The life, travels and books of Alexander von Humboldt

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Introduction

A BiOGSAFHT of Alexfinder Yon Humboldt, whioh diall oonUun a ftill and ooDsdentioas aooonnt of his life and labors, written in a style sufficiently dear and nntedinical to meet the popular tastes, has long been a necessity in our literature. Those biographies which are already in existence do not possess this character : they are rather chroni* des of his achierements in the yarious departments of natural sdence, than stories of a life almost unexampled for its wealth of experience, its labors, and successes. The ^ lires of the Brothers Humboldt," by Elencke, which has been translated into English, is very fragmentary in this respect ; it passes over unnoticed, many episodes in the life of Alexander Yon Humboldt, which are of great interest to the general reader. In &ct, it has only been in the dosing years of his life, that the excellences of his character, as a man^ apart from his distinction as a $av(mt^ have recdyed full and general acknowledgment.

No task could have been pleasanter to me than that of attempting to bring home to the familiar acquaintance of

Vm INTBODUCnON.

the great reading pablic of the United States, the history of the great man, with whose friendship I was honored ; and, as the literary labors I had already on hand prevented me from undertaking such a work, it is all the more gratifying to me to know that it has been faithfully and conscientiously done by one every way capable of the performance. Having examined the biography which follows, I can testify to its exactness and completeness, and therefore — though the subject of the book is its own sufficient recommendation— cordially accede to the request of the author, that I i^ould add a few words of introduction, embodying my own impressions of Humboldt^s character.

When I first saw him, he was in his eighty-eighth yeaar, but, except in the bowed head and slow step,showed scarcely any signs of bodily decay. A portrait, painted nearly forty years before, at whidi time his hair was already gray, diowed that time had occasioned but little change in his appearance, while Us only effect upon his mind was, perhaps, a lack of that power of concentration which enabled him to master so many various departments of natural science. He was still every inch a king, with no faculty appreciably dulled, no sympathy blunted, no hope for the increase of human knowledge or generous aspiration for the good of his kind less earnest than in his prime of life. A year later, I found him broken, indeed, in bodily health, yet still capable of sixteen hours of continuous mental labor, and his last letter to me, written but a short time before his death, betrayed no sign of failing faculties, though the hand whidi traced it was evidently weak and trembling.

INTBODUCmON. IX

In the castle at Tegel, where he was born, and in the park of which he now sleeps beside his brother, hangs a portrait of him, painted at the age of thirty-five. He is there represented as man of rather less than the medium stature, bat firmly and symmetrically built, with a full, keen, ardent face, firm lips, dear blue eyes, and thick locks of chestnut hair, clustering about his square, massive brow. He wears a green coat, knee-breeches, and a heavy cloak lined with red. He is represented as leaning against a rock on a slope of the Andes, the snowy dome of Chimborazo filling up the background of the picture. In comparing this picture with his living presence, I found that the shoulders had stooped, leaving the head bent forward, as if weighed down by the burden of its universal know« ledge; the hair had grown snow-white, and somewhat thinner ; the moutli had lost its clear, sharp outline, and the eager, energetic expression of the &ce was gone : but the blue eyes were as serene and youthful as ever, and the Ain as &ir, smooth, and ruddy, almost, as that of a young man.

The first impression produced by Humboldt's face was that of its thorough humanity. The blood which fed his restless brain never weakened the pulsations of his human heart. Beneath that devotion to science which he illustrated by the labours of seventy-five years, burned steadily and unwaveringly the flame of sympathy for his kind. Probably no man who ever lived has given aid and encouragement to so great a nimiber of aspiring and deserving men. I know instances of persons in humble life having sought

X INTKODUCnON.

his assisianee for themselyes or their friends, and in no ease was it refused. The applicants returned from the interview cheered, inspired, and full of affectionate veneration for the man who, in the midst of his immense labours, could jet give an hour to themselves and their plans. No rational appeal to him was ever slighted, and the vast influence which he possessed, in his later years, was always exerted in the behalf of science, and her earnest votaries.

