Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-13

the vulgar acceptation of the word, cannot
 say; but in spite of his stinginess, which ht
 wrathed under, he regarded him with mingled reverence and terror. ttA strange person your master, observed I. s'Signor," replied
 the faithful Sancho Panza, ste oeramesate 1 (he IS truly great man, but it is not possi- ble to comprehend him).
 It was edifying to observe the awful i'm l portance with which Antonio bore the instru
 ment nightly intrusted to his charge to carry
 to and from the theater. He considered it an animated something, whether demon or angel he was unable to determine; but this he firmly believed, that it could speak in actual dialogue when his master pleased, or become dumb familiar by the same con- trolling volition. This especial violin was Paganini's inseparable companion It lay on his table before him, as he sat meditating in his solitary chamber; it was placed by his
 slde at dinner, and on a chair within his
 reach when in bed. If he woke, as he con-
 stantly did, in the dead of night, and the
 sudden estro of inspiration seized him, he
 grasped hls Instrument, started up, and on
 the instant perpetuated the conception which
 otherwise he would have lost forever This
 marvellous Cremona, valued at four hundred
 gulneas, Paganini, on his death bed, gave to De Kontski, his nephew and only pupil him. self an eminent performer, and in his DOS session 1t now remains
 A year or two after, when Paganini was again in England, thought another engage ment might be productive, as his extraortli- nary attraction appeared still to increase I wrote to him on the subject, and soon re- celved very courteous commdnicatien. to the effect that, although he had not contem- plated including Ireland in his tour yet he mad been so impressed by the urbanity of the Dublin public, and had, moreover, con- ce!ved such personal esteem for my indi- nOfC &IA&I Il- .-,l-A a!ter nls plans, at some inconvenience pro- Vlded always I could make him more en-
 lelng proposal than the former one. I was nere completely puzzled, as on that occasion gave him 8 clear two-thirds of each receipt, with bonus of twenty nve pounds per night in addition, Tor two useless coadjutors I replied that, having duly deliberated on his sugges- ton, and considered the terms of our last 1 compact, l saw no possible means of placing l the new one in more alluring shape, except | by offering him the entire produce of the en- | gagement. After had dispatched my letter, l repented bitterly, and was terrified lest he | should think me serious and hold me to the | bargain but he deigned no answer, and this tune escaped for the fright had given my self. When in London I called to see him and met with a cordial reception; but he soon alluded to the late correspondence and half seriously said
 That was curious letter you wrote to me, and the joke with which you concluded 1t by no means good one"
 "Oh," said I, laughing. s'it would have been much worse if you had taken me at my word''
 He then laughed too, and we parted excel lent friends. never saw him again He returned to the continent and died, having purchased the title of baron with a patent 'f nobility, from some foreign potentate, which with his accumulated earnings, some what dilapidated by gambling, he bequeathed o his only son. Paganini was the founder ,f his school, and the original inventor of hose extraordinary tours de force with l which all his successors and imitators are ac- ustomed to astonish the uninitiated But le still stands at the head of the list, although m1nent names are included in it, and is not Ikely to be pushed from his pedestal