440 PERSONAL APPEAR ANCE OF HUMBOLDT 



" Ascending to the door of his apartments I was dia 

 appointed anew by positive word from the servant in 

 attendance, that the Baron would not receive any visitors 

 that day. With very httle hope of success, but disposed 

 to try every chance, I left my letter, and card, with an 

 intimation that I would call again at two o'clock. 



*' On my return, the expression of the servant's face 

 as he opened the door relieved me of all apprehension. 

 Showing me into an adjoining apartment, Baron Hum- 

 boldt came to meet me with the flattering greeting that 

 no letter of introduction was necessary. 



" I was entirely mistaken in the idea I had formed of 

 his personal appearance, and was surprised at not finding 

 him bowed down and bent by age. Nearly half a cen- 

 tury ago, he had filled the first place in the world of 

 letters, sitting as it were, upon a throne, lighting up the 

 pathway of science to the philosopher, and teaching the 

 schoolboy at his desk. He was recorded in the annals 

 of a long generation. Indeed, his reign had been so 

 long, and his fame went back so far, that until I saw 

 him bodily I had almost regarded him as a part of 

 history, and belonging to the past; even then, alone, and 

 in the stillness of the palace, I could hardly keep from 

 looking at him as something monumental, receiving the 

 tribute of posthumous fame. 



" He is now nearly eighty, but has the appearance of 

 being some years younger. In stature he is rather under 

 than above the middle size, with a frame, probably in 

 youth, well fitted for the hardships of his arduous travels. 

 His head might serve as a study for a craniologist ; his 

 face is broad, and his eye remarkable for its intellect and 

 expression. He was dressed in a plain suit of black. 



