232 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



natural constitution, the king's religious views were very 

 decided. The manner in which Humboldt exerted his influence 

 upon his sovereign is also upon the whole correctly given ; it con- 

 sisted, in fact, of instruction conveyed at opportune moments, 

 and he showed great tact in availing himself of the passing 

 humour. In the hope of securing the king's interest in 

 Lepsius' expedition to Egypt, Humboldt brought the scheme 

 forward as one likely to elucidate the history of the Children 

 of Israel ;* upon another occasion he would urge the interests 

 of Prussia, for upon these two points the prosperity of the 

 Church and the interest of the State the king's thoughts were 

 mainly directed. It has been already remarked that Frederick 

 William III. possessed the praiseworthy habit of acquiring 

 personal knowledge of the affairs of government only through 

 official channels, and to this rule ecclesiastical affairs formed 

 perhaps the only exception. This habit he preserved through 

 life, and thus evinced how slight had been the effect produced 

 by the improving and instructive intercourse with Humboldt. 

 Of this Humboldt was aware, and never presented any written 

 request to the king except in extreme cases. The ideas he may 

 have been able to introduce in commenting upon the literature 

 of the day or upon the various scientific subjects to which the 

 king's love for country pursuits often led, were confined for 

 the most part to matters of personal feeling. Humboldt's 

 position, therefore, with Frederick William III. differed in 

 reality little from that of chamberlain, only that the long- 

 habit of close intimacy and the high esteem inspired in the 

 king by the superior mind of his gifted companion had raised 

 this relationship to one of personal friendship, though without 

 giving to Humboldt the power of influencing the actions of 

 the king beyond what might be effected through the expres- 

 sion of opinion. 



Should it be asked, in return, how much Humboldt gained by 

 this unequal union for of his intellectual superiority there 

 could be no question an answer may perhaps be found in the 

 words of Bessel, whose loyalty is beyond suspicion, in a letter to 

 Humboldt on June 11, 1840: 'No one, not even any of the 



1 'Briefe an Bunsen/ p. 34. 



