to see
Humboldt's Letters. 139
him enfamiUe between the hours of 8 and 9. He will
hold his public reception to-morrow, Tuesday evening,
and you would be an ornament to his circle. He never
sends letters of invitation to those who know how
welcome they are to him.
MONDAY. A. V. HUMBOLDT.
70.
HUMBOLDT TO VARETHAGEN.
TUESDAY, June 13th, 1843.
EXCUSE me, dear friend, for being prevented by the
absence of Reimer, by my own eternal distractions and
pendulum-like movements, as well as by some little prepa-
rations for an excursion to Pomerania, from sending you
the two new volumes of Wilhelm's works. I know that
you are little pleased with the commentary on Hermann
and Dorothea. It would have been preferable, to be
sure, had he extended it into a pamphlet on epics ; but
you perceive even in the Kawi book how that great ge-
nius always deduced general law from special instances.
The sonnets are full of grave pathos and depth of senti-
ment. I shall call to embrace you, and to ask you the
surest way of sending a copy to Mr. Thomas Carlyle ?
140 Humboldt's Letters.
A. seems unreliable, and Buelow's despatches cannot be
overloaded. I shall thank Mr. Carriere personally. The
" fossil" minister, I am told, has given evidence of his
vitality by an amiable letter to you ! My life is also
described " dans les biographies redigees par un homme
de rien," in which I am pictured as a socially-mali-
cious beast. Such things will not kill, nor will they
improve a man either.
Always faithfully yours, A. v. HT.
71.
BERLIN, June 26th, 1843.
I AM sure, dear friend, to afford you some enjoyment
by communicating to you (to you alone) a fragment of a
new volume by Eckermann. Remarkable adoration of
youthful vigor as the divine source of productiveness.
This is simply the adoration of an old man. Napoleonic
worship unrestrained by moral considerations. I most
fervently entreat you, not to show the sheet to our
child, also not to talk with Brockhaus about what
Eckermann has confided to me. It might possibly
damage him, and he is already unfortunate. I am con-
fident the two last volumes will have come to your
hands through Buschmann. The weather was very
Humboldt's Letters. 141
favorable for our journey north. Such journeys are the
best means to deceive princes regarding public opinion.
I have made a little speech, out of a window, to the
young men upon " The intellectual ties" which inde-
pendent of " space" beget a just interpretation of liberal
ideas, and an unfading confidence in the advancement
of humanity. You may read the speech in the Staats
Zeitung, as I wrote it down after delivery, a necessary
precaution, as my daily increasing friends would have
perverted it. I read a part of "Custine" to the King.
He is infinitely ingenious and magnificent in style. I
have read but two volumes, and of these I prefer the
first, which portrays a modern greatness of tragical
events in a masterly manner.
With devotion, yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
Please send me back Eckermann.
73.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
TUESDAY, June 2 7 to, 1843.
I AM afraid, my dear friend, that you might come to
Tegel next Thursday and find nobody at home. Buelow
142 Humboldt's Letters.
will take leave of the King to-night and expects to start
to-morrow Wednesday for Schlangenbad. His wife
and two oldest daughters are going with him. I write
this in view of the impossibility of my embracing you
before your departure. The torchlight procession at
Diisseldorf could shed light on many a thing. I enclose
the little speech for you, as you like to preserve every-
thing concerning your friends.
Yours,
A. HT.
73.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEK
SANS Souci, August 27th, 1843.
How could I be, my dear friend, otherwise than
alive to the duty of thanking you at once for your
precious gift, and for the affectionate souvenir of one
whose life is gradually vanishing? I know nothing
more graceful in composition, in sympathy of concep-
tion, in elegance of language, and in appropriate scenic
surroundings, than your " Lebensbilder^ which serve
at the same time as correct commentaries upon all the
valuable literature of our time. How generous you are
Humboldt's Letters. 143
when you mention ine, and even my most insignificant
words ! I have often followed you through the three
volumes, over those beaten, but still delightful paths ;
but nothing pleases me more in this " sylva sylvarum"
than your dignified and just remarks on the historical
blunder as to the " truly Germanic" distinction of poli-
tical classes, ii., p. 256-272.
You will observe that my political " ire" is still the
same ; that I am always very much attached to this life,
having learned from you that, according to Kant's
doctrine, there is not much to boast of after our disso-
lution. " The budding twig starting up in the regions
of northern empires" (I am satirical now) has been but
poorly acclimated ; and I have little time to spare,
having already waited fifty-three years The
Germans will yet have to write many more books on
liberty.
The card-playing man ii., p. 157 will again cause
some excitement in the environs of my " hill." I
believe I have discovered some " moderation," which,
however, one does not like to mention. The words,
" that miserable fellow," are no longer heard. You see
how much I love to read your writings and not
through fear. A. v. H.
We have not yet talked of Custine's book. The first
volume is an eloquent and sprightly description (of dra-
1 44 Humboldt's Letters.
matic scenes), and is the best done. What a startling
effect such a book must have, even on those who detest
justifying themselves. "II y a des longueurs de decla-
mations," something of rhetorical blackening, which is
tiresome. I find the publication of the hypertragical
letter (of Princess Trubetzkoi) very wrong. Were it not
for the irritation necessarily caused by the publication
of this letter, we might have looked for some salvation
from a new petition. What justification is there for
risking so much, even for murder ? I am also disgusted
by the worship of those literary trifles by Mad. de
Girardin and Mad. Gay. Such worship could, perhaps,
be allowed in a beautiful Grand-Duchess.
That the " Saint-Simonism" was invented by a Prus-
sian business-man, amuses me very much. As it con-
cerns Konigsberg, I will keep it secret.
HUMBOLDT TO THE PRINCE OF PRUSSIA.
BERLIN, Dec. 29, 1843.
YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS :
I HAVE the honor, most humbly, to inform you that the
box containing the universal siderial clock of the inven-
tors, D. and H. v. A , together with your gracious
Humboldt's Letters. 1 45
orders, has duly been delivered to me. I shall do in the
matter what will be agreeable to you. The two officers,
in a letter dated Temesvar, 13th of December, gave me
notice of the arrival of the instruments, naively adding
" That I should try to procure for the inventors some
military decoration from His Majesty the King 'the
universal physician? of all arts and sciences."
To obtain, however, such a " universal panacea," from
the " universal physician," the gentlemen must address
his majesty a few words themselves. The so-called
universal siderial clocks had much reputation in the
middle ages ; in the present state of astronomy, how-
ever, they are never used in observatories, where the
astronomer makes the calculations himself. Such
graphic inventions in that line cannot therefore be
recommended as deserving reward unless the inventors
address themselves in person to the monarch. These
rules are observed even when books are presented,
which meet with no acknowledgment unless accom-
panied by a letter.
Under these circumstances I hope that your Royal
Highness will approve of my writing to Lieutenant H,
v. A., thanking him for his confidence, and requesting
him, for his own sake and that of his friend, to write
some letters to his majesty the King, in which he may
refer to me. To secure the delivery of the letter at
Temesvar your Royal Highness will gracefully be pleased
7
146 Humboldt's Letters.
to direct it under your seal to the ambassador, General
von Canitz. I shall have the box opened at the obser-
vatory in the presence of Professor Enke, and charge
him, as is usual in such cases, to make a report for the
private cabinet. Although the word " ingenious" cannot
be applied to instruments the construction of which is not
strictly original, I will nevertheless try to obtain, through
my representations, a small dose of "the universal
panacea."
In deepest devotion, I remain
Your Royal Highness's
most humble servant,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
76.
MONDAY, Jan. 1st, 1844,
I AM in haste to tell you, as the Potsdam train is
about starting, dear friend, in spite of your incognito, that
the King, previous to the soap bubbling, lead melting,
and to the angelic chorus in the cathedral, and the en-
trance of the watchman,* received and enjoyed very
* The usual festivities in family circles on New Tear's night in Ger-
many. Tr.
Humboldt's Letters. 1 47
much the charming gift. It is a group full of grace and
sweetness of composition ; it is heaven reflected in
earthly love. The King instantly guessed it to be the
work of those young fairies, Bettina's cygnets, and would
like to offer his thanks.
A. v. HT.
Privatissime. I expressed some doubts about that
hieroglyph distinguishing the male swan from the fe-
male. The King thinks me, however, quite " arriere" as
to the changes which art-life has made in modern educa-
tion.
NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. Bettina von Arnim had given me a deli-
cate and beautifully executed drawing, representing a naked girl and
a naked lad standing under a tree, in the foliage of which a nightin-
gale is singing, which she requested me to send anonymously to Mr.
v. Humboldt, asking him to present it also anonymously to the King as
a New Year's present. The nakedness of the male figure might in-
deed appear rather shocking, although it would have been pardonable
in one like Bettina, but that the King could suppose it the work of her
daughters is rather too strong, unless by this pretence he meant to
convey a rallying correction to Bettina.
On the 1st of April, 1844, Varuhagen wrote in his
diary: "After a long interruption, a visit from Hum-
boldt at last. He told me all that occupies his mind.
He is striving to do what he can, but this is not much,
148 Humboldt's Letters.
and after all, the man of seventy-four years is but a man
of seventy-four. He himself refers significantly to his
advanced age. His manifold duties are a heavy charge
upon him, although he is reluctant to abandon them.
The Court and its society are to him like a tavern of
habitual resort, where one is wont to pass one's evening,
and to drink one's glass. The King, says he, busies
himself with nothing but his whims, and these have, for
the most part, a spiritual, nay, an ecclesiastical, ten-
dency worshipping, building churches, concocting mis-
sions. He cares very little about earthly affairs. It
seems immaterial to him whether Louis Philippe's
death causes a crisis ; what may happen after Metter-
nich's death, or how Russia behaves with us. To all this
he is indifferent ; he scarcely thinks of it. Whoever has
secured his favor and nourishes his fancies plays a sure
game. Bunsen, Radowitz, and Canitz stand highest in
his favor. Stollberg comes only in the second rank.
Besides, there exists the greatest carelessness and
distraction. Rueckert had congratulated the Queen
upon her recovery, in some very beautiful stanzas.
They were found delightful ; but the propriety of
acknowledging such an offering by a word of thanks
was overlooked, until at last it occurred to the
Queen. Rueckert was then sent for, but had been
gone some three weeks. Schelling is received scarcely
once a year by the King. Having secured him, he
Humboldt's Letters. 149
cares but little for him. Steffens, too, whom he likes,
is seldom invited. Reumont belongs to the exceptions ;
he secures a small share of the favoritism of Bunsen
and Count Bruehl. There is much sneering at ....
about his dancing, &c. Humboldt said once, he was
green, if not quite yellow, whereupon the King
answered :' At .... every one had that complexion.'
Bunsen has not grown much wiser : he proposed to the
King to purchase California, to send missionaries there,
&c. He strongly supports the schemes of Madame von
Helfert ; he had a mind to send his own son with her,
and to contribute 12,000 of his own means for the
establishment of settlements in the East Indies ( !), with
the view, of course, to open a field for missionaries ; he
withdrew, however, his offers when he saw that the
King's co-operation was doubtful. In the meantime
Mrs. Helfert could not obtain more than ten thousand
thalers from the King. Minister Rother succeeded in frus-
trating her plot ; he could not help, however, sending two
agents to examine and to report on the state of the pos-
sessions of Mrs. Helfert in the East Indies. It was also
attempted to induce the King to take part in the colo-
nization of Texas always in connexion, of course, with
religious interests. Humboldt had written previously
to Bunsen, in strong terms, advising him to warn Eich-
horn, and to point out to him the hatred which his
actions awakened, and which also reflected upon the
i o Humboldt's Letters.
King. When he met Bunsen here he expressed himself
in the same way, arguing in forcible but fruitless lan-
guage. Bunsen, who talked with him with great interest
on Egypt for two hours, did not answer a word, but rose
and went away. Humboldt believes him vain enough to
accept a ministry. It seems to me that Humboldt is
much too familiar with Bunsen, and shows him too
much friendship. The Queen, says Humboldt, has no
Catholic tendencies ; on the contrary, she is an arch-
Protestant, and even more of a fanatic than the King
himself, whom she is constantly urging in this direction.
She would have more influence if she better understood
the management of matters.
In the evening Humboldt sent me the work : l Russie,
Allemagne et France,' par M. Fournier, Paris, 1844,
with a very amiable letter, inclosing eighteen precious
autographs by Arago, Metternich, Peel, Stanley, Reca-
mier, Balzac, Prescott, Brunei, Herschel, Bresson,
Helene d' Orleans, Duchesse de Dino, and four confi-
dential good-humored notes of the King. A brilliant
present !"
Humboldt's Letters. 151
7S.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April IsJ, 1844.
I HAVE a mind, my noble friend, to impart some
enjoyment to you to-night by a few insignificant gifts,
accompanying the horrible Ruthenic venom beneath
enclosed.* I know that I am personally flattered in all
the inclosed letters with the exception of that from
Solingen; but this cannot prevent my offering what
may be interesting to you. You will find the following
letter from
1. Lord Stanley, the present minister, to whom I had
recommended the cousin of our Dieffenbach, the author
of a highly commendable journey to New Zealand.
This traveller was implicated in the rebellion at Frank-
fort, wherefore it was difficult to get him an engage-
ment in Germany. If travelling were still a business of
mine I could not desire a better companion.
2. The " Presumption" from Solingen.
* The work of Marc Fournier : Eussie, Allemagne et France.
Paris, 1844.
1 52 Humboldt's Letters.
3. A very interesting letter of Count Bresson, the
ambassador of France, dated Feb. 6, 1839.
4. A very amiable letter from Arago, when I had
dedicated him the " Examen de 1'histoire de la geogra-
phic du 15 Siecle." I don't recollect having given you
anything else of Arago.
5. A note written by the King, at a time when he
assisted me in obtaining the pardon of young " dema-
gogues." The note refers to the prosecution of young
Hoeninghaus, for whom my efforts were successful.
The letter of the Crown-Prince shows a noble indignation
against Kamptz and his accomplices.
6. A letter of the Duchess of Orleans.
7. A letter of the King of Denmark. Simultaneously
with Arago I had recommended Hansen, the great
lunar calculator at Gotha, to the King. Our petition was
granted. Arago received also a very amiable autograph
irom " Christianus Rex," once constitutional King in
Norway.
8. Another note of the Crown-Prince, good-humored
and witty. He wished very much to have Metter-
nich accept the Presidency, pour mettre la societe en
bonne odeur d Home ou elle passe pour JBunso-
heretique.
9. A letter of the Duchess de Dino, now Duchesse
de Talleyrand. She has been created Duchess of Sagan
lately.
Humboldt's Letters. 1 53
10, 11. Two good-humored letters more of the King.
Le Seehund, the recommendation of a rather rough
Danish sea captain, who declared his willingness to take
two naturalists around the globe at the rate of 2500
rixthalers a head (a little high). The plan was a failure.
Le Seigneur Cados, ministre Secretaire ftEtat of the
watchmaking Due de Normandie, who addressed to the
Crown-Prince a complaint about the indecent manner in
which he was treated by the Staats-Zeitung.
12. From Brunei, the hero of the tunnel.
13. A letter of Sir John Herschel, full of flattering
expressions.
14. Mr. de Balzac.
15. Sir Robert Peel. Somebody had written me,
from Oxford, that Robert Brown, the first botanist of
Europe, had got suddenly into money difficulties, and
that Peel, on my intercession, would grant him one of
the four only pensions accorded to savans by Parlia-
ment. I recommended him and was successful.
16. Mad. Recamier. I am sure you have already
several letters from her.
17. A letter from Prince Metternich, to be added to
the number of those which you have already from
him.
18. The illustrious American historian, Prescott. In
your hands all will be safe, even what I myself would
destroy from wantonness. I entreat you, dear friend,
154 Humboldt's Letters.
not to tell anybody that I gave you the King's notes,
however insignificant they are. It would injure me.
With old veneration, yours,
A. VON HlJMBOLDT.
MONDAY EVENING.
77.
J. W. T. TO HUMBOLDT.
HOFGEN, NEAR SOLINGEN, March I2st, 1844.
YOUR Excellency will not be offended at the liberty
I take of writing you. Some time ago I read in the
newspapers that somebody of Koenigsberg is said to
have written you about secrets of nature, referring to
photographs taken in the dark. I presume, therefore,
that your Excellency is a naturalist and has friends who
are likewise so. As I also have made important dis-
coveries in secrets of nature, which my present business
will not allow me to pursue, I wish to have an oppor-
tunity of speaking with you about them. Perhaps we
can be useful to each other. I am perfectly willing to
make the journey to Berlin, in order to see you. May
it please your Excellency to write me as soon as possible
at what time I can call on you at Berlin, if you have no
objection to my visit.
Humboldt's Letters. 155
In hope that you will favor me with an answer, I am,
with due respect,
Your Excellency's most obedient,
J. W. T.
Mr. Gottfried H., merchant at Berlin, can give you
information, if required, as to my standing and character.
NOTE OP HUMBOLDT. The presumption of the writer, arising from
the perusal of a newspaper, that I might be a naturalist, is a fact I
am guilty of having published some books on Natural History as
early as 1789.
COUNT BRESSON, FRENCH AMBASSADOR, TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, February Gih, 1 839.
DEAR EXCELLENCY, I am happy to be able to send
you to-day an article worthier of you than that of yes-
terday. Keep this number " Des Debats." I do not
file them.
The remark of Mr. M. V. L on the " Nescio
quis Plutarchus" is puerile. Besides, excepting this,
his article is inspired by a just appreciation of your
glory, which is ours as well, and which we claim as such.
156 Humboldt's Letters.
Pray, dear Excellency, receive my affectionate and
respectful homage. BRESSON.
P. S. I had just finished this note when yours of
this morning reached me. I shall keep it all my life, as
well for its being a true historical monument, as for the
precious title of friend which you deign to give me.
It is true, alas ! we shall see, if God grants us life, a
great many things ; but may it be His will that we shall
never see again events like those which have already
swept over our country, by sapping the power of the
King. Yet the Coalition works in this direction with
all its might. It is a fit of madness which reminds me
of 1791. These plotters are Girondists in embryo,
whom we would have loved ; and they will be the first
to be buried under the ruins of the edifice which they
are undermining.
Does it, then, require a great effort of reasoning
to perceive that the King is the cementer of all things,
that he keeps us out of chaos, and that upon his living
or dying the state of affairs wholly depends ? Let us
ask conscientiously, does our danger to-day come from
him ? Shall an order of things, acquired with so much
trouble, established with so much labor shall it be
sacrificed to the renown of a few men, or to the vain
theories inapplicable to France, serviceable at the best
only in England, where they are consecrated by age,
Humboldt's Letters. 157
and, what is still better, administered by the enlightened
upper classes. D., who is a man of sound intellect,
writes me that he believes in the happy issue of the
ministerial crisis. Mr. Mole has changed his determina-
tion not to resume office ; he will do so if there is a
majority of thirty-six or forty votes secured to him.
The Jacqueminot party, which is rendering great ser-
vice, is working for this.
Here are the adieux, the last ones of Mr. de Talley-
rand at Fontainebleau, on the 2d of June, 1838 : " Adieu,
my dear Bresson, stay at Berlin as long as you can ;
you are well off there ; do not try to be better off.
There will be much commotion in the world ; you are
young ; you will see it." I quote these words for you,
because they agree with the spirit of your note, for
which I thank you once more, and which will become a
family title to me.
NOTE BY HUMBOLDT. Letter of Count Bresson, French Ambassador
at Berlin. I kept it on account of the few words of Talleyrand. I
had written to Mr. Bresson that the situation of France was very
serious, that I still believed in peace, because, besides the wisdom of
the rulers, there was an expectant treatment of want of energy and
timid prudence. That these things, however, could act only for a
limited time, and that those who were young, like him, would see in
action what was now spreading its deep roots, as the unconscious and
inarticulate desires of the nations.
1 58 Humboldt's Letters.
ARAGO TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, August 19th, 1834.
MY DEAR FRIEND I cannot find words to tell you*
how sorry I am at having caused you a moment's
annoyance. Be persuaded, then, once for all, that what-
ever wrongs, real or apparent, you may have experienced
at my hands, you will never suffer that of my forgetting
how good you have always been to me. The friendship
which makes me so happy and proud, and which I have
shown to you, shall never be surpassed by yours for me.
I wanted, on the occasion of your kindly dedication, to
give a public evidence of my friendship, but various
circumstances arising out of my position, just now so
very difficult and complicated, prevented. I hope, how-
ever, that it is only delayed.
I am sorry to learn that your health is not satisfac-
tory. Mine is very bad ; but I care little about it. All
that I daily see in this vile world of meanness, servi-
lity, and low passion, makes me look with indifference
* Arago uses thou and thee in his letter to Humboldt the evidence
of great friendship and intimacy.
Humboldt's Letters. 1 59
on the events with which men are mostly pre-occupied.
The only news that could at present cure me of my
spleen, would be that you were coming to Paris. Why
have I not found a single word of hope in your letter
even for a distant future ?
The scientific world here is in a dead calm. Every-
thing has a desponding look. I am going to-morrow to
England with Mr. Pentland. Shall I come back with
more comforting notions ?
Our observatory is elegant, and very commodious.
The Ministry decided that a director must be appointed,
and I was chosen unanimously. I have under my orders
four or five youths, who have the title of assistants, and
a salary of 2,000 francs. Under this arrangement, we
shall try to achieve something out of the beaten track.
Adieu, my dear and excellent friend. Mathieu, who
has not yet entirely recovered from a severe disease in
his eyes, charges me, as does his wfe also, to recom-
mend him to your remembrance.
Always yours through life,
ABAGO.
1 60 Humboldt's Letters.
80.
FOUR NOTES OP FREDERICK WILLIAM THE FOURTH
TO HUMBOLDT.
I.
23D DECEMBER, 1836 (at Night}.
THE quasi nameless number* may expect the mildest
of sentences. It will, doubtless, be commuted to six
months, and three years' incapacity to hold office. You
may therefore send some comfort, at least as a Christmas
present, to the faithful Crefeld. Perhaps !!?!!! shall
succeed in procuring the full pardon of this list. It is,
however, revolting and horrible to let the poor boy
languish so long in a loathsome hole. Leaving the
respectability of his parents out of the question, had
they been fools or knaves, it could scarcely be excused.
Shall we see each other to-night ?
FE. W.
II.
CHERISSIME HUMBOLDT, you are acquainted with all
* Humboldt had supplicated for a politically-prosecuted young
man, who is alluded to under that designation. Tr.
Humboldt's Letters. 1 6 1
the pretenders to all the crowns. Please read the
inclosed letter, and inform me who the Seigneur Cados
may be who were his father, mother, and ancestors,
and also what are his titles to the crown of France,
which I shall certainly try to procure for him ?
FREDERIC GUTLLAITME, Pr. Royal.
B. 21 Feb., 1839.
m.
EPISODE from " The Marriage of Figaro."
II y manque quelque chose.
Quoi ?
Le cachet.
Don't overlook the nice allusion, dearest friend!
Your seal must help me out of nearly as great a diffi-
culty as that of Countess Almaviva ; otherwise the
Piince would perceive that I have read all the flattering
things which you have so ill-advisedly ! said of me.
Pour vous divertir, I inclose my letter. Vale.
FR. W.
B, 23 March, 1840.
(In HumboldVs handwriting) Autograph of the
Prince-Royal of Prussia. The Prince offered to Prince
Metternich the chair as President of the Archaeological
Institute at Rome. I was called upon to write a letter
to Prince Metternich, which the Prince Royal wanted
1&2 Humboldt's Letters.
to inclose in his own. As it contained some praises of
the Prince, he desired to have it sealed.
HrjMBOLDT.
I was honest and stupid enough not to take a copy
of the letter of the King to Prince Metternich.
IV.
I COMMUNICATE you the inclosed despatch from
Copenhagen, to inform you of the new " Seccatura,"
which will wait upon you in the shape of a sea-dog
of the Sound, to ask your advice, and assistance as
to a voyage around the globe. This letter having no
further object, I pray God, Monsieur le Baron de
Humboldt, to keep you in his holy and especial care.
Given at our Palace at Potsdam, 29th April, 1849
(1843 ?), near midnight.
Signed, FREDERIC GUILLAUME.
NOTE OP VARNAHGEN. Every word exactly as above to be
understood as a joke.
Humboldt's Letters. 163
81.
KING CHRISTIAN VIII. OF DENMARK TO HUMBOLDT.
COPENHAGEN, May 3d, J 843.
MONSIEUR LE BARON DE HUMBOLDT :
THE letter which you addressed me the day before
you left Paris has called my attention to the lunar
tables, for which science is indebted to the labors of
Professor Hansen. I have applied to our illustrious
astronomer Schumacher, in order to learn what will be
still necessary to complete this important subject. By
following his advice it was easy to procure everything
necessary for the continuation of the labors, the com-
paring of the observations, and when the necessary
expenses are once apportioned and allowed, Schumacher
expects to be enabled to publish the lunar tables before
the expiration of two years. A recompense for efforts
devoted to the sciences will no doubt be found in the
advancement of science itself; but the approbation of
distinguished savans gives us a veritable satisfaction,
and we rejoice the more in it when it comes from a man
so far superior to others. Always anxious to deserve
your approbation, Monsieur le Baron, I wish to be
1 64 Humboldt's Letters.
guided by your intelligence, and I shall be happy to
be acquainted with the results of your scientific observa-
tions, whenever you please to address them to me.
With the highest consideration, I am, Monsieur le
Baron, your well-affectionate,
CHRISTIAN R.
83.
JOHN HERSCHEL TO HUMBOLDT.
COLLINGWOOD, 21st Dec. 1843.
HAWKHUEST, KENT.
MY DEAK BAKON:
IT is now a considerable time since I received your
valued and most interesting work on Central Asia,
which I should have long ago acknowledged, but that I
was unwilling, and indeed unable, in proper terms to
thank you for so flattering and pleasing a mark of your
attention, till I had made myself at least in some degree
acquainted with the contents. This, however, the con-
tinued pressure of occupations which leave me little
time and liberty for reading has not yet allowed me to
do otherwise than partially and, in fact, it is a work of
such close research that I despair of ever being able
fully to master all its details. In consequence I have
Humboldt's Letters. 165
hitherto limited myself chiefly to the climatological
researches in the third volume, and especially to the
memoir on the causes of the flexures of the isothermal
lines, which I have read with the greatest interest and
which appear to me to contain by far the most complete
and masterly coup-d'oeil of that important subject
which I have ever met with. In reading this and other
parts of your work on this subject, and of the " Physique
du globe" in all its departments that which strikes
me with astonishment is the perfect familiarity and
freshness of recollection of every detail, which seems to
confer on you in some degree the attribute of ubiquity
on the surface of this our planet so vividly present
does the picture of its various regions seem to be in
your imagination, and so completely do you succeed in
making it so to that of your readers.
The account of the auriferous and platiniferous de-
posits in the Ural and the zone in 56 lat. has also very
much interested me, as well as the curious facts respect-
ing the distribution of the Grecian germs in those
regions. I could not forbear translating and sending to
the "Athenaeum " (the best of our literary and scientific
periodicals) the singular account of the "monstre" of
Taschkow Targanka (citing of course your work as
the source of the history) in vol. III. p. 597.
The idea of availing ourselves of the information con-
tained in the works of Chinese geographers, for the
1 66 Humboldt's Letters.
purpose of improving our geographical knowledge of
Central Asia, appears to me as happy as it is likely to
prove fertile ; especially now that the literature of that
singular country is becoming more accessible daily by
the importation of Chinese books. What you have
stated respecting the magnetic chariots and hodometers
of the Emperor Tching-wang if you can entirely rely
on your authority gives a far higher idea of the ancient
civilization of China than any other fact which has yet
been produced.
In a word, I must congratulate you on the appear-
ance of this work, as on another great achievement ;
and if as fame reports it is only the forerunner of
another on the early discovery of America, it is only
another proof that your funds are inexhaustible ! May
you have many years of health and strength granted
you to pour them forth ; and may each succeeding con-
tribution to our knowledge afford yourself as much
delight in its production as it is sure to do your readers
in its perusal.
Miss Gibson writes word that you have more than
once enquired of her when my Cape observations will
appear. No one can regret more than myself the delay
which has taken place, but it has been unavoidable, as I
have had every part of the reduction to execute myself,
and the construction of the various catalogues, charts,
and minute details of every kind consume a world of
Humboldt's Letters. 167
time, quite disproportioned to their apparent extent.
However, I have great hopes of being able to get a
considerable portion, in the course of the next year, into
the printer's hands. Some of the nebulas are already in
course of engraving. Perhaps the subject which has
given me most trouble is that of the photometric estima-
tion of the magnitudes of Southern stars and their com-
panions with the Northern ones. A curious fact respect-
ing one of them 7 Argus has been communicated to
me from a correspondent in India (Mr. Mackay), viz. :
that it has again made a further, great, and sudden step
forward in the scale of magnitude (you may perhaps
remember that in 1837-8, it suddenly increased from
2. 1 m to equal a Centauri). In March, 1843, according
to Mr. Mackay, it was equal to Canopus. " a Crucis,"
he says, " looked quite dim beside it." When I first
observed it at the Cape it was very decidedly inferior to
a Crucis.
Believe me, my dear Sir, ever yours, most truly,
J. F. W. HERSCHEL.
I must not forget to wish you a " merry Christmas
and many happy returns of the season" in English
fashion.
i68 Humboldt's Letters.
83,
BALZAC TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, HOTEL DE LA RUSSIE, 1843.
MONSIEUR LE BARON : May I hope on my arrival in
Potsdam, next Monday, by the 1 1 o'clock train, to have
the honor of seeing you, for the purpose of presenting
my respects.
I am merely passing through this city, and you will
therefore excuse the liberty I take in announcing the
time of my visit. May I hope that you will receive it
as a proof of my ardent desire to add some new recol-
lections to those of the " Salon de Gerard."
Should I be so unfortunate as to miss seeing you, this
little note will assure you at least of my desire to
recall your remembrance of me otherwise than by a
card. Be kind enough, then, Monsieur le Baron, to
accept the assurance of my most respectful admira-
tion of
Your most humble and obedient Servant,
DE BALZAC.
Humboldt's Letters. 1 69
84k
EGBERT PEEL TO HUMBOLDT.
WHITEHALL, Sept. Uh, 1843.
DEAR BARON DE HUMBOLDT :
I WAS much flattered by your kind attention in trans-
mitting for my acceptance your most interesting work
on Central Asia. It will be much prized by me, as well
on account of its intrinsic value as a token of your per-
sonal regard and esteem.
There is no privilege of official power the exercise of
which gives me greater satisfaction than that of occa-
sionally bestowing a mark of Royal favor and public gra-
titude on men distinguished by scientific attainments
and by services rendered to the cause of knowledge.
From the very limited means which Parliament has
j placed at the disposal of this Court, it has been my good
fortune to be enabled to recognise the merit of Mr.
Robert Brown. I have just conveyed to him the inti-
fmation that Her Majesty has been pleased to confer
upon him for his life a pension on the Civil List of two
hundred pounds per annum, in recognition of his eminent
8
lyo Humboldt's Letters.
acquirements as a botanist, and of the value of his con-
tributions to the store of botanical knowledge.
Believe me, dear Baron de Humboldt, with sincere
esteem, Very faithfully yours,
ROBERT PEEL.
85.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
YIENNA, October, 1843.
MY DEAR BARON :
You were kind enough to present me a copy of your
"Asie Centrale." I call it your because discoveries
lawfully belong to those who make them, and because it
is often better to make a discovery than to become the
possessor of its results.
I have begun the perusal of the work, which is among
those to which I look for mental relaxation, just as minds
differently constituted from mine are apt to have
recourse to light and futile productions. This is really
the case. I often feel the necessity of some relief from
my monotonous duties, and it is then that I seek fresh
elements of life and vigor in works of profound learning.
A book, therefore, like yours, is to me a source of the
Humboldt's Letters.
171
richest enjoyment. I learn, and I love to learn, and I
feel no jealousy of your great erudition.
What I most admire in your work is " the method."
You understand tracing a line without ever losing sight
of it, and therefore you arrive safely at the end
which is not always the good fortune of those who start
well enough upon the road. Please send me the volumes
complete I shall receive them with gratitude.
I pray you, dear Baron, accept the assurance of my
highest consideration and old attachment,
MKTTEKNICH.
se.
PRESCOTT TO HUMBOLDT.
BOSTON, Dec. 23d, 1843.
SIB A book on which I have been engaged for some
years, the History of the Conquest of Mexico, is now
published in this country, as it was some few weeks
since in England; and I have the pleasure to request
your acceptance of a copy which sails for that purpose
from New York in January. Although the main sub-
ject of the work is the conquest by the Spaniards, I
have devoted half a volume to a view of the Aztec
civilisation; and as in this shadowy field I have been
172 Humboldt's Letters.
very often guided by the light of your researches, I
feel especially indebted to you, and am most desir-
ous that the manner in which my own investigation
is conducted may receive your approbation. It will
indeed be one of the best and most satisfactory results
of my labors.
As I have been supplied with a large body of
unpublished and original documents for the Peruvian
conquest, I shall occupy myself with this immediately.
But I feel a great want at the outset of your friendly
hand to aid me. For although your great work
the Atlas Pittoresque sheds much light on scattered
points, yet as your Voyage aux regions equinoxiales
stops short of Peru, I shall have to grope my way
along through the greater part without the master's
hand, which, in the Nouvelle Espagne, led me on so
securely.
The Peruvian subject will, I think, occupy less time
and space than the Mexican, and when it is finished
I propose to devote myself to a history of the Reign
of Philip the Second. For this last I have been long
amassing materials, and a learned Spaniard has explored
for me the various collections, public and private, in
England, Belgium, France, and is now at work for me
in Spain. In Ranke's excellent history : " Fttrsten und
Volker von Sttd-Europa," I find an enumeration of
several important MSS., chiefly Venetian relations, of
Humboldt's Letters. 173
which I am very desirous to obtain copies. They are
for the most part in the Royal Library of Berlin, and
some few in that of Gotha. I have written to our
Minister, Mr. Wheaton, to request him to make some
arrangements, if he can, for my effecting this. The
liberal principles on which literary institutions are con-
ducted in Prussia, and the facilities given to men of let-
ters, together with the known courtesy of the German
character, lead me to anticipate no obstacles to the exe-
cution of my desires. Should there be any, however,
you will confer great favor on me by giving your coun-
tenance to my applications.
I trust this will not appear too presumptuous a request
on my part. Although I have not the honor of being
personally known to you, yet the kind messages I have
received from you, and lately through Professor Tell-
kampf, convince me that my former publication was not
unwelcome to you, and that you may feel an interest in
my future historical labours.
I pray you, my dear Sir, to accept the assurance of
the very high respect with which I have the honor
to be
Your very obedient servant,
WM. H. PRESCOTT.
174 Humboldt's Letters.
; ST.
MADAME DE R^CAMIEE TO HUMBOLBT.
PARIS, July 28th, 1843.
I FIND no words, dear Sir, to tell you Low deeply
your letter has affected me. You have spared me the
horror of suddenly learning through the papers the
painful and unexpected news. Although very much
afflicted and suffering I will not lose a moment in
expressing my thanks. You are aware, dear Sir, that I
had not seen for many years the Prince Augustus. I
received, however, continually, evidences of his remem-
brance. It was at the most unhappy time of his life
that I made his acquaintance at Madame de Stael's,
where he encountered so much generous sympathy.
Alas ! of that brilliant and spirited circle at the Chateau
Coppet, he was the only survivor. There now remains
to me no other souvenir of my youth and my past
than the beautiful " tableau de Corinne," the noble and
affecting sentiments of which have cheered and adorned
my retirement. I have not the courage, Sir, to pro-
long this letter, and to answer the interesting details
with which yours concludes. Allow me to speak to-day
only of my sorrow, of my gratitude, and my admiration.
J. RECAMIEK.
Humboldt's Letters. 175
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
August 31**, 1844.
