ge. The disappointment caused by
the accident was therefore keenly felt both by himself and those at
home. Hensel was clever, and by no means a stranger to the gatherings
at the Gartenhaus; but his entry into the select and innermost circle
of the brotherhood, armed with the kind of right which his engagement
to Fanny had conferred upon him, caused him to be regarded in a new
light, and it was not until a little time had elapsed that he found
his way to their hearts by his gentle ways, assisted in no small
degree by his pencil. At first the exclusiveness of a set which had
received the title of 'The Wheel,' and which prided itself on the
freemasonry which obtained amongst its members, was somewhat chilling;
but Hensel was not easily discouraged; he took to drawing the members'
portraits as his contribution to the bonhomie of the circle, and with
such success that 'The Wheel' soon came to regard him as an
indispensable spoke, whilst the portraits multiplied until they formed
a huge collection. Fanny's marriage, moreover, did not imply any break
in the family circle, for when her brother returned to Berlin he found
that Hensel and his bride had taken up their residence in the
Gartenhaus.

The grand tour had practically only begun, and was now to be resumed,
but the visit to England was exercising over Mendelssohn's mind a
strong influence which, though not unconnected with the success and
fame it had brought to him, might with more justice be ascribed to the
sympathetic appreciation and kindness which he had received at the
hands of the English. 'A prophet is not without honour, save in his
own country,' and Berlin had so far held back the encouragement that
strangers were so willing to accord him. Moreover, for one of his
artistically sensitive temperament London possessed a magnetic charm
that was lacking in Berlin. At home his very youth seemed to count
against him, but in London it was, if anything, in his favour. The
fame of his visit, however, had preceded him to Berlin, and shortly
after his return he was offered the Professorship of Music at the
University, an honour which he at once declined, feeling that its
acceptance would not only interfere with his freedom in composition,
but bind him down to an occupation which he confessed was not his
forte. This Chair had been specially created in the hope that he would
fill it, and it marks the first, though by no means the last, attempt
on the part of the Berliners to