163. HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN. BERLIN, _July 10th, 1854_. Such a rough “Hind Pomeranian!”[70] direct answer, dear friend, you could certainly not expect from me! I have no idea of the question about the animation of pinewood at the King’s table, where everybody believes in it as in the Persian host seen in the air at the Eichsfeld. The “drama” of the “Kreuz Zeitung,” like everything emanating from this bad party, sick with mental poverty, bears the stamp of cowardly malice! You are not to be pitied, for you possess a treasure in the power of animating recollections of the great period of 1813. I have always kept at a respectful distance from the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, which is edited with spirit and address. Two parties may hate the same thing without hating it from the same motives. The present Liberals there think themselves justified in _barking_, but not _biting_, after the fashion of the Berlin muzzles, “because, without the rescuer[71] they would all have been drenched in blood.” _Credat Judæus Apella!_ Your faithful, A. V. HUMBOLDT. Monday.—At another funeral![72] A workman, unknown to me, addressed me at the funeral of Benjamin Constant: “N’est-ce pas, mon bon Monsieur, vous n’avez rien de si beau en Prusse, mais ce sera bien plus beau quand nous enterrerons M. de la Fayette.” 164. HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN. BERLIN, _July 29th, 1854_. In Spain, the virtuous rebels, like the virtuous order of St. John on the Wilhelmsplatz, have raised the cry of “Long live chastity!”—“Viva el pudor” (Isabella)! “Viva la moralidad” (disinterested Christina)! But, will you, dear friend, think it possible (July, 1854!) that the Minister of Public Worship and Instruction, though hitherto without success, is also shouting “Viva el pudor!” He has quite officially demanded a royal order for the imprisonment in the arsenal of the wanton group[73] which so wantonly disport themselves on the bridge; all this without fear from the press, since the new press law, promulgated by the Diet at Frankfort, only resembles the ingenious Berlin muzzles, not yet exhibited in the Muenchen Crystal Palace, which prevent authors from biting only, but not from barking. The third cry, “Viva la libertad!” has succeeded in the Peninsula, after all, in spite of the disavowals of good society. Your faithful A. V. HUMBOLDT. AT NIGHT. 165. HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN. BERLIN, _July 31st, 1854_.