166 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



furnish a correct reply to the inquiry addressed to him by 

 Frederick William IV. as to the ' stability of the ministerial 

 axis,' he attended Parliament daily to hear the debates. c The 

 ministry will keep in power,' he wrote to Encke on January 26, 

 1845, ' but through their own misconduct their position has 

 been sadly weakened, and they have proved themselves quite 

 unequal to face the new elections to the Chamber ; in fact, 

 along with every other branch of the present government, 

 the administration is exceedingly unpopular. ... I add 

 these few lines on the 27th, on my return from a stormy 

 sitting of the Chambers. Gruizot's cabinet had to-day a 

 majority of eight only on the question of Pritcher's amend- 

 ment, and this would be reduced to three if the votes of the 

 five ministers were deducted.' 



It will readily be conceived that Humboldt continued to 

 maintain a footing of intimate friendship with the two dis- 

 tinguished statesmen, Gruizot and Thiers ; even after the coup 

 d'etat, he interchanged in his correspondence with Guizot many 

 sad thoughts on the state of political affairs. He was a 

 favourite guest at the court of Louis-Philippe on one occa- 

 sion we find him passing a whole day with the king, from early 

 morning till midnight l and he threw himself with character- 

 istic sympathy into the interests of the House of Orleans. A 

 touching proof of this is afforded by the letter he addressed 

 to Frau von Wolzogen, furnishing her with valuable suggestions 

 for the guidance of the Princess Helena of Mecklenburg, upon 

 coming to Paris as the bride of the Duke of Orleans. The 

 letter is given almost entire ; for notwithstanding the affec- 

 tionate tone in which it is penned so free from the formalities 

 of diplomacy it gives a just picture of the talent displayed by 

 Humboldt in the discharge of his official duties in Paris : 2 



< Potsdam : May 0, 1837. 



' Although I have but once enjoyed the pleasure of conver- 

 sing with the Princess Helena, the impression I then received 

 was of a character so deep and lasting that I have ever since 



1 De la Roquette, vol. ii. p. 92. 



* * Im neuen Reich ' (1871, vol. i. p. 357) ; contributed by J. Lowenberg. 



