300 ALEXANDEK VON HUMBOLDT. 



At his recommendation, Eisenstein wrote to Gauss to offer his 

 congratulations upon the attainment of the jubilee of his 

 degree of Doctor ; while to Dirichlet, ' confiding in his 

 generosity,' he forwarded a letter from Gauss in praise of 

 Eisenstein. ' Your pupils are allowed to rank as equals,' he 

 adds. ' Such is the way of the world, at least the intellectual 

 world. How many have I known as children who have since 

 surpassed me, and whose works will live when my fame has 

 long passed away ! ' 



The year 1850 was occupied with fresh efforts to give per- 

 manent support 'to the wretched precarious existence which 

 Eisenstein dragged on from one Easter to another.' Jacobi 

 had no sooner announced his intention of going to Vienna than 

 Humboldt proposed that Eisenstein should succeed him in his 

 professorship ' with a suitable salary,' and upon Jacobi's change 

 of purpose, he made a similar application for the post of 

 Dirksen. On the failure of both of these plans, there remained 

 no other way but that of private assistance. The following 

 undated note was written probably about this time : ' Your 

 letter, my dear Eisenstein, has greatly distressed me, although 

 it but confirms the evils I had anticipated. I shall take fresh 

 steps with the minister Ladenberg, and learn from Dirichlet, 

 with whom rests the distribution of the funds of the Academy. 

 But this can bring no help either for to-day or to-morrow. 

 You must be in want of some immediate assistance, and there- 

 fore pray do not decline a trifle from the hand of a friend. 

 Promise to come and see me to-morrow, Thursday, at one 

 o'clock, to receive fifty thalers, which I hope you will accept 

 without any feeling of compunction.' Upon another occasion he 

 writes : ' I have been thinking for some time past of the em- 

 barrassment in which you may have been placed by the dilatory 

 procedure of the ministers. I have therefore set aside for you 

 a hundred thalers, and implore you to feel no hesitation in 

 accepting this trifling assistance.' While negotiating with 

 Ladenberg, Humboldt discovered that one obstacle to his 

 plans was ' political prejudice ; ' ' and since our constitutional 

 freedom,' he sarcastically adds, ' has received but slight assist- 

 ance by your co-operation, my efforts are subjected to this 

 very unpleasant check.' He arranged with Ladenberg that 



