that there is such a
thing as the technique of the novelist's trade, and believing in the
omnipotence of the human will, set out to write a work of fiction; and
we may imagine his disgust and the sincerity of his objurgations when
the brute of a novel obstinately refused to be written.

When the incidental music to--whatever the name of his play
was--obstinately refused to be written, young Wagner may have said
something, though it is not on record; but having a finer instinct
than Carlyle he perceived the necessity of acquiring the technique of
his new trade. So he got possession of Logier's _Method_; in a few
days made a complete study of it; then he set to work in earnest
--with, alas! no more satisfactory fruits. Something that might serve,
however, was achieved, and the ambitious composer went on to a fresh
struggle. He had heard Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, so, taking
Goethe's _Laune des Verliebten_, he started a kind of fantasia,
concocting words and music together. An account of Wagner's youth
would be incomplete without some mention of these brave doings; they
show clearly how strong the instinct which led him on to the _Ring_
was in him at this early time--to what an unusual degree the child was
father of the man. But to take seriously his tragedy and these first
musical attempts, made at the unusually advanced age of sixteen, even
if I had seen them--which I have not: I do not know whether they are
in existence--would be preposterous.

Richard began to see that he could make no headway, and he persuaded
his family to let him take lessons from Gottlieb Mueller, who must have
been a bad teacher for such a boy. Nothing was learnt. Richard was
told he must not do this and must not do that, and he was not told
what he might or should do; in the end both he and Mueller grew
disgusted and the lessons were abandoned. I dare say Mueller was in a
humdrum way a good coach; he could have prepared candidates for our
absurd academic examinations; but for an artistic genius, bursting
with inarticulate ideas and inchoate purposes he was worse than
useless. So Richard had to muddle along as he best might, while his
good relatives doubted whether he would ever be able to do anything at
all, until by good fortune he tried Theo. Weinlig. Weinlig saw what
was wrong and what was wanted; instead of Mueller's "you must not do
this or that: it is against 'rule,'" he explained matters and showed
Richard that if he once learnt the