ers and a sister. All
passed away before Robert himself.

He was the so-called "handsome child" of the family, and much petted
by the women. Besides his mother there was his god-mother, who was
very fond of him, and at her home he would spend whole days and
nights. As his talents developed, the boy became the spoilt darling of
everybody. This lay at the foundation of his extreme susceptibility,
even the obstinacy of his riper years.

Little Robert at six was sent to a popular private school and now for
the first time mingled with a number of children of his own age.
The first symptoms of ambition, the source of much of his later
achievement, began to show itself, though quite unconsciously. It made
him the life of all childish games. If the children played "soldiers,"
little Robert was always captain. The others loved his good nature and
friendliness, and always yielded to him.

He was a good student in the primary school, but in no way
distinguished himself in his studies. The following year he was
allowed to take piano lessons of an old pedantic professor from
Zwickau High School. This man had taught himself music, but had heard
little of it. The kind of instruction he was able to give may be
imagined, yet Robert was faithful all his life to this kind old
friend.

In spite of inadequate guidance, music soon kindled the boy's soul.
He began to try to make music himself, though entirely ignorant of
the rules of composition. The first of these efforts, a set of little
dances, were written during his seventh or eighth year. It was soon
discovered that he could improvise on the piano; indeed he could
sketch the disposition of his companions by certain figures on the
piano, so exactly and comically that every one burst out laughing
at the portraits. He was fond of reading too, much to his father's
delight, and early tried his hand at authorship. He wrote robber
plays, which he staged with the aid of the family and such of his
youthful friends as were qualified. The father now began to hope
his favorite son would become an author or poet; but later Robert's
increasing love for music put this hope to flight.

The father happened to take his boy with him to Carlsbad in the summer
of 1819, and here he heard for the first time a great pianist, Ignatz
Moscheles. His masterful playing made a great impression on the nine
year old enthusiast, who began now to wish to become a musician, and
applied himself to music with redoub