ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. H9 



teenth century, brought to him for careful study, 

 and made a report on the salt, alum, and vitriol 

 works, and on the porcelain manufactory. The 

 government authorities were so pleased with his 

 thorough report that he was appointed superinten- 

 dent of mines in the two Franconian duchies. 



He wrote to Freiesleben : " I am qiiite intoxicated 

 with joy. ... Do not feel anxious about my health ; 

 I shall take care not to over-exert myself, and after 

 the first the work will not be heavy. I cannot con- 

 clude without acknowledging that it is again to you 

 that I am indebted for this happiness ; indeed I feel 

 it only too keenly. What knowledge have I, dear 

 Freiesleben, that has not been taught me by you ! . . . 

 How sweet is the thought to me that it is to you 

 that I owe all this ; it seems as if it bound me 

 closer to you, as if I carried something about me 

 that had been planted within me and cultivated by 

 yourself. . . ." 



Thus all through life was the appreciative, warm- 

 hearted man glad to show his gratitude for the 

 stimulus of intellectual friends. 



Who does not love to be appreciated! How 

 many of us wait to say kind things to our friends 

 until death makes it impossible ! 



Again he wrote : " I possess a certain amount of 

 vanity, and am willing to confess it ; but I know 

 the power of my own will, and I feel that whatever 

 I set myself to do I shall do well." 



While so earnestly engaged in study, Humboldt. 

 with his benevolent heart, could not see the chil- 



