lative he speaks of the dear and kind friends he leaves behind.
"Parting from them individually," he says, "and indeed from the English
nation generally, will cost us a bitter pang, for twenty-four years of
unswerving kindness have laid upon us obligations which we can only pay
with life-long gratitude."

And Mendelssohn wrote: "How could I tell you what it is to me, when I
think you are really coming, that you are going to live here for good,
you and yours, and that what seemed a castle in the air is about to
become a tangible reality; that we shall be together, not merely to run
through the dissipations of a season, but to enjoy an intimate and
uninterrupted intercourse! I shall have a few houses painted rose-colour
as soon as you really are within our walls. But it needs not that; your
arrival alone will give the whole place a new complexion."

Not by such words only, but most practically did Mendelssohn show his
friendship. With the precision of a courier and the foresight of a
brother, he goes into the minutest details of the cost of living in the
German city: "A flat, consisting of seven or eight rooms, with kitchen
and appurtenances, varies from 300 to 350 thalers (L45 to L50). For that
sum it should be cheerful; and, as regards the situation, should leave
nothing to be desired. Servants would cost 100 to 110 thalers per annum
(L15 to L16, 10s.), all depending, to be sure, on what you would
require. Male servants are not much in demand here, their wages varying
from 3 to 12 thalers per month (9s. to L1, 16s.). A good cook gets 40
thalers a year (L6), a housemaid 32 (L5). If you add to these a
lady's-maid who could sew and make dresses, you would reach about the
above-mentioned figure. Wood--that is fuel for kitchen, stoves, &c.--is
dear, and may amount to 150 or 200 thalers (L22, 10s. to L18) for a
family of five with servants. Rates and taxes are next to nothing; eight
or ten thalers a year would cover all."

Those were indeed the good old times, when the Fatherland was not yet
weighed down by blood-and-iron taxes. The most gifted member of the
International Arbitration and Peace Association could not speak more
eloquently than do those figures. A family of five with servants; 24s.
to 30s. a year would cover all rates and taxes!

Soon, then, the suitable flat was found and my father migrated to
Leipsic, entered on his new duties at the Conservatorio, and became a
good citizen and ratepayer. The "intimate and