Humboldt's Letters. 139 



him enfamiUe between the hours of 8 and 9. He will 

 hold his public reception to-morrow, Tuesday evening, 

 and you would be an ornament to his circle. He never 

 sends letters of invitation to those who know how 

 welcome they are to him. 



MONDAY. A. V. HUMBOLDT. 



70. 



HUMBOLDT TO VARETHAGEN. 



TUESDAY, June 13th, 1843. 



EXCUSE me, dear friend, for being prevented by the 

 absence of Reimer, by my own eternal distractions and 

 pendulum-like movements, as well as by some little prepa- 

 rations for an excursion to Pomerania, from sending you 

 the two new volumes of Wilhelm's works. I know that 

 you are little pleased with the commentary on Hermann 

 and Dorothea. It would have been preferable, to be 

 sure, had he extended it into a pamphlet on epics ; but 

 you perceive even in the Kawi book how that great ge- 

 nius always deduced general law from special instances. 

 The sonnets are full of grave pathos and depth of senti- 

 ment. I shall call to embrace you, and to ask you the 

 surest way of sending a copy to Mr. Thomas Carlyle ? 



