9 



tounded audience must still further have heightened 

 the effect. 



Oh, our Protestant parsons ! They are speeding on 

 a goodly road, and bid fair to yield in nothing to their 

 Catholic brethren, even in the days when priestcraft 

 was fullblown ! A canting black-coat, such as this, 

 makes us the laughing-stock of Europe. Constitu- 

 tion or no Constitution, granted or denied, does 

 not for the moment trouble me, but that the fel- 

 low should try to palm off this " Ordensfest " upon 

 us as a substitute for it, is a piece of impudence that 

 deserves to be rewarded with the madhouse or the gaol. 

 And yet there's not a song, a street-ballad, or a cari- 

 cature to lash such unseemliness ! All is still ! 



And now, as it is time for bed, I will lay me down, 

 wishing pleasant dreams to you and to myself. 



"With the deepest respect, &c., &c., &c. 



V. 



(Compare A. v. Humboldt's Note to Eahel of 1st Feb. 1833.) 



IX. 



HUMBOLDT TO EAHEL. 



Berlin, 1st February, 1833. 



That I answer you thus early, dear madam, bodes 

 no good. In this country, if anything is to come to 

 maturity, it must last for fourteen months. There is 

 then hope for it. The letter, which I beg of you not 

 to leave in your friend's hands, will tell you all. At 

 first, all was kind and interested attention, both when I 

 spoke and when I wrote ; but this morning the very 

 charming drawings were returned. The word that is 

 underlined* might leave me still some hope, but I 



* Underlined in the letter to which allusion is made. TR. 



