398 Humboldt's Letters. 



p. 76 to 80, and pp. 33, 35, 75. The charms of a lan- 

 guage without genders. " Fermez les ttvres et serrez les 

 dents.' 1 * " Der '' and " die " fell into lazy mouths, and 

 lapses into " de," and this was corrupted into a neutral, 

 lifeless "the." 



Page 88 sets forth how my friend Froebel escaped 

 being Blumed. . A. HT. 



There gloomy Potsdam has kept me too long from 

 your side. 



NOTE BY YARNHAGEN. This letter accompanied "The German 

 Emigration, and its Importance in the History of Civilization. By 

 Julius Froebel. Leipsic : 1858." A copy sent by Froebel to Hum- 

 boldt. 



* " Close your lips and set your teeth." In the ' Anglaises pours 

 rire " there is a squib which says, " Ouvrez la louche et serrez les dents 

 et vous parlerez anglais /" Open your mouth and set your teeth, and 

 you will speak English. Humboldt may have had this in his mind 

 and have converted ouvrez into fermez by mistake. 



Froebel says in page 35 : "After all, the German and the English 

 are but two different dialects, or rather stages of development. The 

 English occupies the higher grade, for it is acknowledged that the 

 attrition of grammatical form corresponds to a higher mental develop- 

 ment." Opposite this passage Humboldt writes " Ah ! " 



On p. 88, Froebel alludes to the great mission of Austria in the 

 future. Similar passages were to be found in a pamphlet of his, 

 which appeared in 1848 ; they were pointed out to Prince Windisch- 

 graetz by an aide-de-camp, just in time to procure his pardon, while 

 his colleague, Robert Blum, was brutally shot. 