I TRUST that the following autographs will prove wel
come to you : (A) Bettina under the indictment ; (B)
two copies of my very brief speech ; (C) two letters of
Spontini, with strange allusions to PrinceWittgenstein,
Count Redern, full of hatred against Meyerbeer, toge-
ther with my earnest reply to it ; (D) a letter of Gay-
Lussac, when he was so dangerously injured by an
explosion ; (E) a very humane letter of the Grand Duke
of Tuscany.
Always respectfully yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
UTUBDA.Y NIGHT.
LEOPOLD, GRAND-DUKE OF TUSCANY, TO HUMBOLDT.
FLORENCE, July 20th, 1844.
DEAREST COUNT :
THE Professor of Botany, Philip Parlatore, is about to
176 Humboldt's Letters.
leave for Berlin, and I cannot resist charging him with
a letter to you, dear Count, expressive of my thanks for
the recommendations whereby you have enriched Tus-
cany with several illustrious men.
You (the father and patron of natural science) knew
Mr. Parlatore, and your good opinion was sufficient to
secure him the appointment at Florence, where he is
now the Botanic Director of the Museum, and President
of the Botanic Central Institute, which owes its existence
to him.
Another professor of physics was recommended by
you, Professor Matteucci. He is a true investigator of
nature. Not only leading science, he constructs instru-
ments for its interrogation, and is on the road to import-
ant discoveries. He is now on a little excursion to
recuperate his strength after his too fatiguing labors.
I do not know that he will be fortunate enough to meet
you, for whom he feels so much veneration and grati-
tude. Our University of Pisa has brought together all
that is distinguished in physical science and the fruits
are maturing.
At Florence the practical studies in the grand hospital
contribute greatly towards keeping medicine and sur-
gery in the legitimate direction of natural science, sup-
ported by observation and experience. The congress
of the " Amateurs of Science in Italy" will also produce
desirable results. Such meetings, politically inoffensive
Humboldt's Letters. 1 77
as they always are, make science accessible to a great
many persons, and establish useful connexions between
men of great merit who might otherwise remain unac-
quainted.
We were told some time ago that you intended
descending into Italy. This would have afforded us the
utmost happiness, and you would have been received as
the true protector of natural science.
Believe me always yours, LEOPOLD.
GO.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
2d September, 1844.
IF Dr. Prutz, at Halle, in his obnoxious " Moritz,"
had said nothing more than what he puts in the mouth
of the clown (page 40), who, speaking of the people,
" One should give them two morsels, so that they may
wag their tails and crawl back into their cold kennels ;"
and at page 53, the poetically fine lines "I conjure you,
ye future monarchs," one would understand how that
wonderful drama, in which Moritz contrives to plunge
all his friends into the water that he may have the
pleasure simply of fishing them out, dead or alive, but
8*
178 Humboldt's Letters.
at any rate, cold and wet, could produce an excitement
at the present time.* Peruse the manuscript, dear
friend, and send it back to-morrow, Tuesday, before two
o'clock. The steps which I intend taking will, however,
be unsuccessful. The proceeds of its representation
might, with propriety, be given to the inundated, and
thus the police might become a hydraulic power, or
even a drying machine. Yours,
MONDAY. A. HT.
Dl.
HUMBOLDT TO
BERLIN, September 6th, 1844.
I UNDERSTAND as well as you do, my dear friend, that
the speechf in question must necessarily have produced
a great sensation and excitement in our " north," as
well as under the sluggish Pole. He really excels in
flowery eloquence. The figures which he presents are
hardly new ; but a certain delicacy of expression, and a
* Humboldt refers here to a patriotic drama of Robert Prutz.
" Moritz von Sachsen," the representation of which was forbidden by
the Berlin police. Tr.
f Of the King, at the inauguration of the Provincial States.
Humboldt's Letters. 179
nice perception of the " harmonious" in oratory, cannot
be denied him. There is really something noble in the
passion for speaking, upon every occasion, to thousands
of people. His generosity in sheltering " high officials
under the veil of the royal purple" will be but indiffe-
rently acknowledged. Does he, by this course, deliver
over to our assaults those small fry who obscure the
day? I am sorry that such a highly-gifted prince,
acting under the most benevolent incentives, and pre-
serving the full vigor of his mind, which constantly
urges him to action, is, in spite of his good intentions,
absolutely deceived as to the direction in which the
state is impelled. When Parry, with a number of
Esquimaux dogs, had started for the North Pole, dogs
and sledge were continually driven forward. When,
however, the sun broke through the mist, so that the
latitude could be taken, it was ascertained that the
expedition had unwittingly been carried backward
several degrees. A floating field of ice, drifting in a
southerly current, was the surface on which they
seemed to advance. Our ministers are the drifting,
icy surface. And may not the current be " the dog-
matische Missions-Philosophic ?" A. v. HT.
It is now certain that the Empress (of Russia) will
not come. The King will, on the 15th, be in Sans
Souci.
180 Humboldt's Letters.
92.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Sept. 13th, 1844.
I MUST be in a few moments at the Stettin depot to
meet the King, who arrives at 9 o'clock. Thence I
go for a few days to Sans Souci, where I shall, unfortu-
nately, celebrate my seventy-fifth birth-day. I say
unfortunately, because in 1789 I believed that the
world would have solved more problems than it has
done. It is true that I have seen a great deal ; but very
little, indeed, in proportion to my exactions.
I have no time to-day to write you about your charm-
ing description of your sojourn in Paris in 1810. My
good sense led me at once to that page, from which I
could inhale the perfume of your friendship. I have
learned that I have not yet grown insensible to praise.
What a magnificently anti-Scythian spirit the University
of Breslau has evinced! How inventive men become
under political oppression ! Nothing but rope-ladders,
loop-holes, disguises to get out into the open air. And
when once there, how really German they are in their
Humboldt's Letters. 181
speculations, as to whether they have improved their
position. It is with them as with the Prince " Teh 1 me
whether I am amusing myself."
Yours,
A. v. HT.
We insert here an entry in Varnhagen's diary, dated
June 26, 1844, reciting two sharp repartees of Hum-
boldt. At the Royal table at Sans Souci, some time
ago, Humboldt shot two well-directed arrows from his
bow. The conversation turned on some Russian ordi-
nance, and Humboldt, in speaking of it, mentioned
repeatedly the Minister of Public Instruction. " You
have mistaken, sir," said the King. " It was not the
Minister of Public Instruction who acted in this matter,
but the Minister of Enlightenment." Humboldt, not in
the least discountenanced, hastened to reply, "Very
well, Sire ; then it was not the Minister of Public
Instruction, but of its opposite," and continued his con-
versation in his usual way.
The following anecdote is still neater : General Leo-
pold von Gerlach, who is fond of badinage, attempted an
attack upon Humboldt some time ago, saying to him,
" Your Excellency frequently goes to church, l now-a-
days,' do you not?" He hoped to perplex him with
the question. Humboldt, however, coolly replied, " Your
' now-a-days' is very kind of you. You allude, undoubt-
182 Humboldt's Letters.
edly, to my adopting the only road which, at present,
could lead to my promotion." The bantering hypocrite
was dumb.
An entry of a later date (26th December, 1848),
speaks of the animosities to which Humboldt was sub-
jected in still stronger terms. "Humboldt has called;
He remained longer than an hour. He assures me that
were it not for his position at Court, he would not be
suffered to remain in the country, but would be expelled,
so strong is the hatred of the ultras and bigots against
him. It can hardly be described ; however, they
endeavor to discredit him with the King. In other
parts of Germany they would still less endure him,
were he once divested of the prestige of his position."
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September IQth, 1844.
CAN you command courage enough, dear friend, to
devote a few moments to a conversation on the present
state of French literature? I take the liberty to intro-
duce Mr. Jousserandot of Franche Comte, a French
novel-writer. He possesses much beard and much good-
natured vivacity. He is the son of a wealthy physician,
Humboldt's Letters. 1 83
and was recommended me from Paris. Excuse the
importunity, but you must sometimes take your share
of the annoyance of being gazed at.
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
THUBSDAY.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, TUESDAY, June 3d, 1845.
One o'clock, A. M.
ALL the mysteries were solved to-night, dearest
friend. I received this afternoon from the department
of Foreign Affairs, where they were stored up, fourteen
parcels pell-mell, misdirected there from Paris and
dating from December to May. The first thing we
perceived was your handwriting; the parcel was duly
directed and contained, well secured under your seal,
your important political letter and a parcel for Comtesse
d'Agoult, which I remit with the present. I am quite
innocent of what has happened.
In the Rhine and Moselle Gazette, No. 122 of the 29th
of May, I am judged guilty of Voltairianism, denial of
all revelations, of conspiring with Marheineke, Bruno
Bauer, Feuerbach, nay even of the expedition against
184 Humboldt's Letters.
Liuzerne ipsissimls verbis and all that on account of
my Kosmos, page 381. The King had already been
told that my book was the work of a demagogue and
an infidel. Whereupon the King wrote me, that he
could but say what Alfons said to Tasso :
"And so I hold it in my hand at last
And call it mine, if I may use that wordl"
This is poetical and very civil.
With the sincerest gratitude, yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
Q5.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, WEDNESDAY, June 4th, 1845.
I RECOGNISED at once from the gracefulness of style
the guardian spirit of my feeble literary efforts. I had
not yet seen the precious sheet, containing, in addition,
the interpretations by Neander. I avail myself of the
last moment before breaking up, to write you a preli-
minary word of sincerest thanks for one of the most
interesting life sketches for which we are indebted to
your brilliant and vivifying pen. You have represented
with dignity and magnificence a subject, which popular
Humboldt's Letters. 185
enthusiasm out of mere perverseness has repeatedly de-
graded in burlesque prose. Your exquisite art of puri-
fying is highly gratifying.
If Sussmilch will graciously permit, I shall try to accom-
plish my Kosmos. It is, however, true after all, that at
the gates of many a temple of science (History of the
World, Geology, Mechanics of the Heavens) black
spectres menacingly defend the entrance.
Indeed Madame von Hormayr is a very charming lady.
With constant devotion and love, yours,
A. HUMBOLDT.
00.
BERLIN, June 16th, 1845.
I AVAIL myself of the few moments allotted me before
going to the railroad station, dear friend, to thank you
heartily for your characteristic biography of " Hans von
Held." I have read but one half of it, and that imme-
diately after having read your " Life of Bluecher." It
is, therefore, but natural that I was filled with admira-
tion. How fortunate you are in coloring all the details
of military life in the one, and in describing the civil
efforts of a people struggling for liberty, in the other
book. The fatalistic word " fortunate," however, is out
l86 Humboldt's Letters.
of place here, because the secret of such successes lies in
the clearness of intellect and the intensity of your feel-
ings. The whole world, as it is at present, is reflected in
your " Held." Zerboni's letter on the bloody tragedy in
the streets of Breslau, is as eloquently written as it is
heart-rending. Such things, however, can't deter our
dull, fanatical, white-livered Polignacs. They will
attempt to confirm the first deed of violence and bru-
tality by subsequent ones more systematically devised
and all this under the reign of such a King ! I am very
angry and deeply affected.
MONDAY MORNING. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
As I shall have no time for reading during my hasty
journey, I have left the instructive book for a few days
to Buelow's, at Tegel.
97.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, THURSDAY, September 4th, 1845.
I AVAIL myself of the first moments of my return from
Potsdam to joyfully congratulate you on the good effect
of the waters on your health. On account of the domes-
Humboldt's Letters. 187
tic misfortunes of my family, my participation in the
dull and rain-spoiled Court festivities at Bruehl and
Stolzenfels was a hard trial for me. I will acquaint
Madame von Buelow to-morrow with your hearty sym-
pathy. Buelow's recovery progresses rapidly. Except
some weakness of memory, which, however, does not
appear for whole days, no change of mind is perceptible ;
relaxation, however, retirement, and tranquillity of
mind are still necessary. Always conscious of what he
owes to his character he resigns. You know, my noble
friend, that he demanded his dismissal when Itzstein
was violently expelled from Prussia. Public affairs are
now in a much worse condition. Buelow's retirement
from office is a sad event ; but the current of affairs in
Northern Germany is too strong to be arrested by the
effort of one individual.
Please inform Professor Fichte that although I am
already an unworthy Doctor of Philosophy, I will
gratefully accept anything which may be offered me
from Wurtemberg's high-spirited Universities.
Yours affectionately,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
I enclose to your safe-keeping a beautiful letter of
Prince Metternich, on whom I had called on the Johan-
nisberg ; a letter from Lord Stanley, the Minister ; and
two letters from Jules Janin and Spontini ; also a book
for the Countess of Stolberg.
i88 Humboldt's Letters.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
VIENNA, June 21st, 1845.
MY DEAR BARON:
ENCLOSED you will find my vote for the future col-
league. I expect that you will not look for my assistance
beyond the sphere of my principles ; but my principles
are so strongly influenced by a recommendation from
you, that the request and the grant are but one. I have
perused your Kosmos and have treated it as is my habit
with rich collections. The impression made on me by
the work will be best described by the avowal that it
caused in my mind two conflicting, or if you like better,
two mutually neutralizing sentiments one of satisfaction
at knowing so much, and one of regret at my great
ignorance. These sentiments, however, sink into
nothingness when compared with the admiration of that
knowledge which alone can have enabled you to accom-
plish that gigantic enterprise. Knowledge alone, how-
ever, would not suffice and hence I am led to acknow-
ledge the full merit of the author his great power
of representation and his method ! You have applied
Humboldt's Letters. 189
and dignified in your work the old word discipline,
in its relation to science. "Would to God, that the
true meaning of this word could, in political society,
also recover its eternal rights. If my own impres-
sions are of but little value, it is different with those
of the men of science. Their judgment is overflowing
with admiration, and I agree with them in the convic-
tion, that you alone of all living men could achieve the
task, and that the word Kosmos is the true and appro-
priate title of your work.
I told you, that I have perused the first volume of
your work, I am now studying it, and I wish to thank
you for the really delightful hours, which you have
opened to me. I call all these hours delightful which
I can snatch from the uninviting field of political distur-
bances, and devote to the natural sciences.
Accept, dear Humboldt, the renewed assurance of my
sincere and well-known consideration.
METTERNICH.
00.
JULES JANIN TO HUMBOLDT.
STAR HOTEL AT BONN,
SUNDAY EVENING, August 10&, 1845.
DEAE SIR, I beg and entreat you to do an impos-
190 Humboldt's Letters.
sible thing for me. You are the kindest friend of the
literary men of my country, and you have always been
the most indulgent of men to me. Please listen, there-
fore, to my request. I left Paris a week ago for the
express purpose of transmitting to the "Journal des
Debats" a faithful record of the journey of her Majesty
the Queen of England along the banks of the Rhine.
Before leaving, I had the honor of paying my respects
to the King at Neuilly, and of securing his approval of
my design. Monsieur Guizot also strongly encouraged
me by saying, that hospitality required that an honest
and conscientious writer should follow the royal party,
and faithfully chronicle these wonderful rambles, which
are now interesting and delighting the whole of Europe.
Monsieur Guizot gave me, at the same time, letters
of introduction and instructions, of which I am proud.
The letters are all honorable to me, and my instructions
are worthy of the man who gave them.
Now, dear sir, assist me. What I wish is, not a pre-
sentation to his Majesty, your King, but an admission
into the royal circle. Unobserved by all, I myself shall
see everything, and thus be able to fulfil the mission
with which I have been honored.
You see that it is the imperious passion, the passion
of a feuilletonist, which actuates me. It is true I have
no title. But, if one be necessary, you can say that I
am the Lieutenant-Colonel of a Legion (militia), that I
Humboldt's Letters. 191
shall appear in a brilliant uniform ; and further, that it
is but proper that the writers whom the King invites to
his table, and whom he so greatly honors on so momen-
tous an occasion, should furnish a report of its chief
features, as an authority to which future historians of
the time may refer.
I am writing, dear sir, under the best auspices
under the auspices of Mr. Meyerbeer. You will make
him very happy, I am sure, and with him the whole
"Journal des Debats," which is so much devoted to
you, and, in addition, your very humble servant, myself.
I shall await with great impatience, but with the most
perfect submission, your kind reply.
I am sure that, in any event, you will have done all
that you honorably could do, to secure me this favor.
Please accept, Monsieur le Baron, the humble homage
of my devotion and of my profound respect.
JULES JANIN.
192 Humboldt's Letters.
100.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, 26th of September, 1845.
(To his dear friend, the Privy Councillor von Yarnhagen.)
KINGS AND REPUBLICS.
Por lo que desio la conversacion de los Reyes desio la
conversacion de ellos dentro de los limites permitidos.
Un grave consejero dixo al Rey Don Phelipe II., viendo
que iva en diversas ocasiones al poder absolute : Senor,
"reconoced a Dios en la tierra como en el cielo, por que
ne se cause de las monarquias, suave govierno si los
Reyes suavemente usan de el. Cartas cfe Antonio
Perez^p. 545.
At the time of the insurrection of the Netherlands
there had already been raised the question, " Whether
the Kings were going off." I translate the passage from
Antonio Perez for you. He says : It is because I desire
the preservation of monarchs that I advise them to
remain in the limits prescribed for them. A wise Coun-
sellor said to the King Philip II., being aware of his ten-
dency to absolute power : " Sire, recognise the supre-
macy of God on earth as well as in Heaven, so that Go *
Humboldt's Letters. 193
may not become tired of monarchies a very excellent
sort of government, if it be used with moderation."
El Dios de cielo es delicado mucho en suffrir corn-
pan ero en ninguna cosa y se pica del abuso del poder
humano. Si Dios se causa de las monarchias, dara otra
forma al mundo.
The God of Heaven is very jealous about admitting a
co-partner in anything whatsoever : He is offended by
every abuse of human power. Should God once be
tired of monarchies, he will give another form to the
political world.
A. HUMBOLDT.
101.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, October Id, 1845.
THE curious little note containing the prophecy " that
God would become tired of kings," was lying for many
days on my desk, awaiting my delivering it to you, in
person, my dearest friend. Whenever anything worth
reading falls into my hands during the late hours of my
solitary study in the chateau here, I always think of
you. As I have hitherto been prevented by my efforts
9
194 Humboldt's Letters.
to arrange the manner of Buelow's discharge from
calling on you, I have thought best to send you, dear
friend, the little sheet, under envelope. My reason
for quoting this prophecy is, the general state of public
affairs, which provokes my highest indignation. Every
day discloses something worse. The future looks
gloomy and menacing, the greatest carelessness pre-
vails.
I have just returned from Tegel, where the Buelows
would be very happy to see you. They beg especially
that you will gratify them next winter by frequent calls
at their town residence.
In the " Westminster Review" a certain Dr. Cross says,
the style of Kosmos is lengthened, and very indifferent ;
the frequent reflection on sentiment was deemed very
superfluous by English savnns such a book did not con-
tain any thing new. Then follows the denunciation of
Atheism, although " creation" and the " created world"
are never lost sight of in the book. And did I not, only
eight months ago, in the French translation, say, in the
plainest terms : It is this necessity of things, this occult
but permanent connexion, this periodical return in the
progress, development of formation, phenomena, and
events, which constitute Nature submissive to a control-
ling power. Physics, as the name itself implies, can
only deduce the phenomena of the physical world
from the properties of matter ; the highest aim of expe-
Huraboldt's Letters. 195
rimental science is therefore to ascend to the existence
of the laws, and progressively to generalise the same.
Whatever lies beyond is no object for physical demon-
stration, it belongs to another order of more elevated
speculations. Imraanuel Kant, one of the few philoso-
phers whom no one has yet accused of impiety, has, with
rare sagacity, indicated the limits of physical explana-
tion in his renowned Essai sur la Theorie et la Construc-
tion des Cieux. Koenigsberg, 1755.
The conduct of the aldermen is very praiseworthy.
It is a pleasure, and a miracle at the same time, to
encounter such a degree of public spirit among men
differing so much in intellect and culture of mind. It
is hatred concentrated against the same object, but it
only appears so on the outside.
I confess that I am wrong to have not yet answered
so excellent a man as the author of "The Religious
Poetry of the Jews in Spain.'' I first wanted to read the
book, and the terror of having reached the age of
seventy-six years on the 14th of September, has plunged
me so deeply in my " Kosmos," that duties otherwise
sacred to me have been neglected. I shall call person-
ally on Mr. Sachs, and beg you to excuse me to him in
advance; as to justifying myself, that is out of the
question.
Most respectfully, yours,
A. v. HUMROLDT.
196 Humboldt's Letters.
The sketch on Hormayr, which, in a political view,
stops very singularly at 1808, is very interesting. What
a mass of writings ! one hundred and fifty volumes.
103.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, October 2d, 1845.
I WOULD not like, my dear friend, that a friend of
Thiers, whom he has warmly recommended to me,
should leave Berlin without having had the pleasure of
seeing you. Mr. Thomas, one of the editors of the
" Revue des deux Mondes," is the author of a most
remarkable work on the ancient provincial constitutions
of France, compiled from archives. I recommend him
to your indulgence.
Yours, in great haste, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
103.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
BERLIN, Nov. 30^, 1845.
ALL gifts, tendered through a hand like yours, are of
double value to me, my dear friend. I have immedi-
Humboldt's Letters. 197
ately replied to that high-gifted lady, the Countess.
You are quite right in saying that her beautiful poetry
evinces an admirable familiarity of the mind with the
subject.
I deem it more delicate to write to Baron Hormayr
rather than to his lady. May I beg to enclose my little
note, provided you approve its form ? I have long had
a predilection for this liberal-minded man. His literary
activity is astounding. I shall have the pleasure of
calling on Mr. Sachs to-day. I shall also present his book
to the King myself; this is, however, a time in which
no impression is permanent. All things dissolve into
mere visions, which will, however, reappear, ominous
and deformed, by being joined to old fancies. I am much
afraid of the consequence produced by incentives, from
which I had hoped to produce happier results. How
has it happened that Kosmos is so popular beyond ex-
pectation ? It seems to me that it must be attributed
to the imagination of the reader, which invests it with
additional features, or to the pliability of our (German)
language which renders it so easy to describe every
object intelligibly, and to picture it in words.
I will come and thank you, my generous friend, for
the light you have thrown on the moral and intellectual
merits of Voltaire.* Your revelations are delightful;
* Voltaire at Francfort-on-the-Main in 1753, by K. A. Varnhagen
vonEnse.
^^-%
> of Tins
o
198 Humboldt's Letters.
but " Duncker-Freitag," the recruiting officer, the sen-
tinel, and the humorously excited suspicion of what
was attempted at night with Madame Denis, are and
will always produce an uneasiness.
With old attachment, yours,
A. v. HT.
SUNDAY.
I shall not forget Mr. Breul the merchant. Minister
Buelow was very sorry that you missed him. You
will be very agreeable to him and Lady Buelow any
evening from half-past seven to nine o'clock.
104.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGBK
THURSDAY, January 15th, 1846.
ME. MILNES, and what he may have said of the King,
" who showed him no personal civilities," interest me
but little ; but it will afford me great joy if my earnest
intercession for Prutz be at last useful to him. This
miserable trifle is the only thing that I can secure in
my position. I shall die, however, in the conscientious
belief, that to my last moment I never abandoned one
devoted to the same principles as myself. Your appro-
bation is highly valuable to me, my dear friend !
Humboldt's Letters.
199
The " Quarterly Review" says I had a prolix style,
and am never able to write one page of " vivid expres-
sion."
With faithful attachment, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Please excuse, like a philosopher, the writing on this
mutilated sheet. I am in such a hurry that I have
mistaken the address.
105.
HUMBOLDT TO YAENHAGEN.
BERLIN, January 25fA, 1846.
AFTER an official feeding, at court, of the " knights
of the peace," whose unworthy chancellor I am after
some sorrowful hours at Buelow's, whose state becomes
every day more precarious after a ball at the Chateau,
from which I am just returned, I cannot seek repose
without sending you my preliminary thanks for your
ecclesiastical gifts. I am delighted at the review of a
poetical period, the precursor of a nobler one or, to
speak more correctly, of one more pregnant with life.
I will, however, turn away from the long " Ode of
Grief," from "The Blue and the Black Eyes," from
2oo Humboldt's Letters.
" Besser's Merry Wig," and recur with new pleasure to
your " Zinzendorf." This is a grand, well-executed
life-sketch, a figure towering above all other things,
which, in a different direction, attract the interest of our
time. Your " Zinzendorf" was also constantly admired
by my brother. How much the interest is enhanced
by all that we see or rather expect to see ! But where,
among the intellectual " glaciers" of the present time,
are those who could compare themselves with Zinzen-
dorf, Lavater, and Stilling ? . . . .
Most gratefully yours, A. HUMBOLDT.
SATURDAY NIGHT.
I told Ranke to-day, very frankly, how much I was
disgusted at what he presumptuously did at a meeting
of the Academy, when I was not present, against Preuss,
a much nobler character than he is. Have you not
received yet the journals, in which I am immoderately
praised and reproved ("North-British Review" and
" Quarterly Review) ? In Germany, my prose is fre-
quently blamed as being too poetical ; but the " Quar-
terly Review" finds it languishing, lifeless, and "not a
vivid description." How differently different nations
feel!
Humboldt's Letters. 201
100.
HUMBOLDT TO YA.RNHAGEN.
BERLIN, February tta, 1846.
YESTERDAY afternoon poor Buelow was released from
his sufferings. Thursday night, at eleven o'clock, on go-
ing to bed, he fell lifeless into the arms of his servant. An
apoplexy ! He closed his eyes never to open them again.
In the morning a hundred and forty pulses were counted ;
bleeding had no effect. His end was, as lately his life was,
unconscious. The family is deeply affected ; the event,
however, is beneficial. His excellent wife would have
been sacrificed. Next Tuesday morning we will carry
him, without pageantry, to Tegel, and bury him under
the column of the " Statue of Hope." Under the pres-
sure of business, caused by this event, and in the midst
of letters which I have still to write to Guizot, Metter-
nich, and Aberdeen, I can only briefly reply to the
heartfelt letter of Madame von Arnim. I have but little
hope, that the old folks now reigning at Weimar will
appoint either Prutz or Fallersleben. I had formerly
thought of Guhrauer, for whom you will also have
some predilection to be sure. You know how happy
I would have been if Prutz were appointed. I
9*
2O2 Humboldt's Letters.
am not personally acquainted with Fallersleben. The
whole passage, however, in the " Wbchenstube,"*
alluding to the King and to me, must be changed.
It is based on a false rumor. I never have shown
the book to the King, and I never applied to the
King to quash the indictment, as he is always rather
irritated against Prutz, on account of the old cousin
from Kulmbach.f It was Minister Bodelschwingh who
showed' it to the King. On this Minister Prutz had
personally made a very favorable impression, which it
was easy to improve. Prutz had applied to have the
indictment quashed, and besides he would hardly have
been found guilty on all the counts. It was thought
advisable, as he made the first advances to the Govern-
ment, not to rebut him. The passage " that our King
should be asked," must also be discarded, as it would
give offence to the Grand Duchess, who likes to show
her independence of Prussia at every opportunity. So
she protected, not long ago, the Chancellor Mueller, when
the Court of Weimar was diplomatically reproached for
allowing a journal here prohibited to be read in a read-
ing-room at Weimar. The Court of Weimar replied
* Die " Politische" Wochenstube by Robert Prutz, a satire on Schel-
ling and his philosophy. Tr.
f The cousin referred to is Margrave Albrecht, of Brandenburg,
who, in Prutz's drama^ "Moritz von Sachsen," is represented as
a " Robber Knight." Tr.
Humboldt's Letters. 203
with dignity. But that Prutz or Fallersleben could be
appointed seems highly improbable to me. Credat
Judoeus Apella. Excuse to-day my contused writing,
dear friend !
Yours,
SATURDAY. A. v. HT.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
J, Feb. 20th, 1846.
Do you guess, my dear friend, who sent me this strange
article ? Do you guess anything from the seal and the
name on the envelope, " M. ?" Is that the author, and
to what journal may the article belong ? Profound, of
enlarged political views, it certainly is not. The passage
on p. 8 is underscored by the author himself, and it con-
tains a contradiction ! Prussia is to have unity in an
American confederacy. His remarks, p. 3, on Frede-
rick n. and on his works, and on " Kant a guillotine,"
p. 5, are as Minister Thiele would write them. I am
indignant at both. The author knows all the news, all
the names, all the gossip, of the " JSckensheher,"* and is
touched by the liberalism of Bodelschwingh, p. 14, who
* Curbstone Guard. Tr.
204 Humboldt's Letters.
still defends every day the expulsion of the Baden
Representatives. He does not dare to name Eichhorn
with censure. The last line only is grand and fine.
With unalterable devotion,
Yours,
FRIDAY. A. v. HTJMBOLDT.
1O8.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 29th, 1846.
I have only time to tell you, that I shall certainly be
in Sans Souci from June to September, and to thank
you, noble friend, from my heart, for the kind manner
in which you allude to the Agamemnon of my brother.
To choose maliciously 16 verses out of 1700!! I once
complained that they would not perform the drama in a
royal palace hi my brother's translation ! As the Staats
Zeitung is seen every evening by the King, they thought
it well to malign the production there. The very next
day I answered in the Spenersche Zeitung mildly,
because the well-informed but unpoetical Dr. Franz is
now seeking an increase of his pension. I myself took
care that the King did not see my answer ; at least, he
Humboldt's Letters. 205
did not talk to me about it. Send back the little sheet.
I am at work, not without success, I believe, at the
Kosmos, but in a sad mood respecting the public cause.
Your news from England is very interesting.
With the most cordial friendship,
Yours,
SUNDAY. A. v. HUMBOLDT.
109.
HUMBOLDT TO VAENHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 30 to, 1846.
I SEND you again some autographs of little import,
ten in number, of Villemain, Bessel, Victor Hugo,
Rueckert (of whom you have plenty of autographs),
Manzoni (full of praise for me, but in bad style),
Thiers, Widow of Lucien Bonaparte, three billets de
matin of the Duchesse d'Orleans. I add to these fugi-
tive sheets a letter from me to the King, which I beseech
and implore you not to show to any one, and to send
back to-morrow, because I might have use for it. You
shall have the letter afterwards. It sometimes happens
that the King, instead of a billet de matin, writes his
answer on my letter. This happened yesterday. The
206 Humboldt's Letters.
ministers who would gladly permit the " Turnen,*'* throw
suspicion on Prof. Massman, whom the King likes very
much, and whom he wants to keep here. My letter will
show you at least, that I openly say, how the tide of evil
is bearing down all things before it, and how we are
depriving ourselves of the means of action.
With my old attachment, yours,
A. V. HlJMBOLDT.
110.
HUMBOLDT TO FRIEDRICH WILHELM IY.
As early as eight o'clock this morning I sent to the
Koethener Strasse, to have an interview with Professor
Massraann, after the confiding communications of your
Majesty, concerning the decision of his situation. He
has just gone, leaving me again with an excellent
impression of his solidity, clear perceptions, and enthu-
siastic vigor for influencing our youth (the indelible,
primaeval, self-restoring institution of mankind). To be
afraid of every enthusiastic energy is to take from the
life of a State its nourishing, preserving power. Pro-
* Gymnastic Exercises. TE.
Humboldt's Letters. 207
fessor M. did not see Minister von Bodelschwingh for
two years, but the Minister then treated him very
kindly, and Massmann desires very much, without
intruding, to give a candid answer to every question.
In view of the noble and frank character of Minister
von Bodelschwingh I have great hopes of the result of
such a conversation, and therefore I have to beg of your
Majesty, most submissively, to communicate to me,
whether, according to the orders of your Majesty, the
Minister will send for Professor M., or whether he may
go to the Minister on his own account, not called for,
but animated by some words of your Majesty. I won-
der how it could be forgotten how much Massmann has
done for the poetry of the Hohenstaufen times, and
how talented a lecturer he was at the University. I
find praised in Gervinus Geschichte der Deutschen
Litteratur : Massmann's Denkmaeler Deutscher Sprache,
1828 ; his Gedichte des Zwoelften Jahrhunderts, his
Legenden and Ritterliche Poesie. How could a man
be dangerous to youth whom the King of Bavaria
appointed for the education of his princes, and by whom
above all others the Crown-Prince declares himself to
have been animated with the love of culture and intel-
lectual freedom, and the true appreciation of his impend-
ing kingly duties ? We live not in a sad, but in an
earnest time. All action and energy are paralysed, if
backbiting is permitted to deprive us of our most useful
208 Humboldt's Letters.
men. Enthusiastically attached to your person, to the
splendor of your reign, and to the glory of our country,
it makes me sad to see the most noble purposes in
danger of being misunderstood. No doubt there are
very honorable men who, from pure love of your
Majesty, would like to see me also under the column at
Tegel, or at least on the other side of the Rhine.
In grateful submission,
Your Royal Majesty's most faithful
HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, March 29, 1846.
The King wrote on the fly-leaf :
My warmest thanks, dearest Humboldt. M. Bodel-
schwingh will send for Massmann.
In all haste, as ever.
Your faithlul F. W.
ALEXANDER v. HUMBOLDT, Present.
111.
BESSEL TO HUMBOLDT.
KOENIGSBERG, Feb. llth, 1846.
I HEAR with great regret that your Excellency has
to mourn the loss of Herr von Buelow. Although I had
Humboldt's Letters. 209
not the pleasure of knowing the late Baron personally,
I was not unacquainted with the true affection of the
uncle for his nephew, and I heard frequent mention of
the enthusiastic manner in which it was reciprocated.
Moreover, I knew his repute as that of a noble, talented,
clear-sighted man. Would that I could indite words
of consolation, such as I heard them, at the time of my
great loss ! but it is not given to every one to speak
them. That time heals our bleeding wounds, the
wounds which at first seemed mortal, I myself have
experienced ; that death after a short suffering is prefer-
able to death after a long one, is a truth which impresses
itself often on my mind !
The chancellor, Herr von Wegnern, communicated to
me on the 27th ult. the letter which he received from
your Excellency. This letter contains the first news I
received since Nov. 7th, of last year, respecting the
portrait by which our most gracious monarch intended
to gratify a poor invalid : that your letter was ex-
tremely gratifying and consoling to me, is natural. It
created the first ray of hope ; it has unceasingly occupied
me ; it even gave rise to some kind of superstition, and
I attributed my good health the whole month of Decem-
ber to the vivid hopes it had raised. This prospect of
the restoration of my health, I thought, gave me hope
of being able to indulge for a longer period in the plea-
sure which the dear picture of the "most highly revered
21 o Humboldt's Letters.
one, affords me. I, however, do not indulge in the
hope of this restoration," since I find my own experi-
ence as frequently opposed to as in harmony with that
of others, and the result of my reflections on this obscure
subject, is simply this, that it is one of the innumerable
questions, which are beyond the veil that separates
us both from the great secrets of our own nature, and
from those which nature in general interposes between
first causes and perceptible phenomena. I did, however,
excuse the rising superstition by recalling the indis-
putable truth, that vivid agreeable effects on the mind
or soul react upon the body ; but why did the reaction
not endure in my case ? Be this as it may, it is a fact
that the portrait of the King always moved before my
eyes during my restless nights ; I hoped every day would
bring me news of it. I perfectly understand that a
care for the well-being of millions of subjects, equally
dear to the heart of the monarch, rules the ruler himself
and compels him to abandon, under the pressure of the
moment, the arrangement of a succession of innumerable
interests centring in him ; I also fully understand that the
King, although he is no more unmindful of the honors he
intends bestowing than of those he has already awarded,
has not been able to fix the exact moment of confer-
ring the intended benefit upon me. I also know be-
yond all doubt, that I am standing upon a mine which
may at any time explode, and that to-day has no
Humboldt's Letters. 211
power over to-morrow. I have, therefore, thought best to
conceal entirely within my own breast the hope of possess-
ing the dearest of pictures, and to betray nothing, even to
my wife and daughters, until further news of the actual
approach of the hoped-for object shall render me as
secure in the certainty as the case permits. I have the
utmost horror against the propagation of anything the
truth of which maybe subjected to doubts by succeeding
events ; knowing from sad experience that it may not be
sustained by the next moment, for which falsehood and
misrepresentation are greedily lying in wait. I fear that
the premature spreading of such news, moreover, may
imply a sort of coercion (sit venia verbo) on the King.
