FEIENDS AND COADJUTOES AT PARIS. 29 



to the same correspondent he remarks : c Although anti- 

 ministerial, even to radicalism, he exercises a considerable 

 personal influence throughout the whole of France.' He was 

 claimed as a member by nearly all academies and learned 

 societies. He possessed the rare gift of explaining in a clear 

 and forcible manner, yet in flowing and elegant language, those 

 scientific subjects which lie almost beyond the grasp of an 

 ordinary understanding. His works, consisting of sixteen 

 volumes, to which an introduction was written by Humboldt, 

 embrace the greatest variety of subjects, and are a model of 

 conciseness and clearness of style, verifying in a striking manner 

 the French proverb, ' Le style c'est 1'homme.' In conjunction 

 with Gray-Lussac, Arago was for half a century Humboldt's 

 most intimate friend, and their intimacy led to a perfect unity 

 of thought on scientific subjects. It was undoubtedly no ex- 

 aggerated expression of feeling when, in a letter to Greoffroy 

 Saint-Hilaire, dated Berlin, June 24, 1829, Humboldt concludes 

 with the words : l ' Pray remember me to MM. Valenciennes, 

 Deleuze, and Cuvier, but especially to him whom I hold dearest 

 in this life, to M. Arago.' 



Upon Humboldt's return to Berlin an active correspondence 

 was maintained between the friends. This correspondence, 

 part of which has been published in the second volume of 

 Eoquette's collection, gives strong evidence of the intimate 

 friendship that existed between these two eminent men. The 

 limits of this work will not allow of the insertion of more than 

 one letter from Arago, and we have selected that from Paris 

 of March 12, 1841. 2 Humboldt had expressed a wish to pay 

 his old friend a visit, but feared the time might be inop- 

 portune. In reply, Arago writes : ' Can it be that you doubt 

 my inalienable affection ? Let me assure you that I should 

 regard any hesitation upon this point as a cruel injury. Be- 

 yond my immediate family circle, there is no one to whom I 

 am more devotedly attached than to yourself. You must, 

 therefore, become resigned to your fate ; you are the only 

 friend upon whom I could rely in circumstances of difficulty.. 

 I am delighted at the thought of spending a few evenings in 



1 De la Roquette, vol. i. p. 277. 

 3 Ibid. Tol. ii. p. 214. 



