A magnificent monument, raised by public subscription, adorns his tomb in Warsaw. Titled landowners were also included in the circle of Nicholas Chopinʼs friends. Most of them had been his pupils, or had become acquainted with him through their sons. In later years, when Fredericʼs rare and brilliant talents were more fully developed, his father counted among his guests not only _savants_, poets, and artists, but the _élite_ of the aristocracy, who considered it an honour to become acquainted with this interesting and highly esteemed family, and delighted in admiring the young artist for whom a glorious future was already prophesied. These were bright and happy days passed by Chopin in his fatherʼs house. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. _FREDERICʼS CHILDHOOD. HIS FIRST APPEARANCE IN PUBLIC. IMPROVISATIONS. POLISH NATIONAL SONGS._ On March 1st, 1809, Frederic François Chopin was born, at Zelazowa Wola, a village six miles from Warsaw, belonging to Count Skarbek, in whose house Nicholas Chopin was tutor.[3] In his earliest years Frederic was so very sensitive to music that he wept whenever he heard it, and was with difficulty restrained. This powerful influence was not a painful one; for Frederic soon showed such a decided love for the piano, that his parents obtained instruction for him, selecting as his master the well-known and excellent teacher, Albert Zywny, of Warsaw. As Frederic was so young, his elder sister shared the music lessons. Zywny was the first and only director of Fredericʼs precocious musical talents, for the child began to compose before he even knew how to commit his ideas to paper. He would request his master to write down what he improvised, and these first thoughts were afterwards frequently altered and improved by the gifted boy. Thus early did he indicate his future care in composition, and his truly artistic nature. In a few years Frederic made such progress in pianoforte playing as to excite wonder in all Warsaw drawing rooms. On the occasion of a public concert, for the benefit of the poor, February 24th, 1818, Julius Ursin Miemcewicz, late adjutant to Kosciuszko, and himself a great statesman, poet, historian, and political writer, and other high personages, invited the co-operation of the virtuoso, who had not quite completed his ninth year. Such a request could not be refused, and thus Chopinʼs first step in his artistic career was for a charitable object. A few hours before the performance (he was to play Gyrowetzʼs pianoforte Concerto), “Fritzchen,” as he was called at home, was placed on a chair to be suitably dressed for his first appearance before a large assembly. The child was delighted with his jacket, and especially with the handsome collar. After the concert, his mother, who had not been present, asked, as she embraced him, “what did the public like best?” He naïvely answered: “Oh, mamma, everybody looked only at my collar,” thus showing that he was not vain of his playing.