elf; and in two days,
despite every care and skill, the doctor said Beethoven must
die.

"And, in truth, life was every instant ebbing fast from him.

"As he lay upon his bed, pale and suffering, a man entered.
It was Hummel,--Hummel, his old and only friend. He had
heard of the illness of Beethoven, and he came to him with
succor and money. But it was too late: Beethoven was
speechless; and a grateful smile was all that he had to
bestow upon his friend.

"Hummel bent towards him, and, by the air of an acoustic
instrument, enabled Beethoven to hear a few words of his
compassion and regret.

"Beethoven seemed re-animated; his eyes shone: he struggled
for utterance, and gasped, 'Is it not true, Hummel, that I
have some talent, after all?'

"These were his last words. His eyes grew fixed, his mouth
fell open, and his spirit passed away.

"They buried him in the little cemetery of Dobling."

Among the most eminent composers of the present century may be
mentioned Auber, Schubert, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn, Weber,
Verdi, and Wagner.

In "The Contemporary Review" there lately appeared the following
beautifully worded tribute to the noble qualities of Mendelssohn:--

"Mendelssohn reigns forever in a sweet wayside temple of his
own, full of bright dreams and visions, incense, and ringing
songs, and partly is he so sweet, because, unburthened with
any sense of a message to utter, a mission to develop, he
sings like a child in the valleys of asphodel, weaving
bright chaplets of spring flowers for the whole world,
looking upon the mystery of grief and pain with wide eyes of
sympathy, and at last succumbing to it himself, but not
understanding it, with a song of tender surprise upon his
lips."

Since the times of the great writers of the eighteenth century, and of
the first half of the present one, no new developments or advancements
have been made in musical creations.[7] Indeed, it would seem that the
time has not yet come for attempts to be made to improve upon the
works of those great musical luminaries; for they have left too much
that is deep, classical, charmingly beautiful, and soul-satisfying.
The musical world has paused, not caring to go farther, to
conscientiously study their noble creations, so fruitful in the
delights, the soul-elevating influences, which they