28 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



Astronomy at Paris in 1807, and died in 1822 ;. the terms of 

 intimate friendship which Humboldt maintained with both 

 these ' citizens ' is evinced by the numerous letters he addressed 

 'to them from South America. 



Among Humboldt's astronomical friends must also be 

 reckoned the great Laplace, author of the ' Mecanique celeste ' 

 and other important works on astronomy ; he was the son of 

 a farmer in Normandy, and was born in the same year as 

 Delambre. The elegant eulogy paid to him by Arago renders 

 it superfluous for us to enter upon any criticism of his valuable 

 labours. Compared with the illustrious Laplace, Humboldt's 

 Genevan friend, Marc-Auguste Pictet born 1752, died 1825 

 to whom reference has been so frequently made, can hold but 

 a secondary place, since his labours were mainly confined to 

 investigations of a subordinate character. He accomplished, 

 however, a valuable work in facilitating an interchange of 

 thought among the various nations of Europe, especially be- 

 tween France, England, and Switzerland, in furtherance of 

 which he instituted the Bibliotheque britannique.' It was 

 mainly through Pictet's exertions that Humboldt's name and 

 writings became known and appreciated in England at a much 

 earlier period than would have been the case if dependent only 

 upon his own exertions. The peculiar regard entertained by 

 Humboldt for his amiable friend was testified by many tokens 

 of friendship and a correspondence maintained throughout a 

 long series of years. 



Of Humboldt's Parisian friends the one with whom he 

 enjoyed closest intimacy was undoubtedly Francois Arago, who, 

 born at Estagel, near Perpignan, on February 26, 1786, died at 

 Paris on October 2, 1853. The career of this illustrious man 

 was almost unexampled ; at the age of fourteen he began to 

 prepare himself for the Ecole Poly technique, and by the time 

 lie had reached twenty he was ranked with the most distin- 

 guished scientific men of the day. Among astronomers he 

 held a position as honourable as among physicists and chemists. 

 Even in politics he took a conspicuous part in the eventful 

 year 1848. In a letter to Schumacher, Humboldt speaks of 

 him as ' one gifted with the noblest of natures, equally distin- 

 guished for intellectual power and moral excellence,' and again 



