FROM ACCESSION OF FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. TO 1848. 285 



nominally left to the ministers Eichhorn, Thile, and Savigny, 

 but their choice was to a great extent overruled by the capri- 

 cious and powerful influence of the king : in this matter, 

 according to Humboldt, he showed himself, when deviating 

 from the opinion of his ministers, ' superior to the trivial con- 

 siderations of party feeling or aristocratic prejudice.' The first 

 list was drawn out by the king in Sanskrit character ' a habit 

 with this enthusiastic prince, that no one should read the 

 memoranda lying on his writing-table.' The institution of this 

 order, with which Humboldt so far sympathised that he spoke 

 of it to Gauss as a noble thought ' to associate the illustrious 

 Frederick the Great with the intellectual glory of the present 

 and a future age,' was yet a scheme which he discountenanced 

 for the reason c that he foresaw that animosity would be 

 excited in those who were not selected for the distinction.' 

 He did in fact receive ' many abusive letters from those whose 

 names were not on the list.' Several names of celebrity were 

 eventually expunged on account ' of the unfortunate resolve to 

 restrict the number to thirty, instead of forty-six the years of 

 the reign of Frederick the Great. Many chairs are thus upset. 

 Hinc illce lacrimce ! ' Humboldt especially commends the 

 king for having, in deference to Frederick the Great, ' excluded 

 theology from the qualifications, since to him theology had 

 been but a myth.' In writing to Bunsen, Humboldt remarks : 

 ' With the exception of Metternich and Liszt, no nominations 

 have been made which cannot fully be justified, and it may be 

 stated with pride that they have been selected without the 

 slightest reference to political or religious opinions ; there are, 

 however, certain names distinguished in science and art for the 

 omission of which it would be hard to find a reason.' The 

 friendly footing maintained by Humboldt with most of the 

 scientific men in question, must often have placed him in 

 great perplexity, when, through the erroneous supposition that 

 the king acted under his advice, they imagined themselves to 

 have been bitterly deceived. Peculiar difficulties awaited him 

 in England, where the law prohibited the acceptance of foreign 

 decorations. At Herschel's suggestion, the difficulty was ob- 

 viated in his case, and subsequently in Macaulay's, by per- 

 mission being granted to accept the investiture of the order 



