f he should not mold the art of
succeeding ages. Testimonials of admiration and respect poured in on him
from every quarter.

He composed the opera of "The Crusaders" in 1845, and he was invited
to conduct the first performance in Berlin. He relates two pleasing
incidents in his "Autobiography." He had been invited to a select dinner
party given at the royal palace, and between the king and Spohr, who
was seated opposite, there intervened an ornamental centerpiece
of considerable height in the shape of a flower vase. This greatly
interfered with the enjoyment by the king of Spohr's conversation. At
last his Majesty, growing impatient, removed the impediment with his own
hands, so that he had a full view of Spohr.

The other incident was a pleasing surprise from his colleagues in art.
He was a guest of the Wickmann family, and they were all gathered in the
illuminated garden saloon, when there entered through the gloom of the
garden a number of dark figures swiftly following each other, who proved
to be the members of the royal orchestra, with Meyerbeer and Taubert at
their head. The senior member then presented Spohr with a beautifully
executed gold laurel-wreath, while Meyerbeer made a speech full of
feeling, in which he thanked him for his enthusiastic love of German
art, and for all the grand and beautiful works which he had created,
specially "The Crusaders." The twenty-fifth anniversary of Spohr's
connection with the court theatre of Cassel occurred in 1847, and was
to have been celebrated with a great festival. The death of Felix
Bartholdy Mendelssohn cast a great gloom over musical Germany that
year, so the festival was held not in honor of Spohr, but as a solemn
memorial of the departed genius whose name is a household word among all
those who love the art he so splendidly illustrated.

Spohr's next production was the fine symphony known as "The Seasons,"
one of the most picturesque and expressive of his orchestral works, in
which he depicts with rich musical color the vicissitudes of the year
and the associations clustering around them. This symphony was followed
by his seventh quintet, in G minor, another string quartet, the
thirty-second, and a series of pieces for the violin and piano, and in
1852 we find the indefatigable composer busy in remodeling his opera of
"Faust" for production by Mr. Gye, in London. It was produced with great
splendor in the English capital, and conducted by Spohr himself; but
it