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 confident the two last volumes will have come to your hands through Buschmann. The weather was very 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 independent 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.
72.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
Tuesday, June 27th, 1843.
I am afraid, my dear friend, that you might come to Tegel next Thursday and find nobody at home. Buelow 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 Düsseldorf could shed light on many a thing. I enclose the little speech for you, as you like to preserve everything concerning your friends.
Yours,
A. Ht.
73.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
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 conception, 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 when you mention me, 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 political 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 dissolution. “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 dramatic scenes), and is the best done. What a startling effect such a book must have, even on those who detest justifying themselves. “Il y a des longueurs de déclamations,”—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 Prussian business-man, amuses me very much. As it concerns Königsberg, I will keep it secret.
74.
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 inventors, D. and H. v. A——, together with your gracious 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, however, 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 accompanied 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 to direct it under your seal to the ambassador, General von Canitz. I shall have the box opened at the observatory in the presence of Professor Encke, 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.