r
of Universal History. A full statement of his literary labors, both for
the past and for the future, was drawn up by him, to be submitted to
Niebuhr, and it will be read even now with interest by those who knew
Bunsen when he tried to take up after forty years the threads that had
slipped from his hand at the age of four-and-twenty.

Instead of being sent to study at Paris and London by the Prussian
government, as he seems to have wished, he was suddenly called to Paris by
his old pupil, Mr. Astor, who, after two years' absence, had returned to
Europe, and was anxious to renew his relations with Bunsen. Bunsen's
object in accepting Astor's invitation to Paris was to study Persian; and
great was his disappointment when, on arriving there, Mr. Astor wished him
at once to start for Italy. This was too much for Bunsen, to be turned
back just as he was going to quench his thirst for Oriental literature in
the lectures of Sylvestre de Sacy. A compromise was effected. Bunsen
remained for three months in Paris, and promised then to join his friend
and pupil in Italy. How he worked at Persian and Arabic during the
interval must be read in his own letters:--

"I write from six in the morning till four in the afternoon, only
in the course of that time having a walk in the garden of the
Luxembourg, where I also often study; from four to six I dine and
walk; from six to seven sleep; from seven to eleven work again. I
have overtaken in study some of the French students who had begun
a year ago. God be thanked for this help! Before I go to bed I
read a chapter in the New Testament, in the morning on rising one
in the Old Testament; yesterday I began the Psalms from the
first."

As soon as he felt that he could continue his study of Persian without the
aid of a master, he left Paris. Though immersed in work, he had made
several acquaintances, among others that of Alexander von Humboldt, "who
intends in a few years to visit Asia, where I may hope to meet him. He has
been beyond measure kind to me, and from him I shall receive the best
recommendations for Italy and England, as well as from his brother, now
Prussian Minister in London. Lastly, the winter in Rome may become to me,
by the presence of Niebuhr, more instructive and fruitful than in any
other place. Thus has God ordained all things for me for the best,
according to His will, not mine, and far better than I deserve."

These were the