Letters of Alexander von Humboldt to Varnhagen von Ense

163 Humboldt to Varnhagen

Berlin, July 10th, 1854.

Such a rough “Hind Pomeranian!”70 direct answer, dear friend, you could certainly not expect from me! I have no idea of the question about the animation of pinewood at the King’s table, where everybody believes in it as in the Persian host seen in the air at the Eichsfeld. The “drama” of the “Kreuz Zeitung,” like everything emanating from this bad party, sick with mental poverty, bears the stamp of cowardly malice! You are not to be pitied, for you possess a treasure in the power of animating recollections of the great period of 1813. I have always kept at a respectful distance from the Revue des Deux Mondes, which is edited with spirit and address. Two parties may hate the same thing without hating it from the same motives. The present Liberals there think themselves justified in barking, but not biting, after the fashion of the Berlin muzzles, “because, without the rescuer71 they would all have been drenched in blood.” Credat Judæus Apella!

Your faithful,
          A. v. Humboldt.

Monday.—At another funeral!72

A workman, unknown to me, addressed me at the funeral of Benjamin Constant: “N’est-ce pas, mon bon Monsieur, vous n’avez rien de si beau en Prusse, mais ce sera bien plus beau quand nous enterrerons M. de la Fayette.”