performed in Berlin in 1820. The extraordinary success of Der Freischuetz, which it owed to its popular melodies and scenic adaptability, procured him an offer to write an opera for Vienna. He composed "Euryanthe" in the years 1822 and 1823, and in this latter year he went to Vienna to direct its first performance, which met with great applause.

After some delay Der Freischuetz was performed for the first time at London, July 23rd, 1824, at the English Opera House. The signal success of this famous opera induced Mr. Charles Kemble, in 1825, to visit Weber at Dresden, and to invite him to compose an opera for the theatre of Covent Garden, of which he was at that lime lessee. He presented him with the first act of the text of Oberon, founded on Wieland's poem, and written by Mr. Planché. Weber accepted the offer, and commenced seriously to study the English language. But the fatigues of his office, (which were augmented by the necessity of acting frequently as a substitute for his colleague Morlacchi, whose ill health rendered a visit to Italy necessary,) added to the unceasing activity of his mind in composition, had already begun to affect his health.

He visited the baths at Ems in the summer of 1825; and at the end of this year he directed the first performance of his Euryanthe at Berlin. His sufferings from pulmonary disease increased in the year 1826 to such a degree as to excite the fears of his friends. He worked with unremitting zeal on his new opera, and left Germany in February for London, where he arrived with a constitution already impaired by illness and over-exertion. He here completed his "Oberon," which was brought out on the 12th of April, 1826. It did not meet with such an instantaneous and enthusiastic reception as "Der Freischuetz;" but musical judges at once acknowledged its excellence, and repeated performances rendered more attractive the varied beauties that abound in this noble opera.

He bore with great fortitude his sufferings, which were aggravated by his travel and change of climate at this unfavourable season of the year. On the 5th of May he had a benefit concert, which was but badly attended, particularly by the higher classes; a circumstance which was very severely commented upon by the musical journals of the time. At this concert Weber "had scarcely strength enough left to get through the business as conductor." At the conclusion he threw himself upon a sofa, and was so exhausted as to create considerable alarm in the by-standers. On Monday, the 5th of June, on which day "Der Freischuetz" was to be given for his benefit, he was found dead in his bed. His friends wished to have him buried in St. Paul's Cathedral; but as they resolved to have a requiem sung at his funeral, permission was refused. On the 21st of June his remains were interred in the Roman Catholic chapel, Moorfields: they have, however, recently been transferred to Germany.

VIEW FROM PFAFFENHOFEN, NEAR VIENNA.

119

The works of Weber form an epoch in the history of dramatic music. They possess much novelty; the instrumentation is profound, and singularly effective; the melodies are popular without being trivial, and he has infused new life and feeling into the vocal parts. Some of the songs in "Oberon" may be classed among the finest and most ideal compositions that have ever been written. The comic opera, "The Three Pintos," which had occupied Weber, at intervals, for several years, was unfortunately not completed. Weber was a man of very varied talents: one of the first composers-profoundly versed in the theory and grammatical department of his art--a distinguished pianoforte player; as a director, he united energy with tact. In private life he was universally esteemed as an agreeable, able, and accomplished man, who contemplated life from a higher point of view than is usual among artists. He has left an autobiography, from which the preceding details are taken.

VIEW FROM PFAFFENHOFEN, NEAR VIENNA.

THE view before the reader represents the Danube below Vienna. The great bridge of Thabor is the largest over the river. In the distance are the mountains near Presburg. The intervening fields possess great historical interest, as the scene of the famous battle of Aspern-" the most glorious," say Mr. Alison, "in the Austrian annals; for ever memorable in the aunals of military fame. It was the first great action in which Napoleon had been defeated; for at Eylau, though, as the event ultimately proved, he had been worsted, yet, in the first instance, he remained master of the field of battle. The loss on both sides was enormous; but that of the French was much greater than that of their opponents, owing to their decided inferiority in numbers, and especially artillery, on the first day, and the tremendous effect of the concentric fire of three hundred pieces of cannon on the second, upon the dense columns of attack, whom the narrow extent of the ground, the awful cannonade, and obstinate resistance of the imperial squares, prevented from deploying into line. Eighty-seven superior officers and four thousand two hundred privates were killed, besides sixteen thousand three hundred wounded on the side of the Imperialists; a loss which, how great soever, the Archduke, with true German honesty, had the magnanimity at once to admit in his official account of the battle. The French lost above thirty thousand men, of whom seven thousand were buried by the Austrians on the field. A few guns, and some

hundred prisoners were taken on both sides. Five thousand wounded fell into the hands of the Imperialists. For several days after the battle the Austrians were constantly occupied in burying the dead; innumerable corpses were found in the smaller channels of the Danube; the waters even of that mighty stream were for some days poisoned by the multitude of slain which encumbered its banks, and a pestilential air was wafted down the theatre of death."

The value of the French bulletins of the period may be estimated by their account of the number of killed and wounded. Napoleon therein gave his loss at three thousand killed and eight thousand wounded; whereas, in fact, the Austrians buried seven thousand French on the field of battle, and twenty-nine thousand seven hundred and seventy-three wounded were carried to the hospitals at Vienna.

GREIFENSTEIN.

THE picturesque castle of Greifenstein commands a very interesting view of the Danube above Vienna. It has been frequently mentioned as the prison of Richard Cœur de Lion, but that monarch was confined in Duerrenstein. It is said to have received its name (Greifenstein, Griffin-stone) from the mark of a griffin's claw, which is still visible in the rock. The pedestrian can return to Vienna over Leopoldsberg and Kahlenberg, which afford most beautiful and extensive prospects. The environs of this great city abound with a variety of picturesque scenery, hardly to be equalled by any other capital.

MILAN CATHEDRAL.

THE Cathedral of Milan, called by the inhabitants of that city the eighth wonder of the world, is, next to St. Peter's at Rome, the largest ecclesiastical edifice in Italy. On the site on which it stands there was formerly a church, which was founded A. D. 836, and consecrated to St. Maria Maggiore; but of its history we know little, except that it is said to have suffered considerably during the wars in the time of Frederic Barbarossa. The present cathedral was founded in 1386, by Galeazzo