BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 161 



On the 13th of September he wrote: 

 " DEAR SIR :- 



" I hope I may have a proof of my address for your reporters by the time I reach Bos- 

 ton to-morrow, which I shall hand to you. My diagrams went to the Music Hall Saturday 

 afternoon, with the palm-branch worn on Humboldt's funeral. 



" The pen taken from his desk the day he died, and sent to me, I shall bring myself, 

 fearing it might be lost if left with bulkier objects. Very truly yours, 



" L. AGASSIZ." 



Such were some of the preparatory labors connected with the address which was to be 

 heard on that Centennial Anniversary by literary and scientific men from every part of the 

 country. Seldom has there been an occasion in the history of New England, which has 

 brought together so brilliant an assemblage of able scholars and prominent men in every 

 department of thought. 



At the evening reception, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in speaking of what he termed 

 the "delightful address in praise of Humboldt," concentrated his estimate in this charac- 

 teristic declaration, " our eminent professor never delivered a discourse more wise, more 

 happy, or of more varied power." 



These words expressed the universal feeling. And the address, so cordially welcomed 

 by those who heard it, was received when published with equal favor on both sides of the 

 Atlantic. 



This very day, I was reading a letter by Sir John Herschel expressing his commen- 

 dation ; and in the Life of Alexander von Humbolt, edited by Professor Karl Bruhns, 

 director of the observatory at Leipzig, the address by Agassiz is referred to, both in the 

 preface, and in the body of the book. In the latter, a lengthy extract is introduced. 

 [See Vol. II, pp. 179, 180 and 181.] 



There were several occasions upon which Alexander von Humboldt extended such 

 attention and kindness to Agassiz, at a time when encouragement was most needed, that 

 it seems but an act of justice and gratitude to recall them here. The first was related by 

 Agassiz some fifteen years ago, at a meeting of the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences, soon after Humboldt's death. 



" May I be permitted," he said, " to tell a circumstance personal to me ? I was only 

 twenty-four years of age when in Paris, whither I had gone with means given me by a 

 friend, but I was at last about to resign my studies from want of ability to meet my 

 expenses. Professor Mitschcrlich was then on a visit in Paris, and I had seen him in the 

 morning, when he had asked me what was the cause of my depressed feelings, and I told 

 him I had to go, for I had nothing left. The next morning as I was seated at breakfast, 

 in front of the yard of the Hotel, where I lived, I saw the servant of Humboldt approach. 

 He handed me a note, saying there was no answer and disappeared. I opened the note, 

 and I see it now as distinctly as if I held the paper in my hand. It said : 



'My FRIEND: 



'I hear that you intend leaving Paris in consequence of some embarrassments. This 

 shall not be. I wish you to remain here as long as the object for which you came is not 

 accomplished. I enclose you a check of 50. It is a loan which you may repay when 

 you can.' ' 