These reflections imposed profound silence on me. But
when the letter of your Excellency to Herr von Wegnera
spread the news without my co-operation, and when the
realization of my hopes seemed near, this compulsory si-
lence terminated, and I actually revelled in the idea of its
possession. Next day, the 28th of January, I put down
on paper the testamentary provision, which disposes of
the picture after my death. I consider it the common
property of our country, not only on account of its funda-
mental object, that of alleviating the sufferings of the sick
man, but also for other reasons. I therefore do not leave
it to my family ; but in consequence of long and careful
considerations, up to January 27th, to my native town of
Minden, so that the highest military and civil functiona-
212 Humboldt's Letters.
ries of the province, together with the Mayor of the
town, may decide further on the place and manner of
its keeping. Moreover, on the 28th of January, I
entered upon the execution of other plans relative to the
fulfilment of my hopes, which entertained me in various
ways during these last months. In order to receive the
portrait of the " most highly revered" in a becoming man-
ner, it is necessary to put the place where I shall keep
it into the best state at my command. I have, therefore,
condemned the present furniture and ornaments of my
two rooms, and ordered new ones, as luxurious and
tasteful (for a professor, of course) as I could decide
upon. The directions for their manufacture were sent
immediately, and with the opening of the navigation in
spring I shall have everything I want. I shall blame
no one who thinks me foolish in prosecuting plans for
embellishing my residence at a moment when my leav-
ing it for ever seems so highly probable. But if I
delayed, the prospect of the arrival of the royal portrait
would depress, instead of elevating me joyfully, as it
does now, above much suffering. If I enjoy the sight
of the picture even one day only, I shall pass through a
fleeting, indeed, but beautiful " frontier scenery" from
this life into the other ! One thing yet I shall add before
I cease annoying your Excellency, by narrating the con-
sequences following the invaluable expected gift of the
most high Master. Mr. Chancellor von Wegnern has
Humboldt's Letters. 2 1 3
asked Professor Simson to express to me bis wish to
insert a notice of the picture in the papers. But I
opposed it, partly for reasons stated above, and partly
because such a notice would certainly be more appro-
priate after the receipt of the picture. In case I should
be unable to write any more after its arrival, Simson
knows what are to be the contents of the notice accord-
ing to my wish.
Could I but once behold the fine appearance now pre-
sented of the comet of Biela ! At our place, on the
1 1th of January, Wichman could observe nothing, per-
haps, or probably on account of the little clearness of
the sky at that time; but on the 15th he saw distinctly
both heads of the comet. On the following day he
described to me orally what he had seen ; but I did not
get a clear idea of it, and was, on the contrary, of opi-
nion, that what he called a second head of the comet, is
an accumulation of nebula3, as other comets too had
shown at a greater or smaller distance from the real
head. I asked of him to make for me, when it appeared
again, a diagram of it, as accurate as possible. The state
of the sky and tbt position of the comet, which was
often very low, delayed the making of a diagram and
measurement till the 26th of January. Since that time
the second head of the comet has been traced as faith-
fully as possible. Our observations are the earliest of
those known ; since, they have directed their attention to
214 Humboldt's Letters.
it everywhere, and have measured it ; there will become
known, in spite of the bad season, a fine series of obser-
vations, which may, as I hope, permit us to draw reliable
conclusions. As now developed, forces of polarity, I
believe, must be recognised in it. The further deve-
lopments will, I hope, enable us to advance beyond
superficial conjectures like these.
The observations of the new planet can be made here
so excellently by the heliometer, which is quite invalu-
able for this purpose, that their accuracy far surpasses
that of the best meridian observations ; of course its
greatest usefulness will only be attained when the stars
of comparison are equally well determined in their posi-
tion. To this determination, then, the power of the
meridian observations is directed about the planet itself.
Dr. Busch, following my counsel, does not trouble him-
self. I have also requested Encke and Schuhmacher to
assist in determining the positions of the stars. The
former has already received from here a series of excel-
lent observations, as a foundation for his calculation of
the orbit, and he will soon receive the continuation of
them. It is very fortunate that I Jjave arranged my
extensive investigations on the exact reduction of
observations by my heliometer, and that these are pub-
lished in the first volume of my " Astronomische Unter-
suchungen." Without them, Wichmann would be unable
to reduce them with exactness, as I can do nothing now,
Humboldt's Letters. 215
and the observations of the planet would thereby lose
much of their interest, which exists only in the first
period of observation, and therefore only when the
observations are calculated immediately. I hope, that
by proceeding on this basis, Encke's calculations will
acquire certainty, which will prove itself up to a few
seconds at the reappearance of the planet.
At last an end of this !
In accustomed reverence to the end of life,
Your Excellency's most obedient
F. TV. BESSEL.
NOTE BY HUMBOLDT. The last letter but one which I received
from the great and noble man.
113.
VICTOR HUGO TO HUMBOLDT.
MARCH 20th, 1845.
You have been kind enough, my Lord Baron, and
illustrious colleague, to promise your acceptance of a
copy of " Notre Dame de Paris," and the further good
office of offering it in my name to your august Sove-
reign, my sympathy with and admiration for whom are
well known to you. To " Notre Dame de Paris" I add
21 6 Humboldt's Letters.
my solemn discourse before the Academy. It would
make me happy to think that it gave you a little plea-
sure to receive this mark of my high and profound
regard.
Yours, VICTOR HUGO.
113.
FRIEDRICH RUECKERT TO HTJMBOLDT.
BERLIN, March, 1846.
I HAD the misfortune of twice missing your Excellency
when I called to give you my thanks for your great
kindness, and at the same time to bid you a hearty
farewell, as to-morrow I hasten to my rustic solitude.
May God grant you many felicitous hours for the happy
completion of your great work, for which I now am
more heartily anxious than for any work of my own.
For it is the monument of honor for Germany, her repre-
sentative work before the nations of Europe ; and I, as a
German, feel proud that you did not write it in French.
I would also ask your leave to introduce to you my eldest
son, who is private tutor at the university of Jena ; now,
he may try his luck himself with you, as bearer of this
letter. Finally, I beg of you that you will speak in my
Humboldt's Letters. 217
behalf with their Majesties, whom it was not my fortune
to see this winter. May I yet be permitted to work
something worthy of their approbation and of yours ;
but may you also be persuaded that it is not for me to
appear in person before the public of the capital, but to
shape my thoughts in the solitude and quiet of rural
life, whither I am now permitted to withdraw, grateful
for the highest favor of his Majesty, and with the
purest reverence for you.
RUECKERT.
114.
ALEXANDER MANZONI TO HUMBOLDT.
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
MILAN, Dec. Gth, 1844.
MONSIEUR LE BARON :
I WOULD not have hesitated to express my confidence
in an august and perfect goodness ; but, instead of a
becoming confidence, it would have been an unpardon-
able presumption on my part to have dared to foresee
i under what ingeniously amiable form this goodness
I would deign to manifest itself. I have thus a second
time acquired the precious right (I had almost been
made to forget that it is a sacred duty), to beg your
10
21 8 Humboldt's Letters.
Excellency to lay at the feet of your noble sovereign
the humble tribute of a gratitude which has become, if
possible, more lively and more grateful. And at the
risk of appearing indiscreet, I cannot refrain from avail-
ing myself of this opportunity to renew the respectful
homage of the devotion which, as a dweller on this
earth, and under this title, nihil Tiumani a me alienum
putans, I have long entertained. This homage would
cease to be pure, and would thus lose its unique value
if it involved the slightest sacrifice of my Catholic con-
science, that is to say, of that which is the soul of my
conscience. But, thank God, such is not the case ; for,
amid the character and the sign of the high destiny
which I salute from afar, with a respectful joy, it is my
privilege to admire and to love the development of the
most excellent work of justice, which is the liberty of
doing good.
My admiration for you, M. le Baron, if even it did
not content itself with being the simple echo of so great
a reputation, ought not to surprise you ; for if, as I am
daily told, there is not a learned man who has not some-
thing to learn from you, there are few unlearned men
whom you have not taught something. In this con-
nexion, and at the risk of abusing your indulgence, I
cannot conceal from you my hope to have a memento
of Humboldt a memento less precious, no doubt, than
those which I owe to his good-will, but which will also
Humboldt's Letters. 219
have its value. My fellow-citizen, Count Alexander
Lito Modignani, in a journey made by him, entirely
under your guidance, in North America, sought out, in
the mountain of Quindia, the magnificent Ceroxylus at
the season of the ripeness of their fruit, possessed him-
self of one, and was kind enough, on his return, to
divide with me the seeds he gathered from it. Planted
last spring, not one has yet sprung up ; but on visiting
them lately, I found them entirely sound, and in two of
them a trace of vegetation was perceptible at the base.
I should be happy, and even a little proud, to possess
a memento, and that, I believe, a very rare one, of a
people at once ancient and new, whom you have sub-
jected to the victorious sway of science.
It is with the most profound respect, and, permit me
to add, with that affection always so naturally enter-
tained for a great man, and which it gives such pleasure
to express, that I have the honor to be your Excel-
lency's most humble and most obedient servant,
ALEXANDEB MANZONI.
NOTE BY HUMBOLDT. Written to A. Humboldt on the occasion of
a refusal to accept the class of peace of the order pour le merite. I
had been commissioned to write to him, that it was not to interfere
with his liberty in any degree, that he was never to wear the cross,
but that a name so great and so beautifal as his must needs continue
to grace the list of the knights.
220 Humboldt's Letters.
115.
THIERS TO HUMBOLDT.
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
PARIS, August, 1845.
SIR, I take the liberty of introducing a young
Frenchman, full of talents, of acquirements, and of
thirst for knowledge. He desires to become acquainted
with Germany, and Berlin in particular. I thought I
could not direct him better than to the illustrious who
does the honors of Berlin to strangers. Permit me to
recommend him in a very special manner. Mr. Thomas
is my particular friend, and the friend of all your friends
of Paris. Be pleased to receive in advance all my
thanks for the reception you will kindly accord him,
and to receive the assurance of my attachment and of
my high consideration.
A. THIERS.
lie.
THE PRINCESS OF CANINO, LUCIEN BONAPARTE'S
WIDOW, TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, Hay, 1845.
I SEND you, M. le Baron, a copy of my refutation of
M. Thiers, in regard to the passages of that historian
Humboldt's Letters. 221
which assail the memory of my husband. The esteem
which you bore him, as well as that of your dear brother
and your estimable sister-in-law, both, to me, of sweet
and noble memory, leads me to hope that you will receive
with interest this token of all the sentiments I possess
for you, M. le Baron, and in which I beg you to believe
me. Yours affectionately,
THE PRINCES^ OP CANINO,
Widow Bonaparte Lucien.
117.
DUCHESS HELENE D'ORLEANS TO HUMBOLDT.
TUILEEIES, Feb. 12 to, 1845.
I WILL not longer hold the treasure intrusted to my
keeping, which was a source of great joy to me. Receive
once more my sincerest thanks for this communication,
and let me hope soon to find new material for thanks.
You see, selfishness is unpardonably predominant in my
character.
Your Excellency's affectionate
222 Humboldt's Letters.
118.
DUCHESS HELENE D'ORLEANS TO HUMBOLDT.
NEUILLY, May 12th, 1845.
YOUR Excellency must suffer me often to claim your
services ; but to-day I come to ask something great of
you. I wish for myself and for my cousin of Weimar
the instructive pleasure of visiting Versailles in your
society ; our plan is to go there on Thursday. For the
evening, the King invites you for dinner and theatre in
Trianon. If you have the courage to share our altered
pilgrimage, I invite your Excellency to be here in
Neuilly, Thursday, half-past 11, to accompany us on our
journey. But if other occupations should prevent you
from going, I ask an open confession.
I beg your Excellency to receive the expression of
my sincerest esteem,
HELENE.
Humboldt's Letters. 223
119.
DUCHESS HELENE D'ORLEANS TO HUMBOLDT.
WlXTER OP 1845.
I HAD not the satisfaction to bid adieu to your Excel-
lency, and to repeat to you my thanks for your excellent
work ; permit me to do it now in writing, whilst I send
to you the lines for my beloved cousin, and receive
once more the expression of the most heartfelt wish to
greet again your Excellency, after a short interval, on
French soil.
With most sincere esteem, your Excellency's affec-
tionate HELENE.
ISO.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, April 22d, 1846.
IT has afforded me a great relief being permitted to
read before you, and while very much of the warm and
224 Humboldt's Letters.
friendly praises expressed by you are of course to be
ascribed to the kindness of heart which prompts you to
give pleasure to an old man, still there is a large margin
for the unalloyed gratification of my love of approbation.
The main object of my efforts is that of composition in
the precise sense of the word, the command of large
masses of matter compounded with care and with an
accurate knowledge of details. The management of
our beautiful, pliant, harmonious, and drastic tongue is
but a secondary consideration. I shall certainly find an
opportunity of availing myself of your excellent advice
for Flemming and Mad. de Sevigne. Seneca also, though
I consider him a little bombastic (Quaest. natur.) I have
taken home with me for perusal.
Now for the special purpose of these lines. The King
said to me on going to bed yesterday, "Let Bettina
know that she may make her mind easy in regard to the
leading person.* No one ever thought of giving him
up to the Russians." " You should write her to that
effect yourself," said I. " Yes, I hope to do so," was the
answer. He spoke very kindly of Bettina.
With my old attachment, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
"WEDNESDAY.
How sad is this eighth attack upon the King ! Strange
* Microslawski.
Humboldt's Letters. 225
that ministers and cabinet councillors are never shot at !
Such events are the more unpleasant, the more the
probabilities or improbabilities of their recurrence baffle
all attempts at calculation.
131.
HTJMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, May 18th, 1846.
I SEND you, dear friend, to be added to your collec-
tion, a very remarkable letter from Prince Metternich,
with a semi-theological conclusion, full of mind and
rhetorical fervor, with a slight dread of pantheism at
the close of the letter.
With unaltered friendship, yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
123.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
(From the French.)
VIENNA, May 10, 1846.
MY DEAR BARON Inclosed is my vote.* I give it in
good conscience, and absolve you from the crime of that
* NOTE BY HUMBOLDT. The Prince voted for Mr. Hermann, of
Leipzig.
10*
226 Humboldt's Letters.
electioneering to which the world is addicted. The
King and his Chancellor are the sound appreciates of
scientific merit, and I know how to designate the place
which belongs to me in the avenue of science, and
which, to my great regret, is far from the sanctuary.
What I have just told you, my dear Baron, is neither
gasconade nor an excess of modesty ; it is the unvar-
nished history of my life. You do not know this his-
tory, and I will relate it to you in a few words.
At the age at which life takes its direction, I con-
tracted an inclination for the exact and natural sciences
which I would permit myself to describe as irresistible,
and a disgust for practical life which I would call uncon-
querable, if I had not overcome both this disgust and
this inclination. It is fate that disposes of individuals,
and their qualities as well as their defects decide upon
their careers. Fate has separated me from the object
of my choice, and has thrust me upon the road I should
not have chosen. Once started, I submitted without
losing sight of the goal of my wishes, and the result was
that what I should have wished to regard as the aim of
my life has become only the solace of it. The King has
set the mark of a learned man upon me. I know to
whom this is to be attributed. If it is a question of
the heart, the King is not mistaken.
What you tell me of the forthcoming second volume
of Cosmos, makes me look forward to the study of it
Humboldt's Letters. 227
with impatience ; you are not to be read, you must be
studied, and the place of a pupil suits me exactly. No
one is more called upon than I am to do justice to your
remark relative to the influence exercised by Christianity
on the natural sciences,* as upon mankind in general
and hence upon all science, for that remark has long
since dawned upon my mind. It is oorrect in all
respects, and its generating cause is simple as are all
other truths, those which are, as well as those which
are not understood, for the latter circumstance has no
effect on the substance of a truth. Error leads to error,
as truth is the guide to truth. As long as the mind
remained in error in the sphere of thought which is the
most elevated of all those attainable by the human
mind, this deplorable state of things could not fail to
react upon every quarter of the moral compass upon all
intellectual and social questions, and to oppose to their
development in the right direction, an insurmountable
obstacle. The good news once told, the position could
not but change. It was not by bestowing divine honor
on effects that they could be traced to the fountain head
of truth ; the investigation continued to be confined to
the abstract speculations of the philosophers, and to the
rhapsodies of poets. The cause once laid bare, the hearts
* NOTE BY HUMBOLDT. I had spoken of the intensity of the love
of nature. I had compared St. Basil with Bernardin de St. Pierre.
A.HT.
228 Humboldt's Letters.
of men were comforted, and their minds opened to con-
viction. Nevertheless, the latter still remained for a
long time shrouded in the mists of pagan scepticism,
until at last scholastic philosophy was unhorsed by expe-
rimental science. Do you admit the force of my reason-
ing ? If you do, I have no doubt you will share my
fears that true scientific progress is in danger of being
checked by too ambitious spirits, who desire to rise from
the effects to the cause, and who finding the approach
cut off by the impassable barriers which God has set
upon human intelligence, and finding themselves unable
to advance, roll back upon themselves, and relapse into
the stupidity of paganism, in seeking the cause in the
effect !
The world, my dear Baron, is in a dangerous position.
The social body is in fermentation. You would do me
a great favor if you could teach me the nature of this
fermentation, whether it is spirituous, acid, or putrid ?
I greatly fear that the verdict will be for the last-
named of these kinds, and it is not I who could teach
you that these products are hardly beneficial.
Be pleased to accept the thanks of my household for
your friendly memento, and the assurance of the con-
tinuance of my old attachment.
METTEKNTCH.
Humboldt's Letters. 229
123.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, May 30th, 1846.
PERHAPS, my dear friend, it will not be without some
interest to you to possess a copy of the poem of the
Crown Prince of Bavaria. The language is less crude
than that of Walhalla ; and some passages show a good
deal of feeling, if but little poetical fervor.
Yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SATUBDAY.
134.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, November 14^, 1846.
WHAT a splendid reception, my dear friend, have
you given the fifth volume of my brother ! Pardon me
if, in the excessive bustle of the last few days upon the
cold " historic hill," I have not written some commen-
230 Humboldt's Letters.
datory remarks. I also deplore the omissions to which
you are kind enough to make me attentive. Perhaps
they could be supplied in the next volume. It was sup-
posed that the letters must be printed in the form in
which my brother had prepared them for publication,
and in which they were offered for sale. I believe no
nation on earth can produce an instance of such a life
devoted exclusively to the increase of the wealth of
ideas ! How inexpressibly I rejoice in the mere prospect
of once more beholding a master-piece of your accurate,
life-like, and withal delicate representations of social
and diplomatic occurrences !
With unalterable attachment,
Your grateful
A. HUMBOLDT.
While it was not entirely wise in a monarch who is
great in history to have yielded, under the influence of
the atmosphere of Versailles, to the temptation of off-
setting the memory of the barricades with a spectacle
a la Louis XIV., throwing great difficulties in the way
of the successor, and attaining nothing of value, the
conduct of Palmerston, and of Albert and Victoria, on
the other hand, is likewise clumsily ill-mannered. Mean-
time, the sober Americans are establishing a universal
empire in the West, which already threatens the trade
of China.
Humboldt's Letters. 231
My MS. " On the Textile Fabrics of the Ancients,"
pp. 106 and 113, appears also to have been lost among
the papers of the lamented Wolf. The effect of the
religious music, particularly on p. 323, contains much
that is finely expressed.
In the year 1846 we find the following remark in
Varnhagen's diary : " The conversation turned upon
the capacity of one of the younger princes, which was
declared to be inferior. Humboldt was of a different
opinion. * I do not agree with you,' he said ; ' the
young prince spoke to me the other day, finding me in
waiting in the apartments of his mother, and asked,
"Who are you?" "Humboldt is my name," said I.
" And what are you ?" " A chamberlain to his Majesty
the King." " Is that all ?" said the prince, curtly, turn-
ing on his heel. Is not that a proof of intelligence ?' "
135.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, November 28th, 1846.
I DO not answer to-day, my dear friend, in regard to
your splendid Memoirs. How everything succeeds in
232 Humboldt's Letters.
your hands ! To-day I recommend you an able French-
man, M. Galuski, who knows Germany better than we
do, the author of an essay on A. W. Schlegel. He
will stay but a few days. Preserve the autograph of
Barante.*
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SATURDAY.
ise.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, December 6th, 1846.
THERE will be perhaps some delay, my dear friend, in
your receiving the u Cinq jours de Berlin," in which I
am spoken of by the Berliners (who are introduced as
speaking themselves), as a tolerably pleasant tattler, but
in which I am alluded to rather unkindly, as to my
moral character. If all my speeches lack consistency,
I apprehend for the durability of the system of the
world, the Kosmos. Mr. Barriere will probably have
called on you the sixth day, and you will have suggested
all that to him. The paper contains some excellent
things, Cracoviana, about the vote of Prussia and Mr.
de Kanitz.
* Barante introduced M. Galuski to Humboldt.
Humboldt's Letters. 233
I send you for your autograph collection a flattering
letter of Mignet, and a letter of mine, written in 1801,
at Carthagena, in South America, at a turning point in
my life, and addressed to " Citizen" Baudin, who, on
board of the Perron, made a voyage round the world.
This letter was written at a time when probably people
in Europe had ceased to be addressed any more as
" citizens." Baudin, instead of doubling Cape Horn,
and receiving me at Lima, went round the Cape of Good
Hope to Australia.
Your old friend,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SUNDAY.
I inclose an excellent letter of my brother to Koerner,
which will be published in the sixth volume ; but you
must return this copy.
MIGNET TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, July 1st, 1846.
DEAR BARON, AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS COLLEAGUE :
You will easily understand how happy and flattered
I was at hearing, that the book " Antonio Perez and
234 Humboldt's Letters.
Philip IT." has interested you and obtained approval so
distinguished as that of your King. The applause of a
Prince, of so great genius and learning, who ranks
among the most acute and most infallible of literary
critics, could not be otherwise than of the greatest value
to me. To make the book which was honored with
this august approbation worthier of it, may I ask you, my
dear and most illustrious colleague, to offer the work in
the new form, more complefe and more elaborate, which
I have just given to it, to your sovereign ? This is a
respectful act of homage, which the King of Prussia, by
the expression of his kind satisfaction, has encouraged
me to render, and for which your goodness to me will
obtain, I am very sure, a gracious reception.
I take also the liberty of sending to you, for your own
library, a copy of this new edition. Documents, hitherto
unknown and very curious, which have enabled me to
exhibit the designs of Don John of Austria, the murder
of Escovedo, and the disgrace of Perez, in their true
light, make the first edition imperfect.
But I must hasten to speak of the first volume of
Kosmos, which you sent me, and in which you have so
admirably shown, if I may use one of your beautiful
sentences, " the order of the universe and the magnifi-
cence of the order." I read the book with the greatest
pleasure and advantage. It is an exposition, full of the
most absorbing grandeur, of the phenomena and laws
Humboldt's Letters. 235
of the universe, from those nebulous distances whence
light comes to us only after a journey of two millions of
years, to the revolutions which preceded the actual
organization of our planet, and which enabled men to be
born, to live, and to reign on its surface. To paint this
great picture in its teeming variety and majestic har-
mony, one needs to be master, like yourself, of all
sciences, to love nature earnestly, and to have studied
her under every aspect. In addition he must unite a
vivid imagination to an accurate and profound judgment.
Finish quickly this charming work, for your own glory
and for our instruction.
Accept, dear Baron, the assurance of my gratitude,
my admiration, and my affectionate devotion.
MIGNET.
1J3S
HUMBOLDT TO BAUDOT.
CARTHAGENA, April 12, 1801.
CITIZEN!
WHEN I embraced you for the last time in Helvetius
Street, in Paris, on the eve of my departure for Africa
and the East Indies, I had but a feeble hope of seeing
you again, and of sailing under your orders. You have
236 Humboldt's Letters.
been told, no doubt, by our common friends, C. C.
Jussieu, Desfontaines . . . how the Barbaresques have
prevented my departure for Egypt, how the King of
Spain has given me permission to journey over his vast
domains in America and Asia, to gather whatever may be
useful to science. Independently, and always at my own
expense, my friend Bonpland and I have wandered for
two years through the territories lying between the coast,
the Orinoco, the Casiquian, the Rio Negro, and the
Amazon. Our health has resisted the frightful risks cre-
ated by the rivers. In the midst of the forests we have
talked of you ; of our useless visits ; on C. Francois, of
Neufchatel ; of our beguiled hopes. Just as we were
starting from Havana for Mexico and the Philippines,
the gratifying news reached us that your perseverance
had overcome every obstacle. After making our calcu-
lations, we felt sure that you would touch at Valparaiso,
at Lima, or at Guayaquil. We changed our plans at
once, and in spite of the stormy gales of this shore, we
started in a little pilot boat to look for you in the South
Sea, to try whether by reviving up our old plans, we
could join our labors with yours, and sail with you on
the South Sea. A long passage of twenty-one days
from the Havana to Carthagena, unfortunately hindered
us from taking the route of Panama and Guayaquil. We
fear that the wind has ceased blowing in the South Sea,
and we have decided to continue our journey on land by
Humboldt's Letters. 237
the way of the River Magdalena, Santa Fe, Popajan,
Quito. . . .
I hope we shall arrive in June or early in July at the city
of Quito, where I will wait for the news of your arrival
at Lima. Have the kindness to write me a line, directed
in Spanish, " al Sr. Baron de Humboldt, Quito ; casa del
Sr. Governador Baron de Carondelet." In case I should
hear nothing from you, my respected friend, I intend to
visit Chimborasso, Losca, . . . till November, 1801, and
to come down in December or January, 1802, with my
instruments, to Lima. You will perceive from all this,
my revered friend, that the heat of the tropics has not
made me sluggish, and that I am afraid of no sacrifice
where useful and bold enterprises are to be prosecuted.
I have told you now frankly what I want from you.
I know that I ask more from you than I can return ; it
may also be that particular circumstances may prevent
your taking us on board of your vessel. ... In that
case, my letter may embarrass you, the more, perhaps,
since you honor me with your friendship. I beg you,
therefore, to write to me frankly. I shall always be
glad to have seen you once more, and shall never com-
plain of circumstances, which often govern us in spite of
ourselves and our wishes. Your frankness will be the
highest proof of your regard for me. I should then
continue on my route from Lima to Acapulco, Mexico,
the Philippines, Surato, Bassora, Palestine, Marseilles.
238 Humboldt's Letters.
How much I should prefer, however, to make a voyage
with you ! Mr. Bonpland presents you his respects.
Greetings and unchangeable friendship,
ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT.
NOTE OP HUMBOLDT, WRITTEN LONG AFTER. This letter to Cap-
tain Baudin, written on my arrival at Carthagena (from the Havana),
was returned to me, Captain Baudin not having touched at Lima.
A. HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, Nov. 1846.
139.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
SUNDAY, Feb. 21st, 1847.
I DO not recollect showing you a very beautiful letter
of my brother, on the death of Schiller, dated " Home,
1805." It was discovered but lately, and will be pub-
lished in the next volume of his works. I inclose a
very amiable letter from Prince Metternich, received
this week, also a stiff and unmeaning one from Prince
Albert. Prince Metternich has published, at his own
cost, a splendid description of his mineralogical collec-
tion at Koenigswarth, having probably in view his
election to the Presidency of the new Academy instead
of Kolowrat. At the special request of Prince Albert I
Humboldt's Letters. 239
left a copy of Kosmos on his desk at Stolzenfels. He
had the civility not to thank me. The " blackbird"*
has improved his politeness in the present instance, and
besides, he makes me talk of " roving oceans of
light" and "sidereal terraces" a Coburg version of
my text, quite English from Windsor, where terraces
abound. In Kosmos I speak once of the " starry car-
pet," page 159, in explaining the open spaces between
the stars. He presents me a work upon "Mexican
Monuments,'' a copy of which I myself had purchased
two years ago. A splendid edition of Lord Byron
would have been in better taste. It is also strange that
he does not mention " Queen Victoria." Possibly my
" Book of Nature" is not sufficiently Christian for her
Majesty. You see that I am a severe critic of " princely
epistles."
Please return Metternich and Albert soon, as I have
not yet replied to them ; also Wilhelm's letter at your
leisure it is the only copy I have. I gave the original
to Schlesier, who was very anxious to possess something
from my brother's hand.
With old attachment, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
* The Prussian order of " The Black Eagle," which had just then
been conferred on Prince Albert. TR.
240 Humboldt's Letters.
ISO.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
VIENNA, February, 1847.
MY DEAR BARON:
I WILL begin this letter by congratulating you upon
the new decoration, which the King has lately conferred
upon you. The "Eagle," under whose wing sub
umbra alarum you have executed so much will be a
noble decoration on your breast. Suum cuique !
Now to what I wish to say further. You know, that
I am no savan and that I have no pretension to be
one ; but notwithstanding this, you know that I am the
friend of science, and in that capacity have furnished
the means to some savans of publishing the little work
of which I enclose the first copy to you. I hope you
will approve of its execution. I think I am at the
present the owner of the most complete collection of
monuments* now existing of an epoch of which I can-
not pretend to fix the age and of which the "Gossau'*
conceals countless numbers. History written by man
* Petrifactions dug out in the Gossau, in Bohemia.
Humboldt's Letters. 241
presents but an insignificant point when compared to
that of which nature supplies the material. It was not
I who christened one of the Ammonites after me it is
the doing of the editors of the opuscule. I am, how-
ever, quite sure that neither my name nor even that of
Ammon was known when my godson was alive.
Thousand sincere homages, my dear Baron,
METTERNICH.
131.
PRINCE ALBERT TO HUMBOLDT.
WINDSOR CASTLE, February If &, 1847.
MY DEAR BARON:
I HAVE been constantly impressed while gradually
reading the first volume of your "Kosmos" with my
desire to thank you for the high intellectual enjoyment,
its study has afforded me.
I am really unable to give you an authoritative judg-
ment on this excellent work, which I received from
your hands, and to atone in some measure for this de-
fect, as well as to give some substantial character to the
expression of my thanks, I present you the accompany-
ing work (Catherwood's Views in Central America).
It may serve as an appendix to your own great work
11
242 Humboldt's Letters.
on Spanish America, and thus become worthy of your
attention. I do not dare to express the intense anxiety
with which I look forward to the appearance of the
second volume of " Kosmos." May that Heaven, whose
roving oceans of light and sidereal terraces you have so
ably described, be pleased to preserve you to your
country, to the world, and to " Kosmos " itself, for many
years, in undisturbed vigor of mind and body. This is
the sincere wish of your
Very devoted, ALBERT.
133.
HUMBOLDT TO YAENHAGEN.
BERLIN, February 21th, 1847.
HERE, at last, is my thankful letter to Carriere, con-
taining three warm recommendations.
You were right in reprimanding me as to my extreme
severity against the man of the " sidereal terraces." I
am severe only to the mighty ones of the earth, and
this man impressed me very uncomfortably at Stolzen-
fels : " I know you feel great compassion for the Poles
under the Russian sceptre ; but, I am sorry to say, the
Poles, are as little deserving of our sympathy as the
Irish." "Mini dixit ;" and one is the handsome hus-
band of the Queen of Great Britain !
Humboldt's Letters. 243
I hasten to Potsdam to day, in order to bring all the
manuscripts here, which have fortunately arrived from
Erfurt. Madame von Buelow writes, that they contain
a long and very beautiful passage about our Rahel, and
flattering things for you.
With old attachment,
A. v. H.
SATURDAY.
isa
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BEBLIN, March 27ft, 1847.
I AM more deserving than you would believe, dear
friend ! I am through with the first volume of the
" Letters"* (Therese's property). I had very little to
correct, and only about four pages to suppress, viz.
allusions to biscuits, household details, a few sarcasms
against Duke Charles of Brunswick (which he would
have answered with calumnies as to the lady's virtue),
and more such things. The letters are excellent both
in thought and expression. They furnish a picture of a
most remarkable life. Their contempt of all worldly
Wilhelm von Humboldt's " Letters to a Lady Friend" (Charlotte
Diede), bequeathed to Thereae von Bacheracht.
244 Humboldt's Letters.
happiness or unhappiness beyond the narrow circle of
one's own feelings, this mixture of scriptural and Chris-
tian dogmas, of stoical indifference to the affairs, of the
world, together with so much delicacy and gentleness
in a correspondence, continued to the four last days of a
life, and written by a trembling hand on ruled paper.
The torments of love-sickness, gui rtimpatientent, are left
untouched, in order not to lessen the impression of that
powerful individuality. I repeat, all that I struck out
amounts to only five or six lines all that 1 suppressed
as dull or trivial, would not fill two printed pages.
You will, however, see much, very much, in the manu-
script stricken out, thus -^, sometimes
half pages ; this is, however, not mine but the old lady's
doing. This " Daughter of the Pastor of Taubenheim "*
had, perhaps, hysterical fits of prudery now and then.
The different ink shows that I am a stranger to these
obliterations.
The first volume has a beautiful passage on Therese,
and says much in praise of the King of Bavaria. In the
second volume a description of Rahel will please you.
Of Bettina she speaks less approvingly, as Madame von
Buelow told me. I shall try to modify it in this respect.
I think the first volume will be ready for delivery next
Tuesday, and the second will soon follow. I shall bring
* A most sentimental and tragically- ending German love story
made popular by Burger's ballad. TB.
Humboldt's Letters. 245
it myself, together with notes and facsimiles, all locked
in a tin box, which must be shortened. Then you will
be in possession of the whole treasure, and I " salvavi
animam meam.'' The thing will create much provok-
ing but salutary scandal, and will elicit much conflicting
criticism.
With sincerest friendship, yours,
A. v. HT.
Please don't let the book be printed at Berlin, and
have it (if possible) advertised before it is in the trade.
My letters to Carriere will have duly reached you, I
hope?
On the 30th March, 1847, Varnhagen wrote in his
diary : " Just when I returned home, Humboldt came
in and brought a pack of manuscripts the letters of his
brother to Mrs. Diede. Humboldt regards affairs here
as desperate, as I do myself. He consoles himself with
the belief that the constitution presented, though good for
nothing at first, may result beneficially. He expects vio-
lence of every description atrocities committed by the
police, popular rage, and military strokes. The King,
however, Humboldt thinks, has no misgivings. He is in
high spirits, having prepared his opening speech, and no
longer minds the llth of April, and its consequences.
He never yet talked with Humboldt on constitutional
affairs. As to Michelet, Eichhorn has instigated the King
246 Humboldt's Letters.
very much ; but after all they will not find a reason to
dismiss him, although the King would like very much
to do it, and the Minister urges him on to it."
On the 31st March Varnhagen adds : " Humboldt told
me but yesterday that the King was firmly believing the
restoration of Don Miguel, Don Carlos, the overthrow
of the July dynasty, and that he would yet go to Paris,
to salute the legitimate king. Also, that he, Humboldt,
was deemed a Jacobin, who carried the tri-colored
standard in his breeches pocket. As for myself, I was
considered a royalist, but the King had prejudices
against me. They think it strange that my old friend
Canitz should not have enlightened the King on my
behalf; that they did not ask my advice, and avail
themselves of my services in the present situation. Witt-
genstein also has talked in this manner with Humboldt.
They forget only one thing : that I neither can nor will
the one and the other, with equal determination.
The nobility is terribly excited ; the change is remark-
able ; self-esteem is mightily roused. The devil him-
self could not have invented more efficacious ways of
provoking the hostility of this whole class than this
monstrous " Herrenstand."
A. Dream. I saw the King weeping bitterly, and
crying : so far it has come. Well, I will resign ! May
my brother take charge of the whole, and be happier
than I was !
Humboldt's Letters. 247
March 27th, 1847, Varnhagen wrote the following
repartee of Humboldt in his diary: "Humboldt re-
cited, good-humoredly, that a certttin Mr. Massow, in
the Assembly, had characterized liberalism as a felony.
He, Humboldt, was therefore a twofold felon, as Minis-
ter Bodelschwingh considered literary men felonious."
