OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 131 



ments of science. The anxiety manifested by 

 all classes of society to hear these lectures, in- 

 duced Baron Humboldt to commence a second 

 course at the same time, intended for a more 

 mixed audience, in the music-hall of Berlin. 



His brother Wilhelm remarked, in a letter 

 addressed to a friend in Vienna, who regarded 

 every extraordinary phenomenon as something 

 of a demoniacal nature : " Alexander is indeed a 

 c puissance,' and has gained, in consequence of 

 these lectures, a new kind of renown. They 

 are unsurpassable ! It is now, as it always has 

 been, a characteristic of his to exhibit a pecu- 

 liar timidity, an undeniable diffidence, in the 

 manner of his public appearance." 



Alexander von Humboldt yielded to a general 

 wish, expressed in all parts of Germany, and 

 supported by the press, to consent to the publi- 

 cation of these lectures, in order to enable the 

 intelligent public to become acquainted with 

 them, and he resolved accordingly to have them 

 published, under the comprehensive title 

 " Cosmos." A variety of circumstances delayed 

 the publication for several years. 



We have already noticed that Baron Hum- 

 boldt postponed his contemplated journey to 

 Asia, in 1812, on account of the war of France 

 and Russia. In 1827, during the time Hum- 



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