2 SKETCH OE THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



single year was marked in this way ; and such 

 was the year 1769. Between the chimes of its 

 new year's morn and the last setting of its 

 December sun, were born into the world, 

 Cuvier, Wellington, Napoleon; Sir Thomas 

 Lawrence, long the first portrait-painter of 

 the age, and President of the Royal Academy ; 

 William Smith, called the father of English 

 geology, and Alexander von Humboldt. Vari- 

 ous sciences and arts were thus represented. 

 I would not attempt to trace characters so 

 varied, destinies so unlike : for me the life 

 of Humboldt, in its consistency, its integrity, 

 its success, and its rewards, possesses a com- 

 plete power and symmetry which none of his 

 renowned compeers could show. Few men have 

 lived for so long a time under the eyes of the 

 world. There is no life, however insignificant 

 it may appear, which does not in some way 

 advantage the world. But a life like Hum- 

 boldt J s, enriched with the experience of two 

 centuries, and illuminated by a long series of 

 splendid achievements, opened a new avenue 

 into the realms of truth and of science. I 

 would, therefore, attempt to speak of the mind 

 and the heart of Humboldt, of his capacities, 

 his ideas, his character ; of his place, not 

 merely as a man of science in the world of 



