You have had not a little trouble on my account lately, which I lament
with shame. Most of all I regret having missed your kind visit, which is
always an honor as well as a good fortune. That the Grand Duke could not
find me yesterday, although he drove up and down the Maurenstrasse, and
made several inquiries, would be incomprehensible if the servants of a
Court were not a very peculiar fraternity. It is nearly thirty years
that I have resided in the largest house in the street, which the Grand
Duke himself has entered in visiting Prince Wilhelm of Baden. To-day,
however, he arrived punctually at eight o’clock, was very pleasant and
affable, spoke with a good deal of frankness and much cordiality, and
mentioned your Excellency with great esteem and gratitude. His real
errand did not appear until his visit came to a close; in referring him
to me, your Excellency has done me great honor, but you have also
involved me in no inconsiderable perplexity. The affair is of great
importance, and may lay the foundation for the happiness of a worthy
man; the wish itself is creditable to the Grand Duke, and it will give
me great pleasure in any way to subserve his noble purpose. I shall take
it into consideration, and, if a result is attainable, shall
respectfully submit it to your Excellency. At the first blush, I named
young H., which, however, led to nothing, the Grand Duke doubting the
extent of his acquaintance with the French language. The visit lasted
nearly an hour, and much that was said was remarkable; my share in the
conversation must have been unpleasant, at least the physical part of
it, which is entirely ruined and quite unintelligible from coughing,
influenza, and rheumatic compression of the chest.
With the best wishes for your Excellency’s welfare, I remain in profound
reverence and gratitude,
Your obedient
VARNHAGEN VON ENSE.
183.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, _Sep. 24th, 1856_.
Before I bury myself again for some days in Potsdam, a sacrifice to the
Queen and to her solitude, I shall, dear friend, justify the Grand Duke
and myself. The Grand Duke visited you, which honors him, not to consult
you, but out of respect for your fine talents and your character,
because he had, as he said, inherited the idea from his house, that one
must see two men in Berlin, you and me. That we must both accept with
gratitude as an inheritance from the _old gentleman_ and the Imperial
Highness, who is a worthy lady. He had not at all the idea to speak with
you of what he seeks and never will find (equal inclination for science
and poetry, history of geographical discoveries, art, painting, gems and
sculpture, refined social manners, fluent French speaking and waiting,
also reading aloud). That bantling is yet unborn. I said, _j’aviserai_,
and quite casually I added, that I would ask your opinion. Only when
taking leave, which he introduced officially by very far-fetched phrases
on the “noble grey-haired youth,” he asked me whether it would be
contrary to my wishes to submit the problem to you also. The visit had
for its motive the manifestation of inherited reverence, and a desire to
produce an effect, which must be connected with some self-denial at
eight o’clock in the morning, on the day of departure. To vaccinate him
with our excellent H., we might send the latter for four months to Paris
and London; but would a mind like H.’s put up with it? _J’en doute_.
Most cordially, your
A. V. HUMBOLDT.