"The salient points of his attractive character lay in his imperturbable
good-nature, his benevolence and charity, his remarkable and _unselfish
amiability_, his susceptibility of friendship and appreciation of
nature; simplicity, candor, and the absence of all pretension
characterized his whole being; he possessed conversational powers that
made him always lively and entertaining, together with a degree of wit
and humor that led him sometimes to waggishness. It was these admirable
qualities which in later years enabled him to soften and attach to
himself the untutored savages, among whom he dwelt for months at a time,
which obtained for him in the civilized world admiration and sympathy
wherever he went, and which gained for him, while a mere student, the
esteem and devotion of all classes at Freiberg.
"He was kindly disposed towards every one, and knew how to make himself
useful and entertaining in every circle of society; and it was only
against every species of inhumanity and coarseness, against every kind
of insolence, injustice, or cruelty, that he ever manifested either
scorn or indignation."
How the world loves "unselfish amiability;" a person who goes through
life thinking for others, not irritable, not supersensitive, not
censorious!
On Humboldt's return to Berlin in 1792, he was at once made "Assessor in
the Administrative Department of Mines and Smelting Works," a position
for which he had previously applied. As a rule, places do not seek
persons, however brilliant; they must seek places.
This was a fine opening for a young man, not yet twenty-three. He went
to work with unbounded energy. He investigated the general form of
mountains, collected information as to former methods of working the
mines, by having three chests of mining documents, belonging to the
sixteenth century, brought to him for careful study, and made a report
on the salt, alum, and vitriol works, and on the porcelain manufactory.
The government authorities were so pleased with his thorough report that
he was appointed superintendent of mines in the two Franconian duchies.
He wrote to Freiesleben: "I am quite intoxicated with joy.... Do not
feel anxious about my health; I shall take care not to over-exert
myself, and after the first the work will not be heavy. I cannot
conclude without acknowledging that it is again to you that I am
indebted for this happiness; indeed I feel it only too keenly. What
knowledge have I, dear Freiesleben, that has not been taught me by
you!... How sweet is the thought to me that it is to you that I owe all
this; it seems as if it bound me closer to you, as if I carried
something about me that had been planted within me and cultivated by
yourself...."
Thus all through life was the appreciative, warm-hearted man glad to
show his gratitude for the stimulus of intellectual friends.
Who does not love to be appreciated! How many of us wait to say kind
things to our friends until death makes it impossible!
Again he wrote: "I possess a certain amount of vanity, and am willing to
confess it; but I know the power of my own will, and I feel that
whatever I set myself to do I shall do well."
While so earnestly engaged in study, Humboldt, with his benevolent
heart, could not see the children of the miners grow up in ignorance.
He therefore opened free schools for them, and paid the teachers from
his own purse. Not many young men at twenty-four would have thought of
so admirable a plan.
Meantime he was experiencing the first keen joy of fame. The Elector of
Saxony had sent the author of "Flora Fribergensis" a gold medal. The
Swedish botanist Vahl had named a magnificent species of an East Indian
laurel after him, the _laurifolia Humboldtia_. It had paid to be a
student; to be led by the "eager impulse" within him.