The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-09-15

treatises were expensive, and entirely be-
yond the reach of the masses, as the price
Of single copy Of the most elaborate Of
his works was nearly $4,000.
! Humboldt, however, who, in all his iabors
and amid all his worldly successes and
honors, had kent constantly in view the sci
entifc education of the people, was not con-
tent that his vast contributions to physical
science should remain locked up in the
libraries of monarchs, kings, princes, noble
men, and men of wealth. He determined at
that period of life when most successful
men. surfeited with honOrs and with wealth,
cease tc be Useful to their race, TO popular
ize science, and to po:ir out the vast wealth
of his researches and discoveries before the
humblest of his countrymen. And it was
this splendid and unexamplcd act OF scien-
tiic philanthropy which has caused the
whole civilized world, under the lead Of his
countrymen, to rise up to-day and pay un-
examplcd honors to his memory. Let it be
recorded in letters of gold, upon tablets
more impcrishablc than marble or granite,
that in 1923, when Humboldt was in the
zenith of his fame, when his breast glittered
with crosses ard jewelled badges Of honor,
when lie had become the daily guest and
friend Of m0narchs, when he was baron
and privy counsellor to q successor OF the
" Great - Frederick of Prussia, that he set
to men Of learning the noble example OF
popularizing science by lectures before the
masses. The germ Of the " Kosmos," that
immortal legacy of Humboldt to the people,
was n course of sixty-one lectures which
he delivered Mt the Musical Academy in
Berlin, where he stood face to face with his
countrymen, and peasant and prince were
alike "tRe enchanted hearers, who never
wearied Of listening" while in his native
tongue he gave the rich fruits of his re-
searches in all the broad domains Of physi-
cal science His most brilliant biographer
describes how vast crowds focked to these
lectures, and never wcaried of listen
ing, ''when he stood before them like
Il talented creative artist, and brought
4 series Of wonderful natural pic
lures Of boldly explored world before an
admiring public" The King, the royal
family, the court, the highest lords and la
dies attended these lecturers regularly, and
listened side by side with the humblcst
citizens of Prussia. In that vast hail. in
the heart of the capital of q kingdom,
HUMBOLDT laid the foundations of republi-
can and democratic science so deep and firm
shat no human power can ever overtime"
his work.
These lectures aroused the slumbering
invcAtive faculties Of thousands of Ger
man artisans, and warmed nation into
vigorous intellectual life. Star-eyed
tscience;" no longer imprisoned in great
libraries, stood unveiled before millions OF
intelligent, yet humble, worshippers, while
Il high priest, whose cloquencc seemed al
: most like inspiration, explained her mighty
and mysterious works. Ere those sixty
/ one lectures ended, humboldt had poured
out before the people in deep, clear, bold
stream the results of Tho learning, the cX'
perimcnts, the discoveries, and the re
| searches, in every CLINE Of Il life which ht
: had dedicated to science. The culture de
/; mandc,l by modern life stood for the frs
| time revealed and explained in its granc
; proportions to the German people.
| have said that the sixty-one lecture
. which were delivered by Humboldt in lS2S
/ were tie GERM Of the - ''KosmoS." 1t wa
. not, however, until lS43 and 1914 that h
: wrote and prepared for publication tha
treat work which gives systematic vicv
G and thought in the whole domain o. natura
science. When, in accordance with the re
/ quest Of the German societies OF Richmond
a | consented to prepare this address, hat
B., dcsicned IN extended notice and elaborat
| anaivsis IF thia vast treasury of science
| but an hour wruld scarcely suffice for til
mere recapitulation of the distinct ana sepa
= rate departments of physical science o
i which il treats.
Here followed an entertaining dcscrip
= tien of the Kosm0s. but too extended 10
these columns:
Y HUMBOLDT ANn HIS OWN PEOPLE.
! The " Kogmos" impaired creator activit.
= 20 scientific thought than al the works uTol
C science which had preceded it, and caused al
s natibns to claim its author as their country
man. Bnt while tha Krsmos" :" has scat
tered its blessings everywhere, and ha
been fruitful of grand results in ever.
; land, it was the priceless legacy of tn
" greatest German of modern times 10 III
D 0orn people. Ali Of the rere and costl,
u 4 works which Humh6ld published In earl.
! life were written either in French or Il
Latin, for they were the languages the1
, almost universally employed by the NOR
. cultivated and the higher European classes
: but, that all the world might know that tn
Il Il "Kosmos - was to be the inheritance OF tn
U " Fathnrland," he wrote the work in tn
German language.
a And l think Humboldt, in spite Of til
= colossal proportions of his cosmopolita
: fame, is the most perfect and thorough typ
: and representation of the great Teutoni
!, : mind and race which the world has eve
Il known. And do not hesitate to assign t
', him this exalted rank, although Luther
:, - Frederick the Great, Goethe, Schiller, an
Richter, were his countrymen. For in Hum
L L boldt were combined all the qualities Q
I head and heart which constitute GREA
} MAN. He had the boldness and restless en-
Il errv of Luther, the profound learning G
. . Erasmus, the intrcpidity in the face of dan
Il Il GER of Frederick the Great, and the elo
. Quence and the literary acumen of Gocth
!, and Schiller.
Il Il In tracing the progress of civilization "
= find at four most important cpochs, whe
- the welfare of Christendom required tia
II progress and reform should batter down tn
. walls of the prison-houses Of huma
), thought which were erected By superstition
. prejudice, and routine, that the great an
= necessary reforms were achieved by
n GERMAN GENIUS, COURAGE, AND LEARNING
y We have the poor and obscure mon
# of Wittenburg, in his eager search it
c religious truth, finding a Latin copy Of IL
x Holy Scriptures, and then fearlessly col
/ fronting the most imposing assemblage
e civil and religious dignitaries which W;
s ever convened in Germany, and proclaim
1t ing before it great religious truths whic
C were full of immortal life. And there
&c no German, care not what may be his r.
II ligious creed, who is not proud that MART
l. Juther was hiS COuntryman, and that Rel