BARTHOLDY FELIX, one of the most distinguished musicians of the nineteenth century, was born at Hamburg on the 3d of February 1809. His grandfather was the celebrated Moses Mendelssohn, a Jewish philoso- in that town a school of music, which is now one of the best in Europe. He was frequently called away from Leipzig to conduct performances of his own music; and several times revisited England, which, next to his own Germany, was the land he best loved. His last visit to England was in 1846, to conduct his *Elijah*, written for that year's Birmingham festival. Incessant labour at last affected his health, and rendered relaxation indispensable. He proceeded to Switzerland. In May 1846 he received news of the death of his sister, Madame Hensel, whom he tenderly loved. From this severe shock he never recovered. He endeavoured to divert his mind by making sketches of Swiss scenery,—for drawing and painting were among his many accomplishments—but he felt that his bodily frame was decaying, and used to speak to his friends and relatives of his approaching death. Soon after his return to Leipzig he was attacked, on the 8th of October 1847, by a violent cerebral affection, which proved fatal on the 4th of November following. He left a widow and children to lament his premature death. His amiable manners, as well as his extraordinary accomplishments, endeared him to numerous friends, among whom he reckoned several in Great Britain. His domestic virtues are highly spoken of by all who knew him intimately. He was below the middle height, and delicately formed; his countenance handsome and intellectual, though somewhat effeminate. A good classical scholar, and well acquainted with modern languages, he possessed an accomplishment that is very rare among continental musicians—i.e., he spoke and wrote English remarkably well. Though not absolutely endowed with musical genius, his musical talents were of the highest order. The dry and pedantic discipline of Zelter may have repressed the *estro* of his gifted young pupil, and such training left its impress for a long time upon the compositions of Mendelssohn. About that time also several German theoretical and aesthetic writers began to declaim against Italian melody, and to insist that in music harmony and modulation were all in all. The bad effects of this false doctrine are but too evident in the music of the new German school. Mendelssohn's early death prevented the full development of his powers of composition, for it is evident that his style was becoming year after year more free and melodious. His *St Paul*, his *Elijah*, and his Symphony in A, are proofs of this. Most of his earlier works show more of musical learning and calculation than of melodic inspiration. As he never was compelled to write for bread, he always wrote his best—always carefully and conscientiously. He was not easily satisfied with his own works. His knowledge of the art of musical composition was great; his musical reading very extensive, and his memory prodigious; his skill as a pianist and an organist almost unrivalled. Besides the works above named, Mendelssohn published the following compositions:—Overture, *Meeresstille*, &c.; Overture, *Melusina*; Quintet in A for stringed instruments; two grand Quartets for stringed instruments; two Concertos for pianoforte, with orchestra; Octet for stringed instruments in E flat; three Quartets for pianoforte, violin, viola, and bass; grand Sonata for pianoforte and violin; Sonata for pianoforte and violoncello; seven characteristic pieces for pianoforte alone; Rondo for pianoforte; Sonata for pianoforte; Fantasia on an Irish air; three Fantasie for pianoforte; six melodies, without words (*Lieder ohne Worte*), for pianoforte alone; Concerto for the violin; religious Chorus, for four voices, *Aus tiefer Noth*; *Ave Maria*, for eight voices; religious Chorus for eight voices, *Mitten wir im Leben sind*; three Latin and German Motets, with organ accompaniment; the forty-second Psalm, with orchestra; grand Cantata for the anniversary festival of Albert Dürer; grand Cantata for the fête given by Alexander von Humboldt to the natural philosophers assembled at Berlin; three collections of songs for a single voice, with pianoforte; music to Goethe's *Walpurgis Nacht*; six Sonatas for the organ; music for *A Midsummer Night's Dream*; Choruses to *Antigone*; Symphonies for grand orchestra, in score. The above is an approximate list. Among his works that he left unpublished were,—Music to *Edipus*; Choruses to Racine's *Athalie*; one act of his Opera of *Loreley*; songs for one voice and pianoforte, of which some of the best were written for Jenny Lind.

(M. F. G.)

*Mendelssohn, Moses,* was born in 1729 at Dessau, where his father was teacher in a Jewish school. Like all Jewish children he was from his infancy instructed in the Talmud, and the *Moreh Nevuchim* ("Guide to the Wanderers") of Maimonides was the subject of his most passionate study. To the end of his days, in an impaired constitution and a distorted spine, he carried the marks of his youthful devotion to that book. In 1742 he came to Berlin, following in the footsteps of his instructor David Frankel, and in the tide of all the aspiring Jewish youth of the day. Here, under Rabbi Israel, who had been expelled from Poland for his liberal studies, he added mathematical knowledge to the circle of his attainments; and under his teachers Emmerich, Keisch, and Solomon Gumpertz, he became acquainted with Latin and modern literature. His own philosophical genius led him to Locke, Leibnitz, and Wolf. At this time he was indebted to his countrymen Itzig, Marcus, and Bernhard for support. The last of these was a wealthy silk manufacturer, who, from being tutor to his children, ultimately raised him to partnership with himself in trade. No sooner did Mendelssohn rise above beggary than he inaugurated the grand mission of his life by aiming a blow at the bleak Talmudism of his nation. Along with Tobias Bock he prepared some short scientific tracts in Hebrew,—a step which called forth the rage and anathemas of the rabbis. In 1754 he became acquainted with Nicolai and Lessing, and began a friendship to which he owed much, and from which the critic, at least, derived profit in being furnished with the prototype of *Nathan the Wise*. From this time he devoted himself to the study of mental philosophy. His first work was the *Briefe über die Empfindungen* ("Letters on the Sensations"), and this was followed by a variety of short treatises, distinguished for acuteness more than for originality, but, above all, for the fine ethical tone which ran through them. He was engaged for many years in vindicating Lessing from the charge of Spinozism, which had been brought against him by Jacobi. His best known work, however, in this department of study is the *Phaedon*, or "Dialogue of Socrates with his friends on the Immortality of the Soul." The characters and descriptive parts are taken from Plato, but the argument is new. Mendelssohn founds his doctrine, not on the simple texture of the soul, which renders it incapable of being resolved into component parts, but on its nature as exempting it from the ordinary laws of change. Kant, however, has shown that this is no argument against the soul's annihilation, and is not even satisfactory against the hypothesis of its gradual enfeeblement and ultimate decadence without any organic change. Of far greater historical importance were Mendelssohn's labours for the elevation of his Jewish countrymen. His translation of the Pentateuch into classic German, printed in Hebrew characters, introduced the literature of Germany into the Jewish schools of Poland, and ultimately extinguished the textbooks which had been conned for ages under the teaching of the Rebbe. Mendelssohn's position in the literary world was all the more startling that it was entirely novel, and whatever influence it gave him was sacredly devoted to the service of those of his own creed. His little book entitled *Jerusalem* appeared in 1783; and, along with two pamphlets written by the historian Dohm somewhat earlier, paved the way for the civil emancipation of the Jews. In these patriotic efforts he was seconded by many of his country- MENDELSOHN'S literary labours were frequently interrupted by attacks of sickness. His constitution, shattered in early youth, received a new shock from every paroxysm of mental activity. Lavater's attempt to win him to Christianity prostrated him in a long and painful illness; and, in his zeal to defend his friend Lessing from the stigma of Spinozism, he so overtasked his energies as to bring on a fever, which terminated his existence in 1786. His works have been collected and published, along with a biography, at Vienna in 1838. A translation of the Phaedon into English appeared in the same year.