he near-by ducal residence. He was granted a scholarship
amply sufficient to permit him to perfect his musical education at
Leipzig under Mendelssohn, then the renowned director of the famous
_Gewandhaus_ concerts. But the large city only deterred the shy recluse,
Mendelssohn showed little appreciation for Ludwig's efforts to cultivate
a realistically characteristic style of musical expression, and finally
a severe spell of illness came to make the Leipzig venture a complete
failure.

After a year's absence we thus find Ludwig again at home. But his
experiences in the great world were not to be without consequences.
While he was at Leipzig his homesickness had made him paint in rosy
colors the dreamy hermit-life at Eisfeld. Now, however, after his
return, he became keenly conscious of the pettiness and inadequacy of
his surroundings and of the lack of well-defined purpose in his life
thus far. It was during this period of introspection and doubt that he
finally decided to devote himself to a literary career. He took up the
study of English, plunged into Shakespeare and Goethe, and worked
assiduously on a number of dramatic and novelistic ventures. In 1843 he
again left Eisfeld, this time for good, and first turned to Leipzig and
then to Dresden. Efforts to get some of his dramas accepted by the
Leipzig and Dresden theatres continued to prove fruitless. But in 1844,
after his uncle's death, he had come into possession of a small fortune,
and as his habits were always exceedingly frugal, he now saw before
himself the assurance of a few years free from all care. In
characteristic fashion he again created for himself a quiet retreat,
partly in the idyllic surroundings of Meissen, partly in Meissen itself,
the charmingly picturesque town of historic fame not far from Dresden,
on the Elbe. He soon became engaged to a lovable young woman, who
entered heart and soul into all of his hopes and plans, and with but
brief interruptions he continued to live here in rustic retirement,
until the year 1850 at last was destined to bring him recognition and
fame.

Thus far none of Ludwig's writings, aside from a mere trifle or two, had
found their way before the public. As many as five or six regular dramas
had been completed, but none had been printed, none performed. But now
he finished his _Hereditary Forester_ and with it made a deep impression
upon his influential friend Eduard Devrient, the famous actor of the
Dresden court theatr