n air." Naturally we got nowhere.

The great procession started in perfect order, but, as in all long
processions, gaps occurred. I was astonished to find myself in the
middle of the Champs Elysees, in a wide open space, with no one near me
but Ferdinand de Lesseps, Paul Bert, and a member of the Academie, whose
name I shall not mention as he is worthy of all possible respect.

De Lesseps was then at the height of his glory, and from time to time
applause greeted him as he passed.

Suddenly the Academician leaned over and whispered in my ear,

"Evidently they are applauding us."

CHAPTER IV

THE HISTORY OF AN OPERA-COMIQUE

Young musicians often complain, and not without reason, of the
difficulties of their careers. It may, perhaps, be useful to remind them
that their elders have not always had beds of roses, and that too often
they have had to breast both wind and sea after spending their best
years in port, unable to make a start. These obstacles frequently are
the result of the worst sort of malignity, when it is for the best
interest of everyone--both of the theatres which rebuff them, and the
public which ignores them--that they be permitted to set out under full
sail.

In 1864 one of the most brilliant of the reviews had the following
comments to make on this subject:

Our real duty--and it is a true kindness--is not to encourage them
(beginners) but to discourage them. In art a vocation is
everything, and a vocation needs no one, for God aids. What use is
it to encourage them and their efforts when the public obstinately
refuses to pay any attention to them? If an act is ordered from one
of them, it fails to go. Two or three years later the same thing is
tried again with the same result. No theatre, even if it were four
times as heavily subsidized as the Theatre-Lyrique, could continue
to exist on such resources. So the result is that they turn to
accredited talent and call on such men from outside as Gounod,
Felicien David and Victor Masse. The younger composers at once
shout treason and scandal. Then, they select masterpieces by Mozart
and Weber and there are the same outcries and recriminations. In
the final analysis where are these young composers of genius? Who
are they and what are their names? Let them go to the orchestra and
hear _Le Nozze di Figaro_, _Oberon_, _Freischutz_ and _Orphee_ ...
we are doing