Chapter IV (1)

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 OF VARNHAGEN.—Every word exactly as above—to be understood as a
joke.

81.
KING CHRISTIAN VIII. OF DENMARK TO HUMBOLDT.

COPENHAGEN, _May 3d, 1843_.

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 comparing 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 guided by your intelligence, and I shall be happy to be acquainted with the results of your scientific observations, whenever you please to address them to me.

With the highest consideration, I am, Monsieur le Baron, your well-affectionate,

CHRISTIAN R.

82.
JOHN HERSCHEL TO HUMBOLDT.

COLLINGWOOD, _21st Dec. 1843_.
HAWKHURST, KENT.

MY DEAR BARON:

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 continued 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 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’œil 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 deposits in the Ural and the zone in 56 lat. has also very much interested me, as well as the curious facts respecting the distribution of the Grecian germs in those regions. I could not forbear translating and sending to the “Athenæum” (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 contained in the works of Chinese geographers, for the 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 appearance 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 contribution 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 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 nebulæ are already in course of engraving. Perhaps the subject which has given me most trouble is that of the photometric estimation of the magnitudes of Southern stars and their companions with the Northern ones. A curious fact respecting 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 α Centauri). In March, 1843, according to Mr. Mackay, it was equal to Canopus. “α Crucis,” he says, “looked quite dim beside it.” When I first observed it at the Cape it was very decidedly inferior to α 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.

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 11 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 recollections to those of the “Salon de Gérard.”

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 admiration of

Your most humble and obedient Servant,
DE BALZAC.

84.
ROBERT PEEL TO HUMBOLDT.

WHITEHALL, _Sept. 4th, 1843_.

DEAR BARON DE HUMBOLDT:

I was much flattered by your kind attention in transmitting 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 personal regard and esteem.

There is no privilege of official power the exercise of which gives me greater satisfaction than that of occasionally bestowing a mark of Royal favor and public gratitude on men distinguished by scientific attainments and by services rendered to the cause of knowledge.

From the very limited means which Parliament has 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 intimation 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 acquirements as a botanist, and of the value of his contributions to the store of botanical knowledge.

Believe me, dear Baron de Humboldt, with sincere esteem,

Very faithfully yours,
ROBERT PEEL.

85.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.

VIENNA, _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 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,

METTERNICH.

86.
PRESCOTT TO HUMBOLDT.

BOSTON, _Dec. 23d, 1843_.

SIR—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 subject 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 very often guided by the light of your researches, I feel especially indebted to you, and am most desirous 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 régions 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: “_Fürsten und Völker von Süd-Europa_,” I find an enumeration of several important MSS., chiefly Venetian relations, of 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 conducted in Prussia, and the facilities given to men of letters, together with the known courtesy of the German character, lead me to anticipate no obstacles to the execution of my desires. Should there be any, however, you will confer great favor on me by giving your countenance 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 Tellkampf, 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.

87.
MADAME DE RÉCAMIER TO HUMBOLDT.

PARIS, _July 28th, 1843_.

I find no words, dear Sir, to tell you how 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 remembrance. It was at the most unhappy time of his life that I made his acquaintance at Madame de Staël’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 prolong 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. RÉCAMIER.

88.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

_August 31st, 1844._

I trust that the following autographs will prove welcome to you:—(A) Bettina under the indictment; (B) two copies of my very brief speech; (C) two letters of Spontini, with strange allusions to Prince Wittgenstein, Count Redern, full of hatred against Meyerbeer, together 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.

SATURDAY NIGHT.

89.
LEOPOLD, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY, TO HUMBOLDT.

FLORENCE, _July 20th, 1844_.

DEAREST COUNT:

The Professor of Botany, Philip Parlatore, is about to 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 Tuscany 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 instruments for its interrogation, and is on the road to important 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 gratitude. 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 surgery in the legitimate direction of natural science, supported by observation and experience. The congress of the “Amateurs of Science in Italy” will also produce desirable results. Such meetings, politically inoffensive 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 unacquainted.

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.

90.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

_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 at any rate, cold and wet, could produce an _excitement_ at the present time.[40] 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,
A. HT.

MONDAY.

91.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _September 6th, 1844_.

I understand as well as you do, my dear friend, that the speech[41] 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 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 indifferently 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 preserving 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 dogmatische Missions-Philosophie?”

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.

92.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _Sept. 13th, 1844_.

I must be in a few moments at the Stettin depôt to meet the King, who arrives at 9 o’clock. Thence I go for a few days to Sans Souci, where I shall, unfortunately, 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 charming 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 speculations, as to whether they have improved their position. It is with them as with the Prince—“Tell 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 Humboldt. 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 ordinance, 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 conversation in his usual way.

The following anecdote is still neater: General Leopold von Gerlach, who is fond of badinage, attempted an attack upon Humboldt some time ago, saying to him, “Your Excellency frequently goes to church, ‘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, undoubtedly, 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 subjected 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.”

93.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _September 19th, 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 introduce Mr. Jousserandot of Franche Comté, a French novel-writer. He possesses much beard and much good-natured vivacity. He is the son of a wealthy physician, 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.

THURSDAY.

94.
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 Luzerne—ipsissimis 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 word!”

This is poetical and very civil.

With the sincerest gratitude, yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.

