BARON VON HUMBOLDT. 27 



of the globe, which was attended by the royal 

 family and the court. 



In 1828, the office of President of the Society of 

 German Naturalists and Natural Philosophers, which 

 is annually changed, was assigned to him ; and at 

 the opening of the Society at Berlin, on the 18th of 

 September in that year, he, as President, delivered 

 a philosophic and eloquent speech, which, as it 

 is comparatively but little known, we here present 

 to the reader, although under the disadvantage of a 

 translation : 



" Since through your choice, which does me so 

 much honour, I am permitted to open this meeting, 

 the first duty which I have to discharge is one of 

 gratitude. The distinction which has been conferred 

 on him who has never yet been able to attend your 

 excellent Society, is not the reward of scientific ef- 

 forts, or of feeble and persevering attempts to dis- 

 cover new phenomena, or to draw the light of 

 knowledge from the unexplored depths of nature. 

 A finer feeling, however, directed your attention to 

 me* You have assured me, that while, during an 

 absence of many years, and in a distant quarter of 

 the globe, I was labouring in the same cause with 

 yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts. 

 You have likewise greeted my return home, that, 

 by the sacred tie of gratitude, you might bind me 

 still longer and closer to our common country. 



" What, however, can the picture of this our na- 

 tive land present more agreeable to the mind than 

 the assembly which we receive to day for the first 



