I will say nothing about the conclusion of the singing,—the "Grâce" aria. At midnight there was a grand supper, washed down with sweet wine, and seasoned with bitter recollections of this musical evening.
CHAPTER XV.
CONCLUSION.
I have received the following communication from an old literary friend, to whom I sent my eighth chapter, requesting his opinion of it:—
Motto.
There are unreceptive times, but
that which is eternal outlives all
times.—Joh. von Müller.
My dear Friend,—I have read your eighth chapter. What you facetiously call "the three trifles" seem to me to be three most important points, even if you had described them simply as fine taste, deep feeling, and a good ear. Who expects superlative excellence from the age in which he lives, and who dares to attack it, in its most vulnerable parts? You grow more harsh and disagreeable, and you do not seem to consider how many enemies you make, among those who think that they have long ago advanced beyond these three points. Just now, too, when there is so much said about "the intellectual" in music, and about "the inner nature of the future," and when such fine expressions are invented about it, you come forward with your three unseasonable trifles in the superlative degree. Do you imagine that our intelligent age cannot discern your hidden satire?