On the llth July, 1847, Varnhagen observes: "This
morning Humboldt came in quite unexpectedly. He is
in good health and spirits, and denies having been
really sick. He says that the King lives in a whirlpool
of pleasure, that he is often extravagantly gay ; thinks
no longer of the Chamber, except when reminded of
it, when he becomes immediately grave and sullen. The
ministers, however, are full of anger Savigny and
Eichhorn particularly so. Foremost, however, is Bodel-
schwingh, who is always exciting the King to strong
measures. Canitz acts this time in a conciliatory and
compromising spirit. Bodelschwingh cannot bear being
deprived of the imaginary triumph of his visionary
premiership by the Chambers. Humboldt is engaged
on the final sheets of his second volume. He is going
to Paris next September.
248 Humboldt's Letters.
134:.
BERLIN, Jan. 18th, 1849.
IP I appear slow, my dear Varnhagen, and rather
laconic to-day in offering you my thanks for your
friendly presents and your letter, and your congratula-
tions, you will not ascribe it to a diminution of my true
esteem and friendship. I have had but now the enjoy-
ment of what you alone are entitled to call " A Plain
Discourse.''*
How much more fearful, and at the same time hopeful,
a turn events have taken. They only know how to
oppose brute force to the impending danger, and are
afraid themselves to pluck the proffered fruit.
Romuald's u Vocation"! deserves, no doubt, the
severest censure. What an abuse of his most eminent
talents ! We will talk about it as soon as I shall have
done with the " OrdenstagJ" and the annoyances of the
* A pamphlet under that title, written by Yarnhagen, in commen-
dation of the King. 2V.
f Romuald ou la Vocation, par Mr. de Custine. Paris, 1848. 4
vols.
\ The day on which the Prussian government yearly distributes
orders and decorations. 2V.
Huinboldt's Letters. 249
Academy elections of my order. La petite piece side by
side with the great world's drama.
With the old attachment,
Yours, A. v. HT.
There never was nobler praise bestowed on the King
than in " The Plain Discourse."
The little work, " Plain Discourse to the Germans on
the Duties of the Day. Berlin, 1848," is from the pen
of Varnhagen. A few months later, on the 10th of May,
1849, the author himself thus speaks of it in his diary:
" I have been re-reading what I wrote in August last on
Frederick William IV., and what I wrote in 1840, the
day after he received the homage of his subjects. What
strange sensations it provokes ! Do what I will, awake
or asleep, I cannot for a moment shake off the night-
mare of consciousness of our political condition, although
I know full well how ephemeral it is, how certain the
retribution, and how bright the ultimate future. Arouse
then, my country, arouse ! Civil war is thy fate, but it
is not thy choice. Go on thy way undaunted, and be
the blood on the head of those who willed it not other-
wise. At a time like this it is not the successes but the
failures of the moment that are of profit to the people."
This is the place to interpose another visit from Hum-
boldt to Varnhagen. On the 12th of February, 1849,
250 Humboldt's Letters.
the latter wrote in his diary : " Humboldt called. He
thinks it absurd in the ministers to talk of meeting the
Chambers, when they cannot find men to make up their
own number. Even Kuehl wetter disdains to join them.
My opinion that the constitution imposed by the govern-
ment is merely a husk concealing the germ of a new
revolution, which will shortly burst forth, startled him a
little ; but he was much pleased with the notion that the
King has been embroiled with the canon of logic for the
last eight years past. He says the King was disposed to
return to Canitz as Minister of Foreign Affairs ! Eich-
horn also vouchsafes his advice, and, like the lady of
Privy Counsellor , talks of the Pietists as if he
had never belonged to them.
" The ' Staats Anzeiger' publishes the Austrian note
in regard to the German question. Austria will not
withdraw, but will have a voice in the counsels of the
empire, and will not tolerate a variety of things, such as
popular sovereignty, or any leadership except its own.
A fling at Prussia, a fling at Frankfort, and particularly
at Gagern. There it is ! Everything plays into the
hands of the revolution I"
Humboldt's Letters. 251
135.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, August 16th, 1849.
WHENEVER I enjoy the fancy of having written a few
lines grateful to my ears, I always ask myself whether
they would also please you, my valued friend. You
know, or rather you do not know, that the Princess of
Prussia has deposited a splendid album, with numerous
autographs and painted initials, in those halls of the
Chateau at Weimar which have been dedicated to
Goethe, Schiller, and to Herder and Wieland, maligned
by Schiller hi his letters to Koerner. I have been com-
pelled to write a preface, which Galuski has translated
quite happily. The Grand-Duchess desired a French
version for the benefit of foreign travellers who might
open the album. Look upon this little memento of your
friend with indulgence. There is blood on the horizon,
and it makes me sad. I need not remind you of the
friendship and esteem of
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SUNDAY.
252 Humboldt's Letters.
ise.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, October 15th, 1849.
I HOPE, my dear friend, that my " Views of Nature,"
enlarged, and, for two-thirds of it, almost re-written,
are at last in your hands ! It was owing to an unfor-
tunate confusion, occasioned by my long absence from
Berlin, that this my favorite work was so long in reach-
ing my favorite reader. Perhaps you will derive a brief
pleasure from contrasting the picture of the nocturnal
din of the words with that of the stillness of high noon
vol. i., pp. 333 and 337 ; or from glancing at the
golden visions of young Astorpileo, vol. ii., 352.
In love and friendship, yours,
In haste. A. v; HUMBOLDT.
Increase your collection of autographs by a very
agreeable letter from the man who now lives in Brussels.
The phrase " votre fortune morale " is used with great
freedom. But the newspaper, all disfigured with blood-
stains ! What a. year, in which all the feelings of the
heart run wild !
Humboldt's Letters. 253
137.
METTERN1CH TO HUMBOLDT.
(FBOM THE FBENCH.)
RICHMOND, Sep. 17ft, 1849.
MY DEAR BARON:
I SEE by to-day's papers that the 9th of September,
1769, gave you to the world, and that thus you have just
celebrated your eightieth birth-day. Had I been near
you I would have joined your friends in offering my good
wishes ; at the distance which separates us, I approach
you alone. Let me say in a few words that I render
thanks to the giver of the faculties which have rendered
your name imperishable. To be born is of little account ;
to make life valuable is excellent. You are numbered
among the richest, and you have made a noble use of
your moral fortune. May God preserve you in safety
and in health !
Receive, my dear Baron, with the expression of a
congratulation of which you do not doubt the sincerity,
that of my sentiments of devotion and friendship, of a
date as ancient as all that has a place between us !
METTERNICH.
254 Humboldt's Letters.
138.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, October 29tfi, 1849.
MY DEAR FRIEND:
A GERMAN letter of the Duchess of Orleans, to whom
I have sent all my writings for many years, and who is
very fond of them. She writes a hand so cabalistic to
my eyes, that I beg to avail myself of your diplomatic
experience in decyphering, and to be favored with a
legible copy. The purport appears to be of a political
nature. It will not be without interest for you, and on
this account I appeal all the more confidently to your
good-nature.
Your faithful friend, A. HUMBOLDT.
139.
HELEN, DUCHESS OF ORLEANS, TO HUMBOLDT.
YOUR Excellency will accept my most heartfelt thanks
for the token of the remembrance, so valued by me,
Humboldt's Letters. 255
which you devote to the hours we passed in times but
recently gone by, which the course of events, however,
seems already to have thrust back into antediluvian
periods.
I see with joyous gratitude that the conversations in
my red saloon in the Tuileries and in St. Cloud, ever
present to myself, still live in your recollection also, and
thank your Excellency for this constancy of sentiments,
doubly precious at a time like this.
The kindness of my beloved cousin had already ena-
bled me to refresh myself by the perusal of your latest
work, which is hailed as a fountain of health by so many
hearts smitten by the rude hand of fate, and minds
stunned by the wild confusion of public events ; and
my son has also found nourishment in it to assuage his
thirst of knowledge. Nevertheless, I thank you most
cordially for the jewel you have sent, which receives
additional value from being accompanied by your letter.
As you say, in words so mild and yet so truly appro-
priate, " Men are at present laboring at a fable con-
venue ; they strive in part after what is unattainable,
and in which they themselves do not believe !" But
where will the light appear that is to lead them to the
truth, and what events will yet be required to convince
them of the impracticability of the most contradictory
demands? I agree with your Excellency in thinking
that the present tranquillity is destined to be of brief
256 Humboldt's Letters.
duration. I also do not see in it any real pacification,
but only the apathy and indifference which enervates
without convincing. Who can fathom the future?
The riddle of the coming day remains concealed how
much more must we await in patience the developments
of coming years ? But courage and resignation must
not be impaired by this uncertainty ; on the contrary,
our hearts should be steeled by it.
During my visit in England, the King asked many
questions in regard to the health of your Excellency ;
the Queen also received with great interest such reports
as I could give her. They hold in grateful remem-
brance your frequent visits in Paris. My children ask
to be commended to your recollection, and I also hope
to revive in it from time to tune.
With heartfelt reverence and gratitude, your Excel-
lency's friend and admirer,
HELEN.
EISENACH, Oct. 23, 1849.
140.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, October 31s*, 1849.
A THOUSAND, thousand thanks for the interpretation,
my dear friend. How the political tempests have
Humboldt's Letters. 257
ravaged even this handwriting, once so fine, or, at least,
so distinct. The "beloved courier" I read "beloved
cousin," the Princess of Prussia, who first showed the
Duchess the latest *' Views."
A little address delivered by me before the delegates
from this city, in which I referred to the views of my
brother, a Potsdamer by birth, on a political life which
develops itself freely from within, has been printed by
the " Spikersche Zeitung," with numerous typographi-
cal errors. Inclosed is my own report, written imme-
diately after delivery. I would have been pleased if
the answer had been correctly given in the Constitu-
tional and other truly liberal papers. With my old
devotion and friendship,
Yours,
A.HT.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
(iXCLOSUBE.)
I cannot, fellow-citizens, more vividly express the
profound gratitude I entertain, than by saying, that you
have given me as great a pleasure as you have bestowed
an unexpected honor. A pleasure such as this shall not
be dashed by the question how I can possibly deserve
this distinction at the hands of your beautiful city. You
258 Humboldt's Letters.
have worthily shown, not only that you value her
material prosperity, but that you are alive to higher
interests, and accord sympathy and respect to efforts
directed to the advancement of knowledge, the educa-
tion of the people, and the general culture of mankind.
As a reward for a portion of these efforts, to which my
long and chequered life has been devoted, I accept with
pride your flattering gift. By the favor of two illustri-
ous monarchs it has been my privilege, for twenty-
two years, with but little interruption, to live as
your townsman, and to find, in scenery beautiful
by nature and art, those inspirations indispensable
to a life-like portraiture of nature, which aims to
display the workings of the powers of the universe.
Grateful for this good fortune, I have adorned almost
all my later writings with the historic name which has
become dear to me, and in the walls of which the year
1767 witnessed the birth of my brother, whose memory
lives in the hearts of those who have preserved a sense
of the enlarged proportions of a political life which pro-
gresses in obedience to laws inherent hi the constitution
of society.
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
On receipt of the Honorary Citizenship of Potsdam.
Humboldt's Letters. 259
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, November 4fh, 1849.
WHAT pleasure you have given me, dear friend, by so
agreeable a communication from England! But on
account of my brother's memory, and in order to reply
to those who calumniate me for remaining at this court,
I am very anxious to see my response to the deputies of
Potsdam correctly printed in a liberal journal. I would
like to send it to the " Constitutionelle Zeitung," which
has not yet mentioned the subject. I have no copy,
however nothing but the bit of paper I sent you.
Have the goodness to send it back to me soon.
How important is the news from Paris ! The forward
one may attain the consulate for life (to which the
words duree et stdbilite. seem to refer) ; but he will fall,
nevertheless, and awake the sleeping lion. Liberty
will lose nothing by it, and the German statesmen (are
there any such besides Herr von Gagern ?) will then
understand, that in the centre of Europe is the France of
1789, the same, about the nullity of which so many sar-
casms have been uttered. The centres of gravity change.
With cordial friendship, yours, A. HT.
SUNDAY.
26o Humboldt's Letters.
143.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 19th, 1850.
ACCEPT, my dear friend, my heartfelt thanks for the
lines you gave M. Rio, whose praises had already been
sung to me by Cornelius, Olfers, Radowitz, and the
King himself, on account of the book, "De 1'Art
Chretien." The new incarnation of a deputy to the
Erfurt Parliament, and his supervision in the interest of
the Prince President, was unexpected ; but Rafael him-
self was a good deal of a mannerist.
Very truly, and in some suspense,
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
TUESDAY.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, July 2d, 1850.
IN the gloomy period of reaction, I am delighted to
receive so pleasing a memento at your hand, my dear
Humboldt's Letters. 261
friend. I ain also glad of your journey to Kiel, to the
little region where German spirit finds an expression
free and consistent. The state of public affairs is like
the water-bottle shaken by D'Alembert, in order to
produce a mixture of bubbles of different shapes.
" Calculez moi cela," he said, in irony of hydraulic
science, of which he was himself so great a professor.
Many a bubble will burst before the diplomatists find
time to calculate its evanescent figure.
I shall render my heartfelt thanks to Herr von
Froloff. I made a futile effort to dissuade him from
inserting a mass of explanations and metaphors, in-
tended to facilitate comprehension. He wished to
accomplish what is absolutely impossible, and seemed
to have but little understanding of the form of compo-
sition. I shall say nothing more to him about all that.
Hybrids are never successful in literature.
I was extremely unwell, confined to my bed even ;
but now, in spite of the dispersion of all matters of
interest, I am well, industrious, and not cheerful.
In friendship as of old, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
262 Humboldt's Letters.
144.
HUMBOLDT TO BETTINA TON ARNIM.
(Copy in Yarnhagen's Handwriting.)
BERLIN, June nth, 1851.
You could not doubt, dear lady Baroness, that I
would respond with the greatest warmth to your wishes
for a composer of such sterling merit as * * * * In
consequence of malignant prejudices against music,
originated by my brother, and transmitted through the
King to me, my voice upon a subject which no one ever
mentions to me, is somewhat lacking in tone, particularly
when church music is in question. What with Warsaw,
Olmuetz, Russian Grand Dukes, and, to name something
of a higher order, Rauch's inspiring master-piece, it was
impossible hitherto to obtain a hearing. Warsaw is
now succeeded by Hanover, by the visit to your royal
friend and mine. I have not yet seen our monarch at
Potsdam again, and surrounded by all the horrors of a
cosmic transmigration, shall wait for the returning tide
from Warsaw (the alluvium of Batavian and Mecklen-
burgh highnesses), and when the rock-bound seas are
calm again, I shall go to work systematically, as your
Humboldt's Letters. 263
cheerful and genial letter inspires me. But at this
gloomy period everything oral is unheard, and what is
written is scarcely noticed. The latter, however, is an
insuperable necessity. In order, then, to accomplish so
attainable a purpose, a very brief writing addressed im-
mediately to the King, will be required, to be delivered
by me with a warm recommendation. Our excellent
friend asks the King for a trifling assistance in point of
funds, to enable him to travel to Munich. The state-
ment of a specific amount is not necessary, but it will
simplify the matter. The man's delicate sense of honor
will not be offended by my suggestion, as the request
is made not for himself, but for a noble service to the
cause of art.
With all devotion and grateful reverence, your most
faithful and obedient
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
145.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
POTTSDAM, November 1st, 1851.
You have given me an inexpressible pleasure, my
dear, my noble friend, by your kind letter. I am
264 Humboldt's Letters.
heavily in your debt, and my long silence and apparent
neglect might have provoked some suspicions of cool-
ness or diversity on matters of opinion. With a man
of your mind and goodness of heart I ought to have
entertained no such apprehensions. Before I received
your dear letter with Baader's portrait, it was my inten-
tion to bring you personally the third volume of Kosmos
(two parts in one), now finished with great difficulty,
and which unfortunately is exclusively astronomical. I
was certain of a kind reception, and your letter of the
24th of October, which had been left behind in my
house at Berlin, confirmed my purpose. Ottilie von
Goethe gives me cheering news in regard to your health.
As usual you will combat her opinion. But what
astonished me was, that the president of the council,
usually cold as a glacier, was delighted with Ottilie, and
is entirely disposed to gratify her wish for the appoint-
ment of Wolfgang, at the Prussian embassy at Rome.
Was it necessary, however, for Wolfgang, after publish-
ing a very able little work on Nature and Legislation,
to go to press with a collection of poems, containing but
rare gleams of imagination ?
Written with the devotion of better days, in a time
of gloom and feebleness, by
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
On the 24th of November, 1851, Varnhagen wrote
Humboldt's Letters. 265
in his diary: "Backbiters are busy with Humboldt.
Littleness and mediocrity, conscious of their nothing-
ness beside him, combine their envy and spite, and
thereby hope to be something. The one comes to the
other with smiles, and makes him the confidant of the
dislike he entertains, and of the foibles and defects he
claims to have detected. The other welcomes the sug-
gestion, responds with similar remarks, they clasp each
other's hands, and are fast friends in enmity of the hero.
Those who pretend to be the most faithful lend them-
selves to such intrigues. Singly they amount to nothing,
but when lumped together they constitute a stumbling-
block, which obstructs the light of day, interferes with
what is good, and destroys life and spirits : such vermin
tormented Goethe, and now they torment Humboldt.
I know these fellows by experience ; in Rahel's time
I have seen my fill of it ! The brothers, the nieces,
how glad they would be to make common cause with the
most inferior beings, to place their united mediocrity
above the genial power of heart and mind, by which
even they were yet constantly lighted and warmed !
Humboldt's weak points are well known, he does
nothing in secret, men see him as he is ; but his great-
ness is unimpaired, the greatness of his mind and the
equal greatness of his heart. And eighty years what
a bulwark ! Who will dare assail it ?
12
266 Humboldt's Letters.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEK.
BERLIN, January 28*A, 1852.
HERE is my Cosmic present, my dear friend ! I
choose not to bring it myself lest it should seem that I
dare not come without it. Cast a look at p. 1 25,
Mars p. 511, and the concluding passage p. 625 631.
I may call to-morrow, Thursday, at one o'clock, may
I not ? I shall be sure to come.
With the old attachment, which will never grow cold,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
WEDNESDAY.
With two yellow pamphlets, to his friend of many
years, Varnhagen von Ense, with old admiration and
attachment. The author.
On the 29th January, 1852, Varnhagen's journal reads
as follows: "Humboldt came at one o'clock, wonder-
fully robust for his time of life ! Speaks with indignant
scorn of the coup &etat in France, the undisguised out-
rage, the arbitrary banishments, and particularly the
robbery of the estates of the Orleans family. The King
Humboldt's Letters. 267
was at first full of rejoicing, he and the court saw
nothing offensive in the crime committed against the
people, the legislature, the law, and the sanctity of
oaths, but that the adventurer preserves universal
suffrage, rests upon the people, practises socialism,
and even wants to be emperor ; this is what makes him
detested ! Humboldt is of opinion that in the revolu-
tion of February the establishment of the Provisional
Government, which was immediately obeyed throughout
France, was a piece of even greater audacity than the
present usurpation of the one man who has already been
president, and worn the name of government for three
years. I reminded him of the parliament, and the com-
mittee of fifty at Frankfort-on-the-Main. In the dispo-
sition to acquiesce, he sees that national feeling of unity
and cohesion which, among Frenchmen, suppresses all
party feeling. Humboldt says there is no doubt that
Louis Bonaparte is a son of Admiral Verhuel, and his
brother, Morny, a son of General Flahault, who, he says,
lived with both the sisters, the Queen of Holland and the
Queen of Naples. Of Persigny Fialin de Persigny
he speaks with the utmost contempt, calling him a raw,
unkempt non-commissioned ofiicer, who still arrogates
to himself discoveries about the pyramids. Passing on
to our own affairs, he deplored the narrowness, the
pitiful character of our ministry ; he considers Raumer
the most stupid of them all, stupid and unmannerly
268 Humboldt's Letters.
both ; the King is cross and peevish, capricious, and
prone to excuse himself by saying that he is powerless,
and must be governed by his ministers.
On the 30th of January, 1852, Yarnhagen adds:
" Humboldt takes a lively interest in the widow of the
philologist F. ; her husband has done much work for
him. At Humboldt's urgent advice, she has petitioned
the King for a pension, and Humboldt and Boekh were
to support the petition by their signatures. But F. was
a democrat, not an active, but an avowed one, and the
King might have heard of it. To neutralize this, Hum-
boldt proposed to request Stahl to join in countersign-
ing the petition. His own name can now accomplish
nothing with the King ! On what days have we fallen,
when Humboldt asks Stahl to give him countenance 1"
147.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Feb. 5th, 1852.
I BELIEVE, my dear friend, that the letter I have just
received, will greatly confirm your ideas about Paris.
Galuski, the translator of the second volume of Kosmos,
is a man of noble instincts, great talents, and much
Humboldt's Letters. 269
philological learning, but very moderate in his love of
liberty. What he says of his first impression, is a
pretty impudent expression of this moderation. He
also was seized with a marvellous dread of coming
events. My opinion has always been that the wildest
republic cannot do so much and such enduring harm to
the intellectual progress of mankind, and to their con-
sciousness of right and honor, as le regime de mon
oncle, le despotisme eclaire^ dogmatique, mitteux, which
applies all the arts of civilization to subject a people to
the caprices of an individual. Read, to increase your
abhorrence of such degradation, which threatens to
spread like a pestilence, in the " Journal des Debats" of
this morning (February 3d), the reasons for drawing up
a list of recommendations of those who might be elected
(according to the " Constitutional)." The " Spenersche
Zeitung " of yesterday did not fail to follow suit with a
communication in favor of a similar set of proposals for
our second chamber !
I hope soon to procure for you the Histoire de 1'Aca-
demie (by Bartholmess). I have made many vain efforts
to advance the interests of Professor F.'s widow.
Your most attached,
A. HUMBOLDT.
270 Humboldt's Letters.
SUPPLEMENT.
" Spenersche Zeitung," of 1852, Feb. 4, No. 29. The
transactions in reference to the formation of the second
Chamber have repeatedly been the subject of our com-
munications. It is perhaps not equally well known,
that at this moment the attention of higher circles is
also directed to the formation of the Second Chamber.
The present electoral law presents the right of suffrage
as one to be exercised or not at the option of the voter,
without a corresponding obligation on his part. A law
compelling men to vote would seem to be equally inex-
pedient and impracticable. But by refraining from
voting in any number, the voters repose the decision of
the question in the hands of an unknown minority, who,
by exercising their privilege, frequently bring about a
state of things by which representation is given, not to
the political views of the constituency, but to their very
opposite. The principles had in view in fixing the
reconstruction of the First Chamber, have, by force of
logical inference, led to the proposals to alter the elec-
toral law for the Second Chamber in this manner, that
His Majesty, the Ring, shall appoint in each district,
long before the election, a government candidate, who
shall be the representative, unless the majority of the
voters should at the election record their preference for
another. The specific arguments in support of such a
plan will appear to-morrow in connexion with its details.
Humboldt's Letters. 271
148.
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEN.
BERLIN, February 12th, 1852.
IT may interest you, dear friend, to see collected on
one sheet all the efforts making by the Orleans dynasty
to counteract the robbery. The Duchess of Orleans
sends the paper by the Princess of Prussia.
Are you acquainted with a candidate for theological
honors, named William S., of Dresden, disguised under
the name of Wilfried von der Neun, who torments me
by sending aphorisms in manuscript ?
Yours, A. v. HT.
Be kind enough to return the enclosed at your early
convenience.
149.
HTTMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 23d, 1852.
ONE of the many inconveniences of old age is that of
liability to attempts at conversion. Do you care to
272 Humboldt's Letters.
deposit this curious, good-natured letter among your
psychological curiosities ? (The man who is entirely con-
vinced of Bernadotte's salvation, circuitously informs
me that Satan wields the baton of command in my heart,
as in that of Goethe, that of the pious Kant, and that of
Wieland.) And our parliament ! ! If necessary the
cities must be expunged from the face of the earth
such is the desire of our diplomatist at the Diet.
With heartfelt attachment,
Yours,
A. HT.
TUESDAY, late at uight.
The enclosed letter from August. Grau, of Mont-
gomery County, Ohio, dated February 6, 1852, contains
the following : " A gentleman who has travelled over
a large portion of the earth, who, by the publication of
so many excellent writings, has erected for himself so
durable and so resplendent a monument on the field
of literature and science, is not to be named by
any German without the greatest esteem. When the
names of great warriors who have spilt the blood
of their fellow-men upon the battle-field shall be
forgotten, your name will blaze for hundreds and
thousands of years in the annals of history. But it
is singular, at the same time, that the greatest natu-
ralists, philosophers, and astronomers who have occu-
Humboldt's Letters. 273
pied the principal portion of their lives with new
inventions, and with investigations into the elementary
powers of nature, are often totally indifferent to their
salvation or perdition in the world to come. Goethe,
Schiller, Wieland, and Kant, were all distinguished
characters and brilliant ideals, and in their walk and
conversation were more or less observant of what are
called the laws of morality, so as probably to abstain
from cards, nine-pins, playhouses, and dancing, but their
sphere of operations did not reach into eternity, and
the fate of their fellow-men in the other world their
salvation was of little interest to them." After launch-
ing into further sanctified regrets at the scarcity of true
godliness, and its absence even in princes and royal
chaplains, the writer continues : " The last King of
Prussia, and his truly royal Louise, had some know-
ledge of a state of regeneration, as well as the last
King of Sweden, the former French Marshal Bernadotte,
Prince of Ponte Corvo. A poor peasant was better
able to enlighten him on the means of salvation than
one of the first bishops of the Lutheran church. O, Sir
Privy Councillor, while I do full justice to your unble-
mished life, your high character as a statesman, and
your acquirements as a man of science; and while I
rejoice that Berlin ay, that Prussia may boast of such
a man as your Excellency, yet my joy would turn into
holy exultation if I should have the honor of seeing
12*
274 Humboldt's Letters.
you a warm disciple of Him who died upon Golgotha,
Without Him, Lord Chamberlain, with all our acquire-
ments, with all our boasted knowledge, we are singu-
larly unhappy." Further on, the letter reads : " Goethe
says, on a certain occasion, that during the whole course
of his long life he had not spent four happy weeks.
These are the words of a great man of science. If
Christ has not taken up his residence in our hearts, who
else can be there but Satan ? One of them, surely,
must be there one must wield the baton of command.
It is manifestly impossible at one and the same time to
serve two masters! Worthy sir, my gracious Lord
Chamberlain, I am penetrated with great esteem for
you and your lofty merits ; I love and revere you. I
am not worthy to unlace your shoes. This is the
unconstrained language of my heart ; although I have
occupied myself with acquiring the elements of seventeen
different languages, and can even at this day read the
writings of the New Testament in seven different
tongues. But I have not only been firmly convinced
of the truth of the Christian religion for thirty-one
years, but experience the influence of the Holy Ghost
from day to day, and almost from hour to hour." The
letter is subscribed, " Your Grace's most devoted
servant and brother in Christ, Augustus Grau." Hum-
boldt adds the remark : " An attempt at conversion,
from the State of Ohio."
Humboldtfs Letters. 275
ISO.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEX.
BERLIN, March 13^ 1853.
THE confusion of my lonely life, my dear friend of
many years, at a time of such profound moral degrada-
tion, leaves me in a harassing uncertainty as to whether
I have or have not sent you the seventh volume of my
brother's complete works. I am greatly ashamed, but I
know that you have not yet learned to be angry with
me. The article against Capodistrias, the demand for
the surrender of Strasburg, sounds like the irony of fate
upon our present humility
With ancient love and reverence, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
The death of Leopold von Buch bows me deeply. A
happy blending of the most noble, philanthropic senti-
ments, momentary impulses, and a little despotism of
opinion ; one of the few men who have a physiognomy.
He has given a new form to his science ; he was one of
the greatest illustrations of our times ; our friendship
has endured sixty-three years, unruffled, although we
often tilled the same field. I found him, in Freiberg, in
1791, where he had come to the Mining Academy before
myself, although five years younger. His funeral
276 Humboldt's Letters.
appeared like a prelude to my own, C'est comme cela que
je serai dimanche. And in what a condition do I leave
the world I who lived in 1789? But centuries are
as seconds in the mighty development of advancing
humanity. The swelling curve, however, has its little
indentations, and it is irksome to be found in such an
interval of decadence.
151.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 14th, 1853.
HEAETY thanks for the comfort derived from the
characteristic word of Fontenelle's, hitherto unknown to
me but twenty years are too short to see anything
better! Tour Buelow von Dennewitz is great and
good news to me ! The treasure of the warm-blooded
Leopold von Buch I return inclosed. May not Fried-
rich Schlegel's astronomical vision be connected with
conversations I had with him at Vienna on the certainty
that we shall see the southern cross rise again in Ger-
many, where it has already shone in historic ages ? Let
me remind you of a passage in my Kosmos (II. p. 333),
which derives some interest for you from its reliable
chronological date. "It was not more than 2900 years
Humboldt's Letters. 277
before our era that the cross became invisible in North-
ern Germany. The constellation had ascended as far
as the tenth degree above the horizon. When it dis-
appeared from the Baltic skies, the pyramid of Cheops
had already stood five hundred years. The shepherd
nation of the Hyksos invaded Egypt seven hundred
years later. The past becomes apparently less remote
when we can measure it by reference to memorable
events."
Persevere in your diligence upon Buelow von Denne-
witz, who became very dear t.o me in Paris. Fond of
music, he was very affable in the family of Lafayette,
in the little chateau of Lagrange, at Paris Lafayette's
country-seat, where Buelow was quartered.
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
I shall bring volume VI. myself.
NOTE BY YARXHAGEX. As a comfort for his eighty years, I had
written to Humboldt that even these could be transformed into a
comparative youth, as appeared by Fontenelle's example, who, at the
age of a hundred years, attempted to pick up a fan dropped by a lady
and. unable to do it as quickly as he wished, exclaimed, " Que, n'ai je
plus mes quatre vingt ans /' J Of Friedrich Schlegel I had told him,
that shortly before his death, he prophesied to Tieck, at Dresden, that,
at no very remote period, though he could not exactly define it, a
mighty change would take place in the heavens, the great constel-
lations would leave their places, and combine to form an immense
cross.
278 Humboldt's Letters.
153.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, August 15th, 1853.
SEPARATED from you, my dear intellectual friend, by
the prolongation of my dreary sojourn at Potsdam, my
first approach to you is to petition. You, you alone are
my literary adviser, you who combine such depths of
feeling with so wonderful a command of the harmonies
of language. In my extreme old age, timidity in regard
to my own powers increases in an almost morbid
degree. A separate volume is to contain a selection of
the sonnets of my brother, in which there is not always
a perfect consonance between form and substance. I
crave your permission to come to you to-morrow, Tues-
day, at one o'clock, to read you a preface I have been
compelled to write ! By all means send a verbal assent
by the bearer.
With indestructible friendship, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Humboldt's Letters. 279
153.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, August 31**, 1853.
FOB once in this gloomy time, when a fell simoom
blows from the Pruth to the Tajo, I have had a real
and a keen delight your return, your encouraging
message, and even the assistance I implored. Your
superb letter finds me at the bon d tirer of a little, I
hope unpretending, preface to the sonnets. As it will
be unfortunately impossible to-morrow (on Friday the
King arrives at Potsdam, when I must hand him a good
many things, according to promise), I take the liberty
of sending you my proof sheets this evening.
I beseech you to be severe in your treatment of these
sheets, with which I have incorporated a remarkable
fragment (in illustration of the ideas and frames of
mind manifested in the " Letters to a Lady Friend") and
to note on a separate piece of paper what I ought to
alter, and especially what I ought to substitute. I follow
you implicitly.
I dislike the phrase on page 4, " Schoen errun gene
Himmelsgabe."*
Beautifully extorted gift of heaven.
280 Humboldt's Letters.
The pious fragment is an autograph, nearly illegible,
and requiring some emendation in the construction of
the sentences ; thus on page 1 1 : Perhaps you prefer the
phrase " bei Annerkenung." The phrase is heavy, even
now.
On p. 14 you will not disapprove of " eben nicht," in
place of " haben nie gerade," which is still more verna-
cular. The four lines stand there like a fallen aerolith.
They must be preserved at all hazards, if only on account
of their freedom.
Could not you help out page 13 below somewhat?
Is the close of the phrase "voice of conscience has
laid" clear to you ? It is not so to me. Perhaps a few
words would make the sense clear.
Roma, the verses to me from Albano, and all the cho-
ruses and Pindarus will form another volume.
With old affection and profound esteem,
Yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
The saddest news of Arago's family ; swollen hands
and feet, diabetes, and almost blindness ! Forty years
of life go with him ! !
Humboldt's Letters. 281
154.
HTTMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September Id, 1853.
A THOUSAND pardons for troubling you in suffer-
ing! I have adopted every suggestion, taken every
hint. But I should like also to insert the reflection you
made in regard to p. 6. Would you approve of the
following interpolation : " A long sojourn at Rome, and
perhaps a lively interest in certain epochs of Italian
poetry, appear to have imbued my brother with a par-
ticular preference for a little lyric form, which, if melody
is not to be sacrificed, closely fetters the thought, but
which he handled with a freedom, the result of intention
and confidence." Or would you have it, "which he
freely handled with the confidence of a clear intention,"
or, " which he handled with a freedom of which he was
perfectly conscious ?" " When the poet, urged by his
realistic and individual peculiarity, felt most keenly the
desire of welding ideas into the flood of sentiment."
Be good enough to return me your MS., which is a
treasure of critical research.
Very thankfully, yours, HUMBOLDT.
282 Humboldt's Letters.
NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. I selected "which he handled with a
freedom of which he was perfectly conscious," as most in accordance
with the metaphor of the fetters, and as otherwise clearly indicative of
the idea intended to be conveyed.
Varnhagen reports under date of September 9th,
1853, in his diary: " Humboldt had advised me of his
coming ; he came about half-past one o'clock, and
remained till half-past two o'clock, a mere visit, nothing
of business; he felt the necessity of unburdening himself
of many things. First he vented his bitter and indig-
nant scorn on the speeches of the King in Elbing and
Hirschberg, and on the utter absence of vigor, which
makes itself known in such disconnected ebullitions.
Then he spoke with the utmost contempt of von Raumer,
the Minister of Public Worship and Instruction, of his
brutality and insolence, his hatred of all science, his
pernicious activity. ' The King,' Humboldt said, * hates
and despises all his ministers, but this one particularly,
and speaks of him as of an ass ; What particularly nettles
him is, that Raumer opposes all the King's wishes, and
he keeps him in office nevertheless, as he keeps all
of them, because he has them, and every change is a
troublesome affair.' The case of the brothers Schlagin-
tweit was cited as an instance. The King wished to
aid them in their voyage to the Himalaya Mountains ;
the minister refused ; the King ordered him to hear the
opinion of Humboldt, which was a most favorable one,
Humboldt's Letters. 283
but Raumer insisted upon his opinion, which, he said,
was not changed by Humboldt. Then the King, who
confessed himself to be powerless against his minister,
wrote to Bunseu, who took the matter in hand, and the
brothers Schlagintweit now receive English aid. And
the very same King, who pretends to be so jealous of
his prerogatives, permits them to be thus encroached
upon ? ' Yes, sometimes he delights in playing the
part of a constitutional monarch, absolves himself from
all responsibility when the matter is a delicate one,
answers demands made upon him by adverting to the
difficulty of obtaining the signatures of his ministers, and
even pretends to regard that "baggage, the state" as
something with which he had little concern, accuses the
ministers of forgetting him in their devotion to that
" baggage, the state," &c., <fcc.
" ' In the asking of small sums the King often experi-
ences the greatest resistance, large ones he gets ; he is
refused three hundred tbalers for a poor scientific man
or artist, forty thousand thalers for buying something,
they dare not refuse. What a mess of confusion and
disaster! The King is quite satisfied that he is per-
mitted to cook up church matters to his heart's content,
for these are considered separate from the state, no
minister has a word in them.' That I do not under-
stand and it cannot be so, the ministers I believe have
their hands in it too. 'The meanest fellow of the
284 Humboldt's Letters.
whole concern is privy counsellor Mebuhr, a low, cant-
ing parasite, full of spite and venom.
