192 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



showing that the Basques have peopled a large portion of 

 the shores of the Mediterranean ; numerous essays on art and 

 aesthetics in the " Horen," several papers on the philosophy of 

 grammar in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, and in 

 conclusion the remarkable " Lettre a M. Abel Remusat," upon 

 the construction of the Chinese language. These works, closely 

 allied in subject, all bear this marked characteristic, that they 

 lead from principles grounded on individual facts to higher 

 views embracing a comprehensive philosophy. My brother was 

 peculiarly distinguished by this capability of mastering a mass 

 of material already collected and arranged, of bringing out a 

 unity in facts, between which there was no apparent connection, 

 and of establishing their harmony with the requirements of the 

 highest philosophy ; this was accomplished by aid of a style of 

 writing which, while remarkable for clearness, was enlivened by 

 the charms x)f imagination, and impressed by a tone of thought 

 acquired by years of study, in which metaphysics formed the 

 favourite subject. He had watched the growth, and powerfully 

 assisted in the development of a new universal science of 

 language, in which varieties of structure are traced back to 

 types founded upon the intellectual constitution of man. 

 Embracing within his comprehensive grasp all languages, and 

 examining the structure of each language as if it alone were 

 the subject of investigation, devoting to every detail an atten- 

 tion formerly bestowed only on the idioms, and illustrating the 

 whole by means of his extensive knowledge of literature, 

 my departed brother was distinguished among his contem- 

 poraries not only as having studied grammatically most of 

 the existing languages, but as having traced the connection 

 between all forms of speech, and pointed out their influence 

 upon the intellectual development of mankind. The work that 

 is now in course of publication will show posterity how after 

 a long life devoted exclusively to intellectual effort, a powerful 

 mind can concentrate the scattered rays of knowledge, grasp a 

 great diversity of facts, and reduce under the eternal laws to 

 which mind is subject the organic structure of language. I 

 sympathise with you, my dear friend, in your desire that at the 

 next meeting of the Academy a portion of the Introduction 

 should be read. It would, I am sure, be productive of a powerful 



