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    IIUMBOLDT'S BETTERS.*

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    T O an Englishman HttmboIiBT must ever be an object of profound interest and admiration , as the man of encyclopedic mind , who was one of the largest contributors to the science and philosophy of the ag-e in which he lived . His name calls up a host of associations connected with physical geography , climatology , terrestrial magnetism , the distribution of plants and animals , and other special subjects to which his attention was directed with such important results ; and of the Kbsmtis , or harmonious whole of physical nature , which lie endeavoured to delineate with no fieeble success . Whatever could throw lig htupon the life and character of such a man we should therefore be prepared , to welcome ; but the brilliance of his reputation has excited expectations which cannot easily be

    fulfilled , iand disposed us to view critically any contribution to his biography . Far removed in spirit , though not in person , from the royal pedlar craft of German courts , and caring nothing for the local and temporary questions which agitate the official mind in those half-benighted regions , in which an unsatisfactory struggle is maintained against the 'free ¦ principles that belong to the age , we cannot look upon . A : lexa : n \ dee von Hombolct as a portion of the political system and aristocratic life of Berlin , but survey him , as posterity will contemplate 'him ,- from an alto- * gether higher and wider point of view . Hence , when the letters which have caused so much stir in Germany make their appearance in ail English dress , there will be a feeling of disappointment at the small amount of matter which they contain of lasting interest .

    and the public will be somewhat puzzled to understand the effect they have produced . Already some of our journalists have entered their protest against the publication of reinaks calculated to wound the feelings of living persons , and break down the barriers which , according to English notions , ought to screen from common . eyes the sanctuaries of private life . But the letters liave been published ^ in Germany ,-and for the Germans , and the propriety of the act-must be judged by local standards rather than by our own . While' the Prussian and other courts do their best to stifle public opinion , and prevent the living f rom- exercising an honest and useful freedom' of speech , \ ve cannot wonder , that the good people should call into action the services of the dead , and not allow the grass to grow over the grave of Huiiboldt before they circulate

    with eagerness . every expression they can find in his correspondence , in which notable persons are stripped of their solemn trappings and , pretensions , and held up to laughter and contempt . - Our correspondent speaks of the excitement which the publication has produced , the anger of the Court and Kveuz-Zeitung party , and the ftiti . e efforts of the police who fouhd their endeavours to suppress the work , completely frustrated by the clever arrangements of the publishers and the rapidity with which the boolt circulated through private channels . Already a second edition bus been called for , aud the fact that the various Governments of Germany think it bad reading for their subjects will ensure for it an immense sale , and almost boundless . popularity . The letters , which ( ill a good-sized octavo volume , amount in

    number to two hundred and twenty-five , and are for the most part written by J-Jumboxdt to l ; is intimate friend ,, the late VahnhageN ' von Ense ; but there are also letters to HUMBOfcDT from King Chkistjan "VHX of Denmark , Prince Mettjernich , Gtjxzox Tiukhs , Victoe . Hugo , Bessei ,, Sir John HEnscniJL , Bettina . von Aenim , RiicrcEET , Manjsoni , the Dukes of Tuscany and Weimab , Prince Albekt , and other persons of notoriety or celebrity , and likewise many extracts from the diary of Vahnhagen himself . The general tone of Humboldt ' s letters is Unit of kindness and frankness , and those would judge him wrongly who imagine , from the severe rqmarks upon particular individuals which hitive obtained the chief currency , that the great philosopher had grown a cynic in his old nge . The fact is , that the Court life of Germany , and perhnps especially of Prussia , was a very dismal sham , and persons rose to royal favour b y hypocritical pretences of evangelical piety , coupled with a supple readiness to assist in

    stifling liberal ideus and preventing- the recognition of popular rig-htH . From the traditions of Prussia a 9 a Protestant power , and her natural poaition as the head of the liberal party in Germany , men of intellect were entitled to expect from her a very different conduct from-that which site ' has pursued ; and ulthoiigrli official life offered no legitimate opportunities for publishing 1 his opinions , we / can readily understand that JHumbomw must hnve been filled with indignation at the potty men and theT petty measures which enjoyed the favour of the sovereign , and glad of the occasion afforded by correspondence with a valued and enlightened friend to . express his thoughts and convictions without reserve . Vabnhagjjn yoN JEjjse was a diplomatist too liberal for the reactionary ministers who usually poeseaacd power , arid during the latter portion of his life wub chiefly known by his writings , which German critics pronounced admirable examples of mudurn prose .

