I saw several times at my friend Leo's house, was Alexander von Humboldt, certainly the most celebrated man of his time. When the invitation bore the words ' To meet Humboldt,' the rooms were naturally crowded, and he was the cynosure of all eyes. Wherever he stood a crowd of eager listeners assembled around him, all mute and full of reverence, and intent on every word that fell from his lips. He never attempted to lead or originate a conversation in the true sense of the word ; he always spoke alone, delivering a lecture on one subject or another, and was never anxious to hear anybody else's opinion. I was once asked to play for him, and looked upon this invitation as an event in my life. There had been a momentary silence in the rooms, but the moment I began to play, von Humboldt began to hold forth on a new and evidently most interesting topic, his voice rising with every one of my crescendos, dominating my most powerful fortes, and resuming its normal level only with my most delicate phrases. It was a duet which I did not sustain long ' je pliais bagage,' and left he ' champ de bataille ' to him, undoubtedly much to the advantage of those whom he addressed. << less