The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-09-25
HUMBOLDT, His Associations ana
achievements.

full the Grafton delivered by Colonel
r. G. Iugersoll, at the unwilling Of a
statue If Humboldt, at Rouse's Hall,
Peoria. on the evening of September
II. Tie address glitters with genius.
We can only give few brief
extracts:
Great men seem to be a part Of the
infinite, brothers of the mountains
and the seas. Humboldt was one of
these. He was one Of those serene
men, IN some respects like our own
Franklin, whose names have all the
lustre Of a star. He was one of the
few great enough to rise above the
superstition and prejudice of his time,
aud TO know that experience, obser-
walton and reason are the only basis
Of knowledge. He became one of
the greatest of men, In spite Of having
been born rich and noble, In spite Of
position. / say in spite OF these
things, because wealth and position
are generally the enemies of genius
and the destT0yers of talent.
It Is often said of this or that man,
that he Is a self-mads man, that he
was born of the poorest and humblest
parents, sad that with every obstacle
to overcome he became great. This
is a mistake. Poverty is generally an
advantage and most of the intellect
ual giants Of the world have nursed
at the sad and loving breast Of pow
erty. Most of those who have climb
ed highest on the shining ladder of
fame, commenced at the lowest round.
They were reared in the straw thateh-
ed cottages Of Europe; in the log
houses of America; ia the factories
of the great cities; In the midst of
toll; In the smoke and din of labor,
and on the verge Of want. They
were rocked by the feet of mothers
whose hands, at the same time, were
busy with the needle or the wheel.
1t is hard for the rich to resist the
thousand allurements of pleasure, and
SO / say, that Humboldt, in spite of
having been born to wealth and
high social position, became truly and
grandly great.
Great men do not live alone; they
are surrounded by the great; they are
the instruments used to accomplish
the tendencies of their generation;
they fulfill the prophecies of their age.
Nearly all of the scientific men OF
the eighteenth century had the same
idea entertained by Humboldt, but
most of them in a dim and confused
way. There was, however, a general
belief among the intelligent that the
world is governed by law, and that
there really exists a connection be-
tween al facts, or that all facts are
simply the different aspects of gen.
eral fact and that the task of science
was to discover this connection; to
comprehend the general fact, or to
announce the laws of things.
Germany was full OF thoughts, and
her universities swarmed with philos-
ophers aud grand thinkers in every
department of knowledge.
Humboldt was the friend and COM
panion of the greatest poets, his
torians, philOlogists, artists, states
men, critics and logicians of his
time.
He was the companion Of Schiller,
who believed that man would be re-
generated through the influence of
the beautiful; of Goethe, the grand
patriarch of German literature OF
Weiland, who has been called the
Voltaire Of Germany; of Herder, who
wrote the outlines ola philosophical
history of man; Of KOtzebue, who
lived in the world OF romance; Of
Schleiermacher, the pantheist; of
Schlegel, who gave to his countrymen
the enchanted realms of Shakespeare ;;
of the sublime Kant, author of the
first work published in Germany on
Pure Reason; Of Fichte, the infinite
idealist; of Schopenhauer, the Eu-
10 ell 81 -
great Gautaml to the infinite Mir
whose names are familiar to, and
hOnored BY, the scientific world.
We are not honoring some butcher
called a soldier, some willy politician
called a statesman, some Tobber
called king, nor some malicious
metapbysician called a saint. We
are honOring the grand Humboldt,
whose victories were ali achieved in
the arena Of thought, who destroyed
prejudice, ignorance and error, not
men, who shed light, not blood, and
who contributed to the knowledge,
the wealth, and the happiness of all
mankind. His life was pure, his
aims lofty, his learning varied and
u.
We honor him because he has en-
nobled our race, because he has con
tributed as much as any man living OF
dead to the real prosperity of the
world. We honor him because ht
honored US, because he lahored fol
others, because he was the most learn
ed man of the most learned nation
because he left legacy Ofglory to ev
cry human being. For these reasons
he Is hOnoFed throughout the world
millions are prOnouncing his namt
and FecOunting what he accomplished
We associate the name OF Hum
bOldt with oceans, continents, noun
tains aud volcanOes-wlth grca
plains-the wide deserts-the snow
Tipped craters of the Andes-witl
primeval forests, and European cap
itals-with wildernesses and universe
ties-with savages and savans-witl
the lonely rivers Of unpeopled waste
With cliffs, and cFags, and peaks
and pampas, and steppes-with til
progress Of the World-with ever
science known to man, with ever.
star giitteTiug IN the immensely O
space. lie was an admlreI
a lover, an adorer of nature, and a
the age of ninety, bowed by the weigh
Of nerlay a century, covered with tn
insignia of honor, loved by natior
respected by world. with kings 70
his servants, he laid his weary hea
upon her bosom. Upon the bosom {
the universal mother, aud with he
loving arms around him, sank int
that sweet sIumber called death, an
the angel of history added anotht
name to the starry scroll Of tn