OFFICIAL EMPLOYMENT. 119 



before being attached to any special department, the Assessor 

 von Humboldt should devote himself to the internal regulation 

 of the service, such as the mode of conducting the correspon- 

 dence, the drawing up of reports, &c., in furtherance of which 

 he received a commission to inspect the various processes em- 

 ployed in the smelting establishments, in the lime quarries 

 and kilns, and in the peat works. 



We will now take a glance at the official practices and mode 

 of administration prevalent in those days. 



In the various boards of administration, the inseparable evils 

 arising from bureaucracy, red-tapeism, and idleness prevailed to 

 a very large extent. The subalterns by sheer drudgery accu- 

 mulated a vast amount of so-called valuable information, 

 according to the caprice or perverted notions of their superiors. 

 Scientific education among the officials was quite the exception, 

 and any participation in literary work was as good as forbid- 

 den. Von Hippel, subsequently holding the position of Presi- 

 dent, dared not write under his own signature. A candidate for 

 office who had given a conditional affirmative to the question, 

 whether scientific pursuits comported with an official position ? 

 had his papers, which were in themselves excellent, returned to 

 him by the presiding examiner, with the significant remark, 

 that opinions of that nature were inadmissible. Stein was 

 accustomed to relate of the minister Count von Hagen, that on 

 one occasion, when his subalterns came to congratulate him on 

 his birthday, he received them with the greatest cordiality ; 

 but when they were about to present him with a printed 

 copy of their congratulations, the minister stopped them some- 

 what harshly with the remark: 6 You know I read nothing 

 in print ; give it me in manuscript ! ' The most able officials 

 and statesmen had alike fallen into a state of literary and 

 scientific stagnation. According to a communication from the 

 President von Schon l to the Burgrave von Briinneck, even Stein 

 himself up to the year 1808 had not read a line of Groethe. 



These and a number of other evils, equally great, had not 

 escaped the observation of Kunth. 2 He knew the sacrifices 

 that were required, in comfort, in expense, and in health, before 



1 From a private .letter. MS. 



3 Stein's ' Leben von Pertz,' vol. vi. p. 75. 