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    3 ^ arch 24 , 1 S 6 & ] The Leader and Saturday AnalyM . 270

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    visions of such piping times of peace . danced More tteir eyes people conld not think of the " horrida bella with which they had 5 short time before been frightened . But those visions now begin to recede a little . Mr . Disraeli appears upon the stage , and favours us with his personal . assurance that France no longer conceals its purpose of general empire , and that the prospectus far as England is feoncerhed , is infinitely more dangerous than in the days of the French Republic and of the old French Empire . Then we shall soon have Mr . Sidney Herbert asking for the ^ separate votes of which he has already told the sum total ; soldiers , sailors , and Lilians will raise the old ghosts ; and Mr . Gladstone s . music almost forgotten , save perhaps by some deluded wreteh who . has ^ attempted to drown his disgust at the income-tax in cheap claret , and finds the luxury strongly provocative of a comparison with the bottles o . t the family apothecary , we shall have the deafening sound of the trumpets heralding some desperate attempt upon our purses . If we could hope that the question would be taken up in a practical and moderate manner , we should be glad to see the National Defences become the order of the day . Whether the Emperor of France hate us , as Messrs . Horsman and Roebuck would suggest , or love us . as Messrs . Bright and < 3 obden intimate , it is equally desirable that all chance of a successful landing upon our shores should be prevented by suitable precautions . We need not , of course , apprehend any attempt to conquer , or even keep possession for any length of time of , the "tight little island ; " but a freebooters ' expedition , with the object of sacldng ' the metropolis and inflicting upon us the resulting indelible disgrace , is quite within the bounds of possibility , if not of probability . Such a possibility ought to , guarded against , but not at a cost which would inflict a certain and permanent evil upon the Country . We have , the heartiest desire to feel perfectly secure , and the utmost readiness to pay a reasonable premium for the assurance , but we must decline altogether to adopt the extravagant schemes recommended by so many very worthy old soldiers in unreadable pamphlets . The veterans would secure us , no doubt , but they would make us pay a pi-ice utterly beyond our means ; and they fail to perceive the real point which deserves attention—the means of resisting a marauding expedition upon London , the only object any sensible enemy would attempt . So thick has been the shoal of these pamphlets by generals and admirals all marked by the same characteristics of excessive trepidation and extravagant outlay , that we took up the pamphlet of General Williams with very little hope of finding anything in it worth notice . We did , however , the general a great , although unintentional , injustice . The question is treated by him in a very few pages with great fairness , and a remarkable freedom from the prejudices which possess most of his brother officers , whilst the suggestions he makes appear to be of a very practical , and are certainly of a comparatively very inexpensive character . General Williams starts upon the assumption that the objects of an invasion would not be conquest , nor even protracted occupation , but . a temporary success , which might wipe out past humiliations , and the creation , by a rapid march upon the metropolis , of a panic , which might induce an inglorious peace and ignominious concessions . With that design , the enemy would seek upon our coasts the shores which are " easiest of access , most devoid of protection , nearest to . his own ports , and least distant from our metropolis . ' ' Those shores General Williams , after a close examination of the whole south coast , places within the limits of Rye' harbour and Brighton . " Our most vulnerable shores , " he adds , " undoubtedly lie in the Bay of Peverisey , and thence by JBexhitl to Hastings . " Holding this opinion , General Williams does not propose the serious cost of fortifying the whole of that extent ; he >> averse , as he says , to the multiplication of open batteries liable to be stormed , hut he would occupy Beai ? hey Head by an intrenched work capiible of containing fifteen thousand men , and he would establish similar posts on Ashdown Hill , and on the north side of Mariscotfc Hill . ISTor does he intend expensive works . He wants only " field works , consisting of a ditch and parapet of bold profile , with sufficient buildings only to contain , in time of peace , an adequate garrison for their protection . " The troops in these posts < j 6 uld be at once thrown by railway upon any - ' spot at which an enemy might attempt a landing , or upon a point which would intercept his march upon the metropolis ; and their place in the intrenched camps could be supplied by the volunteers , whose value the general cordially admits—who , with a sprinkling of old soldiers , might hold them against any force the enemy could detach against them . In time of peace these campa would further serve the purpose to which Aldershot is now devoted , and would thus prove a most economical outlay . If to the three posts already mentioned were added the occupation of Shooter ' s Hill for the protection of the xnetropplis , and camps at Brighton and Portsdown Hill , General Williams believes the kingdom would be perfectly safe . Ho urges that , however larjje the sum which may bo spout in adding to the , ¦ fortifications of the dockyards—the great craze of the day—it will not add in the slightest degree to the security of London ; and he points out the danger ,, with our small army , of multiplying 1 and extending fortifications , which will require large garrisons , to adequately defend them ; whereas the system of intrenched camps leaves the greatest possible numerical force disposable for every emergency . Wo have given bu , t a meagre outline of General Williams ^ plans , but » t will be enough , we think , to show thut they are well deserving of public attention , They ore inexpensive and simple , adaptable to existing 1 arrangements , and are based indeed upon the principle of utilising 1 all the elements of strength which the country already possesses . For our own part , we have been much gratified , not only

    with his suggestions , but with the cordial recognition of the merits of others and the manly modesty which characterise his pamphlet ; and we recommend all those who would prefer paying two millions for a complete system of defence to the ten millions which the National Defence Commissioners are going ; to ask for a partial one , to insist upon a fair examination of the scheme which General Williams has laid before the Secretary of War .

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    * JSriafl ) von Alexundro von JXnmbuMt cm Vivmhagon von JfSinio . Leipeig '; Brookhnua .

    Iiumboldt's Betters.*

    IIUMBOLDT'S BETTERS . *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1860, page 279, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2339/page/11/