Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1873-12-10
MOscheles's Visit to Sir Walter
Scott.

The following narrative is taken from
the recently published diary and cor
respondence Of Moscheles, the cele-
brsted German poet:
The Moscheleses, on the occasion of
this visit to Edinburgh, made the ac-
quaintance of Sir Walter Scott, in whom
the reading world had discovered 'the
Great Unknown" and to whose intellec-
tual eminence thousands upon thous-
ands looked up with feelings Of the
deepest gratitude. .I .. .
To the delight of Moscheles, Sir Wal
ter sent an Immediate answer to his
letter of recommendation, saying that,
being confined to his house with an
attack of gous, he hoped Moscheles and
his wife would come to breakfast, in
stead of waiting for him to visit them.
Next morning, at 10 A. NJ, they called
at No. Shandwick Place, where the
illustrious man was staying for the
winter, with his second, and unmarried
daughter. He opened the door him
SELF says Moscheles, and welcomed
us heartily; he was suffering from gout
and walked with a stick. Before we
had taken off our things we felt COM
pletely at home, and nay wife's antici-
pated awe of the great man had entirely
vanished. We sat down to breakfast
forwith, and a genuine good Scotch
breakfast We had, served on handsome
silver plate, by two servants in powder
and livery. Scott's conversation was
extremely animated and delightful he
understands German, and is thoroughly
versed in our literature, and an enthu-
siastic worshipper of Goethe. He told
us many anecdotes, but when he asked
me, How do you like my cousin, the
piper ?-you know We Scotch are all
cousins'-I am afraid my answer must
have done violence to his sense of music,
which, by nature. was very limited. 1t
was impossible for me to pretend to any
enthusiasm for the bagpipes. Sir Wal
ter had expected as much, but expa-
tiated on the wonderful effect the ma
tional music has on the native High
LADDERS, arguing that wandering piper
would attract crowds in the streets of
Edinburgh; also, that in battle the
sound of bagpipes would inspire Scotch
soldiers with q desperate valor. You
should hear my cousin the piper play
and sing "The Pibroch of Donald Dhu, !"
but with the Gaelic words said he !;
those words are the osly appropriate
ones to convey spirit and animation,
but the melody itself carries one away.
He began to hum the tune, and beat
time on the carpet with his stick, which
was always by his side; but added
he, the whole thing is wrong; sing
SO badly my cousin, who has just come
in, must play the tune for us upstairs
in the drawing-room. Accordingly, We
went upstairs the cousin played me
the subject 1 extemporized upon it,
and completely won the heart of our
ever r-youthful-minded and genial host.
This was the prelude to my playing
several Scotch airs, which I had to vary
and Intervene in all manner of ways.
At last we parted, after a delightful
visit, ever memorable to us the amia-
bility and sweetness of Scott's manner
are never to be forgotten. Kindness,
indeed, is written in every feature, and
speaks in every word that falls from
him. He treated my wife like q pet
daughter, kissed her on the cheek when
we went away, and promised he would
come and see the children, and bring
them book. This he did, and his gift
was the Tales Of Grandfather. He
had written in the title-page, TO Adol-
phus and Emily Moscheles, from the
Grandfather -~..
CATER our visit, Sir Walter was un-
fortunately confined to his bed with q
fresh attack of gout; he got better,
however, and on the occasion of my
third concert, which was O matinee, to
the surprise of q crowded and fashion
able audience Sir Walter stepped into
the room before the music began. My
wife," says Moscheles, 'sat as usual in
a remote corner of the room; Scott,
however, found her out instantly, and
sat down by her side, drawing upon her
the envious eyes of many fair beholder.
His hearty bravos and cheers, when 1
played, stimulated the audience to re-
double their applause, which reached a
climax when 1 gave them the Scotch
airs. Between the parts he asked my
wife if she knew Burgers poem. Der
Dichter iebt den guten Vein, and, on
her answering in the affirmative, he told
her how he delighted in this poem,
which he had translated into English,
adding Would you like to have it ? 1
shall send it to you. She begged him
to recite the song in the original; this
to my wife's great delight, he willingly
assented to, while all around listened
eagerly. On the following day, the
last before We left Edinburgh, Mrs.
Moscheles received the follovin0 note ..
my DEAR Mrs. MoscHELEs: As you
are determined TO have me murder the
pretty song twice, first by repeating it
in bad German, and then by turning it
into little better English, I send the
promised version. ......
Ny best wishes attend your journey,
and with best compliments to Mr..
Moscheles,
I am truly and respectfully yours,
-,l---... -.. 81 WALTER SCorT."
I~A~v-~fS-A