to forget that he was a
perjured priest, that the world had duties for him which he was
neglecting. Had life been all a may-game, Schubart was the best of
men, and the wisest of philosophers.

Unluckily it was not: the voice of Duty had addressed him in vain; but
that of Want was more impressive. He left his father's house, and
engaged himself as tutor in a family at Koenigsbronn. To teach the
young idea how to shoot had few delights for Schubart: he soon gave up
this place in favour of a younger brother; and endeavoured to subsist,
for some time, by affording miscellaneous assistance to the clergy of
the neighbouring villages. Ere long, preferring even pedagogy to
starvation, he again became a teacher. The bitter morsel was sweetened
with a seasoning of music; he was appointed not only schoolmaster but
also organist of Geisslingen. A fit of diligence now seized him: his
late difficulties had impressed him; and the parson of the place, who
subsequently married Schubart's sister, was friendly and skilful
enough to turn the impression to account. Had poor Schubart always
been in such hands, the epithet 'poor' could never have belonged to
him. In this little village-school he introduced some important
reforms and improvements, and in consequence attracted several
valuable scholars. Also for his own behoof, he studied honestly. His
conduct here, if not irreprehensible, was at least very much amended.
His marriage, in his twenty-fifth year, might have improved it still
farther; for his wife was a good, soft-hearted, amiable creature, who
loved him with her whole heart, and would have died to serve him.

But new preferments awaited Schubart, and with them new temptations.
His fame as a musician was deservedly extending: in time it reached
Ludwigsburg, and the Grand Duke of Wuertemberg himself heard Schubart
spoken of! The schoolmaster of Geisslingen was, in 1768, promoted to
be organist and band-director in this gay and pompous court. With a
bounding heart, he tossed away his ferula, and hastened to the scene,
where joys for evermore seemed calling on him. He plunged into the
heart of business and amusement. Besides the music which he taught and
played, publicly and privately, with great applause, he gave the
military officers instruction in various branches of science; he
talked and feasted; he indited songs and rhapsodies; he lectured on
History and the Belles Lettres. All this was more than Schubart's head
could stand. I