originality of the man and artist, his high aims and unselfish striving, may well have attracted Chopin; but as an important point in Alkan’s favour must be reckoned the fact that he was also a friend of George Sand’s.  Indeed, some of the limitations of Chopin’s intercourse were, no doubt, made on her account.  Kwiatkowski told me that George Sand hated Chopin’s Polish friends, and that some of them were consequently not admitted at all and others only reluctantly.  Now suppose that she disliked also some of the non-Polish friends, musicians as well as others, would not her influence act in the same way as in the case of the Poles?

But now I must say a few words about Chopin and Liszt’s friendship, and how it came to an end.  This connection of the great pianists has been the subject of much of that sentimental talk of which writers on music and of musical biography are so fond.  This, however, which so often has been represented as an ideal friendship, was really no friendship at all, but merely comradeship.  Both admired each other sincerely as musicians.  If Chopin did not care much for Liszt’s compositions, he had the highest opinion of him as a pianist.  We have seen in the letter of June 20, 1833, addressed to Hiller and conjointly written by Chopin and Liszt, how delighted Chopin was with Liszt’s manner of playing his studies, and how he wished to be able to rob him of it.  He said on one occasion to his pupil Mdlle.  Kologrivof [footnote:  Afterwards Madame Rubio.]:  “I like my music when Liszt plays it.”  No doubt, it was Liszt’s book with its transcendentally-poetic treatment which induced the false notion now current.  Yet whoever keeps his eyes open can read between the lines what the real state of matters was.  The covert sneers at and the openly-expressed compassion for his comrade’s whims, weaknesses, and deficiencies, tell a tale.  Of Chopin’s sentiments with regard to Liszt we have more than sufficient evidence.  Mr. Halle, who arrived in Paris at the end of 1840, was strongly recommended to the banker Mallet.  This gentleman, to give him an opportunity to make the acquaintance of the Polish pianist, invited both to dinner.  On this occasion Mr. Halle asked Chopin about Liszt, but the reticent answer he got was indicative rather of dislike than of anything else.  When in 1842 Lenz took lessons from Chopin, the latter defined his relations with Liszt thus:  “We are friends, we were comrades.”  What he meant by the first half of the statement was, no doubt:  “Now we meet only on terms of polite acquaintanceship.”  When the comradeship came to an end I do not know, but I think I do know how it came to an end.  When I asked Liszt about the cause of the termination of their friendship, he said:  “Our lady-loves had quarrelled, and as good cavaliers we were in duty bound to side with them.” [Footnote:  Liszt’s words in describing to me his subsequent relation with Chopin were similar to those of Chopin to Lenz.  He said:  “There was a cessation