gone to Scheweningen to
see whether his love would stand the test of absence from the beloved
object. It stood the test admirably, and on September 9, a few days
before Chopin's arrival in Leipzig, Mendelssohn's engagement to the lady
who became his wife on March 28, 1837, took place.

But another person who has been mentioned in connection with Chopin's
first visit to Leipzig, Henrietta Voigt, [FOOTNOTE: The editor of "Acht
Briefe und ein Facsimile van Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy" speaks of her
as "the artistic wife of a Leipzig merchant, whose house stood open
to musicians living in and passing through Leipzig."] has left us
an account of the impression made upon her. An entry in her diary on
September 13, 1836, runs thus:--

Yesterday Chopin was here and played an hour on my piano--a
fantasia and new etude of his--interesting man and still more
interesting playing; he moved me strangely. The over-
excitement of his fantastic manner is imparted to the keen-
eared; it made me hold my breath. Wonderful is the ease with
which his velvet fingers glide, I might almost say fly, over
the keys. He has enraptured me--I cannot deny it--in a way
which hitherto had been unknown to me. What delighted me was
the childlike, natural manner which he showed in his
demeanour and in his playing.

After this short break of his journey at Leipzig, which he did not leave
without placing a wreath of flowers on the monument of Prince Joseph
Poniatowski, who in 1812 met here with an early death, being drowned
in the river Elster, Chopin proceeded on his homeward journey, that is
toward Paris, probably tarrying again for a day or two at Heidelberg.

The non-artistic events of this period are of a more stirring nature
than the artistic ones. First in time and importance comes Chopin's
meeting with George Sand, which more than any other event marks an epoch
in the composer's life. But as this subject has to be discussed fully
and at some length we shall leave it for another chapter, and conclude
this with an account of some other matters.

Mendelssohn, who arrived in London on August 24, 1837, wrote on
September 1 to Hiller:--

Chopin is said to have suddenly turned up here a fortnight
ago; but he visited nobody and made no acquaintances. He
played one evening most beautifully at Broadwood's, and then
hurried away again. I hear he is still suffering very much.

Chopin accompanied by Camille Pley