J 



96 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



On Humboldt's departure from Mayence at the close of 

 July 1790, Forster 1 furnished him with the following letter 

 of introduction to Johannes von Miiller, whose acquaintance 

 Humboldt was anxious to make as he passed through Cassel : 

 6 1 write to introduce to your notice Herr von Humboldt the 

 younger, my travelling companion, a young man full of in- 

 formation and of a rare maturity of mind. He is well read 

 in most branches of literature, but his particular province is 

 finance and political economy. Should you have time to enter 

 upon the subject with him, you will find him possessed of sound 

 principles supported by a rich store of observations and a great 

 amount of practical experience. His education has also in- 

 cluded the study of fabrics and manufactures, in which he has 

 made considerable progress. These varied acquirements of a 

 practical nature, which are fitted to make him useful in an 

 official career, are founded upon an excellent knowledge of 

 philosophy and the classics, studies of which he has gathered 

 the flowers without neglecting the less attractive portions. In 

 a word, I think I shall be able to justify myself in introducing 

 to you one worthy of being known, and one above all who 

 merits your acquaintance. He is now on his way to Hamburg, 

 _ whence he will return to Berlin. . . .' A singular letter of 

 introduction certainly for a youth of one and twenty ! 



Humboldt's motive in going to Hamburg was to enter the 

 School of Commerce, conducted by Messrs. Biisch and Ebeling, 

 where he wished to attend a course of lectures upon the currency, 

 to learn book-keeping, and to acquire some knowledge of the 

 business routine of a merchant's office. With a mind deeply 

 imbued with Forster's descriptions, and full of vivid impressions 

 of England and her emporiums of commerce, the sight of 

 Hamburg as the first sea-port in Germany must have excited 

 his interest in a peculiar degree. 



The School of Commerce at Hamburg had already attained 

 a high reputation for sound instruction upon political economy, 

 and it is an indisputable fact that the students in this science 

 were enabled there to obtain instruction upon subjects, for the 

 study of which the Universities at that time offered no facilities. 

 The celebrity, too, acquired by Biisch as a jurist and a mathe- 



1 G. Forster's ' Sammtliche Schrifteiy vol. viii. p. 122. 



