on which we never heard excelled. He
played in the second act [part]... and elicited a rapturous
encore. He did not, however, repeat any part, but treated the
audience with what appeared to be a fragment of great beauty.

Mr. Osborne, in a paper on Chopin read before the London Musical
Association, says:--

On a tour which I made with Alboni, I met Chopin at
Manchester, where he was announced to play at a grand concert
without orchestra. He begged I should not be present. "You, my
dear Osborne," said he, "who have heard me so often in Paris,
remain with those impressions. My playing will be lost in such
a large room, and my compositions will be ineffective. Your
presence at the concert will be painful both to you and me."

Mr. Osborne told his audience further that notwithstanding this appeal
he was present in a remote corner of the room. I may add that although
he could absent himself from the hall for the time Chopin was playing,
he could not absent himself from the concert, for, as the papers tell
us, he acted as accompanist. The impression which Chopin's performance
on this occasion left upon his friend's mind is described in the
following few sad words: "His playing was too delicate to create
enthusiasm, and I felt truly sorry for him."

Soon after the concert Chopin returned to Scotland. How many days
(between August 23 and September 7?) he remained in Manchester, I do not
know, but it is well known that while staying there he was the guest of
Mr. and Mrs. Salis Schwabe. To Mrs. Salis Schwabe, a lady noted for her
benevolence, Thomas Erskine addressed the letter concerning Miss Jane
Stirling a part of which I quoted on one of the foregoing pages of this
chapter. The reader remembers, of course, Chopin's prospective allusions
to the Manchester concert in his letters to Franchomme (August 6, 1848)
and Grzymala (July 18, 1848).

About a month after the concert at which he played in Manchester, Chopin
gave one of his own in Glasgow. Here is what may be read in the Courier
of September 28 and previous days:--

Monsieur Chopin has the honour to announce that his Matinee
musicals will take place on Wednesday, the 27th September, in
the Merchant Hall, Glasgow. To commence at half-past two
o'clock. Tickets, limited in number, half-a-guinea each, and
full particulars to be had from Mr. Muir Wood, 42, Buchanan
Street.

The net profits of this concert are said to have been 60 pounds. M