FEOM EEVOLUTION OF JULY TO DEATH OF THE KING. 199 



distinguished for originality, by whom the ideal is never 

 cultivated merely for its own sake, and with whom the term 

 philosophy is thoughtlessly applied to the first steps of induc- 

 tive scientific inquiry, the extension of knowledge by means 

 of experiment is more prized than the reduction of facts 

 into an organised plan, and the discoverer is regarded with 

 more veneration than the propounder of a system. Hence 

 arises the remarkable phenomenon that when men of science 

 in England attempt the ' generalisation of ideas,' to use Hum- 

 boldt's favourite expression, as for instance Buckle, or Darwin 

 in his last grand theory, they meet with far greater sympathy 

 on the Continent, and especially in Germany, than they do in 

 their own country. On this account the achievements of Hum- 

 boldt, from the universality of his range of thought, failed to 

 meet with the same appreciation in England as was there 

 accorded to the more concentrated labours of other investi- 

 gators occupied on particular branches of science. A proof of 

 this is afforded by the history of the award to Humboldt of the 

 opley medal, a mark of distinction designed especially to 

 those labourers in the field of science who have succeeded in 

 visibly extending our range of knowledge by the acquisition of 

 new facts. It happened that a discussion took place at a coun- 

 cil meeting of the Eoyal Society as to the propriety of awarding 

 the medal to a G-erman, by whose valuable researches an im- 

 portant branch of physical science had been extended far 

 beyond the foundations laid by Humboldt ; in the course of 

 the discussion the question arose as to whether Humboldt had 

 ever been a recipient of the medal, and to the astonishment of 

 the meeting the query was answered in the negative. It was 

 therefore thought desirable that the medal should be awarded 

 to him, and the claims of the young physicist postponed 

 till the ensuing year. It must be freely admitted, to the 

 honour of the English savants, that they were ever ready to 

 accord him the consideration that was his due, since in their 

 estimation he was unquestionably the distinguished leader of 

 European science. Nor had he cause to reproach himself with 

 neglect towards them. Nevertheless, it is certain that he could 

 never divest himself in English society of an instinctive 

 feeling of separation, just as amid the scientific circles of Paris 



