FROM REVOLUTION OF JULY TO DEATH OF THE KINO. 177 



himself to the derision of the populace through his outspoken 

 admiration for German institutions. 1 If Humboldt's position 

 at Paris during his previous residence there might be regarded 

 as that of a social ambassador or consul for the Germans 

 resorting to the French capital, he became doubly so when 

 these duties were undertaken officially after the Revolution of 

 July ; of this we have proof in the large sum he raised among 

 his fellow-countrymen in Paris during the winter of 1831, in 

 aid of the orphans made by the ravages of the cholera in 

 Germany. It is due probably to his official position in Paris 

 that a deeper feeling of nationality is to be remarked in him 

 after 1830. However cosmopolitan he may have been in the 

 eighteenth century, he had long ceased to be cosmopolitan in 

 the sense of viewing patriotism as any detraction from the 

 purest feelings of humanity ; it henceforth began to appear to 

 him as one of the noblest of human instincts. His ideal was 

 now formed not so much upon cosmopolitan principles as upon 

 the union of nations without destruction to their national pecu- 

 liarities. This tone of thought, and the genuine appreciation 

 evinced for the noble qualities of the French nation, frequently 

 designated by him as ' une nation spirituelle et genereuse,' 

 although at times apparently devoid of any ' raison publique,' 

 peculiarly fitted him to act the part of a friendly mediator 

 between two powers, which, during a period of universal peace, 

 seemed unwilling to arouse the question of might which awaited 

 settlement at some future day. 



There is no doubt that Humboldt took pleasure in his diplo- 

 matic missions, and rejoiced in their successful issue. At the 

 close of the year 1842, when, as the bearer of an autograph 

 letter from the king to Louis-Philippe, a step was conferred 

 upon him in the order of the Legion of Honour, he was gratified 

 to observe that this distinction was viewed by the public as a 

 reward for his diplomatic services : ' I venture to express a 

 wish,' he wrote to GKrizot, 2 ' I might almost say a request, that 

 the distinguished honour conferred upon me should not be 

 made public until immediately before my departure, as /& 



1 Letter to Encke, dated Paris, March 30, 1832. 



2 De la Koquette, vol. ii. p. 247. 

 YOL. II. N 



