morals, contracted by his early
vagabondage, he at least acquired an emancipation from prejudice,
and displayed a craving after miscellaneous information, to which his
European masters were often tasked to contribute. Thrown almost in
childhood upon their resources, the energy and perseverance of these
boys is remarkable. My little lad had, for instance, been up the
country with some English travelers, in whose service he had saved
four or five hundred piastres, (four or five pounds), with which he
bought the animal which I bestrode, on whose sprightliness and good
qualities he was never tired of expatiating, and with the proceeds
of whose labor he supported his mother and himself. He had but one
habitual subject of discontent, the heavy tax imposed upon his donkey
by Mehemet Ali, upon whom he invoked the curse of God; a curse, it
is to be feared, uttered, not loud but deep, by all classes save the
employes of government. His wind and endurance were surprising. He
would trot after his donkey by the hour together, urging and prodding
along with a pointed stick, as readily in the burning sandy environs,
and under the noonday sun, as in the cool and shady alleys of the
crowded capital; running, dodging, striking, and shouting with all
the strength of his lungs, through the midst of its labyrinthine
obstructions.--_The Nile Boat_.

* * * * *

MENDELSSOHN'S SKILL AS A CONDUCTOR.--In the spring of 1835.
Mendelssohn was invited to come to Cologne, in order to direct the
festival. Here we met again, and thanks to his kindness, I had the
pleasure of being present at one of the general rehearsals, where
he conducted Beethoven's Eighth Symphony. It would be a matter
of difficulty to decide in which quality Mendelssohn excelled the
most--whether as composer, pianist, organist, or conductor of the
orchestra. Nobody ever knew better how to communicate, as if by an
electric fluid, his own conceptions of a work, to a large body of
performers. It was highly interesting on this occasion to contemplate
the anxious attention manifested by a body of more than five hundred
singers and performers, watching every glance of Mendelssohn's eye,
and following, like obedient spirits, the magic wand of this musical
_Prospero_. The admirable _allegretto_ in B flat, of Beethoven's
Symphony, not going at first to his liking, he remarked, smilingly,
that he knew every one of the gentlemen engaged was capable of
perform