ontrast must have been equally striking. The English were not
reckoned to be a musical nation, however much we loved music in our
homes and in the simple services of our churches; moreover, there was
an absence of the patronage extended to the art by the rich and
powerful classes, such as one would have met with on the Continent.
Hence its cultivation was slow, and pursued under immense
disadvantages. Nevertheless, the English knew how to appreciate good
music, and London was the centre to which all the greatest performers
were attracted, because they were sure, not only of receiving the
heartiest of welcomes, but of reaping more money by their performances
as well. English liberality and English appreciation have always
secured for our country the very best that the arts could produce.

Leopold's first care on reaching London was to obtain an introduction
at Court. In this he was again fortunate, for King George III. and his
Consort were exceedingly fond of music, and it was not long before an
invitation came for the children to attend at the royal palace. King
George showed the greatest interest in Wolfgang, placing before him a
number of difficult pieces by Bach and Handel, with the request that
he would play them at sight. The manner in which the boy fulfilled
his tasks evoked the enthusiastic applause of the great company
present at the performance, and the plaudits were redoubled when,
after accompanying the Queen in a song, he selected the bass part of
one of Handel's airs and improvised a charming melody to it. The King
was so impressed with his powers that he would not let him go until he
had tried the organ, in the playing of which Wolfgang achieved a
further triumph.

June 4 was fixed for celebrating the King's birthday, and for several
days before this event the coaches had been arriving in London loaded
with passengers from all parts of the country. Leopold Mozart had
fixed the following day--June 5--as the date for his first public
concert, and as the fame of the young musicians had by this time been
noised abroad, the hall was filled to overflowing. The father was
staggered by the success of the concert. 'To think,' he wrote home the
next day, 'that we took one hundred guineas in three hours!' That so
great a sum should be willingly paid in order to hear a child of eight
perform must, indeed, have been astonishing to one who had hitherto
had no experience of English munificence. Many of the performers,