98 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



led through generosity of feeling to expend largely upon 

 others. The welcome permission was also accorded to him of 

 spending four months every year in Paris. Thus it will be 

 seen that, as far as his outward life was concerned, the con- 

 ditions imposed upon him in connection with his new position 

 were neither onerous nor oppressive. 



It was, however, imperative that he should return to France 

 to superintend the breaking up of his Parisian home; and, not- 

 withstanding the short time at his disposal, he found opportunity 

 to send an affectionate greeting to the valued friend of his youth. 

 ' It is decided,' he writes to Freiesleben, the day before his 

 departure from Berlin, ' that I am henceforth to belong to my 

 own country, and in May I am coming to take up my permanent 

 residence at Berlin, where I shall be in your neighbourhood, 

 and shall spend only four months every year in Paris. The 

 king has considerably improved my pecuniary position. I shall 

 pay a hasty visit to Weimar on my way to Paris.' The journey 

 was also to include Dresden and Freiberg, that he might ' see 

 Freiesleben once more, and talk with him over old times.' He 

 arranged for Valenciennes to descend one of the mines, though 

 he was unable to accompany him on account of his disabled 

 arm. The following grateful letter, addressed to him by 

 Freiesleben on December 16, affords delightful evidence of the 

 permanent nature of the affection that existed between the 

 two friends : 



' My very dear Friend, I may indeed address you thus, since 

 the personal intercourse I have just enjoyed with you, after a 

 separation of twenty-nine years, has proved to me that your 

 goodness, affection, and true-heartedness are wholly unchanged, 

 and that the intellectual and social distinction you have attained 

 has not estranged you from the friends of your youth. How can 

 I ever sufficiently thank you for sparing us those few days and 

 permitting such unrestrained intercourse to my family and my- 

 self I Everyone here is enraptured with you, and I have been 

 inveigled into a promise of giving a sketch of your early life 

 before our literary society on Tuesday next. These meetings are 

 numerously attended, and attract many people of considerable 

 scientific attainments. You must not be angry at this, and 

 should you ever deign to give my paper the benefit of your 



