164 . ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



on various diplomatic missions ; on the first occasion from 

 May 30 till November 8, 1841, on the second from September 

 16, 1842, till February 19, 1843, again from December 1844 

 till the middle of May 1845, and lastly, for a period of five 

 months, from the autumn of 1847 till January 1848. Hum- 

 boldt, therefore, had ample opportunity for closely observing 

 the course of French politics during the reign of Louis-Philippe, 

 from its promising commencement to its inglorious termina- 

 tion ; and, from his intimate acquaintance with persons and 

 events, few men were so favourably situated for forming a 

 correct and comprehensive judgment upon this important 

 epoch in French history. The diplomatic despatches he 

 penned on these occasions have not fallen under our notice, 

 but Varnhagen, who had some knowledge of their contents, 

 thus comments upon them on November 21, 1841 : l 'I have 

 just been reading the despatches sent from Paris to the king 

 by Alexander von Humboldt, during the year 1835. Not in 

 the least like Alexander Humboldt ! They might have been 

 written by anyone else, and, what is worse, nobody else could 

 have written them otherwise ! This is the way with political 

 matters; they degenerate into trifles which are of no real 

 importance, but become so because everybody agrees so to 

 consider them. Hence the constant dissimulation of forms, 

 suppositions, and exaggerations, and the whole machinery for 

 disguising truth.' The censure conveyed in these words is 

 diverted from any special reference to Humboldt by the 

 general terms in which it is couched ; yet from the nature of 

 the case it is not to be supposed that Humboldt's diplomatic 

 writings should be at all remarkable. He conducted affairs of 

 this nature with the same conscientious earnestness and punc- 

 tilious accuracy by which all his undertakings were charac- 

 terised ; he was in the habit of reading the despatches aloud 

 before sending them off, while his attendant, Seifert, walked 

 to and fro before the door of his apartment to keep away 

 listeners. The German wits in Paris were accustomed to 

 draw a distinction between Baron von Werther, the Prussian 

 ambassador (Gesandte), and Humboldt, whom they designated 



1 ' Briefe von A. von Humboldt an Varnhagen/ p. 99. 



