not help regarding as fruitless any effort made in the direction contemplated by my patron.  Later on I ascertained that Devrient, who, of course, was informed by the Grand Duke of what had taken place, looked upon my behaviour as an attempt on my part to ruin and supplant him.  The Grand Duke had not abandoned his desire to arrange for the performance of a concert consisting of selections from my most recent works.  Devrient had afterwards to write to me again in his official capacity on this subject.  In his letter he took occasion to make it clear that he regarded himself as victorious over the intrigues I had practised against him, assuring me at the same time that his distinguished patron nevertheless wished to carry out the concert in question, as from his lofty point of view he knew very well how to distinguish ‘the art from the artist.’  My answer was a simple refusal.

I had many a conversation with the Schnorrs over the episode, and I made an arrangement with them to visit me soon in Biebrich.  I returned there now, to be in time for Bulow’s visit, of which I had already been informed.  He arrived at the beginning of July to look for lodgings for himself and Cosima, who followed two days later.  We were immensely pleased to meet again, and utilised the occasion to make excursions of all sorts for the benefit of our health in the pleasant Rheingau country.  We took our meals together regularly in the public dining-room of the Europaischer Hof (where the Schnorrs also came to stay), and we were generally as merry as possible.  In the evening we had music in my rooms.  Alwine Frommann, on her way through Biebrich, also came to the reading of the Meistersinger.  All present seemed to be struck with surprise on hearing my latest libretto, and especially by the vernacular gaiety of the style, of which until now I had not availed myself.  Frau Dustmann also, who had a special engagement for a performance at Wiesbaden, paid me a visit.  Unfortunately I noticed in her a lively antipathy to her sister Friederike, a fact which, among others, strengthened my conviction that it was high time for Friederike to dissociate herself from all ties in Frankfort.  After I had been enabled, with Bulow’s support, to play my friends the completed parts of the composition of the Meistersinger, I went through most of Tristan, and in this process the Schnorrs had an opportunity of showing the extent to which they had already made themselves acquainted with their task.  I found that both were a good deal lacking in clearness of enunciation.

The summer now brought more visitors into our neighbourhood, and amongst them several of my acquaintances.  David, the Leipzig concert director, called on me with his young pupil, August Wilhelmj, the son of a Wiesbaden lawyer.  We now had music in the true sense of the word, and Conductor Alois Schmitt from Schwerin contributed an odd share by performing what he called a worthless old composition of his.