with her neighbour at the table in the middle of a long harangue of Spontini’s, he shot an extremely angry glance at his wife.  Madame Devrient apologised for her at once by saying that it was she (Madame Devrient) who had been laughing about some lines on a bonbonniere, whereupon Spontini retorted:  ’Pourtant je suis sur que c’est ma femme qui a suscite ce rire; je ne veux pas que l’on rie devant moi, je ne rie jamais moi, j’aime le serieux.’  In spite of that he sometimes succeeded in being jovial.  For instance, it amused him to set us all wondering at the way in which he crunched enormous lumps of sugar with his marvellous teeth.  After dinner, when we drew our chairs closer together, he usually became very excited.

As far as he was capable of affection he seemed really to like me; he declared openly that he loved me, and said that he would prove this best by trying to keep me from the misfortune of proceeding in my career as a dramatic composer.  He said he knew it would be difficult to convince me of the value of this friendly service, but as he felt it his sacred duty to look after my happiness in this particular line, he was prepared to stay in Dresden for another half-year, during which period he suggested that we should produce his other operas, and especially Agnes von Hohenstaufen, under his direction.  To explain his views about the fatal mistake of trying to succeed as a dramatic composer ’after Spontini,’ he began by praising me in these terms:  ’Quand j’ai entendu votre Rienzi, j’ai dit, c’est un homme de genie, mais deja il a plus fait qu’il ne peut faire.’  In order to show me what he meant by this paradox, he proceeded as follows:  ’Apres Gluck c’est moi qui ai fait la grande revolution avec la Vestale; j’ai introduit le Vorhalt de la sexte’ (the suspension of the sixth) ’dans l’harmonie et la grosse caisse dans l’orchestre; avec Cortez j’ai fait un pas de plus en avant; puis j’ai fait trois pas avec Olympic.  Nurmahal, Alcidor et tout ce que j’ai fait dans les premiers temps a Berlin, je vous les livre, c’etaient des oeuvres occasionnelles; mais depuis j’ai fait cent pas en avant avec Agnes de Hohenstaufen, ou j’ai imagine un emploi de l’orchestre remplacant parfaitement l’orgue.’

Since then he had tried his hand at a new work, Les Atheniennes; the Crown Prince (now King of Prussia [Footnote:  William the First.]) had urged him to finish this work, and to testify to the truth of his words, he took several letters which he had received from this monarch out of his pocket-book, and handed them to us for inspection.  Not until he had insisted upon our reading them carefully through did he continue by saying that, in spite of this flattering invitation, he had given up the idea of setting this excellent subject to music, because he felt sure he could never surpass his Agnes von Hohenstaufen, nor invent anything new.  In conclusion he said:  ’Or, comment voulez-vous que quiconque puisse inventer quelque chose de nouveau, moi Spontini declarant ne pouvoir en aucune facon surpasser mes oeuvres precedentes, d’autre part etant avise que depuis la Vestale il n’a point ete ecrit une note qui ne fut volee de mes partitions.’