DARWIN AND HUMBOLDT. 



[345] 41 



characteristic of the man. After a 

 cordial greeting, he walked straight 

 to what was then rny library, — a small 

 book-shelf containing a few classics, 

 the meanest editions bought for a 

 trifle along the quays, some works on 

 philosophy and history, chemistry 

 and physics, his own Views of Na- 

 ture, Aristotle's Zoology, Lustn^eus's 

 Systema Naturae, in several editions, 

 Curvter's Regne Animal, and quite 

 a number of manuscript quartos, 

 copies which, with the assistance of 

 my brother, I had made of works I 

 was too poor to buy, though they cost 

 but a few francs a volume. Most 

 conspicuous of all were twelve vol- 

 umes of the new German Cyclopaedia 

 presented to me by the publisher. I 

 shall never forget, after his look of 

 mingled interest and surprise at my 

 little collection, his half sarcastic 

 question as he pounced upon the great 

 Encyclopaedia, — " Was machen Sie 

 denn mit dieser HJselsbrucke?" What 

 are you doing with this ass's bridge? 

 — the somewhat contemptuous name 

 given in Germany to similar compila- 

 tions. "I have not had time," I 

 said, "to study the original sources of 

 learning, and I need a prompt and 

 easy answer to a thousand questions I 

 have as yet no other means of solv- 

 ing." 



It was no doubt apparent to him 

 that I was not over familiar with the 

 good things of this world, for I shortly 

 afterward received an invitation to 

 meet him at six o'clock in the Galerie 

 vitree of the Palais Royal, whence he 

 led me into one of those restaurants, 

 the tempting windows of which I 

 had occasionally passed by. When 

 we were seated, he half laughingly, 

 half inquiringly asked me whether I 

 would order the dinner.* I declined 

 the invitation, saying that we should 

 fare better if he would take the 

 trouble. And for three hours, which 

 passed like a dream, I had him all to 

 myself. How he examined me, and 

 how much I learned in that short 

 time ! How to work, what to do, 

 and what to avoid ; how to live ; how 

 to distribute my time ; what methods 



of study to pursue, — these were the 

 things of which he talked to me on 

 that delightful evening. I do not 

 mention this trivial incident without 

 feeling that it may seem too familiar 

 for the occasion ; nor should I give 

 it at all, except that it shows the 

 sweetness and kindliness of Hum- 

 boldt's nature. It was not enough 

 for him to cheer and stimulate the 

 student ; he cared also to give a rare 

 indulgence to a young man who could 

 allow himself few luxuries. 



The last period of his life was spent 

 in Berlin, and while there to the end 

 of his long and laborious career he 

 was engaged with the publication of 

 his Cosmos, and also in editing the 

 great work, on the Kavi language, 

 left by his brother William, who 

 died in 1835. Besides these import- 

 ant undertakings, he was unceasingly 

 engaged in fostering magnetic observ- 

 ations and the establishment of mag- 

 netic observatories. He likewise felt 

 a lively interest in the proposed inter- 

 oceanic Canal between the Atlantic 

 and Pacific Oceans, the lines for 

 which he had carefully considered in 

 earlier years. Surrounded by loving 

 and admiring friends, covered with 

 honors and distinctions, these days 

 were rich in peaceful enjoyment. 



One of the most prominent features 

 of Humboldt's mind, as philosopher 

 and student of nature, consists in the 

 keenness with which he perceives the 

 most remote relations of the phenom- 

 ena under consideration, and the 

 felicity with which he combines his 

 facts so as to draw the most com- 

 prehensive pictures. This faculty is 

 more particularly exhibited in the 

 Cosmos, the crowning effort of his ma- 

 ture life. With a grasp transcending 

 the most profound generalizations of 

 the philosophers of all ages, he draws 

 at first in broad outlines a sketch of 

 the whole Universe. With an eye 

 sharpened by the most improved in- 

 struments of the Observatory, and ex- 

 alted by the experience of all his 

 predecessors, he penetrates into the 

 remotest recesses of space, to seek for 

 the faintest ray of light that may 



