203.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
BERLIN, _April 10th, 1857_.
I have the pleasure to announce to your Excellency that Herr —— will
start from —— to Weimar on the 14th. Much as he would have wished to
make the détour by way of Berlin, if only to lay at the feet of your
Excellency the most cordial expression of his boundless gratitude for so
much friendly intercession, he is compelled by the brief period fixed by
the Grand Duke to renounce the realization of that wish for the present.
I therefore venture to solicit the favor of the introduction to the
Grand Duke you were good enough to promise; a single line would suffice.
I would immediately despatch it to Weimar, so that Mr. —— will find it
there on his arrival. The young man is well aware that the journey
concludes nothing, and that he must be prepared for a denial; but he is
much pleased to see that the long delay in the progress of affairs is
ended, and he is at last in motion. By your kind inquiry your Excellency
has produced this result, and dispelled the clouds of misconception; the
most grateful heart will acknowledge this with heartfelt devotion! His
sentiments are warmly shared by myself, in this case, as in so many
earlier cases!
With the best wishes for your welfare; with profound veneration and
attachment I remain unalterably,
Your Excellency’s most obedient
VARNHAGEN VON ENSE.
204.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, _April 13th, 1857_.
Here, my valued friend, is the archivary recommendation for ——, just as
prescribed. May the matter be successful.
With heartfelt attachment,
Yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
205.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, _April 21st, 1857_.
To my great regret, dear friend, I cannot accept the kind invitation of
yourself and your amiable niece to a cup of coffee on Thursday, as I
shall return late and much fatigued from Charlottenburg. During my
illness, a number of unimportant matters have accumulated, which must be
disposed of after dinner, because they are trumpery affairs of _orders_
and dedications, a presentation of Betel in preference to gifts of
money. The fourth class[93] operates like Betel chewing, it occupies the
time, but affords no nourishment. On Thursday the King hopes to close
and settle with me. Be pleased to write Professor Hoffmann, of
Wuerzburg, that I am grateful for his torso, but no assistance is to be
expected from the King, not only (what you must _not_ write), because
something like a holy horror of the Catholic zeal of Baader is rooted in
the King’s mind, but also because all literary assistance dwindles down
in _the cabinet_ to a present of forty or forty-five thalers. In
preference to the publication in the preface of a miserable letter of
introduction, which may have been written in a moment of ill-humor, I
enclose a memorandum as requested.
With the same friendship as of old,
_A. v. Humboldt_.
(INCLOSURE IN A LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.)
You ask me, dear friend, what were the earliest impressions produced
upon me by Franz Baader! I first saw him in June, 1791, while studying
the art of mining in Freiberg, after the journey with George Forster to
England, and after my sojourn in the Hamburg Commercial Academy of
Buesching and Ebeling. For eight months I enjoyed the daily intercourse
of this amiable and gifted man. Franz Baader had then published his work
on caloric, and his inclinations were all of a chemico-physical nature,
with a slight infusion of ideas on the philosophy of physical science.
He was active underground, more occupied with practical mining and
furnace operations than with geognostic researches; thorough in the
observation of fact, cheerful, and satirical, but always with good
taste, and not intolerant of those who differed from him. His
imagination was not then specially directed to religious subjects. He
was generally popular, and a little feared at the same time, as is so
common where there is a consciousness of mental superiority. His
political opinions were liberal. It was the period of the Congress of
Pillnitz in our neighborhood—a time and a neighborhood which gave
occasion to political utterances.
206.
HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
BERLIN, _April 25th, 1857_.
“The gate of the oracle, the abyss of the archives of state, analogies
leading down to the depths of the sea.” This is inferior to the last
letter. Rafael’s manner is not always the same. I am surprised to find
that curiosity appears to have led him to avoid seeing —— before the
journey to Hanover! Preserve the vapid letter, my dear friend! The
bottom of the sea refers to a map of the sea from Newfoundland to
Ireland, which I recommended to the Grand Duke, but which is not to be
procured because it was published in _Carthage_ by Perthes! The Times
flatter themselves, in all seriousness, that the French race is on the
point of extinction; well, the pugs are extinct also.
Yours,
A. V. HUMBOLDT.
I have disagreeable _rudera_ of the correspondence with a certain Dr.
Gross Hoffinger, in Vienna, who accuses himself of having written
against Prussia in 1848, and now asks Prussia to recommend him to the
Austrian government. Have you any recollection of him?
NOTE BY VARNHAGEN.—“Carthage” means Gotha, a town not far from Weimar,
but under the sovereignty of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, between whom
and his cousin there is a constant rivalry, such as of old existed
between Rome and Carthage.
207.
CHARLES ALEXANDER, GRAND DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR, TO HUMBOLDT.
Your Excellency’s letter was duly received by the hands of Mr. ——.
Accept my thanks for these lines, for this new token of your constant
kindness to me. The bearer is for the present immersed in the abyss of
my archives. As soon as I shall return from Hanover, where an invitation
will detain me a few days,[94] to seek him out, awaiting further
developments at the hand of time, like the people at the gate of the
oracle.
Analogies lead me from deep to lower deep, and then I descend from the
archives to the bottom of the sea. How am I to obtain the map of which
you wrote? When I inquired for it in Gotha, some time ago, the inquiry
was futile. So I return to the source, ever rich and bounteous, of whom
I subscribe myself the most grateful and obedient