Jealousy of his fellow4abourers formed no part of his nature. His enthudasm was too pure and ardent to be alloyed by any personal consideration. Not his own &me — not his supremacy as an observer or a theorizer — ^but the advancement of human knowledge, the discovery of grand general laws — ^the footsteps of God in the Creation — ^waa bis aim and his ambition. What he has done is not to be measured by his own individual achievements : the generoui impulse which he has given to others cannot be estimated. The vast results which have followed scientific research, since the commencement of this century, were initiated by his example ; he pointed out to others the tracks which he could not himself follow, and, even when acknowledged as a leader, never hesitated to labor with the humblest. In tbia respect, his character presents an almost ideal excellence.

The lesson of Humboldt's life is not without its special significance at the present day, when the thirst for wealth, and place, and power, seems hotter and fiercer than ever. With the advantages of his birth and inherited position, many paths of advancement were open to him, but he disdained them all, sacnficing everything to his love of know-

INTBODUC?nON. XJ

ledge, until finallj, in his old age, honors such as no statesman ever won, were laid as voluntary offerings at his feet. The indifference which he regarded them showed how little such rewards had entered into his plan of life. Yet,though the acknowledged equal of kings, he was never seduced b j the spl^idors of courts to forget his character as a man, whose sympathies were with the people rather than their rulers. So well were his political predilections understood among the monarchs who called him Mend, that at the Congress of Verona, of which he was a member, when he proposed some temporary measure which had an arbitrary character, the Emperor Alexander L Qf Russia, turning to him, said in a tone of mock reproach : " And is it you, arch-republican as you are, who propose this despotic measm^e ?" This incident was related to me by Himiboldt himself during my last interview with him. One can therefore undei^ stand the depth of that esteem felt for him by the present demented king of Prussia, when the latter introduced Humboldt to the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, at Prague, some four or ^vq years ago. His Jesuitical majesty asked : " Who is the Baron Von Humboldt, that you present him to me with so much empresaemerU t I have never heard of him !" " Not heard of him I" exclaimed the king, in honest amazement ; " why he is the greatest man since the Deluge !»

Humboldt's large fortune was wholly expended in the prosecution of his travels and the publication of his works, and during the later years of his life, he was entirely dependent on his diplomatic pension, and the copyright of his

Zll INTBODUCnON,

"Kosmos." To my friend Heine, the artist, he sent his own copy (the original edition) of his " Vues des Cordil- IhreSj^^ containing some of his marginal notes. On learning that the same gentleman had been obliged to go to America through his connexion with the events of 1848, he prevailed upon the king of Prussia to grant him the Order of the Red Eagle — ^through which recognition the official ban was removed. This is but one instance of the many acts of kindness on his part, with which I have become acquainted.

His mind was so admirably balanced — ^his development was so various, and yet so complete in every department of science, that his true greatness is not so apparent as in the case of those who have risen to eminence by devoting themselves to some special study. Perfect symmetry never produces the effect of vastness. It is only by studying the details that we comprehend the character of the whole. Humboldt, however, may be termed the &ther of Physical Geography, and the suggester, if not the discoverer, of that system of the distribution of plants and animals which opens to our view another field of that Divine Order, manifested in the visible world. He strove to grasp those secrets, which, perhaps, no single mind will ever be able to comprehend— ^the aggregate of the laws which underlie the mysteries of Creation, Orowth, and Decay ; and though he fell short of the sublime aim, he was at least able to say, like Kepler, when he discovered the mathematical harmonies of the solar system ; " Oh, Almighty God, I think Thy thoughts after Thee !"

INTEODCCnON. XUl

The record of sacb a life, even in its external aspects, i% pregnant with suggestions. It is a magnificent illustration of true success. A combination of the purest and noblest human character with splendid qualities of the mind is unfortunately rare. Without the former, Humboldt might have achieved the same success in his own personal labors, but he could not have given the same impetus to scientific research in all parts of the world. The satisfaction we feel in contemplating his life arises firom its completeness. In him the heart was the focus of warmth, whence radiated the light of his intellect.

The Portrait which accompanies this volume, is copied

from a photograph which I obtained from Berlin, and which

is a perfect representation of Humboldt, in his eighty-sixth

year.

