FROM ACCESSION OF FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. TO 1848. 327 



quality in which I am entirely deficient, the power of adapting 

 the depth of colour to the nature of the subject.' 



For these reasons Alexander von Humboldt cannot be ranked 

 among the great writers of Germany. No one perhaps had a 

 higher idea of the power of language, and no one strove more 

 earnestly to secure ' propriety and freedom of speech,' l or ' grace 

 and euphony of diction ; ' but the fact of such an effort being 

 necessary proves him to have been no master in the art of 

 language, and to have had no natural gifts of authorship. Those 

 who have acquired the reputation of great writers, however 

 readily they may adapt their language to the multifarious sub- 

 jects presented before them throughout a long life, have yet a 

 style of their own, the expression of their intellectual indivi- 

 duality. Humboldt, however, as he facetiously remarked of 

 himself, had as 'many manners' as Raphael. In treating of purely 

 scientific subjects, his style is simple and appropriate, never, it 

 is true, either easy or graceful, but free from all oppressive en- 

 cumbrances. In the notes to ' Cosmos,' and the ' Aspects of 

 Nature,' in the papers read before the Academy, constituting 

 the ' Miscellaneous Writings,' or the admirable prospectus of 

 the 6 Geographic des Plantes ' in the 'Hertha' 2 everywhere 

 the narrative parts are well expressed, and the elucidations 

 clear ; it may doubtless be esteemed as a commendation that 

 in 'these instances the style is almost forgotten in the richness 

 and variety of the contents. It cannot but be regretted that 

 Humboldt ever allowed himself to depart from the simplicity 

 of his scientific writings. But it was his ambition to produce 

 works of literary merit which should be prized as much for the 

 beauty of their diction as for their scientific value. This he 

 has attempted in the ' Aspects of Nature,' especially in the 

 older portions, in the ' View of Nature in Tropical Regions,' 

 dedicated to Groethe, in the text of the first and second volumes 

 of ' Cosmos,' and in various public addresses, inscriptions in 

 albums, and other short pieces. In these works ' his chief aim 

 was to preserve nobility of expression ; ' 3 yet the attempt to 



1 i Kosmos/ vol. i. p. 4. 



2 Vol. vii. pp. 52-60. Also ' Briefwechsel mit Berghaus/ vol. i. p. 64, 

 &c. 



3 ' Brief e an Varnhagen,' p. 92. 



