Humboldt 389 



Avarmed as he thought over the subject, and he 

 dictated to his amanuensis with his usual freedom. 



The address is remarkable for its freshness, writ- 

 ten, as it was, in the eightieth year of his age, when 

 he w^as too feeble to deliver it himself. 



We give it in full, as it appeared in the CJiarlesfon 

 Courier : 



HUMBOLDT. 



Having been honored with a request from the 

 German Societies of Charleston to join in the cele- 

 bration of an event which recalls to the mind not 

 only of the German, but to the man of science in 

 every land, the name, character, and eminent use- 

 fulness of one of the greatest men in the natural 

 sciences which the world has ever produced, I feel 

 at a loss to decide where I am to begin, or which of 

 the numerous subjects presented in the eventful 

 life of Humboldt it would be most interesting to 

 dwell upon. 



I have thought that you might be most interested 

 in a few of the reminiscences of my early inter- 

 course with that great man, who, even at my first 

 acquaintance with him, appeared among the 

 naturalists and philosophers, as a giant among a 

 race of pigmies. We delight to trace the history 

 of a great mind, who climbed far beyond the foot- 

 prints which his predecessors had left, and, from 

 this still eminence, listened to the harmony of the 

 universe, and repeated its music to a listening 

 world. He whose life and history are called to our 

 remembrance to-day, has left a name, so world- 

 renowned, that, until now, none have equaled it. 

 " That name echoes from the peak of Teneriffe, the 

 summits of Chimborazo, and the gigantic ranges of 

 17 



