216 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



In a fragment of a letter written by Humboldt from Dresden 

 to his friend Freiesleben, announcing an intended visit to 

 Freiberg, we see the complete reflection of his tone of mind at 

 this period, which is all the more interesting from the picture 

 it affords of his inner life, in the disclosure of the various plans, 

 thoughts, and hopes, with which his mind was then occupied. 

 6 All the inanimate objects surrounding Freiberg,' he writes to 

 his friend, ' without excepting even the stage over the " Ascen- 

 sion," possess a deep interest for me ; yet in the thought of 

 seeing them all again I have a painful feeling that I shall look 

 upon them from another point of view, and thus be deprived 

 of those bright images that now stand associated with those 

 happy days spent among the mines. Five years ago I was met 

 at every turn by joyous, friendly faces, and it was a pleasant 

 feeling to be everywhere so greeted ; but now it will be alto- 

 gether a new world, while to the old one I have become so 

 changed, so absorbed by other thoughts and habits, that I am 

 now quite a stranger.' In commenting upon this letter Freies- 

 leben remarks that notwithstanding these gloomy anticipations 

 the emotion experienced by Humboldt on the occasion of his 

 visit was characterised by a tone of joyous excitement. 



Humboldt greatly enjoyed the refreshment of the social 

 intercourse afforded him at the house of Korner, the friend of 

 Schiller, and amid the family circle of Neumann, Secretary at 

 War ; in both houses he was a constant and ever welcome guest. 

 At the court, too, both William and Alexander von Humboldt 

 were received with marks of distinguished favour. 



An important business occupying their attention during 

 this residence at Dresden was the division of the property 

 they inherited from their mother a transaction conducted 

 for them with characteristic care by their faithful friend 

 Kunth. It may be well, perhaps, to take this opportunity 

 of correcting the misapprehension hitherto prevalent with 

 regard to the estate of Ringenwalde, which has been re- 

 presented as one of the possessions of the family of Colomb, 

 sold by Alexander von Humboldt, while in America in 1802, to 

 defray the expenses of his travels. It has been proved, however, 

 by documentary evidence, that in the sixteenth century, Ein- 

 genwalde was in the possession of the family of Schonebeck, 



