174 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



with increasing detestation, he foresaw a Nemesis would arise ; 

 though in what form he could not say. He never ceased to 

 hate and despise him ; in self-imposed banishment he kept 

 aloof from his beloved Paris, where the Parisians were prepared 

 to give him a royal reception, and although he may possibly 

 have derived a secret satisfaction from the supercilious polite- 

 ness of the emperor, he ever treated his advances with cold 

 disdain. As far as he was concerned, he, who was the intimate 

 companion of Arago and the fatherly friend of the Duchess 

 of Orleans, would never acknowledge the dynasty of Napoleon 

 III. ; it was therefore an insult to his memory that after his 

 death the manuscript of ' Cosmos ' that had been used by the 

 printer was presented to Imperial France by the officious hand 

 of his assistant. 1 



The sudden death of the Duke of Orleans was mourned by 

 Humboldt as a world-wide calamity. In a letter dated July 26, 

 1 842, he writes : ' I do not allude to the terrible misfortune 

 of the 13th of July. You are aware that I have been devoted 

 to this excellent young prince from his childhood. You know 

 the relationship in which I stand to the Princess Helena. It 

 is a calamity affecting the whole of Europe, for it will involve 

 a reconstruction of the regency, and I fear that any arrange- 

 ment now made will not be permanent, on account of the popu- 

 lar elements which cannot fail to be introduced ; the govern- 

 ment is already almost a republic in disguise. I cannot 

 describe to you the affliction that this event has spread through- 

 out Germany.' 2 



Intimately connected as Humboldt was with the Orleans 

 court, and much as he was interested in maintaining a 

 good understanding between France and Prussia, he yet 

 knew how to assert the dignity and rightful position of his 

 country. A convincing proof of this is afforded by his conduct 



1 The friendship maintained by the Duchess of Orleans for Humboldt is 

 clearly evinced in the 'Briefe an Varnhagen/ Nos. 117-119, 138-140, as 

 well as in various unpublished letters of Humboldt's to the Princess of 

 Prussia the present Empress of Germany. Also in some manuscript letters 

 of the Duchess von Sagan to Humboldt, and in II. \V. Dove's < Gedachtniss- 

 rede,' p. 9. 



2 Be la Roquette, voUi. < Avertissement des nouvemir editeurs,' p. vi. - 



