16 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



left our house somewhere about 1770 or 1771. On quitting us 

 lie entered the Church, but soon left his charge to engage with 

 Basedow in the Philanthropin at Dessau. His journey to Paris, 

 in which I accompanied him, did not take place till the year 

 1789.' 



From these statements it is clear that Alexander von Hum- 

 ~boldt was scarcely more than an infant at the time of Campe's 

 residence with the family. It is therefore more than doubtful 

 if he ever received any instruction from Campe, and quite cer- 

 tain, notwithstanding the frequent assertions to the contrary, 

 that Campe could not have exercised a 'lasting influence' upon 

 both brothers, nor have first aroused in Alexander the uncon- 

 querable passion for the exploration of foreign lands.' 



Alexander von Humboldt would assuredly have become the 

 great traveller had he never even read Campe's 4 Eobinson,' the 

 first edition of which was published in the year 1780. 



It may perhaps seem somewhat remarkable that the two 

 leading characteristics of Campe's mind the love of language, 

 which led him, after Klopstock, to be one of the first in Germany 

 to engage in the study of philology, though principally in re- 

 gard to the German language, and the love of adventure which 

 made him delight in presenting before the minds of children 

 the histories of bold adventurers and great explorers should 

 have been so strikingly manifested in William and Alexander 

 von Humboldt. It may nevertheless be worthy of notice that 

 in the journey to Paris in 1789 above alluded to, Campe 

 assumed the post of governor to the elder Humboldt. But it 

 is equally certain that the bent of mind relatively distinguish- 

 ing the two Humboldts was original in the truest and most 

 characteristic sense of the word, and was in both cases developed 

 quite independently at an early age. At a time when it was 

 the fashion to educate youths of distinction according to the 

 method described by Eousseau in ' Emile,' the educational powers 

 evinced by Campe were far too highly estimated, and conse- 

 quently the influence he exerted over the two Humboldts 

 exaggerated beyond measure. Alexander, who always mentions 

 his tutors with kindness and gratitude, never refers to Campe 

 in these terms, and did not scruple even to allude to him in a 

 tone of ridicule. 1 



1 'Campe has a project of going to America/ writes Humboldt to 



