Science, too, assumes, and its assumption is this: The best preparation for a life to come is to live here and now as if there were no life to come. Your belief will not fix your place in another world--what you are, may. The individual who gets most out of this life is fitting himself to get most out of another if there is one. And this brings us up to that paragraph in the "Cosmos" where Humboldt says: "I perceive a period when the true priesthood will not be paid to defend a fixed system of so-called crystallized truth. But I believe the time will come when that man will be most revered who bestows most benefits here and now. The clergy of Christendom have stood as leaders of thought, but to hold this proud position they must abandon the intangible and devote themselves to this world and the people who are alive." * * * * * Most of Humboldt's time during his middle life was spent at Paris, where he was busily engaged in the herculean task of issuing his splendid books. He varied his work, however, so that several hours daily were devoted to study and scientific research; and from time to time he made journeys over Europe and Asia. In Eighteen Hundred Twenty-seven a personal request came from the King of Prussia that Humboldt should thereafter make Berlin his home. He was too big a man for Germany to lose. He acceded to the King's request, moved to Berlin and was spoken of as "The First Citizen," although he would not consent to hold office, nor would he accept a title. In vexed questions of diplomacy he was often consulted by the King and his Cabinet, and in a great many ways he furthered the interests of education and civilization by his judicial and timely advice. He was always a student, always an investigator, always a tireless worker. He lived simply and quietly--keeping out of society and away from crowds, except on the rare occasions when necessity seemed to demand it. The quality of the man was well mirrored in those magnificent books--all that he did was on the scale of grandeur. His books were too high in price for the average reader, but on request of the King he consented to give a course of five, free, popular lectures for the people.