THE LAST TEN YEARS. 341 



received with caution, but the action in itself is one entirely 

 consonant with his habits as well as his course of duty. It 

 can be no subject of surprise that neither his voice nor the re- 

 commendations of other advisers were productive of any effect. 

 To one of his benevolent feeling, who sought the spread of in- 

 telligence merely through intellectual means, the fighting in 

 the streets must have occasioned the deepest distress. It was 

 widely reported that on the 18th, when fighting commenced, 

 his dwelling was entered by a party of workmen in search of 

 arms. He encountered the intruders with the remonstrance 

 that they were disturbing the quiet of a peaceful man of 

 letters ; whereupon they inquired his name, and learning that 

 they were standing in the presence of Alexander von Humboldt, 

 respectfully withdrew, apologising for the intrusion with the 

 remark that they were well aware of his sentiments, and had 

 no wish to disturb him. To protect him from further an- 

 noyance, they appointed a guard over his dwelling. The story 

 is unauthenticated, and is not in itself very probable ; but even 

 if fictitious, it gives a just picture of the position Humboldt 

 occupied in the minds of the Berlin populace. When, after "7 

 the battle of Worth, the mechanics from the Borsig work- 

 shops marched past the royal palace in the exultation of 

 victory, they lowered their colours in honour of Humboldt 

 as they passed his house an evidence of the instinctive feeling 

 that lurks in the bosom of the lower classes as to the unity 

 of all true fame, and the noble relationship that exists be- 

 tween intellectual greatness and the grandeur of a nation 

 energetically struggling for freedom. 



After the parade of the Grerman colours, on March 21, 

 when the king, at the instance of the crowd, appeared on the 

 balcony of the palace, a cry was raised for Humboldt, who 

 had the tact only to bow in silence, while in front of. him l 

 Count Schwerin addressed the populace. The next day he 

 followed with the multitude the funeral procession of those 

 killed on the barricades, and there are many who to this day 

 cannot forget the act. To us it appears to have been done 

 much more out of consideration to the king than as a mani- 



1 Varnhagen's ' Tagebucher,' Tol. iv. p. 336. 



