; for he felt that among the English he was fully appreciated,
both as man and composer.

His oratorio of "Elijah" was composed for the English public, and
produced at the great Birmingham festival in 1846, under his own
direction, with magnificent success. It was given a second time in
April, 1847, with his final refinements and revisions; and the event was
regarded in England as one of the greatest since the days of Handel, to
whom, as well as to Haydn and Beethoven, Mendelssohn showed himself
a worthy rival in the field of oratorio composition. Of this visit to
England Lampadius, his friend and biographer, writes: "Her Majesty,
who as well as her husband was a great friend of art, and herself a
distinguished musician, received the distinguished German in her own
sitting-room, Prince Albert being the only one present besides herself.
As he entered she asked his pardon for the somewhat disorderly state
of the room, and began to rearrange the articles with her own hands,
Mendelssohn himself gallantly offering his assistance. Some parrots
whose cages hung in the room she herself carried into the next room, in
which Mendelssohn helped her also. She then requested her guest to play
something, and afterward sang some songs of his which she had sung at
a court concert soon after the attack on her person. She was not wholly
pleased, however, with her own performance, and said pleasantly to
Mendelssohn: 'I can do better--ask Lablache if I cannot; but I am afraid
of you!'"

This anecdote was related by Mendelssohn himself to show the
graciousness of the English queen. It was at this time that Prince
Albert sent to Mendelssohn the book of the oratorio "Elijah" with
which he used to follow the performance, with the following autographic
inscription:

"To the noble artist, who, surrounded by the Baal worship of corrupted
art, has been able by his genius and science to preserve faithfully like
another Elijah the worship of true art, and once more to accustom our
ear, lost in the whirl of an empty play of sounds, to the pure notes of
expressive composition and legitimate harmony--to the great master, who
makes us conscious of the unity of his conception through the whole maze
of his creation, from the soft whispering to the mighty raging of
the elements: Written in token of grateful remembrance by Albert.
"Buckingham Palace, April 24, 1847."

An occurrence at the Birmingham festival throws a clear light
on Mendelssohn's presenc