82 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



order to appreciate the difference between a political condition 

 that has long been matured and one that is in process of de- 

 velopment, we have but to turn to the Berlin daily papers of 

 that period, the 'Vossische' and the 'Spener'sche Zeitung' 

 the latter addressed to intellectual readers conducted under 

 strict censorship by editors in sympathy with the Government, 

 and compare them with the six Parisian papers emanating 

 from the Opposition, which in 1825 could boast of a circulation 

 of 44,000, or four times that of the organs of Government. 



It may be remembered too that this period was that known 

 as the ' Sonntagszeit ' in Berlin, when the presence of an 

 amiable singer threw every subject of a more serious nature 

 into the shade, and kept the whole city in an almost frantic 

 state of boundless enthusiasm. ' It is quite shocking,' writes 

 Bunsen on October 23, 1827, 'to see how the intellectual world 

 of Berlin, with few exceptions, flocks to the Opera ! ' * Indeed, 

 the interest manifested in the Opera so magnificently produced 

 by Spontini far surpassed that evinced for the drama, for 

 Berlin was at this period beginning to take rank as one of the 

 foremost cities of the world in the patronage and encourage- 

 ment of music. Though Hegel, with his enthusiasm for music, 

 could describe with rapture the fresh delights he experienced 

 at Berlin, 2 what attraction could such enjoyment offer to 

 the Humboldts, for whom music, throughout life, possessed no 

 charm ? ' These brothers, gemini ! are indeed your twin 

 brethren in the world of art,' bemoans Zelter in writing of 

 them to Oroethe; 'they are both so entirely devoid of any 

 appreciation for music that I could make myself quite unhappy 

 about them.' 3 



During this period, the intellectual life of the Prussian 

 capital was confined almost exclusively to art and literature. 

 At the head of the plastic art stood the unrivalled Schinkel, a 

 devoted student of classic beauty ; at the time of Humboldt's 



1 l Clir. C. J. Freiherr von Bunsen. Aus seinen Briefen u.s.w. geschildert/ 

 German edition, by F. Nippold (3 vols. Leipzig, 1868-1871), vol. i. p. 287. 



2 See Rosenkranz, ' Hegel's Leben ; Supplement zu den Werken ' (Berlin, 

 1844), p. 349, &c. 



3 < Briefwechsel zwischen Goethe und Zelter' (6 Parts, Berlin, 1833- 

 1834), vol. iii. p. 346. 



