fe again, both Haydn and Salomon
were much in evidence, but the Salomon concerts were now given under a
more grandiloquent title, following the fashion of the time. They became
the National School of Music, and were given in the King's concert-room
which had recently been added to the King's theatre. Haydn was, as
before, composer and conductor, and one or two of his symphonies figured
in every programme. His last benefit brought him L400. It took place on
May 4, and on June 1 he appeared before an English audience for the last
time. Prince Nicolaus had sent urgently for him, as he desired to have
his household and chapel music set in order. Haydn, of course, had never
left the Esterhazy service. He continued to draw the emoluments of
office, and thought it his duty to obey his Prince's wishes. He never
again drudged as he had done in the old days, but he was always within
call of his master. But those were leisurely days, and it took Haydn two
and a half months to wind up his various affairs and say good-bye to his
friends. On August 15 he set off. He must have carried away pleasant
recollections. He had come to England with Salomon the first time, at
the end of 1790, to have a fling, and by the time the second trip was
over he must have felt that he had had one. It was assuredly a fling
such as few composers have had after a long, industrious and honourable
life's work. Not that his career was by any means finished. He had
nearly fourteen years of life before him, many of them active years. He
had made a fortune--"It is only in England," said he, "that such sums
can be earned by artists"; and now, when he returned to his native land,
he found his countrymen ready to treat him with all the respect, not to
say reverence and hero-worship, he had received in England.

One delightful little incident must be related before closing this
chapter, partly because of the prettiness of it, partly to show the
position he had now won in Austria. Soon after his return to Vienna, a
Count Herrach and some other friends took him to Rohrau, and showed him
there, on the banks of the Leitha, a monument with a bust of him. They
visited his birthplace, and Haydn went down on his knees and kissed the
threshold. Then he showed his companions the stove where, as a baby, he
had sat and pretended to play the violin. "There," he said, "is where my
musical career began." He had had many triumphs, and more were to come,
but none can have been more p