t them when they were at rest,
but which assumed an uncommonly humorous and cunning expression when he
blinked them, as he often did. His nose was thin and of the Roman type,
and his mouth tightly closed.

"Notwithstanding his agility, his body seemed to be capable of
endurance, for in contrast with his size his breast was high and his
shoulders broad.

"During the earlier part of his life his dress was sufficiently
elegant, without falling into foppery. The only thing he set great and
special store by was his whiskers, which he carefully cut so as to form
a point against the corners of his mouth....

"What particularly struck the eye in his exterior was his extraordinary
vivacity of movement, which rose to the highest pitch when he began
to narrate anything. His manners at receiving and parting from
people--repeated quick short bendings of the neck without moving the
head--had a good deal that appeared to partake of the nature of
caricature, and might very readily have been taken for irony had not
the impression made by his singular gestures on such occasions been
softened by his cordial warmth of manner.

"He spoke with incredible quickness and in a somewhat hoarse voice, so
that he was always very difficult to understand, especially during the
last years of his life, when he had lost some of his front teeth. When
relating he always spoke in quite short sentences; but when the
conversation turned upon art matters and he got enthusiastic--against
which, however, he seemed to guard himself--he employed long and
finely rounded periods. If he were reading any of his own compositions
aloud--whether literary or official--he hurried over the unimportant
parts at such a rate that his listeners had hard work to follow him;
but those places which are called 'strong touches' in a picture he
emphasised with almost comic pathos; he screwed up his mouth as he
read, and looked round to see if his listeners caught the points, so
that he often upset both his own and their equilibrium. Owing to this
habit he was conscious that he did not read well, and was always
uncommonly pleased if anybody else would relieve him of the task; this,
however, was a ticklish thing to do, especially in the case of MSS.
copy, for every word read falsely or every hesitating glance upon a
word to make sure what it was went like a knife to his heart, and this
effect he could not conceal. As a singer he was a fine powerful
tenor."[14]

To Bamberg Hof