HOME LIFE. 351 



specimen for my own use. I leave here to-morrow with Gray- 

 Lussac, to institute some chemical experiments at Mont Cenis ; 

 thence we proceed to Rome.' . . . 



Eound the margin of this letter Humboldt has added : 6 My 

 health is better than ever. I am working with more studied 

 application than formerly, so that I hope that my present 

 productions will be free from the immaturity characterising- 

 many of my earlier works. I am making preparations for an 

 expedition to northern Asia, which will doubtless be of great 

 importance for the theory of magnetism, and for the investi- 

 gation of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, for 

 which the long polar nights will be peculiarly favourable. 

 I cannot hope, however, to carry out this plan for two or 

 three years to come. The emperor has settled a pension of 

 3,000 francs on my travelling companion, Bonpland, as a 

 remuneration for the journey. To obtain this for him has 

 been the main object of my long sojourn here. I trust you 

 have, ere this, safely received the large piece of platinum I 

 gave in charge to Count Hake.' . . . 



On March 12, 1805, Humboldt left Paris to join his brother 

 at Rome. He was accompanied by Gray-Lussac, who, through 

 Berthollet, had obtained leave of absence. The two friends 

 were provided with the best meteorological instruments, with 

 which they conducted a series of experiments at Lyons, Cham- 

 bery, St. Jean de Maurienne, St. Michel, Lanslebourg, on the 

 summit of Mont Cenis, &c., and after a short stay at Genoa,, 

 arrived at Rome on June 5. 



William von Humboldt had, since the close of the year 1 802 ? 

 been resident at Rome, as Prussian Minister to the Papal Court.. 

 The position was one for which both by taste and inclination 

 he was pre-eminently adapted, for he enjoyed almost equal 

 distinction as a diplomatist, a man of letters, and a discrimi- 

 nating patron of the arts. Whether at Rome, Ariccia, or 

 Albano, his house was ever the centre of the most distinguished 

 society ; his acquaintance was sought out and prized alike by 

 princes and statesmen, by poets and literati. His house was- 

 especially the resort of artists, to whom Frau von Humboldt 

 always proved a zealous friend and patroness, particularly to- 

 those who could claim her as a fellow-countrywoman. Among 



