BERLIN, _September 6th, 1844_. I understand as well as you do, my dear friend, that the speech[41] in question must necessarily have produced a great sensation and excitement in our “north,” as well as under the sluggish Pole. _He_ really excels in flowery eloquence. The figures which he presents are hardly new; but a certain delicacy of expression, and a nice perception of the “harmonious” in oratory, cannot be denied him. There is really something noble in the passion for speaking, upon every occasion, to thousands of people. His generosity in sheltering “_high officials_ under the veil of the royal purple” will be but indifferently acknowledged. Does he, by this course, deliver over to our assaults those small fry who obscure the day? I am sorry that such a highly gifted prince, acting under the most benevolent incentives, and preserving the full vigor of his mind, which constantly urges him to action, is, in spite of his good intentions, absolutely deceived as to the direction in which the state is impelled. When Parry, with a number of Esquimaux dogs, had started for the North Pole, dogs and sledge were continually driven _forward_. When, however, the sun broke through the mist, so that the latitude could be taken, it was ascertained that the expedition had unwittingly been carried _backward_ several degrees. A floating field of ice, drifting in a southerly current, was the surface on which they seemed to advance. Our ministers are the drifting, icy surface. And may not the current be “the dogmatische Missions-Philosophie?” A. V. HT. It is now certain that the Empress (of Russia) will not come. The King will, on the 15th, be in Sans Souci. 92. HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN. BERLIN, _Sept. 13th, 1844_. I must be in a few moments at the Stettin depôt to meet the King, who arrives at 9 o’clock. Thence I go for a few days to Sans Souci, where I shall, unfortunately, celebrate my seventy-fifth birth-day. I say unfortunately, because in 1789 I believed that the world would have solved more problems than it has done. It is true that I have seen a great deal; but very little, indeed, in proportion to my exactions.