The great composer known under the name of Meyerbeer, and who occupied one of the most important places in the history of musical art in the nineteenth century, was in reality christened Jacob Liebmann Beer, his Christian name being afterward Italianized into Giacomo. He was born at Berlin, according to some authorities on Sept. 5th, according to others on Sept. 23, 1791. His father, who was a Hebrew, and one of the richest bankers of Prussia, had three other sons, William, Michael and Henry, all of whom were distinguished men, although their notoriety has been eclipsed by the glory of him who is known to the world as Meyerbeer. William Beer, indeed, who succeeded his father as banker, was at the same time a remarkable astronomer. He became the collaborator of Maedler for his scientific works, and published a chart of the moon which won for him an important prize from the Berlin Academy of Sciences; he died March 27, 1850. Michael Beer, who was born in 1800 and died when only thirty-three, acquired considerable renown as a dramatic poet by his various works, _Clytemnestra_, _les Fiancés d'Aragon_, _le Paria_, and especially _Struensée_, his masterpiece, which afterwards received a new lustre in being set to music by his brother the composer. To return to the latter, while he was still quite a child, one of his uncles, named Meyer, who had always had a great affection for him, died, leaving him his whole fortune on condition that he should add to his name that of Meyer, whence resulted the name Meyerbeer, under which the composer has always been known. From his earliest years, Meyerbeer showed an exceptional bent for music. His father, far from opposing this tendency, rather encouraged him in it, and gave him an excellent piano teacher, Ignace Lauska, who had been a pupil of Clementi. The child made such rapid progress that he was able to appear at a public concert in Berlin, October 14, 1800, at which he made a great success. He appeared again in 1803 and 1804 with the same success, and it was then that the Abbé Vogler, whose disciple he became later on, hearing him improvise with a rare facility, predicted that he would one day be a great musician. Two or three years later, Meyerbeer had occasion to play before Clementi, who was staying for some time in Berlin, on his way back from Saint Petersburg, and the master was so charmed with the lad's talent that he consented to give him lessons during his sojourn in that city.