44 ALEXANDEK VON HUMBOLDT. 



presented to Mademoiselle de M . I shall be anxious to 



win her favourable regard. Ambition, you see, mingles with 

 all I do. 



' HUMBOLDT.' 



Shortly before leaving Paris, Humboldt sent to Gruizot who 

 was at that time exclusively occupied with literature a copy 

 of his ' Essai politique sur 1'Ile de Cuba,' together with a work 

 by William von Humboldt on c La Metaphysique des Indous,' 

 accompanied by the following note : ] 



'As I take a much keener interest in the success of my 

 brother's literary productions than in my own, I should be 

 very grateful if, under your auspices, the " Bhagavad-Grita " 

 could be brought before the notice of the public in " Le Grlobe " 

 the only journal characterised by any elevation of sentiment, 

 or conducted in a noble spirit of independence. Pray excuse 

 this candid expression of fraternal affection, and accept the 

 renewed assurance of my esteem and devotion. 



( HUMBOLDT.' 



Humboldt's departure from Paris produced no diminution 

 in the affectionate interest he had always maintained in his 

 friend Guizot, and even while travelling in Asiatic Russia, 

 during the summer of 1829, he was never unmindful of him. 

 In two letters addressed to him at Paris, and entrusted to the 

 care of the historian Friedrich von Raumer, he renews the 

 assurance of the 'sentiments of admiration and affectionate 

 devotion which he should entertain for him through life,' and 

 in few words proceeds to give an important insight into the 

 Russian expedition from which he had just returned. As 

 these words are addressed to Gruizot, it will not be inappropriate 

 to introduce them here, although not belonging to this period : 2 

 c The expedition to the Altai, on the confines of Chinese Mon- 

 golia and on the borders of the Caspian Sea a journey of more 

 than 4,500 leagues which I have just accomplished, has left 

 upon my mind some grand impressions. It is the people, espe- 

 cially the great nomad population, which has excited my inte- 

 rest far more than the majestic rivers or the snow-capped peaks. 



1 De la Roquette, vol. ii. p. 76. 



2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 83. 



