137.METTERNICH TO HUMBOLDT.
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
(FROM THE FRENCH.)
Richmond,Sep. 17th, 1849.
Richmond,Sep. 17th, 1849.
Richmond,Sep. 17th, 1849.
Richmond,Sep. 17th, 1849.
My dear Baron:
My dear Baron:
My dear Baron:
My dear Baron:
I see by to-day’s papers that the 9th of September, 1769, gave you to the world, and that thus you have just celebrated your eightieth birth-day. Had I been near you I would have joined your friends in offering my good wishes; at the distance which separates us, I approach you alone. Let me say in a few words that I render thanks to the giver of the faculties which have rendered your name imperishable. To be born is of little account; to make life valuable is excellent. You are numbered among the richest, and you have made a noble use of your moral fortune. May God preserve you in safety and in health!
Receive, my dear Baron, with the expression of a congratulation of which you do not doubt the sincerity, that of my sentiments of devotion and friendship, of a date as ancient as all that has a place between us!
Metternich.
Metternich.
Metternich.
Metternich.