95.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN

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 preliminary 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 enthusiasm out of mere perverseness has repeatedly degraded in burlesque prose. Your exquisite art of purifying is highly gratifying.

If Süssmilch will graciously permit, I shall try to accomplish 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.

96.

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 immediately after having read your “Life of Bluecher.” It is, therefore, but natural that I was filled with admiration. 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 of place here, because the secret of such successes lies in the clearness of intellect and the intensity of your feelings. 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 brutality by subsequent ones more systematically devised—and all this under the reign of such a King! I am very angry and deeply affected.

A. V. HUMBOLDT.

MONDAY MORNING.

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 domestic 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 sympathy. 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 Johannisberg; a letter from Lord Stanley, the Minister; and two letters from Jules Janin and Spontini; also a book for the Countess of Stolberg.

98.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.

VIENNA, _June 21st, 1845_.

MY DEAR BARON:

Enclosed you will find my vote for the future colleague. 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 accomplish that gigantic enterprise. Knowledge alone, however, would not suffice—and hence I am led to acknowledge the full merit of the author—his great power of representation and his method! You have applied 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 impressions 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 conviction, that _you alone_ of all living men could achieve the task, and that the word Kosmos is the true and appropriate 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 disturbances, and devote to the natural sciences.

Accept, dear Humboldt, the renewed assurance of my sincere and well-known consideration.

METTERNICH.

99.
JULES JANIN TO HUMBOLDT.

STAR HOTEL AT BONN,
SUNDAY EVENING, _August 10th, 1845_.

DEAR SIR,—I beg and entreat you to do an impossible 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, therefore, to my request. I left Paris a week ago for the express purpose of transmitting to the “Journal des Débats” 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 presentation 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 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 momentous 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 Débats,” 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.

100.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

POTSDAM, _26th of September, 1845_.

(To his dear friend, the Privy Councillor von Varnhagen.)

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 dixò al Rey Don Phelipe II., viendo que iva en diversas ocasiones al poder absoluto: Señor, reconoced á Dios en la tierra como en el cielo, por que ne se cause de las monarquías, suave govierno si los Reyes suavemente usan de él.—_Cartas de 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 Counsellor said to the King Philip II., being aware of his tendency to absolute power: “Sire, recognise the supremacy of God on earth as well as in Heaven, so that God 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 compañero 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 2d, 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 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 prevails.

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 savans—such a book did not contain 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 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 progressively to generalise the same. Whatever lies beyond is no object for _physical demonstration_, it belongs to another order of _more elevated_ speculations. Immanuel Kant, one of the few philosophers whom no one has yet accused of impiety, has, with rare sagacity, indicated the limits of physical explanation in his renowned _Essai sur la Théorie et la Construction 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 personally 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. HUMBOLDT.

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.

102.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

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 VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _Nov. 30th, 1845_.

All gifts, tendered through a hand like yours, are of double value to me, my dear friend. I have immediately 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 expectation? 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.[42] Your revelations are delightful; but “Duncker-Freitag,” the recruiting officer, the sentinel, 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 VARNHAGEN

THURSDAY, _January 15th, 1846_.

Mr. 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 approbation is _highly_ valuable to me, my dear friend!

The “Quarterly Review” says I had a prolix style, and am never able to write one page of “vivid expression.”

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 VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _January 25th, 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 “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 Zinzendorf, 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 frequently blamed as being too poetical; but the “Quarterly Review” finds it languishing, lifeless, and “not a vivid description.” How differently different nations feel!

106.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _February 7th, 1846_.

Yesterday afternoon poor Buelow was released from his sufferings. Thursday night, at eleven o’clock, on going 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 pressure of business, caused by this event, and in the midst of letters which I have still to write to Guizot, Metternich, 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 am not personally acquainted with Fallersleben. The whole passage, however, in the “_Wochenstube_,”[43] 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.[44] 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 Government, 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 reading-room at Weimar. The Court of Weimar replied with dignity. But that Prutz or Fallersleben could be appointed seems highly improbable to me. Credat Judæus Apella. Excuse to-day my confused writing, dear friend!

Yours,
A. V. HT.

SATURDAY.

107.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _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 contains a contradiction! Prussia is to have unity in an American confederacy. His remarks, p. 3, on Frederick II. 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 “Eckensheher,”[45] and is touched by the liberalism of Bodelschwingh, p. 14, who 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,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.

FRIDAY.

108.
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 in 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 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,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.

SUNDAY.

109.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

BERLIN, _March 30th, 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 fugitive 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 ministers who would gladly permit the “Turnen,[46]” throw suspicion on Prof. Massmann, 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. HUMBOLDT.

110.
HUMBOLDT TO FRIEDRICH WILHELM IV.

As early as eight o’clock this morning I sent to the Koethener Strasse, to have an interview with Professor Massmann, 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 enthusiastic vigor for influencing our youth (the indelible, primæval, 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. Professor 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 wonder 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 intellectual freedom, and the true appreciation of his impending 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 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. Bodelschwingh will send for Massmann.

In all haste, as ever.

Your faithful
F. W.

ALEXANDER V. HUMBOLDT, Present.

111.
BESSEL TO HUMBOLDT.

KOENIGSBERG, _Feb. 12th, 1846_.

I hear with great regret that your Excellency has to mourn the loss of Herr von Buelow. Although I had 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 preferable to death after a _long_ one, is a truth which impresses itself often on my mind!