(Inclosed, a Letter from Friesen, of the year 1807, with this Superscription by Humboldt.)

A little gift for Miss Ludmilla Assing, the brilliant authoress of Elisa von Ahlefeldt, an autograph of my dear young friend Friesen, with sentiments of sincere thankfulness.

A. v. Humboldt.

June 30th, 1857.

Varnhagen’s diary of July 4, 1857, contains the following: “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 substitutes. This was in 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 garden 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.’”

214.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

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 specify 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 Napoleon 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 delivering the treasure. Elisa von Ahlefeldt has given great pleasure in Tegel, where I went with Kaulbach yesterday, 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 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 Ludmilla, the poetic artist, who combines the poet and the painter.

215.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.

Berlin, July 8th, 1857.

The two volumes of poetry kindly sent by your Excellency, no doubt manifest considerable literary culture, 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 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—bestowing 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 Gaggiotti 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 make its appearance, be it ever so peaceful and inoffensive, 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 Excellency, 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

Varnhagen von Ense.

216.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

Berlin, September 16th, 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”[[96]] is accused of rationalism and sinful Romanism on account of a kiss extorted from M. Merle d’Aubigné, 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 packages, 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 council of state. But the man has acted with considerable energy, and the King has adjourned the whole commission, which was the work of Niebuhr.

With heartfelt friendship,

Yours,

A. v. H.

Wednesday.

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.

217.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

Berlin, October 14th, 1857.

(WITH LETTER FROM GENTZ 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 republish the poems of Schenkendorf. Humboldt was full of cordiality for Ludmilla and myself; told me about the King, about Schoenlein, about the Princess of Prussia, about Doctor Lassalle, whose work[[97]] 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 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 peculiar impression 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 pillow, 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.”

218.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

Berlin, January 11th, 1858.

Revered Friend,—I, too, am a sufferer from the returning cutaneous affection, an unwelcome consequence 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 civilization, at a time when France on the one hand, and North America on the other, are most shamelessly subserving the capture of slaves in Africa, under the flimsy pretext of introducing free laborers. The political 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, 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 celebrating me in Hebrew.[[98]] 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.

219.
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 negligence 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 great sorrow. I say us, because the few days which I passed at Berlin made me appreciate the eminent qualities 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 presence 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,[[99]] 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 preliminary 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 Schlagintweit 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.[[100]] About —— he made 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 commenced, ‘Noble old man,’ or, ‘Noble youthful old man;’ or also in this fashion: ‘Caroline and I are happy; our fate is in your hands.’[[101]] He praised Princess Victoria, saying, that she was not pretty, but had pleasing simple manners, and an eye full of soul.”

220.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.

Berlin, February 19th, 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 Ritter 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, Vecchio della Montagna.

Accompanying the book, “Considerations Géographiques sur l’Histoire du Brézil, Examen critique d’une nouvelle histoire générale du Brézil, par M. Francois Adolphe de Varnhagen. Rapport fait par M. d’Avezac, Paris, 1857–58.”

221.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

Berlin, March 7th, 1858.

I presume that you, dear friend, have not seen the indiscreet, almost talentless, book of Normanby. I shall not return it to Lady Bloomfield 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 Normanby, 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 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 Englishmen ever heard of.”

March 9th, 1858. Varnhagen adds this further remark 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 VARNHAGEN.

Berlin, April 13th, 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 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.[[102]] 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 Protestant 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 consuming 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 hébraïzante,” as I have been imprudent enough to style it in “Kosmos.”

Yours,

A. v. Ht.

Tuesday.

(“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 observes in his diary: “Humboldt was very droll yesterday, in speaking of the letters he receives. A number of ladies in Elberfeld 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 time. 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; ‘I 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.’”

223.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.

Potsdam, June 19th, 1858.

Tedious on the whole, and full of internal contradictions, but still historical in reference to the mythical Americo-Germanism, and unfortunately too true. See p. 76 to 80, and pp. 33, 35, 75. The charms of a language without genders. “Fermez les lèvres et serrez les dents.”[[103]] “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 Varnhagen.—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 Humboldt.

224.
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, delivered 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 Moellhausen, 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 communications gives me the greater pleasure of the two, though it is unpardonably extravagant in the use of great names.

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. Alea jacta, 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 négligé de costume, même, as I wrote him in great indignation, en me dotant de deux fautes de français, venaient instead of viennent, 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 démarche) increases lamentably in senile want of direction. Beware of my patience with life. Reputation keeps pace with imbecility, and the 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,

Yours,

A. v. Humboldt.

My wicked friend Lasalle—Heraclitus the Obscure—has been expelled by the Prince of Prussia and Illaire,[[104]] in spite of all my intercession, and in spite of the promises 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 dispensation of justice!

Note by Varnhagen.—Iwan Golowin had asked Humboldt’s permission to dedicate to him a Russian drama entitled Rovira, and when Humboldt assented in a hasty French note, he inserted a facsimile of the note into the book.

