dare say it knew a good deal better than I did at the
time what it was all about, and what was the grand and glorious answer
inexhaustible Nature held in store for it.

For my part, I gazed upward at the patches of ultramarine, and longed
for them, but it was not till years afterwards that they vouchsafed to
come down. Then, when they took the shape of a pair of real blue eyes,
it all dawned upon me, and I knew what Nature had been whispering, and
understood that stately pine-forests, jolly little squirrels, and
loving little birds, were only created to guide and direct good little
boys to realms of joy and happiness.

* * * * *

Whilst I was sitting on school-forms puzzling over nouns and verbs, or
lying on the grass communing with the birds, things were happening in my
London home that were once more to lead to a change in my surroundings.

Another pleasant day-dream, one that my father and his friend
Mendelssohn had for some time past been indulging in, was about to be
realised. The frequent correspondence between them, delightful as it
was, the exchange of views, musical and personal, and the occasional
meetings in England or Germany, had only more saliently brought out the
points in favour of a long-cherished scheme which should enable them to
live and work together in the same town.

Mendelssohn had for some time been planning the formation of a School of
Music in Leipsic, and his letters of this period are full of the warmest
and most eloquent appeals to my father to give up his position in
England, and to take up his residence in Leipsic. The outcome of it was,
that the Conservatorio in that city was founded, and that my father was
offered a professorship. In answer to his assumption that Mendelssohn
would act as director, the latter answers: "I am not, and never shall be
the director of the school. I stand in precisely the same kind of
position that it is hoped you may occupy. The duties of my department
are the reading of compositions, &c., and as I was one of the founders
of the school, and am acquainted with its weak points, I lend a hand
here and there until we are more firmly established."

In the summer of 1846 my father migrated to Leipsic. He gave up his
brilliant position in London, and, actuated by the love of his art and
his desire to be in daily touch with Mendelssohn, he had no hesitation
in accepting a salary of 800 thalers (L120) per annum. In a letter to a
re