THURSDAY, _2d May, 1837_.
26.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
I came, dear friend, for two purposes: 1, to bring you the opinions of
Minister Kamptz (_casus in terminis_, only twenty-five copies
printed), which you, perhaps, had not seen before, and which has
elicited a vehement reply from Herr von Oertzen, the Minister of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, burned in the Lord. Read (p. 30 and 32), how one
can whitewash a person. I would beg of you not to laugh at me, when
you are invited to-morrow to a lecture at the Princess’s. I can assure
you there is less vanity, from which, by the bye, I am not at all
free, than weakness of character and good-nature in it. Thus, I
believed that I owed this satisfaction to the Princess; the daughter
also pressed me, and she showed me a harmless list of ten persons. If
you will propose or bring with you one or more persons, it will be
agreeable to me; only bring no one who has heard me already. Your
friends are mine; from yours I may expect indulgence. I insist upon
it, that a man is not without merit, who after spending his life with
cyphers and stones, has put himself to the trouble of learning to
write German.
Yours,
A. HT.
I hope also to procure for you the vehement “opus” of the Strelitz
Minister, which is by far more spirited than might be expected.
Varnhagen remarks in his Diary, under May 3d: In the evening, at the
Princess of Pueckler’s, the long-promised lecture by Herr von Humboldt.
The lecture was very fine, and made an excellent impression. I had a
conversation with General von Ruble on Humboldt’s genius. He totally
agreed with me, saying, “When he shall have died, then only shall we
understand well what we have possessed in him.”
Herr von Humboldt was with me yesterday, and brought me the little note
of Minister Kamptz, of which twenty-five copies only were printed,
“Casus in terminus,” in which he puts the best face on the French change
of rulers, and in which he justifies the Mecklenburg marriage. So much
in contrast with his old principles, that I could exclaim: “If he could
only cut himself in two, he certainly would put one half in prison.”
There is still no opposition wanting against the marriage. Duke Charles
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz has formally intrigued against it, and tried to
form in the Mecklenburg and Prussian dynasty an alliance, a covenant and
obligation, against all marriages with the house of Orleans. There was
even talk of a formal protest. All this is the most vehement opposition
to the expressed views of the King. Duke Charles is now really sick from
annoyance and trouble, not only in this but also in other things.
27.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, _May 10th, 1837_.
At last, my dear friend, I can send you the volume of the Academical
Proceedings, which contains the important treatise on history. I shall
soon exchange this borrowed volume for another, which you may keep. It
seems that there never were separate copies made of this essay. You
disappeared so quickly after the last performance, that I fear very much
your appearance on that fated day was only a sacrifice to me. I move
eternally like a pendulum between Potsdam and Berlin. To-morrow again to
Potsdam, where we expect, on the 16th, the amiable Princess,[15] who has
set at variance the whole hellenic camp, and whom they will now be happy
to find “by far not beautiful enough.”
Most gratefully yours,
M. HUMBOLDT.