ection of snuff-boxes. The most curious part of him is his
language, a regular jargon, in which there is a mixture of his native
Bergamese, bad French, and still worse English."

During the several months of this first English visit Moscheles made
many acquaintances which were destined to ripen into solid friendships,
and gave many concerts in which the most distinguished artists, vocal
and instrumental, participated. Altogether, he appears to have been
delighted with the London art and social world little less than he had
been with that of Paris. He returned, however, to the latter city in
August, and again became a prominent figure in the most fashionable and
admired concerts. During this visit to Paris he writes in his diary:
"Young Erard took me to-day to his piano-forte factory to try the new
invention of his uncle Sebastian. This quicker action of the hammer
seems to me so important that I prophesy a new era in the manufacture
of piano-fortes. I still complain of some heaviness in the touch, and,
therefore, prefer to play on Pape's and Petzold's instruments (Viennese
pianos). I admired the Erards, but am not thoroughly satisfied, and
urged him to make new improvements."

From 1815, when Moscheles began his career as a virtuoso in the
production of his "Variationen fiber den Alexandermarsch," to 1826,
he established a great reputation as a virtuoso and composer for the
piano-forte. Though he played his own works at concerts with marked
approbation, he also became distinguished as an interpreter of Mozart
and Beethoven, for whom he had a reverential admiration. Moscheles often
records his own sense of insignificance by the side of these Titans
of music. A delightful characteristic of the man was his modesty about
himself, and his genial appreciation of other musicians. Nowhere do
those performers who, for example, came in active rivalry with himself,
receive more cordial and unalloyed praise. Moscheles was entirely devoid
of that littleness which finds vent in envy and jealousy, and was as
frank and sympathetic in his estimate of others as he was ambitious and
industrious in the development of his own great talents. In 1824 he gave
piano-forte lessons to Felix Mendelssohn, then a youth of fifteen, at
Berlin. He wrote of the Mendelssohn family: "This is a family the like
of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of fifteen, is a phenomenon.
What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children, but
nothing el