Varnhagen’s diary of Dec. 3d, 1857, reads as follows: “I called on Humboldt; M. von Olfers was just going, and told me that Rauch had died in Dresden. Next General Count von der Groeben took his leave; he was very cordial, and pleased with my offer to send him a man who will republish the poems of Schenkendorf. Humboldt was full of cordiality for Ludmilla and myself; told me about the King, about Schoenlein, about the Princess of Prussia, about Doctor Lassalle, whose work[97] he had read accurately in three nights, and of Friesen; spoke of the ‘Kreuz Zeitung’ with contempt, praised the Count von der Groeben as a man of honor, and von der Heydt for his determination to leave the cabinet. He had a letter from the Queen. The King wishes to see him, and he therefore drives to Charlottenburg. He is hale and hearty. I read much in Lassalle. Even the external appearance of so great and important a work excites reverence. On me it makes peculiar impression to witness the downfall, one by one, of the stays and rivets by which my inveterate opinions have been upheld. Every one who has grown old has to observe and experience such things; but in our times the changes are quicker and more powerful than in former times, and I am peculiarly sensible to them. Even where the contents do not matter to me, where I do not lose in the matter, because the subjects do not belong directly to my province, the phenomenon is nevertheless somewhat disagreeable. Such is again my lot in regard to Schleiermacher; his work on Heraclitus was hitherto the last word, the final disposition of all questions relating to that philosopher; even Hegel’s adverse hints had not been able to overturn this authority. One could rest upon it as on a downy pillow, when lo! a new critic comes, and snatches it from under us. True, Lassalle supplies its place with another, which is large and well stuffed, but still the change is uncomfortable. And yet I am pleased with this unrest of intellectual efforts, this ingenuity, learning, progress, which asks no fear or favor.” 218. HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN. BERLIN, _January 11th, 1858_.