impossible to hear him play his fantasia from "Don Giovanni," for
instance, without perceiving all the passion of the original. Mozart
was not lost under his hands. And the impression of coldness was
largely due, doubtless, to the tranquillity and propriety of his
appearance and manner.

The most generally popular of his successors at the piano in this
country was undoubtedly Gottschalk, who was here quite as early as
Thalberg, whose fame eclipsed all others. Upon his arrival Gottschalk
played privately at a small party. He was a foreign-looking youth,
with a peculiarly dull eye, and taciturn, but he was familiar with
every kind of music. When he was asked he played Chopin, and with
great skill. But his chief successes were his West Indian melodies,
which were full of picturesque suggestion. His execution was rapid,
brilliant, and forcible, but a great deal of his playing was too
evidently _tours de force_. It was always interesting to watch his
audience, when, upon being recalled, he began one of the West Indian
strains. There was a minor monotonous theme in them which fascinated
the listeners. They heard the beat of the tambourine, and saw the
movement of the dance, and with them all the characteristic scenery
and association of the tropics filled their imaginations. The languid
grace, the rich indolence, the gay profusion of the lands where the
banana grows, they felt and saw.

How many admirable players and singers have come among us! And when,
as now, one drops through the bridge of Mirza, a host of Easy Chairs
pause for a moment to remember how many there were, and to delight in
thinking how many more there will be. Once it was the sailor who
crossed the sea to find El Dorado and Cathay, now it is the artist who
follows in the fascinating quest. But sailor and artist seeking gold