" ' Garcia cannot sing here, he said some time ago, she
is too red ;* all representations, that her singing would
not be red, were in vain. At last I told him to send to
Bethaniaf for deaconesses to sing. He will be happy
to see me under the sod.' "
On the 25th of September, Varnhagen narrates in his
diary : u They say, on the presence of Humboldt in the
High Ecclesiastical Council, that the priests had had in
their midst their greatest adversary, who puts all of
them to rout the man of natural science, before whom
all their mist and deceits flow into nothingness. ' Abael-
lino is among you !' one might have cried out."
155.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Dec. 12th, 1853.
AGAIN, my noble friend, you have shown your skill
in giving me pleasure. After our departure from Pots-
* I.e. too much of a Bed Republican.
f A Hospital near Berlin, administered by Protestant Sisters of
Mercy.
Humboldt's Letters. 285
dam, which transformed itself entirely into a Buddhistic
" cold hell," was prevented for a long time by the
delicate health of the Queen, I at last moved over
here on Saturday. You have shed renown upon the
Prussian arms, and, what touches me in a more human
manner, on the warrior of many-sided culture.* The
gallery of your biographies stands in singular grandeur
in our German literature. I am enraged by the treat-
ment of my friend Arago in the last number of the
" Quarterly Review" (September) an ebullition of
political party spirit, exactly as I was treated by the
same journal from 1810-1818. A note at the end of
the number for September says, with rare delicacy,
that the article was written before his death was known ;
but it was known generally in London that he had
become blind, and that he suffered infinitely from
dropsy, one of the symptoms of which is to fill the
mind with apprehensions.
With ancient gratitude and devotion, and admiration
of your talents, your faithful
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
MONDAY.
* Leben des Generals Buelow von Dennewitz. Yon K. A. Yarn-
hagen von Ense. Berlin, 1853.
286 Humboldt's Letters.
ise.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, THURSDAY NIGHT -from the 13th to
the llth of April, 1854.
RECEIVE, noble friend, my most heartfelt thanks, you
and the amiable confidant of the " demons." * The
King is now invisible to me, on account of the spiritual
preparations, and on Monday he goes to Potsdam for
five or six days, on account of military afiairs ; but a
very warm letter, written by me, will be in his hands
to-morrow, at eight o'clock, in Charlottenburg.f Thus
we have at least done our duty faithfully* I am fast
becoming the responsible minister of the Conservatives;
for three days ago I asked the fourth minimum of the
red birdj for a man who has conserved his real estate
for one hundred and fifty years, for Bouche, a gar-
dener, an adopted son from the Champagne. It is a
great joy to me that my introduction, which has only
* Bettina.
f Informing that on the 17th is the golden wedding of Savigny.
f The Prussian order of the Red Eagle.
Ludwig von Gerlach, in the Second Chamber, had called the
representative Bethmann-Hollweg an adopted son of Prussia.
Humboldt's Letters. 287
the merit of liberal sentiment and faithfulness, has also
pleased you in regard to form. As a sign of gratitude,
I send you for your collection of autographs a document
not unimportant on account of the political situation
June, 1848. The other papers, which contain the sub-
lunar miserabilities of the disagreement,* which, alas !
has become public, I beg you to return hereafter.
Everything noble is drawn down in the mud. I was
compelled to write a few lines in answer. I live in
a monotonous and sad mood et mourant, avant le
principe.
With old fidelity, yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
I shall certainly make my appearance on Monday in
a wedding garment.
157.
AKAGO TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, June 3d, 1848.
MY DEAR AND ILLUSTRIOUS FRIEND :
MY son has left for Berlin a few days ago, in the
capacity of Minister Plenipotentiary. He quitted me
animated with the best of sentiments, with the most
* Mona Mathieu had protested against the statement on the title-
page, that Mons. Barral was appointed editor by the author.
288 Humboldt's Letters.
decided ideas of peace and conciliation ! And yet this
day your Charge d' Affaires waited upon our Minister of
Foreign Affairs to represent to him the apprehensions
which the mission of my son has excited in your cabi-
net and among the population of Berlin. This is my
recompense for the efforts made since my arrival at
power to maintain the accord of the two governments,
in order to remove every pretext for war ! Who can be
made to believe that, animated with the sentiments which
I publicly profess, I would have consented to entrust
Emanuel with an important diplomatic mission, if he
had been in discord with me, if he belonged to a hideous
socialist sect, to communism, for, I am ashamed to say
it, the accusations made have not stopped short of that ?
As to the rest, I appeal to the future ; all such appre-
hensions will disappear as soon as Emanuel shall have
entered upon his functions. Your Charge d' Affaires
will then regret the untimely protest addressed to M.
Bastide.
I am very happy, my dear friend, to receive your
welcome letter. Nothing in the world could be more
agreeable than to hear of the continuance of your
friendship. I am worthy of it, because of the price I set
upon it. I have an abiding faith that my conduct, during
the last three months (I had about said the last three
centuries), has not caused me to lose in your esteem.
Ever yours, with heart and soul, F. ARAGO.
Humboldt's Letters. 289
158.
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEff.
BERLIN, FBIDAT, April 14th, 1854.
As the King held his churching on Thursday, I dined
in Charlottenburg to-day, and can give you news agree-
able to us, that the King, as he told me, had known of
the day of honor* (not by Uhden ! !)f and had prepared
everything for it long ago. The ingredients of the
spiritual or material feeding are buried in Cimmerian
darkness. Your faithful
HUMBOLDT.
The Prince of Prussia knows nothing of the invitation
for noce et festin.
159.
HtJMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
MY American connexions having entailed upon me
predilection of the Peace Society, I am molested
* Sarigny's golden wedding. f Minister.
13
290 Humboldt's Letters.
by them with many of their writings and tracts. But
the last number of the "Herald of Peace" is so remark-
able on account of the political movement of the pietis-
tic peace Quakers, that perhaps it will amuse you for
one moment, my dear friend, to read for yourself the
testimonies. Destroy the sheet !
The missive, at the same time, is intended for a sign
of life, that is, of most intimate and faithful friendship
for you in these sad times of weakness and folly. I
have disentangled myself from the new " Stahl-Ranke "
council, for reasons which are not those of old age ; I
resigned. I add an unkempt letter of poor Bunsen,
which you must keep quite secret, and send it to me, if
there is an opportunity, to my Berlin residence. First
Heidelberg and afterwards Bonn, constantly vibrating
between the perturbating recollections of two arch-
bishops. With the dangerous tendency of the noble
man for theological dispute, and for his newly-invented
apostolic church, under the firm of Hippolytus, a resi-
dence in England, that is to say, in the country between
London and Oxford (on account of the books), would
be more favorable than Bonn. The Anglican High
Church, intolerant though it be, is less inconvenient in
a free country, than a ministerial church diet in Prussia.
Moreover, in the interest of Bunsen's scientific repu-
tation, I look forward with dread to the impending
productions, full of hypotheses on aboriginal nations,
Humboldt's Letters. 291
Egyptian, Indian, and excavated Assyrian Semitic, as
also on the situation of Paradise, for which a map has
been ordered at Kiepert's. Maps on the creeds of
nations can ascend from the ship-fastening myth at the
ocean and the Himalaya mountains to the Ararat and
to Aramea Kymbotas, even to the Mexican Coxcox,
vagaries, not unknown to the Mormon bible. (See
Supplement.)
The Weimar fancies are of a more exhilarating kind ;
controlling the climates by means of crystal palaces,
which, at the same time, are taverns, and make super-
fluous Mcos and Madeira, and demand only a capital
of one and a half millions of thalers, an undertaking in
the deserted Potsdam town of barracks. And such a
device, hatched in the brains of a well-informed man
like Froriep.
In faithful friendship, yours, A. HUMBOLDT.
POTSDAM, July 4^ 1854. In the age of crystal palaces.
It was but the other day, in glancing at a letter of
Gneisenau's, of 1818 (in the pointless biography of Stein,*
p. 262) that I stumbled upon a passage, doubtless long
familiar to you : " H. strives again for the centre, but
there are wanting to him confidence, esteem, character,
and courage." Sheer personal hatred alone can "have
moved the vain Gneisenau to speak thus disreputably of
* By Pertz.
292 Humboldt's Letters.
my brother. I recollect, indeed, to have heard of him,
that Gneisenau was hostile to him when he was dis-
missed. By-the-by, what was said by all parties in those
times on political institutions looks to me now, and did
so already in the years 1815-1818, as if I was reading a
book of the thirteenth century on physical science ;
fear of provincial estates was alone praiseworthy
c'est de la bouillie pour les chats.
On this letter Yarnhagen remarks in his diary, July
5th, 1854: "I found a long letter from Humboldt,
who communicated to me, accompanied by fine remarks,
the latest number of the Herald of Peace, a letter of
Bunsen four closely-written quarto pages and another
by Robert Froriep, of Weimar. c The missive at the
same time is intended for a sign of life^ that is, of most
intimate and faithful friendship for you in these sad
times of weakness and folly.' Farther : c I disengaged
myself from the new " Stahl-Ranke" council, for reasons,
which are not those of old age ; I resigned.' Then he
speaks of Froriep's plays of imagination, who wishes to
build a crystal palace to control the climate in the
'deserted town of barracks,' Potsdam, with a loan of
one and a half million of thalers ! Finally, he blames
Gneisenau's misjudgment on Wilhelm von Humboldt,
pronounced in a letter of 1818, which Pertz communi-
cates in his ' pointless Biography of Stein ;' and Hum-
Humboldt's Letters. 293
boldt rightly condemns the mean misjudgment of his
brother.
" The letter of Bunsen is written in a very unconnected
manner Humboldt calls it an * unkempt ' one, which
characterizes it admirably. Bunsen intends to live for
the future in Bonn, but he complains that the university
has deteriorated so much, particularly the theological
faculty. Dorner and Rothe have been jostled out, and
their places are held by the most mediocre and narrow-
minded people to be found in all Germany, such as
Lange and Steinmeyer; from Hengstenberg's study,
through Gerlach, all bends, he says, to ignorance and
darkness, the present gloomy period of the most intel-
lectual king of the century will come to be deplored
even more grievously than the age of Woellner ; every
thing is imbued with the reactionary political character
of the squirearchy; hypocrisy and real infidelity can
grow out of this unholy system, and a most violent
reaction must ensue ; body-guards and policemen can
enforce any political programme as long as it lasts ; but
the German never submits to the enthralment of the
mind, and his curse will pursue through all the centu-
ries those who have attempted it. Thus writes Bunsen !
But he writes thus now as a deposed favorite ! How
was he, and for what did he work before ? For the
same ignorance and darkness. Quite like Radowitz,
who also played the liberal at last !"
294 Humboldt's Letters.
leo.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, July 8th, 1854.
WITH emotions of gratitude I received the dear letter
of your Excellency. Yet a sign of life, indeed, a sign of
the most vigorous life ! "Whenever the question could
arise how you felt and thought in this gloomy time, such
a sheet would be the most decided answer, the most
brilliant testimony, to a sentiment and activity which
always kept on in the same direction, and never proved
false. The letter from London the epithet "unkempt"
is singularly happy. I send back dutifully, as directed ;
how I should have liked to incorporate it with my collec-
tions ! It is a remarkable sign of the present situation ;
many expressions in it strikingly significant. Had the
writer but expressed himself thus before his last perso-
nal experience ! The scientific renown which you
believe in danger from the threatening deluge of writings
seems to me to have stood from the first upon unsafe
ground, upheld by external props, with which it must
fall inevitably. Perhaps a political career will be open
to him again, but certainly not through literary aid,
for which, in part, this sudden literary taste seems
Humboldt's Letters. 295
intended. Silent rest would be far more useful. But
this can hardly be expected in the place selected, where
Catholic hatred is already alive, and nourishes and
strengthens that political rancor which will continue in
vigor, fed with fuel from here.
The late Prince Wittgenstein once congratulated me
that I had not to sit in the Council of State, and that
was the old Council, of which your Excellency also was
a member! How much more must I congratulate
you on your escape from the new one, of which Stahl
and Ranke are members ! To the latter, no one will
dispute the part of the clown ; to the first, every one
will accord that of the sophist.
The words of Gneisenau, which Pertz alludes to in
Stein's Leben (v. 262), are so entirely inappli cable to
William von Humboldt that one would be tempted to
interpret the H. differently, if an acceptable conjecture
could be found. I have myself, indeed, heard from
Gneisenau's lips expressions of dissatisfaction, but never
such extravagant ones, which might be contradicted so
easily and perfectly. What Gneisenau blamed chiefly
in your brother was that he never tried, by the respect
which he commanded and by the superiority of his
mind, to unite all those of equal sentiment into a com-
munion, by which much might have been undertaken
and effected. But this reproach, if it be one, Gneisenau
himself deserved as well, and received from his adhe-
296 Humboldt's Letters.
rents! The book of Pertz is full of aspersions and
incongruities, which, indeed, in most cases originate in
Stein himself, but are confirmed by Pertz in blind par-
tiality; he, while communicating everything, even in
many cases things which do not belong to the subject,
leaves out important documents without hesitation as
soon as he finds them not entirely for the benefit of his
hero. The same will take place when he writes the
biography of Gneisenau, for which the hand of a tacti-
cian would seem to be the first desideratum.
The pious quaker-sheet was already known to me ;
one could hardly have thought such monstrosities prac-
ticable in the English language ! But our time abounds
in such. The psychographer takes the place of the
moving table ; they try to enforce my faith in the absur-
dity ; I excuse myself, that at my time of life a man is a
little backward, and that I have just arrived at table
moving, but of that they do not want to hear any more.
This reminds me of something, I will not suppress ! It
of course happens often, that remarks of your Excellency,
in particular such made at the royal table, come to the
ears of the public, and are repeated with zeal, and by
this assume widely different forms ; thus, quite recently,
a reply to Herr Senfft von Pilsach, in which the original
form seemed lost to a great extent, it would certainly
be desirable if the latter were always authentically pre-
served.
Humboldt's Letters. 297
With my repeated most heartfelt thanks, in most
faithful reverence and submission, I remain immutably,
your Excellency's most obedient,
VAKNHAGEX vox EXSE.
Some strong expressions in the London letter, as
welcome to me as they were unexpected, remind me that
Herr von Radowitz indulged in similar ones, and even
had them printed (Gesammelte Schriften IV., 210, 256,
281) ; in the second passage he even goes so far as to
reverse the motto, "Against democrats soldiers alone
avail !"
lei.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, July 9ih, 1854.
RETURNING from the Russian Saint's day celebrated
in Sans Souci, I found your amiable letter. As I cannot
refuse you anything, I add Hippolytus ! Satisfy in
return my curiosity. I believe that I never in my l ; fe
spoke to Herr Senfft von Pilsach ; I might meet mm in
the street or in society without knowing him. Notwith-
standing all this I may have dined with him at the
King's. After what I heard of him I do not feel well
affected towards him. Since I always sit opposite the
13*
. 298 Humboldt's Letters.
King, I talk aloud only to him, but very freely, because
I know that it will be reported, colored certainly accord-
ing to the color of the reporter, and this the more
especially in a country where anything like a gentle
allusion by way of criticism is lost on account of the
complete want of development of conversational lan-
guage.
The judgment of Gneisenau is certainly on my bro-
ther. These often are ebullitions of the moment. Schiller
writes to Koerner, when I arrived in Jena, " that I was
by far more ingenious and gifted than my brother ; *'
afterwards, in a time when he saw me daily and over-
whelmed me with tenderness, he wrote to Koerner that
" I was a man of narrow understanding," without poetry
or soul, who, in spite of all my restless activity in my
walk of study, never would accomplish anything great ;
that Herder's works were diseases, discharged by his
mental constitution." (One thinks it is a passage of
Zelter's letters !) In an autograph of a collection at
Augsburg, which they wanted to give to me, but which
I sent back, my friend Prince S. writes to Koreff : "Alex-
ander H. again accompanies the King to the Congress
at Aachen only as a pointer !" Thus they play on the
boards of the world for credulous posterity.
The Emperor Alexander had told the late King that
my brother was doubtless bribed by the Jews to be of
service to them in the Congress of Vienna, as Baron
Humboldt's Letters. 299
von Buelow was bribed in the Belgian affair by the
French, according to the King of Hanover. In Schoen-
ing's very interesting War of the Bavarian Succession,
interesting by the correspondence with Prince Heinrich
and the reflection cast on the present disputable state
of things, there is mentioned on p. 294, a political pro-
ject, which was unknown to me, the Austrian proposi-
tion to give Burgundy as a kingdom to the Bavarian
dynasty in return for a cession of Bavaria. This title
of King of Burgundy was the object of the ambition
of the Duke of M. in 1815, though he would have
contented himself with Lorraine and Alsatia. Napoleon
also once had a momentary intention to make the Prin-
cipe de la Paz, King of Baetica (Andalusia and Grenada)
from recollections of "Telemaque," and the King of
Sardinia, Roi de Numidie, although the donor had not a
foot of land in Africa to dispose of.
With warm friendship, always equally incorrect and
illegible, your most faithful,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SATURDAY NIGHT.
NOTE BY VARNHAGEN. As early as the year 1743, Austria offered to
the Emperor Charles TIL a kingdom not yet conquered, to be composed
of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche Comte, in return for Bavaria. See
"Mem. de Noailles," Tome vl
300 Humboldt's Letters.
163.
HUMBOLDT TO BETTINA YON ARNIM.
(Copied by Varnhagen.)
BERLIN, July 8th, 1854.
To what purpose, most gracious baroness, did the
Eternal shower down upon you, from the horn of plenty
that he so sparingly opens upon this miserable, sinful
earth, the bountiful gift of genius and the more precious
adornment of a noble heart, if you believe the absurd
gossip uttered " about those from whom I am separating
myself!" What you call your prophetic vision could
not alarm me, because the same double sight has fallen
to my lot ! Not a syllable of your book has the King
read or desired to have read to him, as I hear from
others ; I rarely attend in the evening, and have not
read to him for years. But how, my honored friend,
am I to gain his ear in this matter, when I never pro-
nounce the words Cathedral, Orchestra, Theatre, or
Concert Room, and never have heard of the existence
of a Central University Cathedral Building Association
at Bonn, or of a Board of Managers of the Berlin Asso-
ciation ? Such things are undoubtedly desirable ; but
even if those who are now called influential would advo-
Humboldt's Letters. 301
cate them by word of mouth, their intercession would
not even receive attention ; success is only to be hoped
for from an official expose of the project, addressed
immediately to the King himself, with the autograph
signature of the managers, with specific and distinct
requests. The decision rests exclusively with the cabi-
net, and to be discussed there, a full and explicit petition
to the King is necessary. This is doubly important at
a time so eventful as the present, when the King never
remains longer than a few weeks at Sans Souci. Painter
Rattis' Titian, political insinuations, and great unknown
personages, are all subjects of which I receive the first
intimation from your kind letter. It will be my study
to repel the insinuations, although, on account of my
well-known opinions, these " essais de blanchir" will be
but a feeble support. Among the many painful impres-
sions you so sedulously cultivate in the midst of your
glowing love of the true, the free, the noble, and the
good, it gives me great delight to direct your attention
to two special matters of gratification your Goethe
monument is a fixed fact, and the great man's grandson,
whom I regard and esteem, has succeeded hi obtaining
a recognition of the value of his services, and a less
constrained position in the Roman embassy.
With unalterable devotion and friendship,
I remain your Old Man of the Hills,
A. v. HT.
t
><" o* s
302 Humboldt's Letters.
lea
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEtf.
BERLIN, July IMh, 1854.
SUCH a rough " Hind Pomeranian !"* direct answer,
dear friend, you could certainly not expect from me !
I have no idea of the question about the animation of
pinewood at the King's table, where everybody believes
in it as in the Persian host seen in the air at the
Eichsfeld. The " drama" of the " Kreuz Zeitung," like
everything emanating from this bad party, sick with
mental poverty, bears the stamp of cowardly malice !
You are not to be pitied, for you possess a treasure in
the power of animating recollections of the great period
of 1813. I have always kept at a respectful distance
from the Revue des Deux Mondes, which is edited with
spirit and address. Two parties may hate the same
thing without hating it from the same motives. The
present Liberals there think themselves justified in
barking, but not biting, after the fashion of the Berlin
* The province of Pomerania is divided into " Vorpommern"
Fore Pomerania, and " Hinterpommern" Hind Pomerania; i. e.
Pomerania before and behind the Oder. Tr.
Huinboldt's Letters. 303
muzzles, " because, without the rescuer* they would
all have been drenched in blood." Credat Judceu*
ApeUa!
Your faithful, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Monday. At another funeral !f
A workman, unknown to me, addressed me at the
funeral of Benjamin Constant : " N'est-ce pas, mon bon
Monsieur, vous n'avez rien de si beau en Prusse, mais ce
sera bien plus beau quand nous enterrerons M. de la
Fayette."
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEff.
BERLIN, July 29th, 1854.
IN Spain, the virtuous rebels, like the virtuous order
of St. John on the Wilhelmsplatz, have raised the cry
of " Long live chastity !" " Viva el pudor" (Isabella) !
" Viva la moralidad" (disinterested Christina) ! But,
will you, dear friend, think it possible (July, 1854!)
that the Minister of Public Worship and Instruction,
* Louis Napoleon. Tr.
f Of M. Borsig, a machinist, a few days after that of Mad. Amalia
Beer. The old man of eighty-five attended both of them.
304 Humboldt's Letters.
though hitherto without success, is also shouting " Viva
el pudor !" He has quite officially demanded a royal
order for the imprisonment in the arsenal of the wanton
group* which so wantonly disport themselves on the
bridge ; all this without fear from the press, since the
new press law, promulgated by the Diet at Frankfort,
only resembles the ingenious Berlin muzzles, not yet
exhibited in the Muenchen Crystal Palace, which
prevent authors from biting only, but not from
barking.
The third cry, " Viva la libertad !" has succeeded in
the Peninsula, after all, in spite of the disavowals of
good society.
Your faithful A. v. HUMBOLDT.
AT NIGHT.
165.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, July 31s/, 1854.
ALAS ! no ! I was in error thinking that the monu-
ment for Weimar was definitely bought, only that the
enlargement of it, desired by our excellent lady friend,
was given up. In the circles with which I am acquainted
* In marble. TV.
Humboldt's Letters. 305
we cannot hope for an active participation. The expres-
sion, " Is not art itself a vestment ?" is fine and
felicitous.
Most gratefully yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Monday, waiting for the train to leave.
In the United States there has, it is true, arisen a
great love for me, but the whole there presents to my
mind the sad spectacle of liberty reduced to a mere
mechanism in the element of utility, exercising little
ennobling or elevating influence upon mind and soul,
which, after all, should be the ami of political liberty.
Hence indifference on the subject of slavery. But the
United States are a Cartesian vortex, carrying every-
thing with them, grading everything to the level of
monotony.
lee.
YARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, January 8ih, 1855.
I HAVE to thank your Excellency most heartily that,
in dispensing bounties, you always think with favor also
of me ! Xo one shall surpass me in anxiety to receive,
in estimation of the gift, and in gratitude for the noble
donor ! This preface, at once temperate in form, rich in
306 Humboldt's Letters.
substance, and elegiac in tone, is the worthiest and most
lasting monument of the prince,* of whom I hear on
every side accounts which make one mourn his loss in
the prime of life. I shall try to procure his work which
is so highly recommended by your Excellency.
The gloomy cover of mist which veils the light of
day, corresponds with the sentiments by which I at
least feel myself weighed down. I have not succeeded
in becoming cheerful for some days.
With the warmest wishes for you, in faithful reve-
rence and most grateful submission, immutably
Your Excellency's most obedient,
VAKNTHAGEN VON EJSTSE.
167.
HUMBOLDT TO
BERLIN, April 2Sth, 1855.
REVERED FEIEND A strange missionary experiment,
enveloped in a somewhat idyllic ghost story, political
and religious, in a style of singular " finish" and bom-
bast, which I cannot refrain from showing to you. I
take it to be the work of a male author.
The saturnalia of despotism and of flatteries, the wan-
* Waldemar of Prussia, the traveller in India and Brazil. Tr.
Humboldt's Letters. 307
ton festival of oblivion (as if there was no history of
1813 and '14) > is now played out among the free insular
people, a kind of monkey comedy. There is only this
consolation which uplifts my spirit, that out of all this
something will arise, which both parties do not at all
intend. That is, le principe^ which outlives us all. I
am so cruel as to include you too. To my brother,
Wilhelm, the Kassel book seems to have done good up
there. In old attachment and reverence,
Your faithful A. HUMBOLDT.
WEDNESDAY.
Be good enough to return the ghost story, by all
means.
XOTE BY YARXHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT'S LETTEE OP APRIL 26TH,
1855. A " stranger is emboldened to transmit words of power to the
spirit" u They are given to her with the order to repeat them." In
case Humboldt should answer, he is requested to send the letter with
the chiffre A. W., to the store on the left of the house, at No. 120
Linden Street, and receive further details. A wanderer is described
as sitting down to rest Brother "Wilhelm appears to brother Alexan-
der and exhorts him to think of the kingdom of heaven, and how
splendid it is up there, how misty on earth. As a token of identity,
he reminds him of the eighteenth warm birthday, " where they swore
to love each other," an oath which reaches beyond the portals of
death, and which he now fulfils. It is a bombastic farrago, frequently
repeating the word " finish," which strikes the reader as eminently
inappropriate.
Of the above-named direction Humboldt observes : " That it is the
boarding-school of Frau von "Wenkstern and Widow Poppe."
308 Humboldt's Letters.
168.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEtf.
BERLIN, August 9^ 1855.
I HAD already heard with sorrow from the gifted
Princess von Wittgenstein, that you, noble friend, suf-
fered more than usually. Receive me with indulgence
on Saturday, about 10 o'clock, in spite of my long
absence, and of my inconvenient trilogy, Berlin, Tegel,
and Potsdam. I shall then also bring you a few lines
of thanks to your cousin, the Imperial Brazilian Charge
d' Affaires in Madrid. His history, founded upon archi-
val monuments, seems to become of great importance ;
but what a strange missive without adding the first
pages, and notes also without a beginning.* I doubt
of my ever catching those commencements in my cos-
inic disorder. As I spent almost an hour alone with the
Prince of Prussia yesterday, I shall be able to tell
you something not uninteresting, although not at
all decisive. The Prince, whom I take to be veracious,
* Historia general de Brazil, tomo primeiro. The pieces wanting
here he had already sent as specimens.
Humboldt's Letters. 309
assures me of having always asserted, faithful to his
principles, that war would probably have been avoided,
if Prussia and Austria had from the first co-operated
actively with the Western powers against Russia. They
answered in St. Petersburg that the Emperor would
not have yielded, but this the Prince doubted
With old attachment, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
THUESDAT.
You wih 1 explain to me orally the mythological name
of Sorocaba.*
Varnhagen narrates in his diary, under date of August
llth, 1855 : "About 1 o'clock Humboldt came, look-
ing well, quite vigorous, in fresh and lively spirits;
when he make a worse impression a short time ago, as
Dirichlet thought, it was the eflect of sickness, and is
passed now. First, he spoke of the book of my cousin,
which he praised, for which he thanks him (in a letter).
The expression Sorocaba I cannot explain to him.
Humboldt was but recently made a knight of the
great Brazilian order, on account of an arbitration
between Brazil and Venezuela, respecting a large tract
* Francisco Adolfo de Yarnhagen's dedication of his book to the
Emperor over his own signature. The title-page contains the words :
" For urn socio do Institute Historico do Brazil, Natural de Sorocaba'
(the native place of the author, west of Eio Janeiro).
310 Humboldt's Letters.
of land. c Formerly they intended, in Rio de Janeiro,
to arrest me as a dangerous spy, and to send me
back to Europe, the order drawn up for the pur-
pose is still shown there as a curiosity; now they
make me an arbitrator ! I, of course, decided for Brazil,
because I wanted the large order; the Republic of
Venezuela has none to confer !' These words, spoken in
the gayest irony, I interrupted with the exclamation,
4 How times change !' ' Yes ; the order of arrest, and
then the insignia of the great order!' 'Oh, no,' I
replied, ' I did not think of this personal affair, but of
the historical ; formerly the pope was the general arbi-
trator !' Humboldt saw the last volumes of the life of
Stein on my table, and expressed his displeasure on the
external arrangement, the meagreness of the text, and
the unsifted character of this book; he thought that the
gold snuff-box, with brilliants, which the King had
already sent to Pertz for these volumes, was entirely too
much. Injustice, crying and mean, perpetrated by Stein
against old Prince Wittgenstein. Pertz, too, he said, was
unjust to Wittgenstein. Stein had not at all been a firm
character, no one had changed views and judgments
more easily. (Beyme said the same thing, and adduced
instances of it.) His early liberal ideas on national eco-
nomy, civil institutions, commerce, and trades, were a
product of the times, which he afterwards entirely
renounced and disputed when the current of opinioc
Humboldt's Letters. 31 1
set in that direction. He surrendered his former senti-
ments so shamefully that his former friend, Kunth, who
remained faithful to them, but also wished to avoid
committing Stein, burned more than three hundred of
Stein's letters, because, as he thought, they would bring
nothing but disgrace on the revered man, and would
show him in the greatest contradiction with himself. Of
the Prince of Prussia, Humboldt said that he had told
every one in St. Petersburg, as well as here, that the
war would have been avoided if Prussia had from the
first acted resolutely. The Emperor Nicholas would
have yielded. The imperial family he represented as
harmonious, including the Grand Duke Constantme, who
did not seem so dangerous to him as usually described.
The Emperor's mother used to say they were all mere
children, and that she must remain with them in order to
keep them together. The war was severely felt, business
at a standstill, the country drained of men, the armies
not very numerous ; Poland, the Baltic countries, and
Finland but weakly garrisoned ; the greater part of
their forces was in the Crimea ; the losses immense and
irreparable. Gortschakoff reports that the daily com-
bats cost him 180-200 men a frightful number for a
month ; that Nesselrode contemplates a renewal of
negotiations, but before that heavy blows would first be
dealt on one side or on the other. Sebastopol itself was
by no means considered out of danger. The Prince has
312 Humboldt's Letters.
gone from here to Erdmannsdorf to the King ; thence he
hastens on to Baden. The King has Lieutenant-General
von Gerlach, with him in Erdmannsdorf, among others,
also Radowitz, in case he is not * already tired of him,
as happens so easily.' Humboldt talks of Radowitz
decidedly as of a Jesuit, calls him Ignatius, mocks him,
and jests on him a long time. 'The great destinies of
Italy' leave the King very indifferent ; but a colored
pane of glass, a quaint device on an old monument, a
family name, enlist his greatest interest, occupy, and
amuse him ; and for such trifles Radowitz was the right
man ! The same is the case with Bunsen, with whom
the King corresponds on theological and patristic curi-
osities. He has asked him to write articles in the papers
against the Bishop of Mainz ; but Bunsen makes
the condition to be allowed to refer in his articles to the
command of the King, since otherwise they would pos-
sess neither influence nor effect. Humboldt thinks
Bunsen would not resist a call hither, even if it was not
official, but only a personal one by the King. The Duke
of Coburg-Gotha desires an enlargement of his territory
and a higher title that of a c King of Ostphalia' is
already proposed. The King jestingly calls him by that
title already. He counts upon England and France,
and willingly flatters and accommodates Bonaparte, who
would meet with little difficulty in being the recog-
nised Protector of a new Rhenish Confederation. So
Humboldt's Letters. , 313
much for Germany and Teutonism. It is betrayed most
assiduously by its sworn defenders. Finally, Humboldt
added: 'When a man has the misfortune to be com-
pelled to live among such wretches as this Gerlach,
Raumer, and the rest who have crept into this
Court.' .... He went from me to the Koethener
Strasse to look at a picture, and left me much excited.
I could not keep in mind and write down one-tenth of
all he said."
Varnhagen adds, on the 12th of August, Humboldt
said of the situation of Prussia, it reminded him of a
trial he once heard in Paris; the lawyer had to ask
damages for a box on the ear, and had exclaimed
triumphantly at the close : " Au fond nous n'avons pas
re9u le soufflet, nous n'avons eu que le geste ! "
160.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
BERLIN, January 13th, 1856.
SMILE, dear friend (you are fully justified !) at the
strange lines of Princess Lieven, and at my troublesome
inquiry. Madame de Quitzow, who has not written to
me for twenty-five years, wants to know, whether the
14
314 Humboldt's Letters.
Emperor Paul, in the epoch of his political insanity,
had made the proposition through Kotzebue, that the
ministers for foreign affairs should measure swords
personally instead of the armies. I was at that time
(1799 and 1800) in the deltas of South America, and was
entirely ignorant of the anecdote which the Russian
Princess now, as it appears to me, so occidental in her
predilections, desires to corroborate. The obscure re-
searches I have made would seem to lead to the result
that the duel was to be waged not by the ministers
but by the monarchs themselves. I pray you, noble
friend, to write me a few lines on what your excellent
memory supplies, and still more I pray you to tell me
consoling words about your health at the return of the
injurious cold weather. Bunsen writes me that he
expects a fourth edition of his letters. Does the great
reading demand for this excellent or rather useful book
indicate that the German public is less chloroformed
against action than we had supposed? Dubito. The
German landlord of a (dicunt) very dirty hotel, which
glories in my name in California for many years beside
a more cleanly one of " Jenny Lind," sends me German
California papers from time to time. In a discourse on
the moral and intellectual state of the English, the \
French, and the Germans, the editor recently said :
" We Germans are a nation of thinkers, deeply occupied
with the world of ideas, we also have the great advan-
Humboldt's Letters. 315
tage before the members of other nations who live here,
that we care little or not at all about civil or political
affairs." Thus we boast on the shores of the Pacific,
buy the " Zeichen der Zeit," but hardly 5 per cent of
us go to the primary elections. It is inconvenient, we
think. With old love and reverence,
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Was not the young Tyrolese very amiable poet Adolf
Pichler (properly speaking a geologist by trade) with
you ? I do not believe in peace during this quite ....
or at least uncomfortable humiliating *
year, though certainly in useless diplomatic transactions.
NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. In the third line stands " Madame de
Quitzow," clearly a mistake instead of " Madame de Lieven." What
may have been the reason that that name, here entirely without mean-
ing, should have protruded itself) cannot be guessed.
LATER NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. The Princess Lieven is closely con-
nected with the late Minister Guizot, they even say secretly married
to him. Guizot, pronounced German easily sounds Quitzow, a well-
known name in the Mark. Humboldt, always inclined to jesting, and
particularly here, may have given her this surname perhaps current
already at the court with full intention. [This is quite right]
* These two words are illegible.
316 Humboldt's Letters.
170.
THE PRINCESS LIEYEN TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, January Sth, 1856.
You have not forgotten me, my dear Baron. I know
that by two kind messages which Baron Brockhausen
brought me from you. I have charged him to testify
my lively gratitude ; but I now prefer to express it
myself. On this occasion, it serves me as the passport
to a question which I take the liberty of addressing
you.
Can you, who know everything, remember the follow-
ing fact? In 1799 or 1800, the Emperor Paul took it
into his head to propose a combat on a tilted field,
where England, Russia, Austria, and I know not what
other power, should adjust their differences by the per-
sons of their Prime Ministers, Pitt, Thugut, etc. The
task of drawing up this invitation was assigned to
Kotzebue, and the article inserted in the "Hamburg
Gazette." This is my very distinct recollection. I
have not dreamed any part of it. Could you complete
the tradition ? I can meet with no one who remembers
it. I have thought you might be able to sustain my
Humboldt's Letters. 317
memory, and I hope so still, for I am suspected of hav-
ing lost my wits.
Paul I. was not such a fool, after all. Do you not
consider the follies of our time much greater ? What
a chaos ? And for what ? . . . .
My dear Baron, J live here in a little intimate circle
of old friends, who are your friends also, and who hold
you in affectionate remembrance. What a pleasure we
should have in seeing you here, and together forgetting
the troubles of the hour ! O that men and things were
worth more at this day ! Is this an old woman's com-
mission with which I trouble you ?
Adieu, my dear Baron. I ask your recollection and
regard, and promise a bountiful return.
Ever yours, THE PEINCESS LIEVEN.
YARNHAGEff TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, January 27^, 1856.