Batabd Tatlob.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BaaatnUderAUen, Berlin, 1790

ehimiea pUuUarum. 4to. Berlin, 1793

Vereuche Uber die EledrischenFieche, 12mo. Erltirt, 1806

Physique gMrale el Qkiogie. 4ta Paris, 1807

Aneiehten der Katur. 2 vols., 12ma Stutgard & Tubingen, 1808

Plates, Fol Cassel, 1808 Flanies Equinoxiales reoueiOiea au Mesdq^ dane Vile de Ouba^ dans les Ftomneea de Caraccas^ de Cvmana el de Barcelone, aux Andee de la NouveUe Orcmade^ de QuiiOf ei de Ferou, etsurles Borda da Rio NegrOy de VOrinoque, et de la Bivih-e des AmoMmes, par Bmnboldt et Bonpland, 2 vols., FoL Paris, 1808-1809

XVI BIBUOGBAPHT.

rique. Plates, FoL and 8va Paris, lilO

Jiecueil cP Observations astronomiqtbes, <f OpSralions trigonometriqties, et de Afesures barorrUiriques. Redigees et calcuUes d'apr^s les Tables les plus exactes par J. OUmans, 2 vols., 4to. Paris, 1810

Essai poUUque sur le Royaume de la Kouvelie Espagn^ avec un Atlas physique et giographiquey fondS sur les Observations astronomiquesj des Mesures iriganomiiriques et des NiveUemens baromS- Iriques. Atlas FoL, Texta 2 vols^ 4to. Paris, 1811

Recueil d' Observations de Zoologie et d'Anatomie comparSe, faits dans r Ocean AUantiquey dans CInierieur du Nouveau Continent et dans la Mer du Sud. Far Humboldt et Bonpland

Voyage aux Rigums Squinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, et 1804. Par A. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland, Bedigi par A, de Humboldt. Avec deux Atlas, qui ren/erment tun ks Vues des CordiUeres et les Monumens des Fettples indigenes de rAmerique, et Pautre des Cartes ghograplaques et physiques. 8 vols., 4ta Paris, 1814-1825

Kova Genera et Species Plantarum in PeregrinaHone Orbis Novi collegerunt, descripserunt, partim adumbraveruni A. Bor^land et A, de Humboldt. In ordinem digessit C, S. KuntK

Monographie des MBlastomacies comprenant toutes les PUmtes de cet ordre recueiUies jusqu^d ce Jour et notammeni au Mexiquej dans File de Cuba, (j^c, mise en ordre par A. Bonpland,

FoL Paris, 1816

De Katurali familia graminum. FoL Paris, 1817

8vo. Paris, 1817

et Altiiudinem Montium. Prolegomena, 12 mo. Paris, 181T

Memoirs sur la fixation des limites des Guyanes Frangaise et Poriu-

guaise, 4to. Paris, 1818

Mimoses et auires Plantes legumineuses du Nouveau Continent^ decrites et publiees par C. S. Kunthy avec Figures colorizes.

2 vola, FoL Paris, 1819

CoUegerunt Humboldt et Bonpland 4 vols., FoL 1822-1826

Essai gSographique sur le Gisemeni des Rochers dans les deux hemi'

spheres. 8vo. Paris ATStrasburg, 1823

Ueber den Bau und die WirksamJceit der Vtdkane. 8vo. Heidelberg, 1824

EvcduaHon num-erique de la population du Nouveau Continent, considkrie sous le rapport de la difference des cuUes, des races^ et des idiomes. 8va Paris, 1826

BIBLIOGRAPHY. XVU

Usaai poUHque sur Vile de Cktbctj avec une Carte ei un SuppUfment

tcrrUoriale ei le Commerce de VArchipel des Antilles et de

Colombia. 2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 1826

Von der in Verschiedenen Theikn der ffeisaen Zone am Spiegel des

Erdkqper. 4to. Berlin, 1827

Observaiums sur quelques phenomknes pen connuSy qrjCojfre le goitre sous les iropiqtteSy dans les plaines^ et les plateattx des Andes.

Paris, 1838 Revision des GraminieSy pvJbliies dans Us Nova Genera et Species Flaniarum de Humboldt et Bonpland, prScidSe d'un travail ghtiral sur lafamille des GraminSes, par C. S Kunth, Ouvrage accompagni de cent Planches coloriees, FoL Paris, 1829

4to. Berlin, 1829 Fragmens de Oiohgie et de CUmaiologie AsicUique.

8vo. Stutgard & Tubingen, 1831 fbbleau statistique de Vile de Cuba pom les annies 1826 d 1829.

