THE LAST TEN YEAES. 339 



indispensable to success.' ] Such a condition had been ex- 

 perienced by Humboldt only by paroxysms, often and often 

 had he triumphed over such feelings of depression ; to borrow 

 an idea from the ' Grenius of Khodes,' his vital force, both 

 morally and intellectually, soon regained possession of his phy- 

 sical frame ; his moral courage was renewed, his fears dispelled, 

 his hopes aroused, and never was he deserted by the fearless 

 confidence which enabled him to continue his labours upon 

 ' Cosmos,' finally to be crowned with such brilliant success. 



In describing the last ten years of Humboldt's life, there is 

 except during the days of the Revolution abundance of 

 material suited to our purpose. Not merely because he more 

 than ever indulged in the 6 garrulity of age,' of which he often 

 complained in the numerous letters he penned of a night in 

 the solitude of his study, but because these letters have been 

 almost all preserved, and with them a number of personal re- 

 collections, out of which it is easy to collect data. Many of 

 these incidents have been already published ; but incomparably 

 more, though perhaps not the most important, stand recorded 

 only in manuscript, or are still mere matters of tradition : from 

 these sources it would be possible to give a minute record of 

 Humboldt's occupations and mode of life for several days in 

 succession, as we had occasion to do in the case of Uhland's re- 

 jection of the Order of Merit on December 5, 1853, but such a 

 course would involve an unnecessary expenditure of time and 

 trouble, and discover but little of interest. Our task will con- 

 sist rather, as heretofore, in a careful selection of facts. As 

 even the numerous ' perturbations ' of court life were in these 

 latter years of a rigid and formal character, to carry out the 

 astronomical allusion, the reader must be content with the 

 ' elements of the orbit,' in following the path of our hero. 2 



1 De la Roquette, vol. i. p. 317. 



2 A similar restriction must be exercised in giving authorities. In 

 accordance with the principles of this biography, we shall confine ourselves 

 strictly to well-authenticated facts, but parallel passages with which we 

 might fill pages cannot be viewed in the light of authorities. Among the 

 published works yielding material for the closing years of Humboldt's 

 biography, we may mention, in addition to the correspondence of Varnhagen, 

 Bunsen, Berghaus, and others, Fr. Althaus' ' Briefwechsel und Gesprache 

 A. von Humboldt's mit einem jungen Freunde, 1848-56 j' of the manuscript 



z 2 