WITH joyful thanks I profit by your Excellency's
goodness in sending me the copy of your beautiful
response to the deputies of the city of Berlin. Were
it not presumption to praise, where praise has already
become a habit and a superfluity, I should say that the
31 8 Humboldt's Letters.
speech is as full of sterling merit as of noble intention.
The brightest passage, to my mind, is the (I hesitate
whether to call it felicitous or masterly) allusion to the
King, in terms so dignified and delicate, so warm and
graceful ; and every pure heart must at once acknow-
ledge, that in this connexion the remark was singularly
appropriate and beautiful. In your Excellency's last
favor, the expression, " Madame de Quitzow," at first
puzzled me a good deal. But I may boast of having
solved the riddle by the power of the head as the
Jews say, where we speak of cudgelling our brains
and am constrained to acknowledge that the little sally
is not only a good joke, but proportionably a mild
measure of punishment. The Grand Duke of Saxe
Weimar desired to see me ; but I found myself chained
down to my rheumatic complaint.
With faithful reverence and most grateful devotion,
unalterably your Excellency's most obedient,
VARNHAGEIST VON ENSE.
173.
HUMBOLDT TO VA.RNHAGEN.
BERLIN, January 28th, 1856.
MY far from dormant ambition has been abundantly
gratified by the grateful praise bestowed by the great
Humboldt's Letters. 319
master of our language (to avoid the expression rheto-
rician), upon my manner of speaking of the King, and
my relations with him. In praising that with which the
party praised is but scantily supplied, we point him to
the honorable road, and justify ourselves before the
people. A man of the woods, who is supposed to have
been tamed at court, is in need of such justification.
Madame Quitzow, whom. I could not sooner obtain from
the King, I now repose in your hands, as your own.
Our former minister, General Thiele, was firmly persuaded
that the Guizots of the neighborhood of Montpellier
were disguised remnants, softened in pronunciation,
Frenchified and Protestantized, of the emigrated Quit-
zo\vs* from Langkloder. And your poor excellent Dora,
who pities all your friends for the sufferings she knows
so well how to alleviate ! Give her my kindest regards.
Your faithful
A. HUMBOLDT.
AT NIGHT.
The Grand Duke, whom you escaped, sends much
love. He has curious theories, probably imbibed some-
where or other (Bosotia was near to ancient Attica),
* A Brandenburg family of the Middle Ages, who came near hang-
ing one of the Electors of Brandenburg, predecessor of the Kings of
Prussia. They were representatives of those " Kobber Knights" who
long successfully resisted the introduction of regular government by
the Electors. Tr.
320 Humboldt's Letters.
and misunderstood. There are two classes of sculptors,
the one inferior, to which Rauch inclines, and which
works inward from without, while the better (repre-
sented by Rietschel) works outward from within. But
what an exposure. Philarete Chasles in the " Journal
des Debats !" I wrote to Paris : " Yulgaire dans les idees
comme dans les formes des langage, indigne d'un litte-
rateur du College de France."
173.
HUMBOLDT TO YAKNHAGEff.
BERLIN, THURSDAY, Feb. 1th, 1856.
As it would be impossible that you, dear friend,
should not have seen the new book by Montalembert
(the friend and companion of the Abbe Lammenais on
his journey to Rome), I hope to give you a little plea-
sure by offering you the King's copy for a few days
(five or six). The only thing racy in it is the conclusion,
levelled at the present state of affairs in France, p. 284
to 298. I wish it were possible to have the whole of it
translated and published in Germany.
Most gratefully yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
How is our excellent Dora doing ? I had a patri-
archal time yesterday until seven o'clock, at Potsdam, at
Humboldt's Letters. 321
a christening of a child of a very handsome and accom-
plished daughter of my Siberian waiting-man's, Seifert,
who,* a traveller named Moellhausen, who, at Baron
Gerolt's and my recommendation, accompanied the
great exploring expedition of Captain W hippie, of San
Luis, San Francisco, and Panama, in the capacity of
topographer and draughtsman for the American Govern-
ment. It is about a year since the King appointed
young Moellhausen custodian of the palace library at
Potsdam.
An excellent article by Laboulaye, on the domestic
Institution, and the flagitious Pierce's extension of the
outrage upon territory, hitherto free, met my eye yes-
terday in the " Journal des Debats," of the 5th of
February, I believe !
Keep the very commonplace verses " Oh, Gentle Jim."
174.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, March 14th, 1856.
TOUR Excellency's kind and precious gift come into
the seclusion forced upon me by the rude relapse of
* ''is married to," evidently omitted in the original Humboldt
took a great interest in Moellhausen, and wrote a preface to his book
on the above journey. Tr.
14*
322 Humboldt's Letters.
winter, brighter and more enlivening than the sun-
beams which accompany them ! Receive my repeated
thanks and the assurance that I know how to appreciate
every one of them, and most of all the beneficent inten-
tion, which remember me so well, and gladden my heart
so cheerily ! The pencil lines of the dying Heine are a
valued keepsake, and shall be continued to be devoutly
treasured in the envelope superscribed by your Excel-
lency. The boon of to-day, the significant combination
of Archimedes and Franklin in reference to their tomb-
stones, I have also read with the warmest appreciation.
I see that you do not dread the wind or the weather,
and that, fortunately, you need not dread them, when a
duty of honor is to be performed. The present time
imposes curious tasks upon us ! The ' death of a chief
of police in a duel is probably unprecedented in the
communities of modern Europe. The summoning of a
Minister of Foreign Affairs to Paris, to attend at the
close of important negotiations, with a box of writing
sand from the Mark,* has also a fabulous aspect. How-
ever, Allah is great !
In the most faithful reverence and most grateful
devotion, I remain immutably
Your Excellency's most obedient,
YABNHAGEN VON ENSE.
* The Mark Brandenburg, a very sandy province, sometimes face-
tiously called the sand-box of the Holy Roman Empire. TV.
Humboldt's Letters. 323
175.
HTJMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BEKLIN, April Uth, 1856.
I COULD not but speak, being the Nestor of Prussian
mining officials, and prone to boast of my calling. My
reliance upon your indulgence, dear and worthy friend, is
so great, that I am emboldened to send even you a copy
of these unimportant lines. Count B. deserved this
praise. Free from opinion of any kind, he is useful to
the art of mining, and still occupies himself with scien-
tific pursuits since he has resigned the direction.
With unshaken constancy, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
NOTE BY VABXHAGEN. Enclosed was the address delivered at the
fiftieth anniversary of the entrance into the royal miners of his
Excellency the Actual Privy Councillor and Captain of Miners, Count
Beust. April 9th, 1856.
324 Humboldt's Letters.
176.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September llth, 1856.
KNOWING the warm interest you take, ray dear
friend, in the slavery question, and in what concerns
myself, I send you the last letter of Gerolt, which was
very long in coming, but which will certainly command
your attention. Most unfortunately Buchanan will be
the next President, and not Fremont, the traveller of
great acquirements, who has four times travelled* the
land route to San Francisco, surveying the country over
which he passed, to whom it is owing that California did
become a free State. Do not return the letter, nor
the enclosure. On the heels of this African absurdity
comes another folly, of a more serious cast, though
richly fraught with ridicule, not royalistic so much as
aristocratically Bernese, and spiced with a little railroad
speculation as to whether the route by the way of
Neufchatel or that by way of Chaux de Fonds is to be
preferred ! And the heroic Count,* who executes the
coup d'etat a 1# Napoleon, whence did he derive his
* Pourtales, conspicuous in the Neufchatel embroglio. 7h
Humboldt's Letters. 325
inspiration ? From Berlin, while we have a minister at
the Diet, whom at this day we pretend never to have
recognised. How are these things to be reconciled ?
"We shall have a similar fate with our three ultramarine
possessions, the Jade, the Zollern, discovered by Colum-
bus Stillfried, and Neufchatel. I feel for the Constanti-
nopolitan Pourtales, who finds himself involved in an
awkward conflict between his dynasty (the Prussian
earldom) and his official liberalism. It is fortunate that
the mouth of the English Parliament is still closed.
Your faithful A. v. HUMBOLDT.
177.
THE PRUSSIAN MINISTER RESIDENT, YON GEROLT,
TO HUMBOLDT.
NEW YORK, August 25th, 1856.
My MOST DEAK AND HONORED PATRON!
Since my last letter to your Excellency, of the 8th
inst., I was made happy by your favor of the 27th of
July, from which I learn, with the most sincere regret,
of your temporary indisposition. For the information
it contains I return your Excellency my most hearty
thanks, and hasten to comply with your wish by send-
ing two extracts from papers published here (the " New
326 Humboldt's Letters.
York Herald" and the " Courrier des. Etats Unis"),
containing your publication on the subject of slavery in
Cuba, as well as the excuse published by Mr. Thrasher,
which is, it must be confessed, exceedingly lame.
The affair has excited great attention here, and could
not but be welcome to the opponents of slavery, who
have made Fremont their candidate.
Some days ago, his German supporters, many thou-
sands in number, held a mass meeting in his support,
and honored him with a splendid torch-light procession
in the evening.
The slavery question is becoming more alarming from
day to day. While the House of Representatives
refuse to appropriate moneys for the support of the
army, news is daily coming in from Kansas of bloody
conflicts between the free-soilers and the slaveholders.
It is hoped, however, that after the presidential election
(in November), domestic peace will be restored.
The unwholesome climate in Washington has driven
me out for a few days, as the heat was intolerable last
month, and now the fever and ague begins.
I am going to Albany to-day, to attend the meeting
of naturalists to which I have been invited. I expect
to meet a number of savans of distinction there, and to
report the details to your Excellency hereafter.
Mr. Heine is very much delighted with the expression
of your Excellency in his favor.
Humboldt's Letters. 327
Mr. C and the beau moncle have retreated to the
mountains and the sea-baths long ago, and I shall not
see him for three or four weeks to come.
Mr. Fillmore would be the best President ; but he ap-
pears to have little hope of succeeding against Fremont
and Buchanan ; and theKnownothings have lost all credit.
My poor wife and children are counting the hours
which must elapse before my return, and I am not less
anxious to find all that is dear to me again in the
country of my home, next year, at the close of the
Congress.
The approaching departure of the mail for England
compels me to close this letter, which I do with the
most heartfelt wishes for your Excellency's continued
well-being.
With immutable reverence and affection, I remain
your Excellency's most devoted GEEOLT.
178.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, September 13ih, 1856.
THE great influence of the name of your Excellency in
the United States, as in America in general, is a gratify-
ing sign of the improvement of those countries in civiliza-
tion, and a sure pledge of the ultimate triumph of the
328 Humboldt's Letters.
philanthropic principles which you have consistently
advocated through the course of a long and eventful
life. I thank you heartily for the letter of M. v. Gerolt,
and its printed inclosure, which will be a valuable addi-
tion to my collections. At this moment, it is true, the
chances of Fremont are a little doubtful ; nevertheless
the latest accounts represent the zeal of his supporters
as very great and by no means hopeless.
Our domestic events domestic in their origin though
the scene be laid abroad it would be more agreeable to
pass in silence, as it is difficult to find the proper expres-
sion with which to characterize them, and impracticable
to make use of those expressions when found. The
most consoling observation to be made is that of unani-
mous condemnation on all hands, where there are no
private ends to gain. For the veritable Prussian of the
good old school such things as Jade, Neufchatel, and
even Zollern, are at all times nothing but distractions,
having no legitimate concern with the core of the Prus-
sian state. In regard to Neufchatel, I fear that a
momentary favorable nod of France is over valued, and
will lead to inextricable entanglements ; Reynard* is apt
to incite his friends to dangerous adventures ; the escape
from them is their affair, and he takes a malicious plea-
sure in looking on.
* The Fox, i. e. Louis Napoleon. Tr
Humboldt's Letters. 329
The other day Lady Bettina von Arnim contributed to
my collections near a thousand autographs. One of the
most valuable is a letter from your Excellency to Lud-
wig Achim von Arnim, on petrifactions ; it is not dated,
but I refer it to the third decade of the present century.
I well know on what day I write these lines. It pre-
cedes the day more widely and more enthusiastically
celebrated than any other. May it please your Excel-
lency to accept the modest tribute of my warm good
wishes with kind favor! In faithful reverence and
grateful devotion,
Your Excellency's most obedient,
VABNHAGEN vox ENSE.
17Q.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September 22d, 1856.
THE Grand Duke of Weimar, who has just left, com-
missions me to beg of you as a particular favor, the
permission for him to visit you to-morrow (on Tuesday)
between nine and eleven o'clock. He is determined to
see you in person.
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
MONDAY.
330 Humboldt's Letters.
ISO.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Sept. 23d, 1856.
CHER ET introuvdble AMI !
How the improbable can become real ! How royal
huntsmen and royal coachmen cannot find you, cannot
look for your direction in the prosaic directory. I send
this direction at this moment to the Grand Duke, who
has the anguish of having detained my revered friend.
May he be more fortunate in a new attempt. The
enclosed sheet is a Berlin curiosity for your archives.
Faithfully yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
TUESDAY, 2 O'CLOCK.
181.
(ENCLOSED.)
GRAND DUKE CHARLES ALEXANDER OF SAXE WEIMAR
TO HUMBOLDT.
AT THE CHATEAU OP BERLIN,
Tuesday Morning.
HAD I had the skill of the Marquis of St. Germain,
of whom, if I am not mistaken, it is told that one fine
Humboldt's Letters. 331
morning he departed through four gates at one and the
same time, I could not have been more desirous to find
M. von Varnhagen than I was. Nevertheless, it was
all in vain. No one could tell me where he lived, and it
was of no use to take the measure of the " Mauren-
strasse." Nature having made me the most obstinate of
all Grand Dukes, I still persist in my intention to see
the invisible, and hasten to attain that consummation by
requesting your Excellency to tell me where M. de
Varnhagen actually does live. Pardon my repeated
importunities ; but in conscience I know of no route
which could be shorter or more direct. I remain, with
the inextinguishable attachment of the most devoted
admiration and veneration for your Excellency,
CHARLES ALEXANDER.
183.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BEELIN, September 24ft, 1856.
YOUR EXCELLENCY :
You have had not a little trouble on my account
lately, which I lament with shame. Most of all I regret
having missed your kind visit, which is always an honor
as well as a good fortune. That the Grand Duke could
332 Humboldt's Letters.
not find me yesterday, although he drove up and down
the Maurenstrasse, and made several inquiries, would
be incomprehensible if the servants of a Court were not
a very peculiar fraternity. It is nearly thirty years that
I have resided in the largest house in the street, which
the Grand Duke himself has entered in visiting Prince
Wilhelm of Baden. To-day, however, he arrived punc-
tually at eight o'clock, was very pleasant and aifable,
spoke with a good deal of frankness and much cordiality,
and mentioned your Excellency with great esteem and
gratitude. His real errand did not appear until his
visit came to a close ; in referring him to me, your
Excellency has done me great honor, but you have also
involved me in no inconsiderable perplexity. The affair
is of great importance, and may lay the foundation for
the happiness of a worthy man ; the wish itself is credi-
table to the Grand Duke, and it will give me great
pleasure in any way to subserve his noble purpose. I
shall take it into consideration, and, if a result is attain-
able, shall respectfully submit it to your Excellency.
At the first blush, I named young H., which, however,
led to nothing, the Grand Duke doubting the extent
of his acquaintance with the French language. The
visit lasted nearly an hour, and much that was said
was remarkable; my share in the conversation must
have been unpleasant, at least the physical part of it,
which is entirely ruined and quite unintelligible from
Humboldt's Letters. 333
coughing; influenza, and rheumatic compression of the
chest.
With the best wishes for your Excellency's welfare, I
remain in profound reverence and gratitude,
Your obedient YAENHAGKN voif ENSE.
183.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, Sep. 24th, 1856.
BEFORE I bury myself again for some days in Pots-
dam, a sacrifice to the Queen and to her solitude, I
shall, dear friend, justify the Grand Duke and myself.
The Grand Duke visited you, which honors him, not to
consult you, but out of respect for your fine talents and
your character, because he had, as he said, inherited the
idea from his house, that one must see two men in
Berlin, you and me. That we must both accept with
gratitude as an inheritance from the old gentleman
and the Imperial Highness, who is a worthy lady. He
had not at all the idea to speak with you of what he
seeks and never will find (equal inclination for science
and poetry, history of geographical discoveries, art,
painting, gems and sculpture, refined social manners,
fluent French speaking and writing, also reading aloud).
That bantling is yet unborn. I sai^j^aviserai^ and quite
334 Humboldt's Letters.
casually I added, that I would ask your opinion. Only
when taking leave, which he introduced officially by
very far-fetched phrases on the "noble grey-haired
youth," he asked me whether it would be contrary to
my wishes to submit the problem to you also. The
visit had for its motive the manifestation of inherited
reverence, and a desire to produce an effect, which must
be connected with some self-denial at eight o'clock in
the morning, on the day of departure. To vaccinate
him with our excellent H., we might send the latter for
four months to Paris and London ; but would a mind
like H.'s put up with it ? J*en doubte.
Most cordially, your A. v. HUMBOLDT.
WEDNESDAY.
Gerlach intends to separate himself from the King,
and to oust Reyher, whereby he would still remain quite
near the King, ay, even nearer than at present, for the
cause of little animosities (electricity from contact) would
then disappear.
184.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
POTSDAM, November 9th, 1856.
I FORGOT to inform you, my revered friend, that I
fulfilled punctually your wish to send to Weimar the
Humboldt's Letters. 335
letter you addressed me, and to recommend urgently
the proposed "Private Secretary," and all this a few
days after I knew your intention.
A German letter from Prince Metternich, expressing
sentiments full of graceful language, will interest you.
I present you the letter for your archival collection
The occasion was a moulding in plaster and copy,
partly by the Prince's own hand, of an old Egyptian
column of granite, which he had received twenty-five
years ago from Mehemed Ali. The old Prince gave me
this copy, three-fourths of a foot in height, to decipher
the long inscription in Demotic writing. This has been
done by Dr. Brugsch, the talented young Egyptologist,
author of a Demotic Grammar, universally admired in
other countries. Dr. Brugsch, who had the first edition
of his Grammar printed in Latin, when he was still in
the first class of August's Gymnasium* (the second
edition is written in French), has found a good deal of
very remarkable astronomy in the inscription; and in
order to give pleasure to the old Prince, Brugsch has
published the whole under the name of " Stele. Metter-
nich," in the " Journal for the Orient," and in the
" Athenee." Brugsch was in Egypt for two years, at
the expense of the King; he is the son of a poor
sergeant, and is familiar with Greek, Arabic, Hebrew,
Coptic, and Persian.
* The Koelnische Gymnasium, Berlin, of which August was director.
336 Humboldt's Letters.
Pardon my horrid writing, illegible, and in wild,
incorrect style.
The letter of the maccaroni King* to Louis Philippe,
in the " Spenersche Zeitung," will not have escaped you,
I hope. Non v'a bisogno entirely as Rochow-Seiffart
(in his first manner) to the Elbingers : " It is not at all
necessary that my people think ; I think for them ; the
people, who have betrayed me so often, submit to my
power."
Your faithful A. HUMBOLDT.
185.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
KOENIGSWART, October 14^, 1856.
MY OLD FKIEND ! I received gratefully the informa-
tion on the stele which Herr Brugsch calls by my name,
and I beg of you to hand over to the learned investi-
gator the words you find inclosed. After my return to
Vienna, I shall avail myself of the interpretation, already
so instructive, of the monument, to point out the way
* The King of Naples, known in this country as King Bomba.
In Naples the best maccaroni is manufactured. "Was this letter
really directed to Louis Philippe, or was there not a mistake in
the name? Was not Louis Philippe dead before that time?
Translator.
Humboldt's Letters. 337
to archaeologists in which they may obtain copies, by
an advertisement. I did not doubt that I could not
do better than to address you for light on the scientific
value of the present of Mehemed Ali, which for many
years slept in my multifarious collections, and of which
I was quite ignorant. May you and Herr Brugsch
receive my most sincere thanks.
I have had the good fortune to find the King in
excellent health, and in the usual kind disposition
towards myself. Great recollections in long lives are a
fine bond between man and man, the power of which
is well tried when it has resisted the storms of time.
It is more than half a century since my first intercourse
with the young heir-apparent. What vicissitudes have
occupied this long, interval is matter of history. That
they have never deprived me of the confidence of the
two kings, father and son, is with me a source of pride
that is to say, of a sensation which the term peace of
mind and heart would better characterize than the
unsafe word that has escaped my pen.
You, three years my senior, have just celebrated
your eighty-seventh birthday. That you and I have
understood " the art of living," we -may confess. That
we shall do well to cultivate it still longer, is not to be
denied.
With sincere friendship and esteem,
METTERNICH.
15
338 Humboldt's Letters.
ise.
HUMBOLDT TO YABNHAGEN.
BERLIN, November 20$,, 1856.
I WANT your literary aid, my noble friend. Our great
landscape painter, Hildebrandt, who was in Brazil, Ca-
nada, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, and recently at the North
Cape, has executed an admirable aquarelle picture of my
" Interior Household," in order to replace a smaller one
sold in many hundreds of copies in America. " La renom-
mee, fruit d'une longue patience de vivre, augmente arec
I'imbecilite." I am compelled to make an inscription to
this picture of mine, with my own hand. This is no
easy task. I pray that you will visit me on Saturday, at
one o'clock, if it is possible to you. You shall guide me.
Your most grateful
THURSDAY. A. v. HFMBOLDT.
137.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, November 21st, 1856.
I YESTERDAY prayed, dear friend, that you should
mnke me the pleasure of your visit on Saturday. I
Humboldt's Letters. 339
pray today that you will not come ; I hear with sorrow
that you suffer much. The great picture of Hildebrandt
remains yet a long time in my house. Every later day
will also be useful to me. I only beg of you that you
will kindly announce to me the day, beforehand, on
which I may expect you. Choose the twelfth hour,
under any circumstances, because I am sure to be free
then. I also am in a condition in which I desire to run
out of my skin.* As an old man, I suffer as from
musquito bites ; and moreover, a hyper-christian, Mr.
Foster (living at Brussels), consults me from time to
time, whether I believe that the souls of the lower ani-
mals, such as bed-bugs and musquitoes, are included in
the scheme of salvation, and destined to go to heaven.
So they threaten me up there too, where I shall find the
animal souls, well known to me from the Orinoco,
chanting a hymn of praise.
In old friendship, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
FRIDAY.
And the disgraceful party which sells negro children,
and distributes canes of honor, as the Russian Emperor
does swords of honor, and Graefe's noses of honor, who
prove that all white workmen should rather be slaves
than free have succeeded. What a crime !
* A German proverbial expression for feeling very uncomfortable.
Tr.
340 Humboldt's Letters.
Nov. 22d, 1856. Yarnhagen writes in his diary:
"I started at half-past 12 o'clock, and drove to Hum-
boldt in the pouring rain. He was rejoiced at my
coming, and soon led me to an adjoining room, where
hung Hildebrandt's great aquarelle picture, in a frame ;
an excellent picture, indeed, in the rich variety of which
the sitting figure of Humboldt predominates. Now
came the question about the inscription to be chosen for
it. I had rightly expected that he did not so much
expect propositions from me, as my approval of those
chosen by him already. Contrary to my expectation,
no short sentence, but a longer speech, a rhetorical com-
position, which happily compares the searching traveller
with the returned man of science. Some alterations
were approved in the beginning, but disapproved again
in the end. Hildebrandt gave the picture not to Herr
von Humboldt, but to his valet Seiffert. It is to be
engraved. We looked at the rooms, in three of them ;
his apparatus of study is strewn about ; all three
warmed to 19 degrees Reaumur, an intolerable tem-
perature for me. A library hall not warmed. Pictures
painted by Madame Gaggiotti, whose talents he praised
highly ; he wondered and rejoiced that I knew her too.
He complained of itching ; I said it was a well-known
complaint, pruritus. " Senilis," he immediately added.
In a box he had a living chameleon, which he showed
me, and of which he said, that it was the only animal
Humboldt's Letters. 341
which was able to direct one of its eyes upwards, and
at the same time the other downwards ; that our
parsons only were able to do the same, with one eye
directed to heaven and the other to the good things of
this world. We talked of Neufchatel too ; he said that
the King was full of good hopes, and counted upon
Louis Bonaparte ; that Manteuffel did not see things in
such a favorable light, but made merry of them. The
Russian Chancellor, Graf von ISTesselrode, said to Hum-
boldt on his last visit, that the present constitution and
position of Switzerland made the best impression on
him, and were such as to win esteem and favor for the
republic.
188.
HUMBOLDT TO VAENHAGEN.
BERLIN, November 30$, 1856.
ESTEEMED FKIEXD:
AT this moment I receive a letter from a pupil,
deserving of moderate praise for clearness of thought
and diction. I shall not write before having first come
to see you, my dear friend. The last fifteen lines of the
letter are utterly illegible and unintelligible to me. I had
written to him about the laying of the telegraph cable
between Ireland and Newfoundland, but had not made
him any offer. I cannot read what is underscored!
342 Humboldt's Letters.
Keep my pupil's letter by all means, including the infor-
mation that I am the subject of discussion in the Belgian
Chambers, as a materialist and republican, who ought to
be discharged ! "Where the dinner of the Baron d'Arhim
(Arnim) took place, I cannot guess. I may have said,
that I was as liberal as Arago, but certainly not that I
was a Republican. Deposit M. Jobard in your archives,
my friend,
Your faithful, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SUNDAY.
What men believe and disbelieve does not generally
become a subject of contention until after they have
been officially buried and bepreached by Sydow.*
The " Spenersche Zeitung," besides discussing Neuf-
chatel and the evacuation of the Danubian principalities,
contains a daily health return about five little silkworms
of Fintelmann, the court gardener. How all things
diminish in importance! I have often written letters
dated from the hill of Sans Souci, which formerly was
historical. Now the Peacock's Island becomes historical
by the still life of two caterpillars. Thus the world moves.
It must be remembered that when the Angora goats
made illustrious the administration of Richelieu in
France, the Moniteur contained the announcement : " Le
moral des chevres s'ameliore de jour en jour."
* A fashionable preacher in Berlin. Tr.
Humboldt's Letters. 343
188.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR,
TO HUMBOLDT.
WEIMAB, November 29^ 1856.
As I fortunately have the honor to be known, truly
known to your Excellency, I may flatter myself that you
will not estimate my gratitude for your services and
those of M. de Varnhagen, by the length of time which
has elapsed since the day I received your letter of the
31st, and the present time. My sincere thanks shall
here receive a place. They have been delayed by the
very nature of the transaction. Such could not but be
the effect, for in an affair of that kind it is impossible
to form a sudden resolution, and accordingly I now
write for the sole purpose of not appearing ungrateful,
and because, on the other hand, it is necessary to secure
the possibility of forming a fixed resolve. To do this I
must have time and freedom of election. Both are secured
by the kindness of yourself and M. Yarnhagen, for you
join in proposing to send the young man so as to enable
me in the first place to make his acquaintance. The
question arises, when can this be done ? for I do not
care to begin by calling * * * here with the trombone
344 Humboldt's Letters.
of an appointment. Nothing remains, therefore, but to
beg your Excellency to make inquiries at what time the
gentleman would be at leisure and inclined to undertake
a journey to the bank of the Jim. Having asked this
question, I would pause above all things, in order to
proceed to the expression of my thanks for the important
news you have the goodness to communicate. If I add
the question, whether your Excellency will kindly send
me the map for an admiring inspection, and if you should
possibly find this question wonderfully troublesome, I
take refuge under the shelter of your goodness to me,
which has often made me proud, and to-day, perhaps,
indiscreet. Yet I am proud of your goodness, which
is ever coupled with truth, and in the latter I put my
trust, that you will decisively reject my petition, if it
troubles you, to whom, in reverence, I remain the most
grateful scholar,
CHARLES ALEXANDER.
190.
JOBARD TO HUMBOLDT.
BRUSSELS, November 26^ 1856.
MONSIEUR LE BARON:
PERHAPS you will not be displeased to learn the role
Humboldt's Letters. 345
you have been made to play in the unfortunate debate
of our religious politics.
The old Minister Dechamps, who sat on your right at
the dinner of the Baron of Arhim, and who was so much
astonished at hearing you say that you were as much of
a Republican as your friend Arago, having associated
your name with those of the illustrious believers who
profess the Catholic faith, a liberal journal this morning
answered him as follows :
" M. Dechamps, in the last homily delivered by him
in the Chamber, cited the name of M. de Humboldt to
prove that science could well be made subservient to the
creed. It must be admitted, as Mr. Devaux showed,
that the example could not have been worse chosen.
M. de Humboldt is one of those rationalists, pure and
simple, against whom M. Dechamps has already written
so many letters. If M. Humboldt had taught in Bel-
gium he would most certainly have been pursued in
pastoral letters, and discharged by M. Dechamps, if M.
Dechamps had been the Minister. Nevertheless, it is
thus that history is written, and thus that the most
important questions of our intellectual and moral future
are appreciated !"
Here is another unmixed and undisguised political
opinion :
" As often and so sure as you base your church upon
human obtuseness, the gates of the mind will not pre-
15*
346 Humboldt's Letters.
vail against it, because there will always be consummate
fools, old fools, and little fools, to uphold and repair it.
Pure reason has not the same chance."
Yours, ever devotedly,
JOBABD.
191.
LINES BY YARNHAGEN ON HILDEBRANDT'S PAINTING
OF HUMBOLDT'S APARTMENTS, AND THE MOTTO
ATTACHED.
(TRANSLATED BY CHARLES GOEPP, ESQ., AT EASTON, PA.)
THIS was the latest, the peaceful home, where the mighty explorer,
Early ascender of summits, reposed on the heights of his glory.
Hall of the Castle of Knowledge, the limner has deftly restored thee I
Lofty and light, rich hung with trophies of noble endeavor ;
Treasures of nature and art, and of love, and the weapons of science.
While in the midst sits, earnestly glad, thoughtfully commanding
All the profusion around, himself thy sovereign, breathing
Speech and significant life into every shape of the picture ;
Plying the wonderful shuttle of thought, until it produces,
Painting and painted at once, fresh images, brighter and brighter.*
YARNHAGEN VON ENSE.
BERLIN, December 1st, 1856.
* Spaetes Daheim des einst in ruestig kaempfender Jugend
Weitgewanderten Forschers, der, gleichwie Hoehen der Erde,
Hoehen des Ruhmes erstieg, hat dargestellt uns der Maler,
Schoen, reich ausgestattet mit heriiichen Schoetzen des Wissens :
Humboldt's Letters. 347
103.
HUMBOLDT TO VAKNHAGEN.
BERLIN, December 3d, 1856. *
So my pedestrian prose has led you back, my friend,
to the regions of the noblest of rhythms ! It would
make me proud, if the universe were not entitled to
your favor. With even more modesty than the poor^
for whose benefit the old man with the moss-grown
beard* exhibits himself for the small compensation of
five silver groschen. With what excellent taste you
have transferred the English " home" into " Daheim."
Indescribably beautiful is your poetry, full of grace
"Werke der Kunst, der Natur, und Schrift und Geraeth des
Gelehrten.
Aber ibn selbst inmitten des neidenswerthen Besitzthums
Seheu wir froh sein Reich mit sinnigem Blicke beherrschen,
Deutende Sprache verleihen dem wundervollen Gemaelde,
Durch lichtvoller Gedanken beredsam gluckliche Fiigung
Schaffend ein neues Bild, ein geistiges, staunendem Anschaun I
* Bemoostes Haupt is an expression often applied to a student who
has grown grey without passing an examination, and which, in this
connexion, has an effect at once humorous and pathetic, which is
inimi table. Tr.
348 Humboldt's Letters.
and delicacy, and of a solemn monition of what should
have been extracted from nature and art, and the
weapon of science. If my brother William, who, in
his correspondence with Wolf, discoursed so largely on
lax and severe hexameters, could but have lived to
witness this family honor !
.Your advice, even when not clothed in verse, is law
to me. I shall follow it at once ; and you have made
matters a great deal easier than they were. Aleajacta
sit ! Could you, perhaps, dear friend, transfer the last
ten syllables (or lines) of the Grand Ducal letter into
your classic chirography, so as possibly to enable me to
guess what it is that I am understood to have promised.
Fremont's portrait reminds one vividly of Chateau-
briand. A biography of the former has just appeared
in New York, dedicated to me " Memoirs of the Life
and Public Services of John Charles Fremont, by John
Bigelow (?)." The dedication says : " To Alexander von
Humboldt this memoir of one whose genius he was
among the first to discover and acknowledge, is respect-
fully inscribed by the author." Delicate words, a little
artificially combined. There is a copy of the letter
written to him from Sans Souci, in the King's name, in
1850, accompanying the great prize medal for science
and art, upon his having projected the most extensive
barometrical level ever executed, from Missouri to the
South Sea. It closes with the words of which Sans
Humboldt's Letters. 349
Souci has no reason to be ashamed : " La Calif ornie r
qui a NOBLEMENT rcsiste & Tintroduction de Vesclavage^
sera dignement representee par un ami de la liberte
et des progres de V intelligence."* The biography has
passages of a strange romantic interest. At one *lime
cold and hunger have driven a party to fury and almost
phrensy, when they all pray and sjng, and then an oath
from Fremont that there shall not in any case be a resort
to cannibalism. As soon as my own curiosity is satis-
fied I shall send you the book. For the present, you
may occupy yourself with the miracle performed by the
chaplain of an army division in Magdeburg, on a Mr.
Assemann, in Quedlinburg. I have lighted upon it in
my capacity of naturalist. It is to be found on p. 34.
Gratefully yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
NOTE BY VARXHAGEN. The water color paintings by Hildebrandt,
that of Humboldt among them, were exhibited in the hall of the Art
Union, for the benefit of the poor. Price of admission, five silber-
groschen.f
Suicide a Folly and a Crime ; Two Sermons by Dr. Crusius, Chap-
lain of a Division of the Army: Magdeburg, 1855. 8vo. The miracle
consists in this, that one, who under the qualms of a guilty conscience,
was long occupied with thoughts of suicide, was suddenly cured of
them, permanently, by an invocation of the name of Jesus. The
* California, which has nobly resisted the introduction of slavery,
will be worthily represented by a Mend of liberty and of the progress
of intelligence.
f About eleven cents.
350 Humboldt's Letters.
production is also remarkable as containing, on p. 34, the following
allusion to Schleiermacher : "It is said of a distinguished divine,
that he was once sorely tempted to commit suicide. Such is the
influence which suffering of body and mind may exercise even upon
good and godly men."
103.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, December 11th, 1856.
ANOTHER grateful, unconstrained, and amiable letter
from the Grand Duke. He fixes February for the visit,
and desires the drama to open with a request to search
the archives. The permission being given, the material
part is to follow, as he says, symbolically. You will
arrange that with care, my dear friend. We are
approaching the goal of our wishes.
I have another funeral to-morrow at the column in
Tegel, which, under the hand of Thorwalsden, promises
Hope. The oldest niece (daughter) of my brother, the
wife of General Hedemann, born in Paris in 1800, a few
days after Madame von Humboldt's return from Spain,
has departed after much suffering (liver complaint
connected with dropsy), an amiable, cheerful house.
Humboldt's Letters. 351
wife, who enjoyed good health for forty years in a
very happy marriage. I live to bury all my kith
and kin.
Yours, A. v. H.
WEDNESDAY EVENING.
104.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR,
TO HUMBOLDT.
WEIMAR, December 16^, 1856.
LIKE unto Nature, eternally invoked, eternally giving,
because eternally bountiful, you respond with ever
returning goodness to every repeated solicitation. The
proposal of your Excellency in regard to the young man
of science, as suggested by the plan of M. de Yarnhagen,
is so excellent, that I can only beg for its speedy execu-
tion. For that purpose, it would seem desirable that
M. de Varnhagen should instil the idea into the young
men that our plentiful archives would repay a thorough
search, if I could be induced to sanction it. I would do
so at once, permitting the material part to follow here-
after. The period beginning with February of next
year would seem to me best adapted for the literary
investigation. The real object of the journey should
352 Humboldt's Letters.
remain a secret, so that I shall be entirely at liberty to
see him, to appoint him, or not to appoint him.
