occasion to satisfy the curiosity of Beethoven touching the status of the composer whom he most admired among living men. Cherubini has now received the title of Baron from the government as well as the order of the Legion of Honor. It is a proof of the recognition of his talent, for he did not seek it. Napoleon, who appreciated him highly, once found fault with one of his compositions and Cherubini retorted: “Your Majesty knows no more about it than I about a battle.” Napoleon’s conduct was contemptible. Because of the words that I have quoted he took away all of Cherubini’s offices and he had nothing to live on. Nevertheless, he did an infinite amount of good for popular culture. If Napoleon, instead of becoming an insatiable world-conqueror, had remained First Consul, he would have been one of the greatest men that ever existed. Schlesinger had his way about hearing the new Quartet (in A minor, Op. 132), for it was rehearsed at his rooms on Wednesday, September 7, preparatory to the performance, which was to take place at the tavern “Zum wilden Mann” at noon on September 9. Beethoven wanted the players to come to him at Baden for the final rehearsal, but that was found to be impracticable. On the day after the meeting at Schlesinger’s, however, Holz went out to Beethoven to tell him all about it. He reported that Wolfmayr “at the _Adagio_ wept like a child?” and that “Tobias scratched himself behind the ears when he heard the Quartet; he certainly regrets that the Jew Steiner did not take it.” We have an account of the performance at the “Wilden Mann” from the English visitor whom Beethoven received at this time. This was Sir George Smart, who, in the summer of 1825, made a tour of Germany in company with Charles Kemble. He was with Mr. Kemble when that gentleman made the agreement with Weber for “Oberon,” but his “principal reason for the journey,” as he himself put it, “was to ascertain from Beethoven himself the exact times of the movements of his characteristic--and some of his other--Sinfonias.”[137] Sir George recorded the incidents of his meetings with Beethoven in his journal, from which the following excerpts are taken: [Sidenote: SIR GEORGE SMART’S JOURNAL] On the 7th of September, at nine in the morning, I called on Mayseder, who received me most politely.... We conversed about Beethoven’s Choral Symphony; our opinion agrees about it. When it was performed here Umlauf conducted it and Kletrinsky and Schuppanzigh were the leaders. All the basses played in the recitative, but they had the story that it was written for Dragonetti only.