use.

Both Carl and his father were arrested and thrown into prison. No one doubted the innocence of the young secretary, but after a trial he and his father were both banished from Würtemberg.

For three years Carl wandered about, giving concerts and composing operas and other works. The Baron's experiences as a theatrical manager in Carl's childhood had given the boy much useful knowledge about the stage. When he became a composer it was natural that he should be especially interested in operas. His operas became very popular. Musicians saw that his work was the beginning of a new era in German music, and Beethoven said: "Weber should now write operas, one after the other without hesitation."

Weber knew Beethoven personally and visited the deaf musician in his untidy apartments.

"We dined together in the happiest mood," wrote Weber afterward. "The rough, repulsive man served me at table with the most delicate care. How proud I felt to receive all this kindness and affectionate regard from a great master spirit!"

It is pleasant to think of Weber's success after all the misery of his youth. His father's death freed him from a great burden. He was also very happy in his marriage. He loved his young wife devotedly, and she made his home life as nearly perfect as it could be.

Heretofore musicians had been rather looked down

upon by people of wealth and high social position. Mozart, it is true, refused to let himself be treated as a servant by the stupid Prince-bishop of Salzburg. Beethoven also was too proud to bow and scrape, even before royalty. But Weber was the first prominent musician to be received by the nobility as an equal. He himself was of noble birth. His father, though really worthless as a man, had borne the title of baron. Besides, Carl was handsome, agreeable and accomplished. He became a great favorite in society. After his time composers were treated much more respectfully than they had been before.

In spite of his musical triumphs, Weber did not become rich. In his fortieth year he went to England to produce a new opera. It was enthusiastically received. Weber knew that he had not long to live, and he hoped that the money from a big concert that he was going to give, added to the money from his English opera, would be enough to provide for his wife and children.

Unfortunately, the concert was not a success. Weber was cruelly disappointed, but wrote a brave letter to his wife, trying to make light of his troubles. He was very ill, and his one thought was to reach home and see his

dear ones again before he died.

But this was not to be.

He died in England, surrounded by devoted friends.

Weber did so much to free opera from useless rules and to make it more interesting and beautiful that he has been called "the operatic liberator of Germany."

THE BELLS OF SHANDON

With deep affection,

And recollection,

I often think of

Those Shandon bells,

Whose sounds so wild would,

In days of childhood,
Fling around my cradle
Their magic spells.

On this I ponder
Where'er I wander,

And thus grow fonder,

Sweet Cork, of thee; With thy bells of Shandon, That sound so grand on

The pleasant waters

Of the River Lee.

I've heard bells chiming
Full many a clime in,
Tolling sublime in

Cathedral shrine,

While at a glib rate

Brass tongues would vibrate

But all their music

Spoke naught like thine; For memory, dwelling

On each proud swelling
Of the belfry knelling

Its bold notes free,

Made the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on

The pleasant waters

Of the River Lee.

-Francis Mahony.

XV

A NEGLECTED GENIUS

When the great Beethoven lay dying, a friend brought him a collection of songs by a young unknown composer named Franz Peter Schubert. Beethoven read the songs with delight. Then he said: "This Schubert has in him a spark of the divine fire."

met.

Although Schubert had lived all his life in Vienna, close to Beethoven's home, the two musicians had never Schubert worshiped Beethoven from afar. Once, when a friend said to Schubert: "You will surely become a great composer," the young musician replied: "I say so to myself, sometimes—but who can do anything after Beethoven ?"

Schubert was a torch bearer at Beethoven's funeral. After it was over, the young composer went to a tavern and, filling two glasses with wine, he drank one to the memory of the great man who had just been laid to rest,