nking of state affairs." This witty rejoinder made the arrogant
soldier frown, and the talk suddenly ceased.

As a result of this alienation Cherubini found himself persistently
ignored and ill-treated by the First Consul. In spite of his having
produced such great masterpieces, his income was very small, apart from
his pay as Inspector of the Conservatory. The ill will of the ruler of
France was a steady check to his preferment. When Napoleon established
his consular chapel in 1802, he invited Paisiello from Naples to become
director at a salary of 12,000 francs a year. It gave great umbrage to
the Conservatory that its famous teachers should have been slighted for
an Italian foreigner, and musical circles in Paris were shaken by petty
contentions. Paisiello, however, found the public indifferent to his
works, and soon wearied of a place where the admiration to which he had
been accustomed no longer flattered his complacency. He resigned, and
his position was offered to Mehul, who is said to have declined it
because he regarded Cherubini as far more worthy of it, and to have
accepted it only on condition that his friend could share the duties and
emoluments with him. Cherubini, fretted and irritated by his condition,
retired for a time from the pursuit of his art, and devoted himself to
flowers. The opera of "Anacreon," a powerful but unequal work, which
reflected the disturbance and agitation of his mind, was the sole fruit
of his musical efforts for about four years.

While Cherubini was in the deepest depression--for he had a large
family depending on him and small means with which to support them--a
ray of sunshine came in 1805 in the shape of an invitation to compose
for the managers of the opera at Vienna. His advent at the Austrian
capital produced a profound sensation, and he received a right royal
welcome from the great musicians of Germany. The aged Haydn, Hummel,
and Beethoven became his warm friends with the generous freemasonry of
genius, for his rank as a musician was recognized throughout Europe.

The war which broke out after our musician's departure from Paris
between France and Austria ended shortly in the capitulation of Ulm,
and the French Emperor took up his residence at Schonbrunn. Napoleon
received Cherubini kindly when he came in answer to his summons, and
it was arranged that a series of twelve concerts should be given
alternately at Schonbrunn and Vienna. The pettiness which entered into
the