Although Schumann's musical and literary occupations laid strong claim to his time and attention, yet much of his interest was absorbed by affairs of a private nature. For years he had watched closely the development of Clara Wieck; but warm as his feelings were for her, there was another young woman who for a while took possession of his heart, Ernestine von Fricken, daughter of a Bohemian baron from Asch, a name made famous through Schumann's "Carnival scenes," which are mostly based on the four notes corresponding with the letters of that town (also the only musical letters in his own name). This engagement was, however, broken in 1835, and the following years, so rich in musical and literary productions, were also marked by a continuous struggle for that wonderful artist, Clara Wieck, whose name was to become inseparably united with his own. Not only from his letters, but also from many compositions, we learn the extent of Schumann's sufferings from Wieck's obstinate refusal to give his daughter to one who had not yet gained a safe position and who was so far known more as a critic than as a composer. Schumann tried everything to improve his position, publishing his paper for a while in Vienna but without finding the desired success, and, after his return to Leipsic, procuring from the university of Jena the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy, on the ground of his writings and efforts in the interest of art. His stay in Vienna was not without influence on his future development as a composer, and it had, besides this, the great result of bringing to light some of Schubert's finest compositions, especially the symphony in C, which Schumann not only sent at once to Mendelssohn for its first glorious performance, but presented to the world in all its beauty through a wonderful article published in his magazine. His doctor diploma, dated Feb. 24, 1840, speaks in the highest terms of his merits as a composer and critic. [Illustration: ROBERT AND CLARA SCHUMANN. From an engraving after a daguerreotype.]