I thank you with all my heart for that printed inclo-
sure. This task also, by no means an easy one, you have
performed with a master hand, and could do so better
than any one else, because you, more than most men,
have spoken to the world by noble actions.
I shall appropriate the Journal of Petermann. My
veneration for you is the pledge of the effective truth of
my aspirations. I beg you to preserve your interest in
it, and your goodness also, being your most grateful
admirer and servant,
CHARLES ALEXANDER.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEK
BERLIN, Feb. 7 to, 1857.
WHEN I read anything in Berlin that enlists my poli-
tical or literary attention, my first thought is of you.
Lasaulx of Munich, of Baader's tribe, was only known to
me as a man of the " Kreuz Zeitung" and of Schubert's
World of Darkness, and the new historical work he
sends me contains little originality of views, but it mani-
fests, by way of allusion, a wealth of positive know-
Humboldt's Letters. 353
ledge, which I had not expected of the man. Numerous
citations indicate a great preference for the views of my
brother. The Slavonic passage in regard to the Messiah
is also remarkable, and the notes present a rich collec-
tion of antiquities. I should not look for anything of
the sort from President Gerlach and his brother, to
whom Professor Gelzer of Basle, and others, of opinions
opposite to his, have been officially referred in the
Neufchatel negotiations. If Lasaulx is not agreeable to
you on account of his wishes for the restoration of the
ancient German empire, you may find it interesting to
skim over the work, and glance at the notes.
My cutaneous disease is much better, as also my noc-
turnal diligence. The fourth and last volume of Kos-
mos will consist of two pans, i. 6., of two volumes, each
of thirty-five sheets, the first of which has already left
the press. Both the parts, however, are to appear
together, to avoid spoiling the effect of a continuous
description, beginning with the internal warmth of the
earth, and ending with the different races of man.
The presumptuous want of caution with which the
pitiful Neufchatel affair is carried on here, exposes Prus-
sia to great humiliation at Paris. Waterloo will be
avenged on Prussia as it has been on Russia.
Yours most truly,
A. v. HT.
354 Humboldt's Letters.
ise.
VABNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, Feb. 9th, 1857.
YOUR Excellency will receive, accompanying this,
with my most hearty thanks, the book so kindly lent
me. I have read it with varied emotions, I might say
with painful interest. True, the author makes conces-
sions, and opens up points of view, which I should not
have expected any more than the luxurious learning of
his manifold citations. But the pretty collection of
notes fails to mantle the kernel of the text, which is
extremely bitter; the apology of negro slavery, the
brutal praise of warfare and of standing armies, and the
beneficence of aristocratic revolutions, in spite of his
far-fetched compliments, which look like invitations to
be converted, the author really offers nothing but the
fare of the " Kreuz Zeitung," in a preparation somewhat
more delicate han that of Professor Leo, whose " mire of
cultivation " and " scrofulous rabble " are here cooked
up with spices. Latet anguis in herba! I must say
that I always take the alarm when philosophers under-
take to measure the course and the stage of human
development, and to combine the meagre dates of our
Humboldt's Letters. 355
puny history, of at most a few thousand years, with
laws for the possibilities of millions of years. Neither
Fichte, nor Schelling, nor Steffens, nor Hegel, were par-
ticularly fortunate in their essays ; the assignment of
the ages is best left to the poets. What is especially
singular in our author is that he confesses to a strong
doubt of his own doctrine, for he " cannot practically
renounce the national Ideal of a restored emperor and
empire, although his theoretical faith in their realization
is slight" (p. 157). One who writes thus has written
his own sentence. A friendly answer at the hands of
your Excellency the author may hope to receive, an
approving one you will not be able to give him.
To hear that your welfare, your activity, your energy,
continue unaltered and progressive, is refreshing and
encouraging to us authors, who stand in need of great
example to protect us from flagging in our daily work,
oXfyov rs (jp/Xov rs. The views of the new volume of
Kosmos give me great delight, and, as Schiller said when
Goethe produced one of his masterpieces, " I thank the
gods that they have suffered me to live to see it."
The Neufchatel affair, even hi its present stage, has in
it much that is disheartening, and I was from the first
opposed to our negotiations at Paris, which had all the
appearance of snares, in which much may yet be entan
gled. The zeal displayed by many is not at all sincere,
but seems an excellent means for the attainment of
356 Humboldt's Letters.
other ends, and will probably be successful. Never-
theless, I am without anxiety for the future, the light
cannot be extinguished and must triumph ; it is only
the moment of darkness that is hard to bear.
With the best wishes, in the greatest veneration and
devotion,
I remain your Excellency's most obedient,
VAENHAGEN VON ENSE.
197-
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, February 20th, 1857.
WILL your Excellency pardon me for trespassing on
your valuable time a moment ? Not for myself, but for
a literary project from which I cannot withhold my
personal interest, if only on the score of old acquaintance!
Professor Francis Hoffmann, of Wuerzburg, is engaged
upon the publication of the works of Francis von Baader,
which he pursues with self-sacrificing perseverance. I
may say against wind and tide. He is about closing the
enterprise with a sketch of the life of his author, and is
anxious not to pass over unmentioned the fact, that
Baader attended the Mining Academy at Freiberg, at
the same time with your Excellency. It would be in-
Humboldt's Letters. 357
valuable to him to obtain a word of reference to the
matter from yourself, a bare hint as to whether any
relation of moment took place between you, or whether
he made any impression upon you ? I would not pre-
sume to trouble your Excellency, if I did not take for
granted that either a memento, or the contents of a
single line, would dispose of the matter !
The crowd and your Excellency's early departure
prevented me from making my salutation at the Artists'
Festival. It is more than twenty years since I have
ventured into such deep waters.
Strange reports are in circulation. I hope it is only
a jest that presents M. Niebuhr as the Future Minister
of finance, and M. Wagener as Privy Councillor, with a
seat in the cabinet.
With a repeated request of your indulgence, I remain,
with the most profound esteem, and in the most sincere
devotion,
Your Excellency's most obedient,
VABNHAGEX VON ENSE.
On Humboldt's attack of sickness, Yarnhagen's diary
of February 27, 1857, contains the following: "M.
Hermann Grimm called, coming from Humboldt's apart-
ments, where he had conversed with Seiffert, the valet.
It is not a cold that has befallen Humboldt, but a far
more serious attack, a paralytic stroke. After the court
358 Humboldt's Letters.
ball oh Tuesday evening he felt unwell, in the night he
left his bed to drink some water wished to avoid dis-
turbing the servant and fell upon the floor. Seiffert
awoke with the noise, and found his master speechless
and unconscious ; it was some time before he revived.
Privy Councillor Schoenlein is not sanguine; he had
not a very good night.
Humboldt's loss would be irreparable. He is a coun-
terpoise to so much that is mean and contemptible, which,
after his death, would boldly seek the light and glory in
its own depravity. The honor and influence of science
are embodied in him, and both would sink if he were
taken away. There is not now a name in Germany, or
in Europe, like his, not an influence in Berlin more exten-
sive or more generally recognised than his. And how
painful would his loss be to me ! His name and his inter-
course is attached to fifty years of my life, he has known
those who were near and dear to us of old !
Under March 14th, Varnhagen narrates in his diary :
" When the King was with Humboldt, Schoenlein said
to the latter, that he would not be able for some time
to stand firmly on his left side, to which Humboldt
rejoined : i For all that, it will not be necessary for me
to sit on the right with Gerlach.' "*
* Leader of the most reactionary part7. 3h
Humboldt's Letters. 359
198.
VARNHAQEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, March 17&, 1857.
deny myself the pleasure to offer to your
Excellency my most heartfelt congratulations for your
happy and perfect recovery ! The finest and most
powerful testimony of it is the letter to Privy Councillor
Boeckh, which appeared in the papers this morning, and
which no epithet of praise will suffice to describe. Such
an invocation has never yet fallen to the lot of any man,
and the receiver will not fail to honor and appreciate it
as the most precious of all the gifts bestowed upon him.
How fresh must have been the mind, and how warm
the heart, from which it emanates, and how sterling and
graceful at once is its expression ! Even its narrative
form its Herodotic narrative, I might call it is of
inestimable value, and shows us a beautiful combination
of youth preserved and old age achieved.
May your Excellency pardon this overflow of senti-
ment ! You have no need of my words, but to me it
is not possible to suppress them, and I therefore will
give free vent to my most fervent desire, that the
radiating star, covered for a moment by a cloud, may
360 Humboldt's Letters.
still shine upon us for a long time in accustomed splen-
dor, and may forebode, as heretofore, health and wealth
at home and abroad.
With profound veneration and gratitude,
Ever faithfully your most devoted
VARNHAGEI* VON ENSE.
These lines are not so presumptuous as to expect an
answer.
199.
HUMBOLDT TO YAENHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 19th, 1857 at Night.
How should I deny myself the pleasure to thank
you, the dearest, ablest, and most attached of my
friends. Not indulgence no, praising expressions on
my address to Boeckh a praise of form, of the vesture
of thought has been my lot from the lips of the master
of language, and of the delicate turns of good-will.
You caused me great joy, more than you anticipated.
What my nervous affection was, which produced a
paralysis of such short duration, with the functions of
the brain remaining entirely free, with pulse unchanged,
with preservation of sight, and of all motion of the
extremities subject to will, I cannot divine. There are
Hurnboldt's Letters. 361
magnetic storms (the polar light), electric storms in the
douds, nervous storms in man, heavy and light ones
perhaps, also, sheet lightning, foreboding the others.
I had serious thoughts of death, comme un homme gui
part, ayant encore beaucoup de lettres d ecrire. Other
interests, which for ever remain alive in me, bind me to
the memories of yesterday ! ! I believe myself in full
convalescence; but as I had to rest much on the bed
without occupation, sadness and displeasure of the
world have increased in me. This I say to you alone.
I shall soon come to you, and thank you orally from
the depths of my soul. All around us puts us to shame.
In most intimate friendship, your most faithful
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
Varnhagen writes in his diary, March 19th, 1857:
" Unexpectedly a letter from Humboldt ! I had writ-
ten under my congratulation, that these lines were not
so immodest as to expect an answer. But he, neverthe-
less ans^yers, and in the most obliging, most heart-glad-
dening manner. He gives a remarkable report of his
sickness. The bad reports were all untrue, at least
exaggerated ; he never lost consciousness or language,
his pulse remained as usual. Yet he did not conceal
from himself, that it might be the end. " I had serious
thoughts of death, comme un homme qui part, ayant
encore beaucoup de lettres a 6crire 1" Grand and fine is
10
362 Humboldt's Letters.
what he adds : " Other interests, which remain for ever
alive in me, bind me to the memories of yesterday ! !
(of the 18th of March!)* I believe myself in full
convalescence, but as I had to rest much on the bed
without occupation, sadness and displeasure with the
world have increased in me. This I say to you
alone."
soo.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April th, 1857.
IF you, dear friend, understand the letter of the
Grand Duke as I do, must go. I had proposed
that he should come to Weimar, under the pretext of
studying the archives ; he would bring a letter of intro-
duction from you or me ; should be invited to court and
if he did not please, should simply be asked whether he
meant to return to . That this should be a shib-
boleth as a bad end of the drama, quod Deus avertat.
I also proposed to advance the stipulated sum of
money. On this head the tyrant does not answer dis-
tinctly. goes, I think, by way of Berlin. Shall
* Day of the Prussian Revolution of 1848.
Humboldt's Letters. 363
we then give him the letter of recommendation with
the galvanic stimulants ? I do as you wish.
Your faithful
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
MONDAY.
Keep the letter of the Grand Duke, which ends nicely,
and in good taste.
201.
KAKL ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OP SAXE-WEIMAR,
TO HUMBOLDT.
WEMAB, April 3d, 1857.
A MISUNDERSTANDING is the key to my behavior
towards . I believed and expected that he, after
he had, in January, I believe, asked the permission to
search our archives, would immediately come hither.
Then only of course I would have paid his expenses.
Just in these last days I wondered neither to hear nor
to see anything of .
Then arrived the second letter of your Excellency,
which, asking explanation of me, gives explanation; and I
hasten to answer it by saying that may come in
about ten days, and I would be prepared in any case to
make the payment, the amount of which your Excellency
364 Humboldt's Letters.
yourself named. According to understanding, both of
us, I and the traveller, would consider ourselves entirely
free yet, and therefore observe due discretion on the
proper cause of this journey.
Dante would have spoken still more truly if he had
said : " Yiver ch' e un correr a 1'eterna gioventu." You
prove it, for eternally your immortal spirit rejuvenates,
its excellence is also a proof of this.
In grateful reverence and love, your faithfully most
submissive
KARL ALEXANDER.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, April *lth, 185t.
TOUR Excellency's kind and very much desired com-
munications I forwarded in haste to that is to
say, the substance of it. It is to be hoped that
will start immediately, but I expect first to receive an
answer from him, and as I do not believe that in the
short time the Grand Duke has left him, he can make
the detour by way of Berlin, it will be best for him to
receive the letter of introduction in Weimar.
The Grand Duke insists upon discretion, and justly so !
Humboldt's Letters. 365
It is convenient for him, and delicate and sparing for the
other party. has acted correctly in this respect
up to the present time. I am very anxious to see the
end of the matter ; taking for granted that there was a
good relation present in the germ. Success would give
me extraordinary satisfaction.
The present you make me of the letter of the Grand
Duke delights me very much. Not only the end is in
good taste and fine, but the whole style has agreeable
turns ; and above all, the reverence for your Excellency
expresses itself in a manner, the heartfelt sincerity of
which cannot be misunderstood.
For some days I have been living entirely in recollec-
tions of past times and relations. The correspondence
between Gentz and Adam Mueller, just now published
by Cotta, keeps me spellbound, and I must contemplate
the whole series of those experiences in my reviving
recollection.
I have known both men early and intimately, and
have had much intercourse with them, personally, of a
friendly character, in measures generally an adversary.
The supeiiority of Gentz over the younger friend, whom
he greatly overvalued, never was doubtful to me, and is
here confirmed anew ; only at last when the murder of
Kotzebue deranges and stupifies the mind, the force of
terror drives the statesman, who formerly was fond of
clearness, into the gloomy nebulous strata, to which the
366 Humboldt's Letters. *.
frightened friend had retreated long before. This cor-
respondence is certainly unique in its kind. The trans-
actions, disquisitions, mutual influences, inclinations,
and feuds are invested with dramatic interest. In Adam
Mueller, by-the-by, is contained the complete germ of
the " Kreutz Zeitungs" party, though in ideal elevation,
still without contact with the real world, and therefore
without offensive vulgarities.
Your Excellency kindly promised me a few lines on
Franz Baader ; may I remind you of them in the most
modest manner, and with the remark, that really a few
lines only would suffice for the purpose ?
In most faithful reverence and most grateful submis-
sion, immutably your Excellency's most obedient
VARNHAGEN VON ENSE.
203.
YARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, April 10th, 1857.
I HAVE the pleasure to announce to your Excellency
that Herr will start from to Weimar on
the 14th. Much as he would have wished to make the
detour by way of Berlin, if only to lay at the feet of
your Excellency the most cordial expression of his
Humboldt's Letters. 367
boundless gratitude for so much friendly intercession,
he is compelled by the brief period fixed by the Grand
Duke to renounce the realization of that wish for the
present. ' I therefore venture to solicit the favor of the
introduction to the Grand Duke you were good enough
to promise ; a single line would suffice. I would imme-
diately despatch it to Weimar, so that Mr. will
find it there on his arrival. The young man is well
aware that the journey concludes nothing, and that he
must be prepared for a denial ; but he is much pleased
to see that the long delay in the progress of affairs is
ended, and he is at last in motion. By your kind inquiry
your Excellency has produced this result, and dispelled
the clouds of misconception ; the most grateful heart
will acknowledge this with heartfelt devotion ! His sen-
timents are warmly shared by myself, in this case, as in
so many earlier cases !
With the best wishes for your welfare ; with profound
veneration and attachment I remain unalterably,
Your Excellency's most obedient
VAENHAGEN VON ENSE.
^68 Humboldt's Letters.
SO4.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April 13th, 1851.
HERE, my valued friend, is the archivary recommen.
dation for , just as prescribed. May the matter
be successful. With heartfelt attachment,
Yours, A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SOS.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, April 21st, 1851.
To my great regret, dear friend, I cannot accept the
kind invitation of yourself and your amiable niece to a
cup of coffee on Thursday, as I shall return late and
much fatigued from Charlottenburg. During my illness,
a number of unimportant matters have accumulated,
which must be disposed of after dinner, because they
are trumpery affairs of orders and dedications, a pre-
sentation of Betel in preference to gifts of money. The
fourth class* operates like Betel chewing, it occupies
* i.e., of the order of the Prussian eagle.
Humboldt's Letters. 369
the time, but affords no nourishment. On Thursday
the King hopes to close and settle with me. Be pleased
to write Professor Hoffmann, of Wuerzburg, that I am
grateful for his torso, but no assistance is to be expected
from the King, not only (what you must not write),
because something like a holy horror of the Catholic
zeal of Baader is rooted in the King's mind, but also
because all literary assistance dwindles down in the
cabinet to a present of forty or forty-five thalers. In
preference to the publication in the preface of a miser-
able letter of introduction, which may have been written
in a moment of ill-humor, I enclose a memorandum as
requested.
With the same friendship as of old,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
(INCLOSURE IN A LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.)
You ask me, dear friend, what were the earliest im-
pressions produced upon me by Franz Baader ! I first
saw him in June, 1791, while studying the art of mining
in Freiberg, after the journey with George Forster to
England, and after my sojourn in the Hamburg Com-
mercial Academy of Buesching and Ebeling. For eight
months I enjoyed the daily intercourse of this amiable
and gifted man. Franz Baader had then published his
work on caloric, and his inclinations were all of a che-
mico-physical nature, with a slight infusion of ideas
3/o Humboldt's Letters.
on the philosophy of physical science. He was active
underground, more occupied with practical mining and
furnace operations than with geognostic researches ;
thorough in the observation of fact, cheerful, and satiri-
cal, but always with good taste, and not intolerant of
those who differed from him. His imagination was not
then specially directed to religious subjects. He was
generally popular, and a little feared at the same time,
as is so common where there is a consciousness of mental
superiority. His political opinions were liberal. It was
the period of the Congress of Pillnitz in our neighbor-
hood a time and a neighborhood which gave occasion
to political utterances.
soe.
HUMBOLDT TO
BERLIN, April 25tfi, 1857.
" THE gate of the oracle, the abyss of the archives of
state, analogies leading down to the depths of the sea."
This is inferior to the last letter. Rafael's manner is not
always the same. I am surprised to find that curiosity
appears, to have led him to avoid seeing before the
journey to Hanover ! Preserve the vapid letter, my dear
friend ! The bottom of the sea refers to a map of the
Humboldt's Letters. 371
sea from Newfoundland to Ireland, which I recom-
mended to the Grand Duke, but which is not to be pro-
cured because it was published in Carthage by Perthes !
The Times flatter themselves, in all seriousness, that
the French race is on the point of extinction ; well, the
pugs are extinct also.
Yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
I have disagreeable rudera of the correspondence
with a certain Dr. Gross Homnger, in Vienna, who
accuses himself of having written against Prussia in 1848,
and now asks Prussia to recommend him to the Austrian
government. Have you any recollection of him ?
NOTE BY YARKHAGEN. " Carthage" means Gotha, a town not far
from "Weimar, but under the sovereignty of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg,
between whom and his cousin there is a constant rivalry, such as of
old existed between Rome and Carthage.
307.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF SAKE- WEIMAR,
TO HUMBOLDT.
YOUR Excellency's letter was duly received by the
hands of Mr. . Accept my thanks for these lines,
for this new token of your constant kindness to me.
372 Humboldt's Letters.
The bearer is for the present immersed in the abyss of
my archives. As soon as I shall return from Hanover,
where an invitation will detain me a few days,* to seek
him out, awaiting further developments at the hand of
time, like the people at the gate of the oracle.
Analogies lead me from deep to lower deep, and then
I descend from the archives to the bottom of the sea.
How am I to obtain the map of which you wrote ?
When I inquired for it in Gotha, some time ago, the
inquiry was futile. So I return to the source, ever rich
and bounteous, of whom I subscribe myself the most
grateful and obedient
CHARLES ALEXANDER.
VIENNA, April 22d, 1857.
SOS.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, May 28th, 1857.
I AM uneasy, my dear friend, about Weimar. The
Grand Duke is everywhere, except in Weimar "Athens."
What will become of our warmly recommended ? Has
he been spoken to by the eloquent Prince ? You have
not wished me joy to the order bestowed upon me by
* An ellipse, probably of Grand Ducal origin. TV.
Humboldt's Letters. 373
the "Hamburg Moniteur" as Grand Officier, which
Guizot gave me fifteen years ago. Raumer's conversa-
tion is very interesting ; he was at Pesth, at Milan,
dined with the Archduke, apd called on Cavour. He
has again returned with something of a hankering after
the Austrian regime in Lombardy, like the Republicans
when they visit the United States, where arsenic, the
torture, or Fremont-worshipping negroes, cause a
criminal colic to Cuba-mad Buchanan. Multa sunt
eadem sed aliter. The Russian Minister of Enlighten-
ment, Noroff, who had a leg shot off by the thigh at
Borodino, and who has carried his wooden leg to
Jerusalem and Egypt, and even to the top of the
Pyramids, is here, and attends as a guest, sitting among
the students, the lectures of Johannes Mueller and
Diderici. His companion, the young Count Ouwaroff,
the author of a great work on Hellenic antiquities in
the Chersonese, attends the lectures of Michelet and
Boeckh. Both are very agreeable men. The former is
accused of being over spiritual, but not intolerant ;
both are much pleased with the freedom of our student
life, and with the absence of policemen from our uni-
versity building. I did not care to disabuse the mind
of the one-legged Raumer, as they will leave soon.
Decipitur mundus.
With old affection, your tiresome
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
374 Humboldt's Letters.
NOTE BY VARNHAGEX. " The United States, where arsenic, the
torture, er Fremont-worshipping negroes, cause a criminal colic to
Cuba-mad Buchanan." This passage alludes to the circumstance, that
at a hotel in Washington, the President, and many others with him,
*
were seized with a violent colic after dinner, so that suspicions of
poison were entertained ; and it was only after a legal investigation
that the whole was found to have been caused by impure water.
BY THE TRANSLATOR. " Fremont-worshipping negroes" must refer
to the slaves who were reported to be in insurrection soon after the
accession of President Buchanan, in Tennessee or Kentucky, and of
whom it was said, that they believed Fremont and all his men to be
encamped at the bottom of the Cumberland river, ready to emerge
for their delivery.
S00.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEff.
POTSDAM, THURSDAY. In haste,
June 4th, 1857.
A TRULY grand ducal letter, indelicate without excuse,
cutting off every prospect, as he said " Au revoir" on
going away, after the preconcerted shibboleth. Silence
as to the costs, which are unnecessarily heavy. You
and I shall cease "steering in the ocean of investiga-
tion," as acquaintance w r ith the party proposed does not
suffice to determine him. I have a mind to answer some-
what mockingly. It may be agreeable to you, my
Humboldt's Letters. 375
esteemed friend, to enrich your archives with an auto-
graphy of Thiers, who is now an Orleanist. Duvergier
de Hauranne also came here after a pilgrimage to
Eisenach. The Duchess is going to England. Preserve
both letters, the bad one and that which is simply good.
Yours,
A. v. HT.
On Saturday I expect to come to Berlin with the King.
The Queen is coming on Monday.
sio.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF SAXE- WEIMAR,
TO HUMBOLDT.
ETTERSBURG, June 1, 1857.
YOUR Excellency has probably learned already, that
I have seen, repeatedly conversed with, but finally re-
frained from appointing . He interested me, I may say
he pleased me, but I thought I could not recognise in him
the secretary who could not only keep me informed of
everything of moment in the spheres of science, art,
and literature, but should attend to my correspondence,
my intercourse, verbal and social, in various languages ;
and to appoint him at hazard I feared to venture. To
376 Humboldt's Letters.
retreat was, then, the only resource. I did so in order
to steer further in the ocean of investigation. Whether
you will continue, even in this matter, to cast upon me,
as a star of good omen, the light of the goodness ever
extended to me is what I may be permitted to wish,
but can hardly be permitted to hope although we
agreed that the acquaintance of the party was not to
include his selection.
I shall now retire into various forest solitudes of Thu-
ringia with a number of books, among which I anticipate
particular pleasure from the perusal of Earth's itinerary.
I bow in reverence before such endurance in the love of
science, before such indomitable energy ; how much the
more must I do so before his prototype, before you ?
Remaining your most devoted, most grateful servant,
CHARLES ALEXANDER.
Sll.
THIERS TO HUMBOLDT.
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
PARIS, May Uth, 1857.
MY DEAR M. DE HUMBOLDT I take the liberty of
commending to your goodness shown so often to myself
and to Frenchmen generally, M. Duvergier de Hau-
ranne, who goes to Germany to show it to his young son.
Humboldt's Letters. 377
You know our country too well for me to tell you what
important and always honorable part has been sustained
by M. Duvergier de Hauranne in our assemblies, where
he has ever been faithful to the cause of rational liberty ;
and not faithful alone, but eminently useful. Having
returned to private life and devoted himself to study, he
goes to see your excellent country, and I thought I
could not do better than to recommend him to your
kindness. To his young son it will be an imperishable
recollection to have seen the illustrious savan who does
the greatest honor to the century, and whom we French-
men have the vanity to consider as French, and belong-
ing to us no less than to Germany.
I do not write on current affairs here, for M. Duver-
gier de Hauranne knows them, and can make you
acquainted with them better than any other man.
Accept the renewed homage of my respectful attach-
ment. A. THIEES.
sis.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, June 19th, 1857.
To my greatest joy, a beautiful portrait of yourself
was brought me by Mr. Richard Zeune, during an
excursion to Tegel. I know not which most to admire,
378 Humboldt's Letters.
the fresh, vivid, characteristic likeness of features so
dear to me (the talent of the skilful Miss Ludmilla
Assing), or the writing of your hand, so pregnant in
thought and expression. The latter I have copied
myself and shown it to my friends, because it is to be
ranked with the best of what our language contains in
the sententious compression of ideas. The unexpected
arrival of the brothers Schlagintweit from Cashmere,
Thibet, and the Kuen Luen mountains, which bound
Thibet on the north, as the Himalaya on the south,
has unreasonably delayed my acknowledgment of your
kindness, as they are going to the King at Marienbad,
without, it is to be hoped, the three hundred and forty
boxes they have brought with them. All the passes,
even those most convenient for travel, are 18,000 feet
high. From the liberal grand ducal power (not liberal
in the prosaic sense of filthy lucre), not a syllable, pro-
bably because he is expecting us to send him fresh
proposals, fresh victims. No one but the honorary
Hungarian monk* and the princess is now a riddle to
me. Yours most faithfully,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
The Emperor Napoleon has adroitly mended what
before was dubious, by means of very amiable letters,
rich in delicate turns of language, addressed to me by
* Liszt.
Humboldt's Letters. 379
Prince ISTapoleon (plon plon), and Walewski. As Nie-
btihr, the Prussian Cabinet Councillor, is publishing a
book on Noric Antiquities, nothing remains to cause
surprise, not even the FREE canvass for the free election
in free France. I believe a few weeks in Branitz will
be of benefit to you.
313.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, June 30&; 1857.
I AM at a loss for words to express to you, my
honored Mend, and to the amiable and brilliant artist
and authoress, Ludmilla Assing, what pleasure you have
provided for my solitude, by " Elisa von Ahlefeldt," a
pleasure still to be enjoyed by all who will deprive me
of it for a few days. Who can read without emotion a
fate so tender, so simple, told in such glowing language,
by Miss Ludmilla ; who can escape the most anxious reflec-
tions about the tortures of sentiment which the most
noble and cultivated of mankind are skilled in inflicting
on themselves about passion half-dogmatic in character,
for the gratification of which the difficult institution of
official marriage is inadequate. Elisa von Ahlefeldt
loved Adolph von Luetzow, but only as the vigorous
representative of a noble political sentiment. The mo-
380 Humboldt's Letters.
tive for the disruption of the fetters, indelicate on his
part, has something depressing. Immerman wishes to
be loved, dreads the constraint of marriage, as Elisa does,
but marries nevertheless ! ! The man who most occu-
pies my thoughts in all these matters is Friesen, who
worked so hard with me at the Mexican atlas in 1807,
who was so dear to me, and to whom I was so much. I
have mentioned him with tenderness in the Essai Poli-
tique sur la Nouvelle Espagne. Had I known the beau-
tiful work of Miss Ludmilla, I would gladly have offered
her a few lines. Her book, however, will go through
many editions. As I am unfortunately compelled to go
to Tegel for a night, I inquire, my dear friend, whether
I may call upon you at three o'clock on Friday, and
whether I may hope then to find Miss Ludmilla with
you. So much skill in art and literary genius united in
one and the same person is a rare luxury. It might
lead to misfortunes. The course of the world refuses to
admit of great exceptions to its compensatory system of
pleasure and sadness.
Your A. v. HUMBOLDT.
TUESDAY.
In great haste, and incorrect.
(Inclosed, a Letter from Friesen, of the year 180T, with this Super-
scription by Humboldt. )
A little gift for Miss Ludmilla Assing, the brilliant
authoress of Elisa von Ahlefeldt, an autograph of my dear
Humboldt's Letters. 381
young friend Friesen, with sentiments of sincere thank-
fulness.
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
JUNE 30&, 1857.
Varnhagen's diary of July 4, 1857, contains the fol-
lowing : " Yesterday Humboldt spoke of the time when
he lived in a house at the side of George's Garden,
and was so assiduous in his magnetic observations that
he once stinted himself of sleep for seven successive days
and nights in order to examine the state of things every
half hour ; after that he changed the watch with substi-
tutes. This was hi 1807, just fifty years ago. I often
saw the little house in which the experiments were
made, when I visited Johannes von Mueller, who also
lived in a house at the side of the same garden ; or Fichte
who lived in a garden house in the middle of the garden.
When old George, a wealthy distiller, showed the gar-
den to his friends, Humboldt went on to say, he never
failed to boast of 'his learned men.' 'Here I have the
famous Mueller ; there is Humboldt, and there is Fichte,
but he is only a philosopher, I believe.' "
382 Humboldt's Letters.
214.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, July 6th, 1857.
So ignorant of German poetry as to know nothing
of the fame of Mr. - of what he calls the dreary
Mecklenburg, I must ask you, my dear friend, to spe-
cify the degree of politeness with which the man ought
to be answered. Eight volumes, a compensation of
forty louis d'or, four for myself, four, as usual, for the
King, and a nonsensical letter, are before me. The
man appears to have sung of the great Napoleon and
Ney, but to have vainly knocked at the door of Napo-
leon III., Stephanie, Walewski, and Edgar Ney. It is
made my duty forthwith to read a Trajan, a Bianca,
and a Henry IV. Neither does he seem to have an
extravagant idea of what is to be obtained from the
King, a circumstance which discourages me from deli-
vering the treasure. Elisa von Ahlefeldt has given great
pleasure in Tegel, where I went with Kaulbach yester-
day, as delicate and pure in taste. Not in Tegel but in
Berlin, some court chaplains or officers, anxious to
acquire the title of consistorial councillors, may have
mooted the ecclesiastical question, whether a husband
Humboldt's Letters. 383
and a friend are both allowable ? The Berliners manage
to talk about and to soil whatever comes into their
fingers.
Most gratefully fully yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
MONDAY NIGHT.
I shall send for the two volumes again in a day or
two.
My best and most grateful compliments to Miss Lud-
milla, the poetic artist, who combines the poet and the
painter.
S15.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, July Sth, 1857.
THE two volumes of poetry kindly sent by your
Excellency, no doubt manifest considerable literary cul-
ture, and a skilful management of language and of
metre ; but this would seem to exhaust the truthful
measure of their praise. The number of men of this
order of talent is very large, and where there are not
further excellences they can hardly be called otherwise
than ordinary. The claims advanced on the basis of
such performances are frequently exorbitant, and such is
384 Humboldt's Letters.
the case in the present instance, where not appreciation
merely, but actual remuneration is demanded. The
author is not known to me, and his reputation certainly
far from extensive. That his youth has been hard, and
that his present condition is far from pleasant, is much
to be deplored, but the manner in which he seeks to
better himself, by supplication to the powerful bestow-
ing praise upon men of all parties and all shades of
party, without a conviction of his own, is none the
less disreputable, as well as his letter to your Excellency,
which has received the proper epithet at your hands.
In the answer with which you will honor him, the severe
expressions I have used are sure of being softened to the
full extent of what is desirable by your inexhaustible
and unchangeable humanity and goodness.
My niece, Ludmilla, thanks you from the fulness of
her heart for the friendly interests your Excellency has
so kindly manifested, and which she will never cease to
count among the greatest treasures of which she could
possibly become possessed !
Yesterday we paid a visit to Madame Gagiotti
Richards, and found her, more beautiful than ever, in
the midst of her artistic occupations. The whole family
entertain the most enthusiastic veneration for you, and
this alone would make them dear to us ; the personal
attractions of the beautiful artist are enchanting.
At the present day nothing literary is permitted to
Humboldt's Letters. 385
make its appearance, be it ever so peaceful and inoffen-
sive, without giving rise to manifestation of priestcraft
and zealotry. The little book could not escape the
universal fate, and the author must expect to meet
with many an offensive objurgation on this head. But
she has had the good fortune de manger son pain blanc
le premier, she has reaped the praises of your Excel-
lency, and may now quietly leave the black bread of
detraction untouched !
"We mean to leave for Dresden on Monday, and hope
to find your Excellency again in excellent health at the
end of a few weeks !
With profound veneration and grateful devotion,
Your obedient VABNHAGEN VON ENSE.
316.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September IBtJi, 1857.
AN inquiry about letters and packages of the 8th and
22d of August, gives me the gratifying certainty of your
return to monastic Berlin, where (supplement to No.
215 of Tante Voss, Sept. 15) "God in History"* is
accused of rationalism and sinful Romanism on account
Title of a work by Chevalier Bunsen.
386 Humboldt's Letters.
of a kiss extorted from M. Merle d'Aubigne", and not
yet sufficiently explained, and where (what is much
more refreshing) pastor Kind boasts of having been
kissed on the shoulder by a young Italian chambermaid
at Naples, with the warmth of semi-conversion to
Evangelism. As my monotonous birth-day has already
brought in more than three hundred letters and pack-
ages, I never know anything about the dates of arrival ;
but I well remember having received a letter with a black
margin of the 15th of July, from your distinguished
relative Adolfo de Varnhagen in Madrid, and also a
fragment of his history. I shall thank him heartily.
His history is not without interest. You know that an
attempt was made to get rid of M. von der Heydt, whose
independent activity is disagreeable to his colleagues, by
the appointment of a commission of finance in the coun-
cil of state. But the man has acted with considerable
energy, and the King has adjourned the whole commis-
sion, which was the work of ISTiebuhr.
With heartfelt friendship,
WEDNESDAY. Yours, A. v. H.
My respects to your talented niece.
I believe " God in History" has acted unwisely in
accepting the King's invitation, even after so many
repetitions. I esteem him, but he will be accused of
many things of which he is innocent.
Humboldt's Letters. 387
Sl*7.
HU^BOLDT TO VAKSTHAGEN.
BERLIN, October Uth, 1857.
(WITH LETTER FROM GEOTZ AND GARVE RETURNED.)
MY best thanks ! I had already received the letters
and enjoyed them. Nothing can add more to the glory
of my brother. Strange that Ancillon could so long
deceive so shrewd a man as Gentz.
A. v. HT.
Varnhagen's diary of Dec. 3d, 1857, reads as follows :
" I called on Humboldt ; M. von Olfers was just going,
and told me that Rauch had died in Dresden. Next
General Count von der Groeben took his leave ; he was
very cordial, and pleased with my offer to send him a
man who will repnblish the poems of Schenkendorf.
Humboldt was full of cordiality for Ludmilla and my-
self; told me about the King, about Schoenlein, about the
Princess of Prussia, about Doctor Lassalle, whose work*
he had read accurately in three nights, and of Friesen ;
spoke of the * Kreuz Zeitung' with contempt, praised the
Count von der Groeben as a man of honor, and von der
* The Philosophy of Heraclitus the Obscuro of Ephesus.
