Page "George Grove" Paragraph 12

: The circumstances which necessitated such fearful exertion on this and many other occasions in Mozart's life we have no means of ascertaining.

Whatever they were, they were in accordance with a common custom of Nature.

She seems to delight in condemning her most gifted sons to an ordeal the very reverse of that which we should anticipate.

It seems equally true in Art and in Morals, that it is not by indulgence and favour, but by difficulty and trouble, that the spirit is formed ; and in all ages of the world our Davids, Shakspeares, Dantes, Mozarts, and Beethovens must submit to processes which none but their great spirits could survive – to a fiery trial of poverty, ill health, neglect, and misunderstanding – and be " tried as silver is tried ," that they may become the teachers of their fellow-men to all time, and shine, like stars in the firmament, for ever and ever.