24 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



c In the midst of your sorrow pray receive, with every good 

 wish, the assurance of the most ardent affection and grateful 

 friendship of 



'Yours, &c., 



'ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.' 



1 Tegel : January 2, 1835. 



6 In my retirement here, I heard only recently of the death 

 of your revered father, and I was on the point of writing to 

 you, to express my sincere and heartfelt grief, when your letter 

 reached me. I was truly glad to receive the assurance that a 

 gentle and painless release had been granted to him. If his 

 life, as you remark, has been a happy one, it has also been one 

 of usefulness and honour, for by his worth and talents he had 

 won for himself a position in which he will never cease to be 

 remembered. It is a great gratification to me to learn that 

 during the illness of our deceased friend my brother and I had 

 often been in his thoughts, and it can never be forgotten by 

 either of us how diligently he laboured for our improvement. 

 From the kind interest which he manifested towards us from 

 the first, he kept us always in a pleased and eager mood, while 

 his quick intelligence, the almost uninterrupted cheerfulness 

 of his disposition, and his constant incitement to some useful 

 occupation, either mental or physical, rendered our studies 

 both interesting and attractive. He early directed our minds 

 to correct views on several important points connected with life 

 and society views, however, which at that time were by no 

 means universally received. I cannot sufficiently thank you 

 for your kindness in sending me some particulars of his last 

 hours. I beg the favour of the continuance of your kind con- 

 sideration, which, I assure you, will ever be most sincerely and 

 affectionately reciprocated by me. 



' I remain, with the highest esteem, 

 ' Yours, 



c WILLIAM HUMBOLDT.' 



Another tutor to the two Humboldts is referred to by Kunth 

 under the name of Meyer ; probably this was the mathema- 

 tician Meyer Hirsch, whose books on algebra and geometry are 



