253 



fashionable world have long since betaken them- 

 selves to the hills or seaside ; and I shall not see him 

 again for three or four weeks. 



Mr. Fillmore would be the best President, but he 

 seems to have little chance against Fremont and 

 Buchanan. The Knownothings have lost all their 

 influence. 



My poor wife and children count the days till they 

 shall see me again, and my own longing is not less 

 next year, or as soon as Congress has finished its 

 sitting, to get back to all that is dear to me at home. 



The immediate departure of the mail for England 

 obliges me to break off to-day, and I close with the 

 most fervent wish that these lines may find your 

 Excellency in the best health. 



With unchangeable admiration and friendship, I 

 remain, your Excellency's most obedient, 



GrEROLT. 



CLXXVIII. 



VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT. 



Berlin, 13th September, 1856. 



The great influence of your Excellency's name in 

 the United States furnishes *a pleasing proof of the 

 progress of cultivation in that quarter, and offers a 

 sure promise of the eventual triumph of those prin- 

 ciples of benevolence which you have professed 

 throughout a long and active life. 



I thank you heartily for the letter and its printed 

 inclosures, which it gives me extreme satisfaction to 

 be able to place in my collection. 



Fremont's prospects are for the moment clouded ; 



