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Show I TODAY IN HISTORY I . FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 4. 1910. Follx Mendolosohn. On November I, IS 17. Felix Mendelssohn, Mendels-sohn, one of the groaiost ot all musical musi-cal composers, died at Leipzig. Considering Consid-ering tno great amount ol work he accomplished, ac-complished, ji oeems littlo less than marvelous when considering that he was only :)S yeurc old ut the time his life's work was brought to a. 'close. But most musicians and composers begin young, and Felix wan only seven years of aye whon he was placed under instruction by an experienced tonencr. his .mother having given him his preliminary knowledge knowl-edge of the art Mb made his flr:?t appearance ap-pearance In public at the ago of nine, und at twelve he begn'n to compoue regularly. regu-larly. Aside from tho Immense amount of work ho accomplished as musical director, di-rector, .it his death ho left behind him close to two hundred works, many of them of great length. It was . this hard and constant work lhat was responsible for Mendelssohn's death at the ago when most men are 'In the prime of life. When he had returned re-turned from his summer vacation In September of 1S-57, his friends found, much to their surprise, that it had given him no benellt Ho looked aged, pain and weary. Ho complained of the oppressive oppres-sive air of the city. Ho grew gradually worse, relapsed Into unconsciousness on November .1 and died the following day. The great regard In which Mendelssohn Mendels-sohn was held Is shown In tho fact that during hlo lust Illness tho public feeling feel-ing was lriten.se. Bulletins were Issued and the house wan besieged by Inquirers. After his death It wan aa if every one in the town had received a blow and sustained a personal loss. "It Is lovely weather here," wroto a young English .student to the York Courant, "but an awful stillness prevails; we fool as If tho king were dead. Clusters Clus-ters of people are seen speaking together on tho streets." Tho streets wcro placarded at the corners with official announcements an-nouncements of his death, as if he had boon a great officer of state. "November I was a Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday tho public wero allowed to see tho body of the great composer. On Sunday, tho 7th. it was taken to the Paullner church at Leipzig. Leip-zig. A band preceded the hearse, playing play-ing tho 'Song Without Words,' In J3 minor, Instrumented by Moschclcs; and after Mils on mo a .student of the Con-sorvatorlum Con-sorvatorlum with a cushion, on which lay a Bllver crown, formerly presented to Mendelssohn by his pupils, and his order 'pour le mellte.' "The pall wits hornc by Moacheles, David, Tlauptmann and Gnde; the professors pro-fessors and pupils of the Conservatorlum, tbo members of tho Oowandhaus orchestra. orches-tra. Dm; chief functionaries of The corporation cor-poration and the university, and several guilds nnd societies. In the church two numbers from his oratorio, 'St. Paul,' were sung, the sermon was preached by Ifc-rr Howard, the pastor of the Reformed Congregation, and the service closed with the concluding chorus of Bach'B 'St. Matthew Passion.' "At JO p. m. the coffin was conveyed to the Leipzig station and transported by rail to Berlin. The funeral parly arrived ar-rived at Berlin at 7 o'clock tho following follow-ing morning, and after more funeral scrc-moiilf-fl. w.'ijs deposited In the Inclosed burial place of the family in the churchyard church-yard of lhc church where Mendelssohn onee worshiped." Mrs. Austin, who was an intimate friend of the composer, pays the following fol-lowing tribute to .him; "His Is one of tho raro characters which cannot be known too Intimately. Of him there Is nothing to tell that Is not honorable to his memory, consoling to his frlonda. profitable to all kin. If I admired him as an artist, I was no less struck hy his childlike simplicity and sportlvoncss, his deference lo age. his rcadlnosa to bend his genius lo give pleasure to the humble and Ignorant, tho vivacity and fervor of his admiration for overythlng good and great, his cultivated Intellect, refined tasles and noble sentiments." The regret at tho death of Mendelssohn wns world-wide. In all the largo cities memorial services were held, In which his works were performed. Among the very numerous letters of condolence addressed ad-dressed to his widow wore from Queen Victoria, the King of Prussia and the King of Saxony. Today Is the date of the marriage of William and Mary, at St. James palaco. In 1(177. It is the birthday of William III. of England (1G50): Thomas Johnson, first state governor of Maryland (1782); James Montgomery, the poet (1771); John Branch, secretary of the navy undor Jackson (1782); Luclan Robinson, New York statesman (1810); and Samuel N. Peek, pool (1851). It Is the death day of Charles Churchill, English poet (1765); Paul Dclarocl-.e, , the celebrated painter (1856)' and George Pcabody, Amcrieai. philanthropist (1SG9). |