8vo. Paris, 1831 fkamicn critique de rhisioire de la Geographic du Nouveau Continent^ el des Progrhs de V Astronomic natUique au XV* et XVI* sUdes.

5 vola, 8vo. Paris, 1836-1839 Petrifications recueHUes en Amerique decriies par Leopold de Buch.

8vo. Stutgard & Tubingen, 1868

CHAPTER L Childhood amd Youth, 3

CHAPTBE n. grruDiis AND Dreams, 17

CHAPTER I. ThbSra, 85

CHAPTER n.

About CuMANA, 61

CHAPTER in.

Towards the GRurgoo, 87

CHAPTER IV.

Up the Geinooo, 119

CHAPTER V.

To Cuba AND Back, 190

CHAPTER VI.

Colombia and Peru, 214

CHAPTER VII.

Mexico, 264

XX CONTENTS.

OHAPTBR L

TAQU

Books, 307

OHAPTBR IL ObktralAbia, 384

OHAPTBR L

HUHBOLDT AT HOMH^ 413

OHAPTBR n.

Back tc Teobi^ • • • 471

Book I. 17 6 9-17 9 9

CHAPTER L I

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

Three leagues from the good city of Berlin, near an arm of the Havel, called Tegel, stands, or stood ninety years ago, the old castle of Tegel. Behind it lay a grove of dark pines which separated it from the capital ; on the southern shore of the lake were the town and fortress of Spandau, and to the north-west grassy and wooded declivities, studded with promenades and gardens. Doubtless this castle, gray and antiquated, had a stirring history of its own in the days of old, but of this Tradition is silent. All that we know is, that shortly before the opening of this life-history, it was the residence of a Prussian commissioner of woods and forests, who had greatly beautified it by the laying out of nurseries and ^antations. This commissioner, whose name was Von Burgsdor^ was succeeded in 1768, or thereabouts, by Major Alexander George Von Humboldt

Major Von Humboldt was born in 1720. His father, Hans Paul Von Humboldt, served as a captain in the army of Frederick William the First ; his mother was the daughter of the Prussian major and general adjutant, Von Schweder ; it was natural therefore that he should follow the profession of arms. He served for a long tiixiB^irf'af «Mig<K>i> VcpmeiiVaiicl was then made major and finally adjutant to Duke Frederic of Brunswick, who often sent him on embassies to Frederic the Great This was in the famous seven years' war. When the war was over, in 1765, the great Frederic made him one of his chamberiains ; he was also attendant chamberlain on Elizabeth, the newly-married princess of Prussia. His ofiicial duties compelled him to reside in Potsdam^ where he probably met the lady who became his wife. A descendant of the family of Colomb, which emigrated from Burgundy, where it was celebrated for its glass works, she was the widow of a Baron Von Holwede Major Von Humboldt persuaded her to change her weeds for the orange wreath, so they married and settled in Potsdam. Their first child, William, was bom there on the 22d of June, 1767. They lived in Potsdam but a short time, two or three years at most, for the marriage of the princess being at length dissolved, she had no fiirther need of an attendant chamberlain, consequently Major Von Humboldt was at liberty to change his residence, if so inclined. He exchanged Potsdam for Berlin^ and lived partly there, and partly in his castle at Tegel, How he became possessed of the castle is not stated. It was originally a hunting seat of the gre^tt Elector, and a hunting estabUshment was kept up there under Frederic the Great. The Major's second son, Frederic Henry Alexander, was bom at Berlin on the 14th of September, 1769. It was principally at Tegel, however, that his childhood passed.

Of the first years of his life nothing remarkable has been related. There is a sameness in the lives of children, no matter what their rank or talents. K they picrrusES of childhood. 5

Happen to become fSunous in after years, admiring and credulous biographers tell wonderful stories aboiit them, but for the most part these stories are myths. The infancy of the great, we think, should be surrounded with marvellous influences. It will never do for us to make them common mortals like ourselves. So if we feil to discover any traits of early divinity we must boldly invent them. Should the cheat be discovered the world will forgive it, for the sake of the pleasure it has given them.

