Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-01-21

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| plv despnfchcd note 10 him. stating my name
! and object, and asking for an interview.
| Three DAYS afterwards received through the
| city pn.t IA reply in his own hand, stating fha''
/ although he was suffering from cold which had
! followed his removnl from 'otsdam to the capi-
! tall he would willingly receive me. and appoint
/ ed o'clock today for the visit. ! was pnnctual
| 10 the minute. and reached hs retidence III The
| Oranienburger sira-sn n the clock struck.
! Will. in Berlin. he lives with his servant, Self
er,, whose name only found on the door. 1t
was n plain too story honse. with II dull punk
'front.' aud inhabited, like mot of the houses III
German Cit, :, by two or three families. me
bell wire over Seiferis name came from the sec
ond story. ! pulled; the heavy porte eochere
opened of itself. and | mounted the steps until
reached a second bell pull, over late inscribed
alexander Won Humboldt
stout square faced man Of about hifY,whom
! Mt once recognized es Sefert. opened the door
for me. Are you Herr Taylor he asked; md
added. on receiving my reply: His Exceileney
il ready 10 receive you" He ushered me INTO a
room filled with stuffed birds and other objects OF
natural history; then into "A large library when
apparently contained the gifts of authors, artists
and men of science walked betwcen'wo long
tables henped with sumptuous folios. to the fur-
Their door, which opened into the study. those
who have seen the admirable coIored ihograph
OF IIildebrnnd's picture. know precisely how the
room locks. There WAS the PLAIN table, the VII
ting desk covered with letters and manuscripts
the little green sofa, and the same maps and PIC
lures on the drub colorel walls. The picture
had been so long hanging in my own room at
home. that | ut once rec gnized each particular
object.
Sefert went to an inner door, announced my
name, and Humboldt Immediately appeared. lilo
came up to me with heartiness and coidinity
which made me feel that | was in the presence
Of Il friend gave me his hnnd,and inquired wheth
or wa should converse i'll English or Gerinan.--
"Your letter." said he, that of Il German,
and you must certainly speak the language ia
milialy; but am also in the conotunt habit Of
using English" He insisted on my taking ono
end Of the green sofa, observing that he rarely
sat upon it himself, then drew up plain cane
bottomed chair and seated himself beside it, ask
ing me to speak n little onde: than usual, us his
hearing WIS not SO ncute as formerly.
As looked at the ma este old mantle line OF
Tennyson, describing Wellington, came into my
mind; oh, good gray head which all men
know" The first impression made by llumboldts
face is that of broad aud genial humanity
llismassive brow, heavy with the gathered wis
dom of nearly n century, bends forward and over
hangs his breast, like ri pc ear Of corn, but us
you look below it. pair of clear blue eyes, al
most ns bright and steady n child's, meet
your own. In those eyes you read that trust in
man, TINT immortal youth of the heart, which
make the SHOWS of eighty seven winters lie so
lightly upon his head. You trust him utterly at
the first glance, and you feel that he will trust
you, if You are worthy of it. had approached
him with natural feeling of reverence, but in
five minutes found that loved him aud could
talk with him as freely with friend of my
own age. His nose mouth and chin have the
heavy Teutonic character. whose genuine type
always expresses an honest simplicity and direct
ness.
was most surprised by the youthful character
ofh aee. knew that he had been frequently
mdl>posed during the present year,ond had been
told that he Was beginning 10 show the marks of
his cxtrnme age; but | should not have suspected
him Of being over seventy five. His wrinkles
are few and small, and his skin has Il smoothness
and deicacy rarely seen in old men. His hair,
although snow white il still abundant, his step
slow but firm, pndhis manner active almost To
rcstlessness. lie sleeps but four hours out of
the twentv.four, reads and replies to his daily
rain Of ctters, and suffers single occurrence
of the least interest in any part of the world 10
escape his attention. | could not perceive that
his memory, the first mental faculty to show de-
cay, is ut all impaired lie talks rapidly, with
the greatest apparent ease, never hesltatlng Tor
word whether in English or German. and. in
fact, seemed 10 be unc ,nscious which language
he Va using, ms he changed five or six times IN
the course If the conversation. He did not
time, frequently getting NJ and walking about
the room, now aud then pointing to picture or
opening book to illustrate some remark.
Humboldt recollection oil the Alta Mountains
naturally led him to speak If the Andes You
have travelled in Mexico, said he "do you not
agree with me in the opinion that the finest noun
tuns in the world are those single cones Of per
petual snow rising ont of the splendid vegetation
of the tropics The lIimalaya-, although lofier,
can scarcely make equal impressions; they
lie further to the north without the belt of trop-
ca! growth, and their sides dreary and sterile
in comparison. You remember Orizaba." DON
tinued he, 'here is engraving from rough
sketch of mine. hope You will find it correct
He and took down the illustrated folio which
accompanied the last edition of his "Mnor Wi
tings," turned over the leaves and recalled, at
each plate some "reminiscences of his American
travel. -! still think he remarked he closed
the book that Chimborazo is the grandast noun.
tain in the world"
He also spoke Of our authors. and inquired
particularly after Washington Irving, whom he
had once seem told him | had the fortune to
know Mr. Irving, and had seen him not long be
fore leaving New York. 'lle must be at least
fifty years DID," said Humboldt. ale is seven.
ty." answered, 'but as young rs ever An
said he. have lived so long that have almost
lost the consciousness oftime. belong To the
age of Jefferson aud Gaatn. and | heard of
Washington's death while travelling in South \.
mcrica.n
have repeated but the smallest portion of his
conversation. which flowed on in an unintorrupt-
ed stream of the richest knowledge On recall.
ing il to my mind, after leaving, was surprised
to find how great number of subjects he had
touched upon and how much he had said or
seemed Ia have suid-for he has the rare faculty
of placing subject in the clearest and most Wv