"Well, Sir Charles," I said, "with such possibilities constantly facing you, it was, as Sam Weller said to Mr. Pickwick, 'the prudentest resolution as you could come to.'" "It has," he answered, "made all the difference between misery and comfort, in such a life of incessant travelling as mine." We continued talking into, I am afraid, the early hours of the morning, when an old domestic entering the room, on some pretext or another, Sir Charles who was just commencing, "However, there was one occasion," immediately rose from his chair, and saying, "it is late, we must go to bed," made preparations for that event. The story was never told. On the return journey, the same game occupied our attention, Sir Charles remarking as we entered our compartment, "Now, I am going to win back what you got from me coming down." The feat was not a considerable one, but the zest with which he threw himself into the effort, the absolutely boyish joy he exhibited, was a thing that I can never forget. He did not succeed. When, saying "good-bye" to him, as he entered his carriage, after our arrival in London, he remarked, "But I am going to get that half-crown back; you will see." Sir Charles Hall['e] was, in every sense, a remarkable man. Judged from any standpoint, he appears as one destined to make his mark in history. As a pianist, on no less an authority than Hans Von B[:u]low, he is to be regarded as one of the greatest exponents of Beethoven. As a conductor, his memory is equally secure. That the scene of his greatest achievements happened to be England, is, as we know, a matter of accident. But it is equally certain that wherever fate had decided that his lot should be cast, his name would be carried down in history, as a man of great endowments, noble character, and one of those whose existence enriches humanity. SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN His disposition--His early days--As a student at Leipzig--Return to England--The "Tempest" music--Results of its performance--Definite plans as to the future--As song writer--Punch and one of them--A house of noted hospitality--Association with Gilbert and D'Oyly Carte--First result--The Savoy operas--"Ivanhoe"--His powers of work--The oratorios--The "Martyr of Antioch"--"The Golden Legend"--His strong character--His critical genius--A personal incident--A story of Sir W. S. Gilbert--His great place in the histof English music. Sir Arthur Sullivan's disposition was a happy one--in other words, it was bright and sparkling. Blessed with a sense of humour that enabled him to look out on the world with invariable cheerfulness, he passed his days in an atmosphere of serenity that might well be the envy of all who knew him. It was only natural, for he was a veritable child of fortune. Most men, and, emphatically, most musicians, have to experience years of struggle or strenuous work, before they attain to fame, or, in the jargon of the day, "arrive." Not so, Arthur Sullivan.