Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-05-21

Ornte!egraphc dispatches of Thursday morn
ing. made mention of the death of Humboldt,
which took place at Berlin on the 9th May
The announcement took no by surprise, as
the event had been for sometime eXpected-wc
believe predicted by the great man himself The
lame of Humboldt was not confined to Europe,
but he was known the world over. Our New
York exchanges by yesterdays mails, contain
LENGTHY notices of the death of this iilustrions
man sfrom WEIGH VIC make extract or two:
One of the greatest men of this age or of any
other age, has paid the debt to nature which all
must yield at last. The teleGraphic Intelligence
from Europe in another column announces inc
death of the llustrlous AIc%ahGer on ~ nun
boldt, known also as Baron Humboldt 10 the
last he retained the brightness and vigor OF his
intellect and the cheerful buoyancy OF ms spI'-
II. He has seen two agcs-the last part OF the
eighteenth and more than the first half OF the
nineteenth C. uTy, and he has witnessed the
greatest dis, erlcS and changes that nave Ia
ken Dlacc in the history of the world for many
hundred wears Born in the same year with
Napoleon. he knew the Great Frederick; his
youth was coeval with the North American con-
t.sl for liberty. he admired the great aSllng'
ton: the drama of the French resolution, that
convused the world, he saw pass before him.
with its martial icnts and its giants; ana me
into ruin beneath the strokes of the mighty Cor
sican while the philosopher wandered over the
tahIn lands of the Andes. His full namq was
Frederick Henry Alexander Baron Won Hum
boldt and he was born at Berlin, Sept tn5er II,
1869. He died therefore, in his nncicth year
Perhaps there is not in the annals OF mankind
the name of another man who has lived to the
same age aud produced such an amount oil IN
trllcctuai work, and that, too, OF the highest
order lie was blessed with sound body as
well rs Il sound mind, and the tOrrid zone APP
pcared to have as little injurious effect upon him
ms the frozen regions Of the north. lie had II
gigantic intellect, from which nothing in nature
or in science appeared to be hid He could
grasp all Subjects and he appeared to know
everything. "What a mani" exclaimed the
great poet Goethe, the Shakespeare of Germany,
after receiving visit from the philosopher; II
know Of no man to compare hun to; lac resent
blcs spring of cvcr-Sushing sweet waterS he
knows everything, and knows thoroughly what
he does know"
Humboldt was remarkable for combining the
fruits of his own observations with the eXhibi-
ton of whatever had been accomplished by
other investigators in the field Of physical IN
uuirv. In this comprehensive department ne
was equally eminent as an explorer and a his
torian As he detected every phenomenon
with wonderful sagacity, SO he recorded every
discovery with unparalleled fidelity. Ih!S Is
not the place to give an account OF his contrIhu-
TONS to science His positive additions to the
treasures of human knowledge would fill mamy
volumes. But what will ever distinguish llnm-
buIdt from the mass Of physical inquirerS WHO
had preceded him, is his study of the universe
rs :, harmonious whole, and his search for the
laws of order beauty, and majesty beneath the
apparent confusion and contradictions OF Isolated
appearances.