388 Humboldt's Letters.
Heydt for his determination to leave the cabinet. He
had a letter from the Queen. The King wishes to see
him, and he therefore drives to Charlottenburg. He is
hale and hearty. I read much in Lassalle. Even the
external appearance of so great and important a work
excites reverence. On me it makes a> peculiar impres-
sion to witness the downfall, one by one, of the stays
and rivets by which my inveterate opinions have been
upheld. Every one who has grown old has to observe
and experience such things ; but in our times the
changes are quicker and more powerful than in former
times, and I am peculiarly sensible to them. Even
where the contents do not matter to me, where I do
not lose in the matter, because the subjects do not
belong directly to my province, the phenomenon is
nevertheless somewhat disagreeable. Such is again my
lot in regard to Schleiermacher ; his work on Heraclitus
was hitherto the last word, the final disposition of all
questions relating to that philosopher ; even Hegel's
adverse hints had not been able to overturn this
authority. One could rest upon it as on a downy pil-
low, when lo ! a new critic comes, and snatches it from
under us. True, Lassalle supplies its place with another,
which is large and well stuffed, but still the change is
uncomfortable. And yet I am pleased with this unrest
of intellectual efforts, this ingenuity, learning, progress,
which asks no fear or favor."
Humboldt's Letters. 389
sis.
HUMBOLDT TO
BERLIN, January llth, 1858.
REVERED FRIEND, I, too, am a sufferer from the
returning cutaneous affection, an unwelcome conse-
quence of old age. You have, at least, unconditional
freedom, and can attend to your comfort ; to me there
is no freedom granted ; I am molested by all ; most
unmercifully and inexorably by the mail. The kind
memento of Mrs. Sarah Martin is very honorable to
me. I owe it, like many other things, to you. Suffer
me to make you the interpreter of my gratitude and of
my faithful reverence for the talented lady, and for her
brother, so dear to me, Mr. John Taylor. The news
from Livingstone interests me chiefly on account of his
views of the susceptibility of the negro race to civiliza-
tion, at a time when France on the one hand, and
Xorth America on the other, are most shamelessly
subserving the capture of slaves in Africa, under the
flimsy pretext of introducing free laborers. The politi-
cal news from India, by Captain Meadows Taylor, was
unimportant. Perhaps it is agreeable to you to add to
your archives some original letters of Count Walewski,
390 Humboldt's Letters.
Prince Napoleon, who goes to Egypt, son of King
Jerome, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and a copy of a
very finely-written letter of the Pasha of Egypt, the
original of which I was obliged to present to Dr.
Brugsch.
Dr. Michael Sachs could not be prevented from cele-
brating me in Hebrew.* Many kind greetings to the
noble General von Pfuel, whom I shall visit as soon as
possible.
Yours faithfully, always equally illegible,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
310.
PRINCE NAPOLEON, SON OF JEROME, TO HUMBOLDT.
PARIS, Oct. 13th, 1857.
MONSIEUR LE BARON, Mons. Mariette sent to me,
only a few days ago, your 'letter of July, in which you
speak of Dr. Brugsch, and of his having sent me a
Demotic Grammar, which I have not yet received. I
mention this, so that you cannot accuse me of negli-
gence in answering you. To-day I do not feel the
courage in me to speak to you even of science. Your
heart and your mind must be much afflicted by the
sickness of your sovereign and friend, who causes us
* A Life of Huraboldt was written in Hebrew by Mr. Sachs.
Humboldt's Letters. 391
great sorrow. I say us, because the few days which I
passed at Berlin made me appreciate the eminent qua-
lities of the King, and attached me very much to him.
May God preserve his life ! I wish it from my heart.
Receive, Monsieur le Baron, the assurance of my
high esteem. NAPOLEON.
Varnhagen reports in his diary under February 18th,
1858 : " I went to Humboldt. With a wonderful pre-
sence of mind he immediately thinks of all the things
of which our presence can remind him ; he tells most
flattering things to Ludmilla on her book, for the second
edition of which (which he declares to be inevitable), he
will give her a passage on Friesen,* which he had indeed
intended to communicate to the ' Turners ' of Leipzig,
as an inscription on the monument intended to be
erected in Friesen' s honor, but which, after a prelimi
nary inquiry, appears to have been forgotten by them.
He is out of humor with the Grand Duke of Saxe-
Weimar, who robbed him and the brothers Schlagin-
tweit of some hours, by repeated visits ; they soon
found out that he did not want to inform himself about
those things they had prepared for him, but that he
only wanted to have spoken with them ; he also gave
to each one the Falkenorden.f About he made
* One of the founders, " der Turnkunst."
f Order of the Falcon.
392 Humboldt's Letters.
the same excuse to Humboldt as he made to me, that
noble birth was indispensable, which Humboldt thinks
quite detestable, and moreover entirely in harmony with
the personal prejudices of the Grand Duke ; the father,
he says, who also was not very remarkable, had at least
concealed this sentiment, but the son expresses it
openly ; once, after a man who was not of noble birth
had left the company, he had with great satisfaction
given utterance to his delight, saying, 'Now we are
among ourselves ! ' Another time, when some one
observed that thirteen were at the table, he replied for
consolation, that two among them were not nobles, and
therefore did not count ! and this he said to Humboldt
in French, because, he said, these two would certainly
not understand that! Humboldt complained bitterly
of the mass of letters by which he was visited ; he had
to read at least 400 of them in one month ; many com-
menced, c Noble old man,' or, ' Noble youthful old
man ;' or also in this fashion : ' Caroline and I are
happy ; our fate is in your hands.'* He praised Princess
Victoria, saying, that she was not pretty, but had
pleasing simple manners, and an eye full of soul."
* Meaning " Caroline and I can get married, if you will help us to
some money."
Humboldt's Letters. 393
sso.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, February 19&, 1858.
You see, dear friend, that in spite of many little cavils
of Mr. d'Avezac, who has learned to quote from Malte-
Brun, your cousin does you much honor.
But it is incomprehensible that Mr. d'Avezac knows
nothing at all of the map of Juan de la Cose, of 1500,
published by me in 1830, six years before the death of
Colon, and of a work in large quarto, under the title
"Geschichte des Seefahrers Hitter Martin Behaim,
von W. Ghillany and Alex. Humboldt, 1853," where the
origin of the name of " America" is discussed.
A. HT.
The ravages of a single night. The noble, youthful
old man, Yecchio della Montagna.
Accompanying the book, " Considerations Geogra-
phiques sur PHistoire du Brezil, Examen critique d'une
nouvelle histoire generate du Brezil, par M. Francois
Adolphe de Yarnhagen. Rapport fait par M. d'Avezac,
Paris, 1857-58."
17*
394 Humboldt's Letters.
ssi.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, March 1th, 1858.
I PRESUME that yon, dear friend, have not seen the
indiscreet, almost talentless, book of ISTormanby. I shall
not return it to Lady Bloorafield without offering it to
you. Skip over it according to the index, and send it
kindly back to me in four or five days. It depicts a
badly played comedy.
My reverence to your amiable niece. Your most
attached
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
SUNDAY NIGHT.
" A Year of Revolution. From a journal kept in Paris
in 1848. By the Marquis of ISTormanby, K.G. London,
1857. 2 vols. in 8vo."
Varnhagen remarks in his diary, under March 8th,
1858: "Humboldt sends me, with kind lines, the book
of the Marquis of Normanby on the revolution of 1848.
He calls it an indiscreet book, and almost talentless. I
call it stupid, and perfidious in its contents; it shows
Humboldt's Letters. 395
the evil results of meddling with diplomacy, particularly
if unofficial, as was that of the Marquis at the time.
Lamartine as well as Cavaignac gave far too much heed
to him. He is one of the dullest and most tedious Eng-
lishmen ever heard of."
March 9th, 1858. Varnhagen adds this further re-
mark on Normanby : " Read a little more of Normanby.
He is a poor fool, but his bad book is good enough to
expose the paltriness of Louis Philippe, the villany of
Guizot, and the pernicious influences of sneaks and
sharpers. His forte consists in the perfect success with
which he flattens down to insufferable monotony the
enlivening and exhilarating effects of the torrent of
events."
222.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEK
BERLIN, April 13f.% 1858.
I AM touched by the kindness of your letter, and the
souvenir from your talented niece, Miss Ludmilla. As
Illaire called yesterday, I have made every preparation
to be of use to M , the esteemed clergyman of ,
in the acquisition of one of those toys, which, if they
do not nourish, yet afford an agreeable diversion, like
396 Humboldt's Letters.
that enjoyed by the knights of old, who galloped over
a course covered with obstructions, and the prospect of
escape from the infernal regions of the fourth class.*
I shall write to Illaire for the third class, but beseech
you to jog my memory. 's title ! I believe he
does not preach has even ceased to administer the
little wafers which refuse to unite with the bread, their
chemical kinsman. I believe, however, he is a Pro-
testant power in .
For the benefit of your soul and Miss Ludmilla's, I
inclose some phantasies on the antediluvian universal
absence of rain in the Berlin world, and on the con-
suming fire, sure to be occasioned by a little forgotten
potash, in the midst of innocent felspar of the granite
formation, on the day of judgment : " de la geologie
hebra'izante," as I have been imprudent enough to style
it in " Kosmos."
Yours, A. v. HT.
TUESDAY.
* I.e. of the order of the Prussian Eagle. The sentence reads
thus : " Da gestern Illaire bei mir war, so habe ich alles vorbereitet,
Herrn dem vielgeachteten Geistlicheu in .... nuetzlich fuer
eines der Spielwerke zu werden, welche zwar nicht naehren, aber
eine augenehme Zerstreuung, auch des spaet aiisgefuehrten Reitens mit
Hindernissen, Aussicht zur Errettung aus der Unterwelc dervier ten
Klasse gewaehren." As it stands, the clause printed by us in italics
makes nonsense. Translator.
Humboldt's Letters. 397
(" Thoughts on the first Rainbow, in connexion with
certain Geological Facts." London: 1852. The author
is W. Bateman Byng, but it was sent to Humboldt by
Mr. F. A. Fokker, of Hamburg, a superannuated pilot
captain.)
On the 24th of April, 1858, Varnhagen obseryes in
his diary : " Humboldt was very droll yesterday, in
speaking of the letters he receives. A number of ladies
in Eiberfeld have conspired to labor at his conversion,
by means of anonymous letters, and have informed him
of their design. Such letters are received from time to
tune. Somebody in Nebraska asks him what. becomes
of the swallows in winter. I suggested that this inquiry
must be for ever on the wing. Of course,' he replied ;
1 1 don't know any more than other folks, but,' he
added, with jocose gravity, : ' I took care not to write
that to the man in Nebraska, for it is never safe to
make such admissions.' "
sss.
HUMBOLDT TO YARNHAGEN.
POTSDAM, June 19th, 1858.
TEDIOUS on the whole, and full of internal contradic-
tions, but still historical in reference to the mythical
'Anierico-Germanism, and unfortunately too true. See
398 Humboldt's Letters.
p. 76 to 80, and pp. 33, 35, 75. The charms of a lan-
guage without genders. " Fermez les ttvres et serrez les
dents.' 1 * " Der '' and " die " fell into lazy mouths, and
lapses into " de," and this was corrupted into a neutral,
lifeless "the."
Page 88 sets forth how my friend Froebel escaped
being Blumed. . A. HT.
There gloomy Potsdam has kept me too long from
your side.
NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. This letter accompanied "The German
Emigration, and its Importance in the History of Civilization. By
Julius Froebel. Leipsic : 1858." A copy sent by Froebel to Hum-
boldt.
* " Close your lips and set your teeth." In the ' Anglaises pours
rire " there is a squib which says, " Ouvrez la louche et serrez les dents
et vous parlerez anglais /" Open your mouth and set your teeth, and
you will speak English. Humboldt may have had this in his mind
and have converted ouvrez into fermez by mistake.
Froebel says in page 35 : "After all, the German and the English
are but two different dialects, or rather stages of development. The
English occupies the higher grade, for it is acknowledged that the
attrition of grammatical form corresponds to a higher mental develop-
ment." Opposite this passage Humboldt writes " Ah ! "
On p. 88, Froebel alludes to the great mission of Austria in the
future. Similar passages were to be found in a pamphlet of his,
which appeared in 1848 ; they were pointed out to Prince Windisch-
graetz by an aide-de-camp, just in time to procure his pardon, while
his colleague, Robert Blum, was brutally shot.
Humboldt's Letters. 399
S34.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, September 9th, at night, 1858.
HEARTY thanks, my dear friend, for your affectionate
missive. The thanks of the excellent .... is far from
indifferent to me. No one here has had the politeness
to inform me that my proposal has been accepted. As
you and your accomplished niece, Miss Ludmilla, are
fond of curiosities, and as my extreme old age has
deadened all compunction at the exhibition of my own
praises, I send you a letter from Queen Victoria, deli-
vered by the Princess of Prussia, and requesting an
autograph of some passages from the Views of Nature
and Kosmos (poetical descriptions of nature), as well as
a letter from the American Secretary of War, who has
been accommodating to me for the traveller Moell-
hausen, the son-in-law of Seiffert, draughtsman of the
two expeditions to the South Sea, and who, mirabile
dictu, has dismissed all political animosity on account
of my friendship for Fremont. The latter of the com-
munications gives me the greater pleasure, of the two,
though it is unpardonably extravagant in the use of
great names.
400 Humboldt's Letters.
The regency, indispensable as it is to restore the
wasted power of the country, is still, alas ! in the clouds.
I hope the Prince of Prussia will abide by his present
promise, not to act further without being expressly
invested with the title of Regent. But who is to make
the first move, when the King is kept in such seclusion,
that even I have not seen him since the return ? If the
Chambers initiate the matter, the Government stands
convicted of pusillanimity. Aleajacta, and the sum of
intelligence at stake seems to have been doled out by
nature with laudable economy.
What knowledge have you, dear friend, of M. Iwan
Golowin, whose impudence is so unprecedented as to
admit of his photographing me before the public in the
most dreadful neglige de costume, meme, as I wrote
him in great indignation, en me dotant de deux f antes de
francais, venaient instead of mennent, pourrait instead
of pouvait. What will men not do to make tools of
their neighbors ?
I beg you to return me the three curiosities consisting
of the copy of Victoria, the letter of the Secretary of
War, and Rovira by Golowin, by Sunday morning,
when I must go to Tegel with Baron Stockmar, the
father.
My walk (ma demarche) increases lamentably in
senile want of direction. Beware of my patience with
life. Reputation keeps pace with imbecility, and the
Humboldt's Letters. 401
part of the " dear youth in age," of the " worthy Nestor
of all living men of Science," Vecchio della montagna,
becomes extremely irksome, though there be in the
neighborhood of the Netze, a maiden whom the Nestor
is to establish for life at Tegel, because the place is so
near to Berlin, that on the slightest hint she can hasten
to the city to close my eyes.
With the most faithful friendly esteem,
Tours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
My wicked friend Lasalle Heraclitus the Obscure
has been expelled by the Prince of Prussia and Illaire,*
in spite of all my intercession, and in spite of the pro-
mises made to me. They led me to hope that after a
few weeks (the election being over) the Obscure would
return to Pythagoras, the more obscure. What a dis-
pensation of justice !
NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. Iwan Golowin had asked Humboldt's per-
mission to dedicate to him a Russian drama entitled Rovira, and
when Humboldt assented in a hasty French note, he inserted a fac-
simile of the note into the book.
* Not quite exact, in so far as M. Westphalen, the minister, carried
this point in the absence of the parties named, and, as afterwards
appeared, without their knowledge.
4-O2 Humboldt's Letters.
325.
HUMBOLDT TO LUDMILLA ASSINGk
BERLIN, Oct. 12th, 1858.
WHAT a day of agitation, of grief, of misfortune was
yesterday. I was summoned by the Queen to Potsdam,
to take leave of the King. He wept with deep emotion.
Returning home at six hi the evening, I opened your
letter, my friend ! He has departed from the earth
before me, the man of ninety years, the old man of the
hills ! It is not enough to say that Germany has lost a
great author, him who could most nobly mould our
tongue to the expression of the finest sentiments for
what is the value of form in the presence of such acute-
ness, such pregnant force of mind, such elevation of
thought, such knowledge of the world. What he was to
me, to me who am now entirely isolated, is incompre-
hensible to any mind less refined, less beautiful than
yours ; I shall soon come to tell you,
Bowed with grief, yours,
A. v. HUMBOLDT.
ALPHABETIC AL INDEX
OF PERSONS ALLUDED TO.
The figures opposite the names refer to the numbers of the letters in
which they are mentioned.
ABERDEEN, Lord, 106.
Albert, Prince Consort, 124, 131,
132.
Alembert, d', 143.
Allan, 46.
Alvensleben, 46, 61.
Amerigo Vespucci, 36.
Ancillon, 22, 217.
Arago, Francis, 50, 68, 75, 76, 78,
153, 155, 157.
Arndt, E. M., 48.
Arnim, Achim von, 64.
Assing, Ludmilla, 213, 214, 217,
222, 224, 225.
Augustus. Prince of Prussia, 4, 87.
Auguste, Princess, 22.
B.
Baader, Francis, 145, 205.
Balzac, 75, 83.
Baudin, 128.
Bauer, Bruno, 60, 66, 94.
Baumgarten, 42.
Bavaria, Crown Prince of) 123.
Belgium, King o 48.
Bettina, 43, 48, 51, 52, 63, 71, 75,
88, 120, 133, 144, 162, 178.
Bessel, 48, 111.
Beyme, 168.
Beust, 175.
Beuth, 11.
Bigelow, John, 192.
Bodelschwingh, von, 106, 107, 116
Bollmann, 19.
Bopp, 48.
Bresson, 22, 75, 76, 78."
Brown, R, 76, 84.
Brunei, 75, 76.
Buch, Leopold von, 31, 41, 150.
Buchanan, James, 176, 208.
Buelow, von, 8, 48, 49, 61, 65, 69,
70, 71, 72, 97, 101, 103, 106,
Bugeaud, Marshal, 27.
Bunsen, 11, 61, 68, 75, 159, 168.
C.
Cadps, 80.
Canino, Princess, 116.
Canitz, von, 61, 74, 75, 126, 134.
44
Index.
Cardanus, 6, 7.
Carolath, 12.
Carlyle, Thos., 70.
Carriere, M., 70, 132.
Chasles, 62, 172.
Chateaubriand, 16, 36.
Cherubini, 63.
Christian VII., King of Denmark,
43, 44, 53, 76, 81.
Clanricarde, Marquis of, 41.
Columbus, Christopher, 28, 36, 61.
Constant, 163.
Cornelius, Peter, 142.
Gotta, 10, 16, 24, 35, 56.
Custine, 71, 73.
D.
Dahlmann, Prof., 48.
Delisle, 17.
Dohm, 64.
Duchess of Dino (Talleyrand), 75,
76.
Duke of Coburg Gotha, 168.
Duchess of Orle.ms, 27, 75. 76,
117, 119, 139, 148
Eckermann, 71.
Ehrhardt, 7.
Eichhorn, 48, 61, 60, 68, 75, 107,
133, 134.
Eisner, 11.
Encke, 74, 111.
Endlicher, 42.
Engel, 64.
Ettinghausen, 42.
Eylert, Bishop, 8.
Fallersleben, Hoffmann von, 106.
Feuerbacli, Ludwig, 94.
Fichte, 99, 196, 213.
Fillmore, Millard, 177.
Forster, 16.
Freiligrath, F., 62.
Fremont, 176, 177, 192.
Friedrich II., 64, 68.
Friedrich Wilhelm III., 8, 22, 35,
42.
Friedrich Wilhelm IV., 35, 40, 42,
45, 46, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60,
63, 67, 68, 75, 76, 91, 92, 110,
134, 154, 156, 158, 168, 185.
Friesen, 213.
Froebel, Julius, 223.
Froriep, 159.
Fry, Mrs., 46.
Gragern, H., 134, 141.
Galuski, 125, 135, 147.
Galilei, 41.
Gama, Vasco de, 28.
Gans, E., 7, 25, 29, 30.
Gauss, 44.
Gay, Mad., 73.
Gay Lussac, 88.
Gentz, Fr., 36, 202, 217.
Gerard, 33, 83.
Gerlach, L. von, 68, 92, 159, 168,
183, 195.
Gerolt, Baron de, 177.
Girardin, Mad, 73.
Gneisenau, 159.
Gorres, 41.
Goethe, J. W., 10, 43,52, 71, 161.
Goethe, Ottilie von, 145.
Goetze, 28.
Golovvin, 224.
Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold,
88.
Grand Duke of Weimar, Charles
Alexander, 171, 179, 180, 181,
182, 183, 189, 193, 194, 200,
201, 202, 206, 207, 208, 209,
210, 212.
Index.
405
Grand Duchess of Weimar, 135,
183.
Grau, 149.
Gretsch, 41.
Grimm Brothers, 40, 48, 51.
Guhrauer, 106.
Guizot, 48, 49, 60, 62, 99, 106,
172, 221.
H.
Hanover, King of, 31, 40, 66.
Hansen, 81.
Hardenberg, Prince, 7.
Hedemann, 48, 193.
Hegel, 3, 7, 29, 30, 41, 54, 196.
Heine, 174, 177.
Helfort, Frau von, 75.
Hengstenberg, 68, 159.
Herschel, 75, 76, 82.
Hertzberg, Count, 64.
Heyne, 38, 64.
Hildebrandt, 186, 187, 191.
Hoeninghaus, 76.
Hordt, 64.
Hormayr, 60, 95, 101, 103.
Huegel, Baron, 42.
Humboldt. Wilhelm von, 10, 16,
18. 21. 27, 31, 33, 36, 64, 67, 70,
129, 133, 140, 152, 153, 154, 159,
167, 192, 217.
Jacobs, Friedrich, 38.
Jaeger, 42.
Janin, 99.
Joburd, 190.
Itzstein, 97.
Kamptz, 26, 76.
Kant, Immanuel, 33, 73, 107.
Klein, 64.
Konig, 41.
Kolowrat, 129.
Koreff; 2.
Kotzebue, 169, 170.
Knes, 38.
Kunth, 64.
Ladeuberg, 48.
Lafayette, Marquis de, 20, 151.
Laplace, 16.
Lasaulx, 195.
Lassalle, 217, 224.
Lavater, 6, 105.
Leist, 31.
Leo, 196.
Leonardo da Vinci, 52.
Liegnitz, Princess of, 35.
Lieven, Princess, 169, 170, 172.
Link, 68.
Liszt, 68.
Loeffler, 64.
Louis Philippe, 75, 139, 184, 221,
Louise, Princess, 33.
Maltzan, 61, 68.
Manzoni, 114.
Marco Polo, 36.
Marheiueke, 41, 68, 94.
Mary, Princess, 22.
Massmann, 110.
Melloni, 68.
Melgunoff, 41.
Metternich, 35, 42, 45, 68, 75, 76,
85, 98, 106, 122, 130, 137, 181,
185.
Meyerbeer, 88, 99.
Milner, 104.
Mole, 78.
Mueffling, 43.
MuUer, A., 36, 202.
406
Index.
Muller, 0., 16.
Mueller, Chancellor, 106.
Mueller, Privy Councillor, 28, 68.
Muenster, Count, 60.
Mundt, Theo. 19.
Nacke, 39.
Napoleon I., 48, 71, 161.
Napoleon III., 141, 146, 147, 212.
Neander, 95.
Nesselrode, 187.
Nicholas, Emperor of Russia, 35.
Netherlands, Queen of, 22.
Niebuhr, G. B., 40.
Niebuhr, M., 154, 212, 216.
Normanby, 221.
Noroff, 208.
0.
Oersted, 44.
Oertzen, 26.
Olfers, 142.
Oltmann, 13.
P.
Palmerston, Lord, 48, 124.
Peel, Robert, 75, 76, 84.
Persigny, Fialin, 146. .
Pertz, 160.
Pichler, 159.
Pierce. Franklin, 173.
Pourtales, Count, 176.
Prescott, 75, 76, 86.
Preuss, 105.
Prussia, Prince of, 74, 158, 168,
224.
Prussia, Princess of, 52.
Prutz, R., 90, 104, 106.
Piickler, Princess, 26.
Quinet, 43.
Radowitz, 61, 68, 75, 142, 159, 168
Rahel, 7, 9, 10, 24, 33, 36, 132, 133,
145.
Ranke, Leopold, 5, 68, 86, 105, 159.
Raphael, 52.
Rauch, 25.
Raumer, Charles, 41.
Raumer, Fred , 23, 64
Raumer, Minister, 154, 168.
Recamier, Mad., 36, 75, 76, 87.
Redern, 88.
Reeden, 64,
Reimer, 70.
Reitmeyer, 64.
Reumont, 75.
Riess, 67, 68.
Rochow, 45.
Robert, 52.
Ruesel, 42.
Rothes, 75.
Rueckert, 59, 75, 113.
Ruehle, 25.
Rumohr, 68.
S.
Sachs, 101, 103.
Savary, 50.
Savigny, 68, 133.
Schelling, 41, 52, 54, 64, 75, 196.
Schiller, 2, 129, 169.
Schlagintweit, Brothers, 154, 212.
Schlegel, Aug., 55, 125.
Schlegel, Fr., 13, 14, 151.
Schleiermacher, 66.
Schlosser, 68.
Schoenlein, 197.
Schwerin, 61.
Seekendorf, 60.
Index.
407
Schumacher, 41, 81, 111.
Seiffert, 50, 173.
Sintenis, 41.
Spiker, 13, 55, 57.
Spontini, 68, 88, 91.
Staegemanns, 47.
Stael, Mad, 87.
Stahl, 159.
Stanley, 75, 76.
Steffens, 52, 65, 196.
Stein, 160, 168.
Stieglitz, 30, 33.
Stillfried, 176.
Stilling, 105.
Stollberg, 75.
Strauss, 64, 66.
T.
Talleyrand, 33, 78.
Therese, 133.
Thiele, 68, 107, 172.
Thiers, 48, 102, 115, 116, 211.
Thomas, 102, 115.
Tkoluk, 65.
Tieck, 55.
Trubetzkoi, Princess, 73.
Uhden, 158.
Uwarofif, 68.
U.
Y.
Varnhagen, Fr. A. 168.
Victoria, Queen, 124, 227.
Voigtlaender, 42.
Wittgenstein, 5, 45, 88, 160.
Z.
Zeune, 16, 212.
Zinzendor^ Count, 6, 105.
ni iu.tmL.iri 1 ABfD THE NEW *^
INFIDELITY.
AN admiring friend of Humboldt probably Mr.
Bayard Taylor in a review of his letters to Varn-
hagen, published in The Tribune of the 5th mat ,
thus sums up the religious faith of the great
physicist :
"From a religious point of view, Humboldt must
perhaps be called a materialist philosopher, or perhaps
an atheist. Considered from a philosophical stand-
point, the term < realist' would seem more appropriate
to the views entertained by Humboldt than that of
materialist.' But, in stating this, it ought never to
be forgotten that Humboldt had been reared and lived
in a mental atmosphere, where the idea of positive
n had long since ceased to be considered as
^separable from the idea of morality and humanity.
In England or America the all but universal oelief is
it an unbeliever cannot but be an immoral man at
the same time. That belief did not and does not exist
m the society in which Humboldt lived. In aU his
domgs he might well be called a Christian; in h*
faith he was not, nor did he pretend to be."
We were not prepared for so full a concession as
this from such a source, nor are we quite willing
to pronounce so stern a judgment against Humboldt
the evidence which lies before us in his
wnuogs. The Kosmos, to be sure, nowhere ex-
presses that positive belief in a personal God which
constantly appears in the writings of Agassiz, and
>h is still more prominent in those of Dana
Guyot, and Ritter. W e cannot agree with that
school of science of which Darwin is perhaps the
most prominent living representative, which re-
rds it as unscientific to introduce the idea of a
frejf First Cause into a& investigation of second
causes. Yet we would not infer that Darwin is a*
atheist from the merely negative evidence of his
recent work on species-nor should we infer thac
Humboldt was an atheist or only a materialist,
from tne absence of the name and thought 6f a
personal God from the pages of the Kosmos.
Tfce use of the term LAW by physicists, and the
conetant endeavor of science to classify all act-^1
phenomena under natural laws, doubtless tends to
produce m minds accustomed to no higher sphere
>f thought, a materialistic moda of conception and
Of expression. To counteract this tendency Prof.
Cooke, in the introduction to his admirable treatise
Chemical Physics, carefully distinguishes be-
tween law* txdftrces, and defines a law to be th*
force is " a direct emanation of Divine Power," he
further defines " a natmal lavy to be merely our
liuman expression t>f the Divine mode of action in
the universe." In the present condition of science,
however, and as a matter of convenience in its
phraseology, " we are obliged to use language
Which implies the existence of separate and distinct
forces; but this," continues Prof. C., "is unim-
portant so long as we keep the truth in view, and
do tot allow ourselves to be led into materialism
by the unavoidable imperfections of scientific lan-
guage." The danger is, however, that the term
law, instead of being regarded merely as a conven-
ient expression, from the human stand-point, of
certain modes of action by a higher Power, will
come itself to be regarded as the Power the caus-
ative force, instead of the established sequence.
Such a conception of natural law is tyrannical
and exclusive most of all, dangerous to the re-
ligious conception of a personal God. To grasp
the thought of a Divine purpose or feeling, wind-
ing its way through the coaiplicated net- work of
natural laws daring uncounted ages, maintaining
the perfect system of things, and yet regarding the
w&nts of the individual universal and yet particu-
lar is perhaps impossible to the mind of man un-
der its present limitations. Who can understand
a particular love which is millions of aeons old, or
a thought of God which concerns directly some
individual man, and yet which is a thread running
through the woof of a creation which to us appears
like an eternity ? The rnind sinks down confused
aud baffled before such conceptions. To meet
these very doubts aad speculations, these inevita-
ble questionings of the soul, the Divine revelation
of Christianity has a marked adaptation. There we
find on every page the conception of a personal God,
aad this made vivid through his love manifested
in Jesus Christ. He who does not see God in
Christ, is hardly likely to see him to any purpose in
the material universe. Did then Ilumboidc ever
gain a true conception of a personal God ? We
own that expressions in these familiar leUers to
Varahagen sound more like materialism than the-
ismbut Humbohlt must be interpreted from his
own eta rid-point. To American readers his. allu-
sions to religious subjects will generally be quite
distasteful ; yet they can be understood only by
me peculiar pnases 01 tjermaa public lile during"
the last fifteen or twenty years.
The reign of the late King was a glorious intel-
lectual era for Prussia, but it was also a time of
disgraceful hypocrisy in religion ; of contempt for
popular rights avowed in the name of a pivine
prerogative ; of bitter oppression and persecution
in behalf of which the sacred name of Religion
was invoked ; and of outrageous violations of pub-
lic promises and legal privileges, under the sayie
plea. At the head of these oppressive and unjust
measures, soiling their reputations with every
species of meanness and compliance, were the so-
called " religious party " of the upper classes in
Prussia. Piety at the court of Frederick William y ,
was the best possible investment and its mimic,
Hypocrisy, held in her hands all places and power.
81 We do not wonder that when that dishonorable ^ '
V1 period is remembered by noble : minded Germans
BO now in exile here for conscience sake, or when its ISQ
shams and masks were exposed to a true mind like
Humboldt's, for the moment the very name of
. Religion should become odious, and that sometimes
words should be spoken for which the speaker ro
would not be responsible in his cooler moments. ms
French Romanism produced French infidelity, and ts.
Prussian atate-eccleaiastiasm produced the infidelity
of Prussian scholarship. These facts will explain to
imany readers the peculiar bitterness tfith which
Humboldt speaks of certain religious characters
and beliefs. Such expressions were not aimed
primarily against Christianity according to our
conception of it, but against the shams and pre-
c teDses, the injustice and oppression, the titled or
{crowned stupidity and conceit, wkich exalted them-
j selves in the name of religion. Many things were,
said in the openness of his intercourse with Varn-
hagen, which he would hardly hare wished re-
fh
peated so soon after his death. Some of his judg-
ments of men and systems were evidently 4rarped ;
and it is probable that many of his 4 more tender
religious sentiments he woulc
such a correspondence.
The absence of the religious element even when
the death of friends is the subject of correspond-
ence, is a melancholy feature of these letters. Yet
Humboldt denies the imputation of atheism to his
Kosmos by a writer in The Westminster Review.
He writes to Varnhagen :
"Then follows the denunciation of atheism, i
losi signt 01 in ine DOOK. AUU uin r 11017 oiuy eigtii
months ago, in the French translation, say, in the '
plainest terms : It is this necessity of things, this ''
occult but permanent connection, this periodical
return in the progress, development of formation,
phenomena, and events, which constitute Nature
submissive to a controlling power ? Physics, -as the
name itself implies, can only deduce the phenomena
of the physical world from the properties of matter ; --
the highest aim of experimental science is therefore
to ascend to the existence of the laws, and progres-
siyely to generalize the same. Whatever lies beyond :h wiL
is no object for physical demonstration, it belongs to of thf
another order of more elevated speculations. Im- ^ >l oo
marmel Kant, one of the lew philosophers whom no
one has yet accused of impiety, has, with rare sagac-
ity, indicated the limits of physical explanation in his
i renowned Essai sur la Theorie et la Construction rpi
des Cieux. Koenigsberg, 1T55." I 1 M
Humboldt regarded the doctrine of a personal cents
God as lying beyond the sphere of " physical de-
monstration," and therefore not properly to be in- prr
eluded in .the Kosmos. It would not follow from
this that he was an atheist. Yet we think The
Tribune is correct in pronouncing Humboldt an in-
fidel, according to the more recent developments of cen
Infidelity. He had no faith in Christianity as a
historical system, as a supernatural revelation, or
as a divinely-appointed system of redemption, nslatea
Thus, when he had road Bauer's critical attempt
to prove the HOB -authenticity of the Gospel, he
wrote :
" Bruno (Bauer) has found in me a preadainitical
concert. When I was a boy, the very Court-preach-
ers taught like him. 1 had to join the Church under
a minister who also taught us that the evangelists
had left some memoranda which, at a later period,
Jiad been used as material for fictitious biographies
(woraus man spdter Bio^raphieengedichtet.) Many
years ago I wrote : ' All positive religions consist of
three distinct parts a code of morals which is nearly
the same in all of thero, and generally very pure ; a
geological chimera, (rve gcologique,) and a myth or
a little historical novel, it is the last named of the
three elements which, in the course of time, acquires
the greatest iiDpoitance.' Again; speaking of Strauss's
'Li.'e of Jisus,' which he calls a 'remarkable book,'
he says (April 6, 1842:) 'The critical method of
Straus's is excellent. Besides, the book is valuable
in giving the entire dogmatical history of the times,
ana especially in uncovering the crafty tricks of those
thcologjaris who, following the ways of Schleiermach--
er, profess to believe in all forms of the Christian
myth, and are pompously followed to the grave by
royal carriages, while they slyly substitute a so-
called philosophical explanation to all those myths.
What 1 dislike in Strauss is the flippancy with wtiich
he asserts the generation of organic beings from in-
organic matter, of man from Chaldean mud (Ur-
scfilamm.) That he thinks lightly of the nebulous
rrvolfova I JJf.ni on T)inore<n\ hovnnrl flip rrratra T oauil
luslin,
25,
authoi
Har-
i 25.
i, au
" &c
N oo.
onio
Leech,
oo
likus to be agreeably surprised by lowering his expec-
tation as far as possible.' "
In view of such declarations we do not think
that The Tribune judges harshly of Humboidt,
when it pronouuces him an infidel, according to the
Rationalistic school of infidelity. The applica-
tion of such an epithet in such a quarter to suoh a
man. may help minds that are not yet disciplined
in the right use of terms, to comprehend tnat a
of
man of generous culture, of humane sentiments, c
and of strict private morality, who nevertheless de-
nes that Christianity is a supernatural and author-
itative revelation from God, is properly classed
wilL infidels, theugh he may not be an atheist. sing
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