to induce him in a polite and artful way to let him have his compositions gratis.  For had not Wurfel told him that his Concerto in F minor was better than Hummel’s in A flat, which Haslinger had just published, and had not Klengel at Dresden been surprised to hear that he had received no payment for the Variations?  But Chopin will make Haslinger repent of it.  “Perhaps he thinks that if he treats my compositions somewhat en bagatelle, I shall be glad if only he prints them; but henceforth nothing will be got from me gratis; my motto will be ‘Pay, animal!’” But evidently the animal wouldn’t pay, and in fact did not print the compositions till after Chopin’s death.  So, unless the firm of Haslinger mentioned that he will call on him as soon as he has a room wherein he can receive a visit in return, the name of Lachner does not reappear in the correspondence.

In the management of the Karnthnerthor Theatre, Louis Duport had succeeded, on September 1, 1830, Count Gallenberg, whom severe losses obliged to relinquish a ten years’ contract after the lapse of less than two years.  Chopin was introduced to the new manager by Hummel.

He (Duport) [writes Chopin on December 21 to his parents] was formerly a celebrated dancer, and is said to be very niggardly; however, he received me in an extremely polite manner, for perhaps he thinks I shall play for him gratis.  He is mistaken there!  We entered into a kind of negotiation, but nothing definite was settled.  If Mr. Duport offers me too little, I shall give my concert in the large Redoutensaal.

But the niggardly manager offered him nothing at all, and Chopin did not give a concert either in the Redoutensaal or elsewhere, at least not for a long time.  Chopin’s last-quoted remark is difficult to reconcile with what he tells his friend Matuszyriski four days later:”  I have no longer any thought of giving a concert.”  In a letter to Elsner, dated January 26, 1831, he writes:—­

I meet now with obstacles on all sides.  Not only does a series of the most miserable pianoforte concerts totally ruin all true music and make the public suspicious, but the occurrences in Poland have also acted unfavourably upon my position.  Nevertheless, I intend to have during the carnival a performance of my first Concerto, which has met with Wurfel’s full approval.

It would, however, be a great mistake to ascribe the failure of Chopin’s projects solely to the adverse circumstances pointed out by him.  The chief causes lay in himself.  They were his want of energy and of decision, constitutional defects which were of course intensified by the disappointment of finding indifference and obstruction where he expected enthusiasm and furtherance, and by the outbreak of the revolution in Poland (November 30, 1830), which made him tremble for the safety of his beloved ones and the future of his country.  In the letter from which I have last quoted Chopin, after remarking that he had postponed writing till he should be able to report some definite arrangement, proceeds to say:—­