That the childhood of Alexander, however, was an exceedingly happy one, cannot be doubted, for if ever Nature was kindly disposed towards any of her children, it was towards him. He was bom of wealthy and noble parents, who mingled, by virtue of their rank and worth, with the most illostrious of the land. His home, the old castle of Tegel, situated in a pleasant country, was surrounded by charming and varied landscapes. His earliest glimpse of Nature was beautiful enough to make him desire to see the rest of the book : it was a fair page that opened before his childish eyes. And here, if the reader is imaginative, he can employ himself in filling up the outlines of the first five or six years of Alexander's life. He may picture him in the chambers of the old castle, climbing up his father's knee, and wondering, as he runs his fingers through his gray hair, what the wrinkles on his forehead mean ; ox tugging at the gown of his mother to make her answer some unanswerable question ; or, likelier still, scrambling on the floor with his brother William, and a heap of toys. Some day when playing alone, he sees the bookcase in the comer, and remembering, as in a dream, the pic-

6 HIS FIRST TEACHER CAMPE.

tares with which the nurse pacified him when he was sick, he goes to it, and opening the door softly, lights by a sort of impish instinct, on the costliest volume on the shelves. It is some fiimous work on natural history, a ponderous quarto filled with coloured prints of strange plants and animals, and still stranger men. He pores over them with great eyes. Fearing at last that he is in mischief for she has heard nothing of. him for a long time, his mother steals into the room, and finds him fast asleep, with the book in his lap. As he grows older he takes himself out of doors on all possible occasions. Now he is in the garden, plucking and studying flowers and grasses ; now in the pine grove filling his pockets with last year's cones and needles, and now by the edge of the Ifdce, skimming pebbles over its surfiuie, or watching its fleet of mirrored clouds.

In such wise, says Fancy, who is sometimes truer than Fact, lived the boy Alexander, until 1775, when his education commenced. The science of education, a science which is still in its infancy, the opinion of ita professors to the contrary notwithstanding, was at that time agitating the European world. The new method of Rousseau, which aimed at the physical as well as the mental development of its pupils, and which considered the study of natural science full as important as that of metaphysics, and the classics, had made many adherents in Germany, and among others Joachim Heinrich Campe. Bom in 1746, Campe studied theology at Helmstadt and at Halle, and was appointed, in 1773, chaplain to the Prince of Prussia's regiment in Potsdam. He fulfilled for two years the duties of his sacred calling in that doubtful sphere of action, and feeling himself much more

BOBIKSON CBUSOB. 7

fitted to teach children than men, and those men soldkrs^ he was transplanted by Major Von Humboldt to teach his sons, at the old castle of Tegel. A ripe and varied scholar even then, he enjoyed in after life the reputation of being, next to Klopstock, the greatest philologist and critic of German style. He is the author of a German dictionary, and other works calculated to improve the language. But the books by which he is best known are those of travel and adventure. The chiefest of these are his " Discovery of America," and " Robinson Crusoe." Looking back fipm the vantage ground of Time, and bearing in mind what Alexander Von Humboldt has done, what might have seemed a trivial thing then, a mere lucky chance, now seems the special ordering of Nature. He was fitted, we have since learned, to perform a great work for her ; but before he could perform that work it was necessary that she should reveal it to him. K the child is to become the father of the man, the man must somehow be brought before the mental eye of the child. His infancy must be nurtured by noble books, and wise teachers, or

" By solemn visioa, and bright silver dream."

What better teacher could the boy have had, considering the work he was to do, than one who translated that marvellous fiction of the homely old truth-teller, De Foe, — the firesh, unfading, world-renowned Robinson Crusoe? It was the book of all others to fire his youthful imagination with the desire of travel, and to fill his mind with the unconquerable spirit of adventure. It was a happy day when Joachim Heinrich Oampe, philologist, critic^

8 CHRISTIAN KUNTH.

translator, and finally bookseller, became the tutcr of Humboldt

He remained in the family a year, teaching the eldest boy the languages, and the youngest, who was then in his seventh year, whatever, he was pleased to learn. Alexander was not so robust as his brother, for his health was considered delicate for many years, nor was he regarded as his equal in mental endowments.

