OFFICIAL EMPLOYMENT. 135 



ments. I have been here some days, for the purpose of erect- 

 ing new works at the prince's mine, at Sibald's mine, near 

 Langendorf (for coal), &c. The universal confidence shown 

 me by the miners makes me enjoy my occupation, otherwise 

 my position is strange enough ; I am really doing the work 

 of a foreman, not of a Superintendent of Mines. I will not 

 attempt to give you any details of my mode of procedure. 

 The heat is unbearable, and the atmosphere of the mines ener- 

 vating.' 



On July 19 he continues: 'I have ridden quite alone in this 

 great heat, 146 miles in five days. My object was to inspect 

 a new vein of ore, and apparently it will prove only useless 

 rubbish. I am afraid you will gather from this, dear Freies- 

 leben, that I am in a bad humour ; but I can assure you I am 

 not. The last four days I have been spending quietly at 

 Steben, in the district of Naila ; I am daily in the mines 

 from half-past four till ten o'clock, and everything is making 

 satisfactory progress. I possess the confidence of the men, who 

 think I must at least have four arms and eight legs, which is 

 pretty well in my position among so many lazy officials.' 



In the midst of these various employments, his benevolent 

 spirit was actively directed towards the improvement of all 

 classes among the miners, not only in providing means for the 

 education of the young, but also for the instruction of adults. 

 The valuable efforts of the present day for diffusing a better \ 

 education among the lower classes, especially workmen and I 

 artisans, were in fact originated by Humboldt at this period ; I 

 for while closely occupied with official duties, and in the midst 

 of various scientific researches, he yet found time to labour, 

 even at the sacrifice of his own means, for the improvement 

 of the miners. When he first came to Naila, he complained 

 that the most appalling ignorance prevailed among the lower 

 orders of the miners, that they were full of prejudice in re- 

 gard to choke-damp and the search for ore, and were quite 

 unable to recognise the commonest minerals. He therefore 

 established, without appealing for official authority, a free 

 school for miners in the village of Steben, during the winter 

 of 1793, and committed it to the charge of a young foreman 

 named Sporl, whose salary he paid out of his own purse. This 



