96 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



the best advantage, so can he there reap the fullest value of his 

 fame. The king's favour, his popularity with the court, and 

 his frank and entertaining conversation, would soon pass away 

 were he to make this a permanent residence ; the familiarity 

 permitted him which is now found to yield delight would then 

 be taken amiss, would be thought burdensome and unbe- 

 coming, until at length he would degenerate into the mere 

 chamberlain. It is only in view of his speedy departure that 

 Wittgenstein can tolerate his constant proximity to the king, 

 for he had formerly ill brooked the marked tokens of royal 

 favour shown to him whom, as brother of the Minister of State, 

 he had even then regarded with suspicion. Witzleben, too, and 

 indeed the whole court, would turn against him in the event of 

 his remaining here. There is, however, no cause for appre- 

 hension on this score ; he is to leave, he says, on the 25th 

 (November), and that with very good will, if only he be furnished 

 with sufficient means.' l 



Nevertheless, in the course of a very few days Humboldt's 

 residence at Berlin was determined upon. Prince Wittgenstein 

 himself drew up the concluding arrangements, in part perhaps, 

 as Varnhagen supposes, that this unpleasant business should be 

 transacted in a manner which would bring least inconvenience 

 to himself; yet he knew both the king and Humboldt too 

 well to fear the effect of Humboldt's liberal views upon the 

 political sentiments of his sovereign. To certain members of 

 the aristocracy and bureaucracy, Humboldt's presence was a 

 subject of grave apprehension. Upon the announcement that 

 the son-in-law of William von Humboldt, Baron von Biilow, 

 Counsellor of the Court of Legation, was to be sent as ambassador 

 to London, ' Herr von Kamptz expressed extreme displeasure/ 

 and ' Countess Groltz indulged in violent invectives against the 

 whole Humboldt family, as a set of upstarts who usurped the 

 places of their superiors, as a race of plebeians who tried to force 

 themselves into the ranks of people of high birth,' &c. 2 . . . 

 William, however, had, as far as he was personally concerned, 

 been again received into favour, for during Alexander's stay in 

 the capital, the leading members of the court were frequently 



1 Vamliagen, < Blatter/ vol. iv. pp. 138, 146, 147, &c. 



2 Ibid. p. 188. 



