was a woman
whose personal loveliness was an harmonious expression of her beauty
of character and artistic talent, and Spohr accepted his fate with
joy. This girl of eighteen was irresistible, for she was accomplished,
beautiful, tender, as good as an angel, and with the finest talent for
music, for she played admirably, not only on the harp, but on the piano
and violin. Spohr had reason to hope that the attachment was mutual, and
was eager to declare his love. One night they were playing together at a
court concert, and Spohr after the performance noticed the duchess, with
an arch look at him, whispering some words to Dorette which covered her
cheeks with blushes. That night, as the lovers were returning home in
the carriage, Spohr said to her, "Shall we thus play together for life?"
Dorette burst into tears, and sank into her lover's arms. The compact
was sealed by the joyous assent of the mother, and the young couple were
united in the ducal chapel, in the presence of the duchess and a large
assemblage of friends, on the 2d of February, 1806.

III.

In the following year Spohr and his young wife set out on a musical
tour, "by which," he says, "we not only reaped a rich harvest of
applause, but saved a considerable sum of money." On his return to Gotha
he was met by a band of pupils, who unharnessed the horses from the
coach and drew him through the streets in triumph. He now devoted
himself to composition largely, and produced his first opera, "Alruna,"
which is said to have been very warmly received, both at Gotha and
Weimar, in which latter city it was produced under the superintendence
of the poet Goethe, who was intendant of the theatre. Spohr, however,
allowed it to disappear, as his riper judgment condemned its faults more
than it favored its excellences. Among his amusing adventures, one which
he relates in his "Autobiography" as having occurred in 1808 is worth
repeating. He tells us: "In the year 1808 took place the celebrated
Congress of Sovereigns at Erfurt, on which occasion Napoleon entertained
his friend Alexander of Russia and the various kings and princes of
Germany. The lovers of sights and the curious of the whole country round
poured in to see the magnificence displayed. In the company of some
of my pupils, I made a pedestrian excursion to Erfurt, less to see the
great ones of the earth than to see and admire the great ones of the
French stage, Talma and Mars. The Emperor had sent to Paris for