186 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



In the mean time ' the Genius of Ehodes' remains as an 

 eloquent memorial of the affection which Humboldt bore to 

 Schiller. It was this feeling that induced him, when at the 

 zenith of his fame, to republish this youthful production, 'which 

 Schiller had regarded with favour ' in the latest edition of the 

 ' Aspects of Nature.' 



On the whole, however, the allegory could not be considered 

 as a successful contribution to the ' Horen ; ' the meaning 

 remained as mystical and as susceptible of a variety of conjec- 

 tures as the Syracusan pictures themselves were represented to 

 have been. We have not met with any good critique upon the 

 work at least none written at the time ofats appearance. In 

 the ' Jenaische Allgeineine Literaturzeitung^ for 1796, No. 6, 

 A. W. Schlegel writes : ' The narrative contains a striking 

 allegory upon a subject in natural science which is rarely 

 expressed in so ingenious a manner, for instruction in morals is 

 usually loaded with platitudes. The little essay is gracefully 

 and pleasantly written, and its perusal is calculated to awaken 

 tender emotions.' William von Humboldt 1 was himself even 

 unable, or else had not sufficient interest in the subject, to 

 satisfy the enquiries of his correspondent Charlotte by any more 

 precise explanation of the mystery than to say : ' The object 

 of the entire essay is the development of a physiological idea. 

 It was much more the custom of the time in which it was 

 written than it now is to clothe serious truths in such a semi- 

 poetic garb.' Words of warmer praise were written by Grustav 

 von Brinckmann on June 27, 1795, to Eahel, 2 who was then at 

 Carlsbad : < Should any numbers of the " Horen " cross your 

 path in Bohemia, do not omit to read a paper in the last number 

 entitled " The Principle of Life, or the Grenius of Ehodes." It 

 is full of deep meaning, and, as it appears to me, is very well 

 written. And now I may tell you it is by Humboldt ; but by 

 the first ! that is to say the second ; for such another man 

 certainly does not exist. He has written a letter to Herz full 

 of fixed air, vital force, and nervous fluid, which is quite enough 



1 e Briefe an eine Freundin/ vol. ii. p. 39. 



2 This letter has never been printed ; a transcript of it communicated by 

 Varnhagen was found among Humboldt's papers. 



