A Visit to the German Philosopher Hnmboldt. 



Bayard Taylor, having finished his travels in the 

 northern countries of Europe, revisited Germany. 

 Writing from Gotha, on 24th October last, to the X. Y. 

 Tribune, he describes a ; sit which he had just pre- 



viously paid to the ce 1 

 losopher Hunibol- 1 

 ace of the Kinp- 

 Alexander T r 

 sian m 

 year 



uuin of science and phi- 

 hen residing in the pal- 

 1 -im. This was when 

 1 visit to the Prus- 

 ihe eighty-ninth 



fc 



..ry, on the threshold of 

 jii, [this was about noon,J 

 .ily paler than before, a little 

 .-juld see that his step was not 

 ,iue eye beamed as clear an intel- 

 lig ulie voice had as steady and cheery 



a to. .JL hands with the cordiality of a friend, 



and, i .irst greetings were over, questioned me 



minute. .corning my travels in the North. 



But OLO topic soon suggested a hundred others, and 

 he was ere long roaming at large over the whole field 

 of geography and climatology, touching the farthest 

 and darkest regions of the earth with the light of his 

 stupendous knowledge. The sheets of the new volume 

 of Cosmos lay upon the table. 



" Here is what I have been doing, since you were here 

 before," said he, taking it up : " the work will be pub- 

 lished in two or three weeks." 



" You find yourself, then, still capable of such la- 

 bor?" I ventured to ask. 



"Work is now a part of my life," said he; "I sleep 

 so little, and much rest would be irksome. Day before 

 yesterday, I worked for sixteen hours, reviewing these 

 sheets." 



" Are you not greatly fatigued," I asked, " after such 

 an exertion?" 



" On the contrary," he replied, " I feel refreshed, but 

 the performance of it depends greatly on my state of 

 bodily health. I am unconscious of any mental fa- 

 tigue." 



As I saw in the face, and heard in the voice, of the 

 splendid old man, all the signs of a sound, unfailing 

 intellect, I could well believe it. I had prided myself 

 a little on having worked with the brain fifteen hours a 

 day for six months, yet here was Humboldt in his 

 eighty-ninth year, capable of an equal exertion. 



The manner in which he spoke of his bodily health 

 was exceedingly interesting to me. His mind, full of 

 rigor and overflowing with active life, seemed to con- 

 sider the body as something independent of itself, and 

 to watch, with a curious eye, its gradual decay, as he 



iger days. 

 * said he, 

 have seen in the 

 newspapers concerning my illness. They stated that I 

 was attacked with apoplexy, but it was only a vertigo, 

 which soon left me, and has not been followed by any 

 of the usual effects of apoplexy. One result, however, 

 shows that my body is beginning to give way. I have 

 not the same power of controlling ray limbs as for- 

 merly : the will does not seem to act upon the muscles ; 



fcu wtuuu, VTILU a curious cyu, us gradual ueca 

 might have watched that of a tree in his youmj 

 " 1 have been unwell through the summer, 

 "but you must not believe all you may have set 



" You will pass through Berlin on your way to Mos- 

 cow ?" said he. 



"Yes." 



" Well I must be polite enough to live until then. 

 You must bring your wife with you. Oh, I know all 

 about it; and you must not tkink, because I have never 

 been married myself, that I do not congratulate you." 



After these cordial words, and ft clasp of the hand, in 

 which there was nothing weak or tremulous, I parted 

 from the immortal old man. 



I was glad to learn from Seifert, [Humboldt's body- 

 nervantj, that Mildebrand's admirable water-color draw- 

 ing of Humboldt iu his library, is soon to be printed in 

 chromotint, so that very accurate copies of it can be 

 obtained tit a moderate price. As I have not only seen 

 the original, but the room and man it represents, I can 

 testify to its entire fidelity, and would suggest to Hum- 

 boldt 9 admirer* in America that they cannot procure 

 a better illustration of him. I suppose copies of it will 

 be sent to America for sale. Ilerr Mollhauswi, Seifert's 

 son-in-law, who is now attached, as artist, to the expe- 

 dition for the survey of a wagon-road to the Pacific, 

 prepared for the press, before leaving Berlin, a splend- 

 didly illustrated work on the Gila country, which is now 

 being published under the patronage of the King. It 

 will cost about $28 a copy. Humboldt himself wrote 

 the preface, a copy of which he gave me. He was 

 greatly gratified at the readiness with which our present 

 Secretary of War gave Mr. Mollhausen a second np- 

 noin tin fin t. 



