122 ALEXANDEB VON HUMBOLDT. 



whole thing as I should the issue of a game at chess that is 

 to say, almost with indifference. The olfactory nerves are ren- 

 dered at length insensitive, from the incessant offering of in- 

 cense so unmerited ! ' 



Only a few days later, on March 7, he writes to the same 

 friend : 6 1 received yesterday my commission as Mining 

 Assessor cum voto in the mining and smelting departments. I 

 felt quite ashamed of myself for being elated by such a trifle. 

 I have, however, taken no steps to gain this post. It seems 

 unfair to make me at once assessor over the heads of a whole 

 troop of cadets and former pupils, &c., since my literary merits 

 can yield neither ore nor water-power, certainly not the latter. 

 I have openly expressed this opinion here, but I have been told 

 that in this department no one had a better claim than myself, 

 and this is very likely true. I shall be sworn into office next 

 week, and introduced to the board. I shall certainly not remain 

 long in Berlin, for I have expressly begged to be relieved from 

 a residence there, since to my mind Berlin is no more suitable 

 for an administrative board of mines than for a board of ad- 

 miralty. I shall have first to go to Halle, Rothenburg, &c., and 

 thence ? the minister will have to decide. Count Rheden gave 

 me to understand, in our first interview, that he thought I had 

 studied the practical details too closely, that technicalities 

 should be left to the old hands, and that a man in my position 

 was certainly not born to be a" common foreman. This did not 

 in the least disconcert me ; I told him that I considered that 

 everything depended upon an accurate knowledge of techni- 

 calities, for establishments that deal only in generalities accom- 

 plish little. I mention these trifles merely as an instructive 

 comment on' the philosophy of life. The very man who hates 

 all scientific study is the one to reproach me for having educated 

 myself to be a practical miner. How consistent ! Eheden is 

 particularly kind and pleasant to me now. He suffers much in 

 health, and great allowance must be made for him on this 

 score. I observe a great change in Karsten, much to his 

 advantage. I believe him to be truly kind-hearted, and his 

 manner towards me is wholly free from assumption. His style 

 when speaking is quite different from his letters or books. 

 He has a great respect for you. I do not see much of him, nor 



