244 Humboldt's Letters. 



happiness or unhappiness beyond the narrow circle of 

 one's own feelings, this mixture of scriptural and Chris- 

 tian dogmas, of stoical indifference to the affairs, of the 

 world, together with so much delicacy and gentleness 

 in a correspondence, continued to the four last days of a 

 life, and written by a trembling hand on ruled paper. 

 The torments of love-sickness, gui rtimpatientent, are left 

 untouched, in order not to lessen the impression of that 

 powerful individuality. I repeat, all that I struck out 

 amounts to only five or six lines all that 1 suppressed 

 as dull or trivial, would not fill two printed pages. 

 You will, however, see much, very much, in the manu- 

 script stricken out, thus -^, sometimes 



half pages ; this is, however, not mine but the old lady's 

 doing. This " Daughter of the Pastor of Taubenheim "* 

 had, perhaps, hysterical fits of prudery now and then. 

 The different ink shows that I am a stranger to these 

 obliterations. 



The first volume has a beautiful passage on Therese, 

 and says much in praise of the King of Bavaria. In the 

 second volume a description of Rahel will please you. 

 Of Bettina she speaks less approvingly, as Madame von 

 Buelow told me. I shall try to modify it in this respect. 

 I think the first volume will be ready for delivery next 

 Tuesday, and the second will soon follow. I shall bring 



* A most sentimental and tragically- ending German love story 

 made popular by Burger's ballad. TB. 



