THE LAST TEN YEAKS. 399 



he, as it were, ' hovered over the mass ' of individual men was 

 somewhat akin to the manner in which his contemplative mind 

 was accustomed to hover over the mass of individual facts. 

 We must not however forget to call to mind, lest we lose 

 through generalities the truth of the picture, the instances of 

 genuine and sincere friendship which he continued to cherish 

 till the close of life. 



In ' his family,' as he invariably designated the descendants 

 of his brother, Humboldt was called upon to witness much 

 sorrow. The serious illness of ' poor Biilow,' whose ' release ' 

 was granted 1 on February 6, 1846, has already been alluded to. 

 Eight years later, in March 1854, he describes to Gauss another 

 ' sorrowful drama which has lasted two months, and enlisted 

 the sympathy of the whole city. A grand-daughter of my 

 brother's, of great intelligence, and in the enjoyment of every 

 domestic bliss, has all this time been struggling in vain against 

 an attack of suppressed measles. Her mother, the widow of 

 the late Minister for Foreign Affairs, was spending the winter 

 in Eome with three of her daughters, but notwithstanding the 

 severity of the season returned to Berlin in the hope of nursing 

 the invalid. Unfortunately she arrived only to see her daughter 

 in her coffin, which was opened at her request. The poor 

 mother was able to attend the funeral, which took place in the 

 beautiful cemetery in the park at Tegel, where a granite 

 column, surmounted by a statue of Hope by Thorwaldsen, 

 marks the quiet resting place of the Humboldt family. The 

 deceased has left three beautiful children as a legacy to her 

 youthful husband, Baron Loen, aide-de-camp to the King.' 

 Towards the close of December 1856, he announces to Carus 

 and Varnhagen 2 another ' great loss,' in the death, after com- 

 plicated suffering,' of Adelheid, eldest daughter of William von 

 Humboldt, and wife of General von Hedemann, ' an amiable 

 and cheerful woman, who had enjoyed uninterrupted happiness 

 in wedded life for forty years.' ' How often,' he sadly exclaims, 

 ' have I, the oldest of my race, trod the path to that column 

 which, thanks to Thorwaldsen, seems to promise hope. I have 

 buried all my race ! ' To the survivors of his family, particu- 



1 ' Briefe an Varnhagen,' No. 106 ; 'Briefe an Bunsen/ pp. 75, 77-79. 



2 ' Briefe an Varnhagen/ No. 193. 



