182.VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.

Berlin,September 24th, 1856.

Your Excellency:

You have had not a little trouble on my account lately, which I lament with shame. Most of all I regret having missed your kind visit, which is always an honor as well as a good fortune. That the Grand Duke couldnot find me yesterday, although he drove up and down the Maurenstrasse, and made several inquiries, would be incomprehensible if the servants of a Court were not a very peculiar fraternity. It is nearly thirty years that I have resided in the largest house in the street, which the Grand Duke himself has entered in visiting Prince Wilhelm of Baden. To-day, however, he arrived punctually at eight o’clock, was very pleasant and affable, spoke with a good deal of frankness and much cordiality, and mentioned your Excellency with great esteem and gratitude. His real errand did not appear until his visit came to a close; in referring him to me, your Excellency has done me great honor, but you have also involved me in no inconsiderable perplexity. The affair is of great importance, and may lay the foundation for the happiness of a worthy man; the wish itself is creditable to the Grand Duke, and it will give me great pleasure in any way to subserve his noble purpose. I shall take it into consideration, and, if a result is attainable, shall respectfully submit it to your Excellency. At the first blush, I named young H., which, however, led to nothing, the Grand Duke doubting the extent of his acquaintance with the French language. The visit lasted nearly an hour, and much that was said was remarkable; my share in the conversation must have been unpleasant, at least the physical part of it, which is entirely ruined and quite unintelligible fromcoughing, influenza, and rheumatic compression of the chest.

With the best wishes for your Excellency’s welfare, I remain in profound reverence and gratitude,

Your obedientVarnhagen von Ense.

Your obedient

Varnhagen von Ense.

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