Their next tutor was a young man of twenty, poor in this world's goods, but rich in what the proverb declares to be better than houses and lands — ^Learning. His name was Christian Kunth. He is said to have possessed an extraordinary knowledge of German, Latin, and French literature, and to have been deeply read in philosophy and history. He taught William the languages, and Alexander the natural sciences. One studied Man in classic antiquity and art, the other the World in its manifold forms and appearances. It seems strange, not to say impossible, for children of eight and ten to pursue such profound studies, but we must remember that these were not common children. -

Nor was their teacher Kunth a common man. Had he been he would have stopped here. But having sense as well as learning, he took care of their bodies as well as their minds. Instead of merely cramming them with books until they became unwholesome monstrosities, mental paiSs de foie gras^ he gave their thoughts and limbs free play, in the wind, and dew, and sunshine. They had holidays whenever they needed them; long walks with Kunth in the woods and fields; sails on the blue bosom of the Tegel lake; excursions to the fortress of Spandau, and now and then a flying visit to Berlin.

GOETHE AT TBGEL. 9

Or they threw aside their books, and ran off by them* selves, like the children they were, and romped and played to their hearts' content This kept the roses of health in their cheeks (Alexander's as yet were delicate buds), and enabled them to

''bear their weight Of learning li^tly, like a flower."

Bat for this it might have been a nightshade of deadly power. Besides, their life was diversified by the coming and going of visitors : for their fether was hospitable, and die castle was always open to his firiends. Retiring firom the world with honor, the world sought him, in the shape of its princes, statesmen, and scholars, to say nothing of generals, colonels, and the like, his old companions in arms. Among other celebrities who enjoyed the hospitalities of Tegel was Goethe, who accompanying Duke Karl August to Berlin in May 1778, to see a grand review, strolled over Schonhausen one morning and dined at the castle, with the Major and his family. Little did the man of thirty know that he saw in the boy of nine, one who was destined to accomplish as much in Science, as he himself in Literature. But the time came when he knew him, and admired him, none more warmly.

Among the most frequent of the visitors at the castle •^was Dr. Ernst Ludwig Heim, of Spandau, who, having attended the now officially-defunct head-ranger. Von Burgsdorf; continued his visits, medical and friendly, to nis successor, ^ajor Von Humboldt. And the major stood in need of his services, for his health, which had

10 DB. HEDC

been broken for some time, now began to fail rapidly. Day after day Dr. Ileim might have been seen on horseback, with his saddle-bags full of medicine, rounding the stretch of land between Spandau and Tegel. But he could do little for the shattered constitution and the sixty years of his patient He died in January 1779, and was buried at Tegel.

After the major's death Dr. Heim continued to come as usual, not now bringing medicine, let us hope, but with a book under his arm for Kunth, or possibly for William and Alexander. Or perhaps it was a rare flower from his conservatory. For as long ago as the days of Von Burgsdorf he was noted for his knowledge of foreign trees and plants, and he helped the head ranger to lay out the nurseries and plantations, which the Humboldts were now enjoying. He would drop in near their dinner hour, and being pressed would remain to dinner, and often for hours after, instructing the boys in botany, and explaining to them the twenty-four classes of the system of Linnaeus. They could now know the ^ names, classes, and characteristics of the flowers, which they had before admired ignorantly. William was considered the cleverest, because he could easily comprehend the doctor's lessons, and retain the botanical names : Alexander was not, or did not seem, so apt. The brothers went with the doctor in his excursions about the neighbourhood, and in May 1783, were present with him in Spandau, where they saw Frederick tho Great reviewing his grenadiers — one of his annual amusements.

But grand reviews, country excursiops, after-dinner chats on botany, and the cosy comforts of home, must

AT SCHOOL IN BEBUK. 11

floon come to an end. For though the widowed mother lives only in her children, she knows that they must one day be men, and go out into the world. So the best thing they can do is to go to Berlin, and pursue their studies, and enlarge their experiences. To Berlin they

go.

They are instructed in Greek and the modem languages, William having great philological talent, while Alexander, whose love of the natural sciences grows with his growth, continues the study of botany under the celebrated botanist Wildenow. Kunth, who accompanies them, engages Engel, Klein, Dohn, and others to give them complete courses of lectures on philosophy, law and political economy. Nor do they neglect the literature of their own land and time. They read Goethe and Schiller together. William prefers " Werter," and "Don Carlos," and their art- writings ; Alexander, while he admires these, prefers Goethe's more abstruse researches in natural history. So passes the time, now in the bustle of the capital, and now in the quiet of the old castle at home. Dear old Tegel I it is doubly dear to them now. For there their mother lives, and there lies their dead fiither's dust.