ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. H3 



ology, on trade and commerce, on light, heat, and 

 electricity, on agriculture, and on ancient tragic 

 poets, under Heyne, of whom he said, " Heyne is 

 undoubtedly the man to whom this century is the 

 most deeply indebted ; to him we owe the spread 

 of religious enlightenment, by. means of the edu- 

 cation and training he has instituted for young 

 village school-masters ; to him is due the introduc- 

 tion of a more liberal tone of thought, the estab- 

 lishment of a literary archaeology, and the first 

 association of the principles of aesthetics with the 

 study of philology." 



Humboldt was also fond of Greek. He said, 

 "The more I know of the Greek language, the 

 more am I confirmed in my preconceived opinion, 

 that it is the true foundation for all the higher 

 branches of learning." 



With some friends, he soon founded the 

 Philosophical Society, which, with the admirable 

 libraries and museums at hand, became of great 

 assistance to the students. 



The next year, 1790, he had become so interested 

 in science, that he wrote Wegener : " I was away 

 from Gottingen for two months, spending the 

 vacation in making a scientific tour with a Herr 

 van Genns, a Dutchman with whom I became ac- 

 quainted through his writings on botanical sub- 

 jects. . . . Amid the numberless distractions of the 

 journey, which was made sometimes on foot and 

 sometimes by carriage, and with the incessant 

 occupation of packing up minerals and plants, 



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