OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 191 



viction that a man had died to whom the whole 

 race owed a great part of their intellectual pro- 

 gress. At daybreak the people already assem- 

 bled "unterden Linden " and in the "Fried- 

 richsstrasse." In the house of the departed 

 the mourners assembled, in the midst of the 

 atelier of his labour and thought. In the room, 

 well known by Hildebrand's picture, stood the 

 plain coffin with the mortal remains of Alex- 

 ander von Humboldt. Many persons hastened, 

 in order to look, for the last time, on that 

 peaceful countenance, now cold and rigid. 

 Slender palms, and exotic plants in full bloom, 

 surrounded the coffin, calling to mind the period 

 when Humboldt, in the full vigour of youth, 

 undaunted by the numerous obstacles and 

 dangers, explored their native land, and opened 

 a new world for science. 



Soon after eight o'clock the coffin was re- 

 moved to the hearse. The procession was 

 headed by the servants of the departed, and 

 other servants of the family von Humboldt, 

 followed by nearly six hundred students of the 

 University of Berlin; next appeared eight 

 members of the clergy, and immediately after 

 them the hearse, preceded by three chamber- 

 lains carrying the insignia of the Order of the 

 Black Eagle, the Order Pour le Merite, and 