225.
HUMBOLDT TO LUDMILLA ASSING.

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 in 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 acuteness, 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 incomprehensible to any mind less refined, less beautiful than yours; I shall soon come to tell you,

Bowed with grief, yours,

A. v. Humboldt.

Alphabetical Index
OF PERSONS ALLUDED TO.

The figures opposite the names refer to the numbers of the letters in which they are mentioned.

[1]. On the Principal Causes of the Variation of Temperature upon the Earth.

[2]. With a copy of “Views of Nature,” new edition.

[3]. The memoranda were intended to be communicated to Professor Hegel, who was told that Humboldt had indulged in attacks on Philosophy in his lectures.

[4]. It was a book of Ranke (the Historian).

[5]. Biography of Count Zinzendorf by Varnhagen.—Translator.

[6]. Humboldt wrote a very illegible hand, hence this allusion.—Translator.

[7]. Memoirs of John Benjamin Ehrhard, Philosopher and Physician. Edited by Varnhagen von Ense. Stuttgart and Tubingen. Cotta. 1830.

[8]. Goethe.—Translator.

[9]. Of Rahel’s death.

[10]. At that time editor of the Haude and Spenersche Zeitung in Berlin.—Tr.

[11]. Wilhelm von Humboldt died on the 8th of April, 1835, at Tegel, at 6 o’clock in the evening.

[12]. 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.

[13]. Preface to Wilhelm von Humboldt’s work about the Kawi language.

[14]. Professor of History at Berlin.

[15]. Helene, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, afterwards Duchess of Orleans.

[16]. Tegel, Humboldt’s country-seat near Berlin.—Tr.

[17]. Toeplitz, a Bohemian bathing-place.—Tr.

[18]. Biography by Varnhagen.—Tr.

[19]. Dorow’s Memoirs and Correspondence, 3d vol.

[20]. Sophia Wilhelmina, Princess of Baireuth.

[21]. Fr. Jaco’s Jubilee Oration for Kries, at Gotha.

[22]. At Göttingen.

[23]. Pilgrimage to Sesenheim. By August Ferdinand Nacke. Published by K. A. Varnhagen von Ense. Berlin, 1840.

[24]. Sans Souci, the King’s residence near Potsdam.—Translator.

[25]. Bettina von Arnim. Bopp’s critique is to me a source of great pleasure.

[26]. Probably Seiffert, Humboldt’s servant.—Tr.

[27]. The 5th of May was a day of penance.

[28]. A Prussian Field Marshal, killed at the battle of Prague, 1757.—Tr.

[29]. 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 never forgave.—Tr.

[30]. Bettina von Arnim.

[31]. A celebrated work on the Christian Dogma by Friedrich David Strauss.—Tr.

[32]. Humboldt refers here to Schelling, the philosopher, who had just received from the King of Prussia a call to Berlin, and who, in a penitent spirit, endeavored to reconcile Christianity and philosophy, thus recanting his former views. Humboldt was quite exasperated at his conduct.—Tr.

[33]. The Stercoranists are those who believe that the Host is subject to digestion.—Tr.

[34]. King Ernest August of Hanover.

[35]. Allusion to the new order—pour le mérite.

[36]. The usual festivities in family circles on New Year’s night in Germany.—Tr.

[37]. The work of Marc Fournier: Russie, Allemagne et France. Paris, 1844.

[38]. Arago uses thou and thee in his letter to Humboldt—the evidence of great friendship and intimacy.

[39]. Humboldt had supplicated for a politically-prosecuted young man, who is alluded to under that designation.—Tr.

[40]. Humboldt refers here to a patriotic drama of Robert Prutz, “Moritz von Sachsen,” the representation of which was forbidden by the Berlin police.—Tr.

[41]. Of the King, at the inauguration of the Provincial States.

[42]. Voltaire at Francfort-on-the-Main in 1753, by K. A. Varnhagen von Ense.

[43]. Die “Politische” Wochenstube by Robert Prutz, a satire on Schelling and his philosophy.—Tr.

[44]. The cousin referred to is Margrave Albrecht, of Brandenburg, who, in Prutz’s drama, “Moritz von Sachsen,” is represented as a “Robber Knight.”—Tr.

[45]. Curbstone Guard.—Tr.

[46]. Gymnastic Exercises.—Tr.

[47]. Microslawski.

[48]. Note by Humboldt.—The Prince voted for Mr. Hermann, of Leipzig.

[49]. 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.

[50]. Barante introduced M. Galuski to Humboldt.

[51]. The Prussian order of “The Black Eagle,” which had just then been conferred on Prince Albert.—Tr.

[52]. Petrifactions dug out in the Gossau, in Bohemia.

[53]. Wilhelm von Humboldt’s “Letters to a Lady Friend” (Charlotte Diede), bequeathed to Therese von Bacheracht.

[54]. A most sentimental and tragically-ending German love story made popular by Bürger’s ballad.—Tr.

[55]. A pamphlet under that title, written by Varnhagen, in commendation of the King.—Tr.

