nguine hopes. I have often met with such phenomena, and have been
called upon to educate such little piano prodigies. They advanced quite
rapidly, and understood every thing readily, if I did not make too much
demand upon their wavering attention. I dreamed of the extraordinary
surprises that these marvellous youths would create at twelve or
fourteen years of age; but the fulfilment of my ideal I saw only in my
mind's eye, for just then the improvement came to a sudden
stand-still,--a fatal moment, when the teacher is perplexed to know what
to do next. The musical nature seemed to have exhausted itself, to have
out-lived itself. The pupil even felt this: his interest in the piano
and in music generally grew feeble, his playing suddenly became
careless, powerless, spiritless; he played with evident indifference.
Out into the fresh air! into open natural scenes! Now for a journey! I
allowed a long vacation to intervene; the pupil was quite contented, and
had no desire for the piano, or, if so, only jingled a little. At last
we began again, but we spent our time without much result; he was
nevertheless still musical, but he finally ranked at best with dozens of
other players, and ended as an ordinary piano teacher. Similar halts in
progress occur in fact with all pupils, especially with female scholars;
but they are not usually so lasting, so discouraging, or so significant
of exhaustion. They are surmounted, after a short interval, by the
discontinuance of serious musical studies; perhaps by reading at sight
for a while; by occupying the pupil for a time with the theory, or with
attempts at composition or improvisation; by allowing him to listen to
other players better or worse; by giving him interesting books to read;
by making him acquainted with Beethoven, or in other ways.

From our observation of such sudden changes, and of the frequent
occurrence of unskilful management, we can explain the sudden appearance
and equally sudden disappearance of innumerable infant prodigies in our
age, who have excited hopes, and have almost all of them been lost, or
have passed out of sight, and resulted in nothing of value.

I have always preferred a gradual, even a slow development, step by
step, which often made no apparent progress, but which still proceeded
with a certain constancy, and with deliberation, and which was combined
with dreamy sensibility and a musical instinct, requiring slow
awakening, and even with a certain fligh