henceforth a temple of devotion to the founders and promoters of 

 natural science. 



Whoever honors the memory of great men, honors science and 

 honors himself, and so the Ambassador has asked me to convey to the 

 generous donor, the tireless promoter of science, Mr. Jesup, the expres- 

 sion of his sincerest admiration and of his heartfelt thanks for the 

 honor which will be conferred also upon the great German scholar, 

 Alexander von Humboldt. 



In this immortal man, whose bust you have gathered to unveil, the 

 world reveres its greatest master since the days of Aristotle. His genius 

 covered all that man has ever thought, done and observed in nature. 

 There is no branch of human knowledge into which his mind did not 

 penetrate. His "Cosmos," that marvellous monument of meditation 

 and research, is a new book of Genesis in which the Universe mirrors 

 itself in all its vastness and minuteness "from the nebulae of the stars" 

 — to use his own words — "to the geographical distribution of mosses 

 on granite rocks." 



By his wonderful talent of research, by his almost superhuman 

 power to divine eternal laws, this great interpreter of science taught 

 mankind how to read the book of nature, how to understand its great 

 mysteries. The series of sciences, originated by this mighty genius is, 

 as well as the other manifold branches of science developed by him, 

 sufficiently known to all. 



In all his investigations his ultimate aim was to bring theory into 

 practical relation with life. Thus he not only elevated the standard 

 of culture of the whole world by many steps, but he also became from 

 a practical point of view the benefactor of mankind in many branches 

 of common life, — as trade, commerce, navigation. 



He taught us how to conceive the beauty and sublimity of nature 

 in its every form and motion. His studies are not a matter merely of 

 memory and of dry meditation, to him Nature was rather the inex- 

 haustible source of pure and deep enjoyment, by which the heart is 

 purified and ennobled and men are brought nearer to perfection. 



It is not necessary to give you a more detailed picture of his life. 

 All this is so well known and so dear to the whole learned world of 

 America; for never has a foreign scholar been more honored in this 

 country than Alexander von Humboldt. To realize this we need only 

 recall the celebrations which took place in his memory throughout all 



