fter a repetition of
the concert in a neighboring town, the great Hungarian magnates, Prince
Esterhazy at their head, united in providing a stipend of six hundred
gulden yearly for his proper education. Thereupon Liszt's father
resigned his position and attended scrupulously to his son, removing to
Vienna and placing him under the teaching of the famous writer of
etudes, Czerny. Liszt was now ten years old, and for two years he
studied in Vienna. At the end of this period a farewell concert was
given, in which the boy played with such astonishing power that
Beethoven, who was present, came upon the stage and embraced and kissed
him at the close of the concert.

[Illustration: Franz Liszt]

Liszt was now taken to Paris, with the intention of entering him at the
Conservatory. But Cherubini, who was then head of the institution, was
not favorable to gifted children, and admission was refused him on the
ground of his being a foreigner. Accordingly Liszt went on by himself,
but entered upon thorough private lessons in counterpoint and
instrumentation from Paer and Reicha. He attracted attention in Paris
at once, his princely letters of introduction giving him admission in
circles where a common person could never enter; once entered, his own
genius and fascinating personality did the rest. Liszt seems to have
been of a very fine and sincere nature, genial, charming in
conversation, having plenty of wit as well as sentiment; entirely free
from jealousy, yet most likely feeling within himself powers which as
yet had not come to expression. He was singularly pure in character
and a universal favorite of women as well as men. In 1824 he made his
first concert journey to England, and he played everywhere in France
and in parts of Germany. In 1827 his father died, and the boy now had
the responsibility of supporting his mother. Accordingly he continued
to make his home in Paris, and occupied a part of his time in teaching.
At this time he was in the habit of playing such concert numbers as the
Weber "Invitation to the Dance,"--with perhaps a few cadenzas of his
own, but mainly in the original form,--the Concertstuecke of Weber, and
now and then a sonata of Beethoven. One of his favorite numbers was a
sonata by Czerny, and we find a letter in which he says, substantially
(I quote from memory): "Dear Master: I wish you would write me another
sonata, for nothing pleases so well as the one you formerly wrote for
me."