[56]. Romuald ou la Vocation, par Mr. de Custine. Paris, 1848. 4 vols.

[57]. The day on which the Prussian government yearly distributes orders and decorations.—Tr.

[58]. Beautifully extorted gift of heaven.

[59]. I.e. too much of a Red Republican.

[60]. A Hospital near Berlin, administered by Protestant Sisters of Mercy.

[61]. Leben des Generals Buelow von Dennewitz. Von K. A. Varnhagen von Ense. Berlin, 1853.

[62]. Bettina.

[63]. Informing that on the 17th is the golden wedding of Savigny.

[64]. The Prussian order of the Red Eagle.

[65]. Ludwig von Gerlach, in the Second Chamber, had called the representative Bethmann-Hollweg an adopted son of Prussia.

[66]. Mons. Mathieu had protested against the statement on the title-page, that Mons. Barral was appointed editor by the author.

[67]. Savigny’s golden wedding.

[68]. Minister.

[69]. By Pertz.

[70]. The province of Pomerania is divided into “Vorpommern”—Fore Pomerania, and “Hinterpommern”—Hind Pomerania; i.e. Pomerania before and behind the Oder.—Tr.

[71]. Louis Napoleon.—Tr.

[72]. Of M. Borsig, a machinist, a few days after that of Mad. Amalia Beer. The old man of eighty-five attended both of them.

[73]. In marble.—Tr.

[74]. Waldemar of Prussia, the traveller in India and Brazil.—Tr.

[75]. Historia general de Brazil, tomo primeiro. The pieces wanting here he had already sent as specimens.

[76]. Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen’s dedication of his book to the Emperor over his own signature. The title-page contains the words: “Por um socio do Instituto Historico do Brazil, Natural de Sorocaba” (the native place of the author, west of Rio de Janeiro).

[77]. These two words are illegible.

[78]. A Brandenburg family of the Middle Ages, who came near hanging one of the Electors of Brandenburg, predecessor of the Kings of Prussia. They were representatives of those “Robber Knights” who long successfully resisted the introduction of regular government by the Electors.—Tr.

[79]. “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.

[80]. The Mark Brandenburg, a very sandy province, sometimes facetiously called the sand-box of the Holy Roman Empire.—Tr.

[81]. Pourtalès, conspicuous in the Neufchatel embroglio.—Tr.

[82]. The Fox, i. e. Louis Napoleon.—Tr.

[83]. The Koelnische Gymnasium, Berlin, of which August was director.

[84]. 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.

[85]. A German proverbial expression for feeling very uncomfortable.—Tr.

[86]. A fashionable preacher in Berlin.—Tr.

[87].

Spaetes Daheim des einst in ruestig kaempfender Jugend

Weitgewanderten Forschers, der, gleich wie Hoehen der Erde,

Hoehen des Ruhmes erstieg, hat dargestellt uns der Maler,

Schoen, reich ausgestattet mit herrlichen Schoetzen des Wissens:

Werke der Kunst, der Natur, und Schrift und Geraeth des Gelehrten.

Aber ihn selbst inmitten des neidenswerthen Besitzthums

Sehen wir froh sein Reich mit sinnigem Blicke beherrschen,

Deutende Sprache verleihen dem wundervollen Gemaelde,

Durch lichtvoller Gedanken beredsam glückliche Fügung

Schaffend ein neues Bild, ein geistiges, staunendem Anschaun!

[88]. 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 inimitable.—Tr.

[89]. California, which has nobly resisted the introduction of slavery, will be worthily represented by a friend of liberty and of the progress of intelligence.

[90]. About eleven cents.

[91]. Leader of the most reactionary party.—Tr.

[92]. Day of the Prussian Revolution of 1848.

[93]. I.e., of the order of the Prussian eagle.

[94]. An ellipse, probably of Grand Ducal origin.—Tr.

[95]. Liszt.

[96]. Title of a work by Chevalier Bunsen.

[97]. The Philosophy of Heraclitus the Obscure of Ephesus.

[98]. A Life of Humboldt was written in Hebrew by Mr. Sachs.

[99]. One of the founders, “der Turnkunst.”

[100]. Order of the Falcon.

[101]. Meaning “Caroline and I can get married, if you will help us to some money.”

[102]. 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 Geistlichen in ... nuetzlich fuer eines der Spielwerke zu werden, welche zwar nicht naehren, aber eine augenehme Zerstreuung, auch des spaet ausgefuehrten Reitens mit Hindernissen, Aussicht zur Errettung aus der Unterwelt dervier ten Klasse gewaehren.” As it stands, the clause printed by us in italics makes nonsense.—Translator.

[103]. “Close your lips and set your teeth.” In the “Anglaises pours rire” there is a squib which says, “Ouvrez la bouche 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 development.” 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 Windischgraetz by an aide-de-camp, just in time to procure his pardon, while his colleague, Robert Blum, was brutally shot.

[104]. 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.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

  1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.
  2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
  3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.