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 unfortunate confusion, occasioned by my long absence from Berlin, that this my favorite work was so long in reaching 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 bloodstains! What a, year, in which all the feelings of the heart run wild!
137.
METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
Richmond, Sep. 17th, 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!