118 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



that made him always lively and entertaining, to- 

 gether with a degree of wit and humor that led 

 him sometimes to waggishness. It was these 

 admirable qualities which in later years enabled 

 him to soften and attach to himself the untutored 

 savages, among whom he dwelt for months at 

 a time, which obtained for him in the civilized 

 world admiration and sympathy wherever he went, 

 and which gained for him, while a mere student, 

 the esteem and devotion of all classes at Freiberg. 



" He was kindly disposed towards every one, and 

 knew how to make himself useful and entertaining 

 in every circle of society ; and it was only against 

 every species of inhumanity and coarseness, against 

 every kind of insolence, injustice, or cruelty, that 

 he ever manifested either scorn or indignation." 



How the world loves " unselfish amiability ; " a 

 person who goes through life thinking for others, 

 not irritable, not supersensitive, not censorious ! 

 ^ On Humboldt's return to Berlin in 1792, he was 

 at once made " Assessor in the Administrative De- 

 partment of Mines and Smelting Works," a posi- 

 tion for which he had previously applied. As a 

 rule, places do not seek persons, however brilliant ; 

 they must seek places. 



This was a tine opening for a young man, not yet 

 twenty-three. He went to work with unbounded 

 energy. He investigated the general form of 

 mountains, collected information as to former 

 methods of working the mines, by having three 

 chests of mining documents, belonging to the six- 



