of Franz Schubert, because it is absolutely true of
him, and because it helps us to understand his true nature.

Schubert's determination was put to a severe test on leaving the
Convict, for he had hardly returned home ere the dread summons for
enlistment was placed in his hands. The Continental law of
conscription admits of no distinction such as that which Nature
confers upon an individual by the gift of genius; and to escape the
danger which now threatened him, and which, by depriving him of his
liberty for several years to come, appeared to be wholly
insupportable, Schubert seized upon the only remedy which offered
itself. He at once qualified himself for becoming an assistant to his
father in the latter's school. The choice lay between two evils, and
Schubert chose the lesser; for though he cordially detested the
drudgery of teaching, it at least prevented his being called upon to
serve in the ranks, and at the same time secured to him a certain
amount of leisure for composition. Moreover, there was opportunity for
maintaining relations with his little circle of intimates at the
Convict--a privilege which Schubert could not have forgone without a
severe pang--as well as for making new friends.

It is easy to imagine the reluctance with which Schubert went about
his daily task of teaching the infant class in his father's school.
Every minute thus spent must have seemed to him an hour, and probably
the little ones, no less than their impatient teacher himself,
breathed a deep sigh of relief when the play-hour arrived. To Schubert
it meant freedom for work--real work--when he could fly to his desk,
and write down the musical thoughts which he had been burning to
express the whole morning. Impatient as he felt under the constraint
put upon him he never complained; probably the dread of the
conscription was constantly haunting him, for no fewer than three
summonses to serve reached him at this time. There were, moreover,
bright intervals in the round of scholastic work, when he could forget
that he was a schoolmaster, and throw himself heart and soul into his
art. He had lately made the acquaintance of a musical family named
Grob, residing in the Lichtenthal, comprising a mother and her son and
daughter, in whose house he was received on terms of friendship, quite
as much for himself as for his music. Therese Grob possessed a fine
soprano voice, with which she did full justice to the songs which
Schubert brought to h