The Violin Part 19

The adventures of this indefatigable mechanician, in quest of _wood_ for his purpose,-wood of sufficient age and capable of giving out the proper _pitch_ of sound-might fill a chapter. He ransacked Switzerland, entering into the meanest of her hovels, and buying-up the furniture or the wood-work of the _chalets_, wherever he could detect in it the right resonance, "les conditions d'une bonne sonorite." He one day went so far as to persuade the curate of a small parish to let him take away the cieling of his sitting-room, and replace it by another. Making his way back to Paris with his "strange-achieved heap"-his wooden wealth-he forthwith betook himself to the completion of certain machinery, by means of which, as it is a.s.serted, he is enabled to form and hollow out, at will, a "belly" of Straduarius, of Guarnerius, of Amati, or of Magini-with a nicety which the hand, at its very best, can never accomplish. Resolved to omit nothing, he studied finally the varieties of _varnish_, till he hit upon the exact reflex of that clear, bright, most self-commendatory super-fusion, which we observe as the crowning grace of the fine old instruments.

Of the marvellous accuracy, as a copyist of the old models, that was attained years since by Vuillaume, there is amusing proof, in a story related by M. Fetis, on the authority of the great Violinist himself, who figures in it:-

"On his return-journey from a visit to England, Paganini, with dismay, observed the case containing his admirable _Guarnerius_ to fall from the roof of the diligence. The instrument had sustained manifest injury;-but Vuillaume was in Paris; and Paganini, fixing on _him_ all his hopes, entrusted his violin to him, on descending from the vehicle. The repairs were made with all the care demanded by the beauty of the instrument, and the immense talent of its owner. Every minutest trace of the accident was obliterated-and that which had been the confidant of Paganini's inspirations was restored to its full charm and power. Whilst yet the depositary of so excellent an instrument, Monsieur Vuillaume was tempted by opportunity to make a copy of it-_such_ a copy as n.o.body might distinguish from the original. On the day appointed for putting the renowned performer again in possession of his instrument, Vuillaume went to him, and, placing two violins on the table, thus addressed him: "I have so completely succeeded in obliterating every vestige of the accident sustained by your fiddle, as to be quite unable to distinguish it from the _other_ Guarnerius, now beside it, which has been entrusted to me, and which bears a striking resemblance to it. _You_, who are well acquainted with your own instrument, will relieve me from this embarra.s.sment." At these words, Paganini changed countenance-stood up in haste-seized a fiddle with each hand-scrutinized and compared them both-and was struck dumb by their perfect similitude. _One_ hope remains;-he s.n.a.t.c.hes up his bow-sends it dancing alternately over the strings of the two instruments-draws prodigies from each. Instead of dissipating his anxiety, this experiment does but increase it. He strides about the room-his hands are clenched-his eyes are on fire!

Vuillaume's triumph had reached its acme. "Compose yourself," said he,-"_here_ is your violin!-and _there_-is the _copy_ I have made of it.

Keep them _both_, as memorials of this adventure-and think, sometimes, on the _restorer_ of your instrument!"

Fortunately, the probity of Monsieur Vuillaume is known to equal his talent; _else_ were imitation, by so cunning an artificer, a very ticklish thing. Instruments of his, in fact, _have_ been bought and sold, by musical-instrument-makers themselves, as those of Straduarius, or Guarnerius: law-proceedings have resulted; and Vuillaume's own invoked testimony has established, by certain undetected private marks, that _he_ was the real author of the instruments in question.

The services rendered to the musical community by the successful labours of Vuillaume, will be best appreciated by those who bear in mind the commercial rarity of the genuine old instruments, and the difficult prices at which it is usual to value them. Their acquisition, in fact, belongs rigidly to the rich; and it often occurs that the best part of an artist's life has gone by, before his savings have enabled him to possess that which is wanted for the full manifestation of his talent.

The subst.i.tutes presented by the hand of the modern Frenchman, bear a price somewhat a.n.a.logous to the modesty of merit itself. Of their real value, the recent "Great Exhibition" in our metropolis gave connoisseurs the opportunity to form some estimate; and the conclusion arrived at is sufficiently denoted by the awarded gold medal. Specimens creditable to the skill of our English Makers, though not resulting from the like diligent investigation into principles, were also displayed on the above-named grand occasion. The names of Betts, Purdy and Fendt, and Simon Forster, occur in connection with these. Examples claiming notice on the convenient score of _cheapness_, too, were not wanting among the foreign instruments there exhibited. The best of these were from the Tyrol-while others were of the workmans.h.i.+p of Mericourt, in the Vosges, a place which has been denominated the _Manchester_ of musical instrument-making-and not without some show of reason, seeing that, for about four s.h.i.+llings, it supplies the fiddler with a complete instrument, strings and bow included! In the way of "a bargain," surely nothing can beat _this_; unless, indeed, they were to throw in _the case_!

The latest improvement attempted in construction, is, I understand, a discovery patented by an American. It is designed to give greater freedom to the _vibration_, by omitting the end (or top and bottom) blocks, and subst.i.tuting an extra ba.s.s-bar, which runs longitudinally in contiguity to the back, but without touching it.

The possession of a good _bow_ may be readily conceived to be a matter of no slight importance. With whatever reason the art of making violins may be considered (with the exceptions noticed in this chapter) to have declined since the days of the old makers, it is certain that the _bow_ has been altered much for the better: so much, indeed, as to seem hardly susceptible of further improvement. The bows of Tourte, of Paris, have acquired a European celebrity. Their superiority lies in their diminished weight, with increased elasticity in the stick; in the beautiful uniformity of their bend, which is so regulated as to cause the nearest approach made by the stick to the hair to be exactly in the middle, between the head and the nut; and in the very exact and finished workmans.h.i.+p of the whole. Here, too, acknowledgment is due to the ability of Vuillaume, who has contrived a bow in which two inconveniences, attendant on the previous method, are remedied; so that the hand of the performer is no longer disturbed by those variations in the length, and consequently in the weight, of the stick, which arose from the necessity of making the thumb to follow the s.h.i.+ftings of the nut, whenever the bow was altered as to its tension; while the hair, firmly fixed to a kind of cylindrical nippers, is so arranged as to form a perfectly even surface throughout its length, and to be renewable by the performer himself, when he may desire it.

Let me point the termination of this chapter with a bit of cautionary advice, which, though it concerns bodies politic, invalids, and picture-owners, is not the less suited to the possessors of valuable instruments that require, through some casualty, the aid of a restorative hand:-

BEWARE of _Vampers_!

If, in some unhappy, incautious moment, you confide your cherished _Steiner_ or _Stradivari_ to the barbaric hands of one of these profane pretenders, its recovery is hopeless-its const.i.tution is gone!

CHAPTER X.

MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTES, COLLECTED Sc.r.a.pS, ECCENTRIC VARIETIES, ETC.

"Quae quibus ante-feram?"

_Characteristics of the Fiddle Species._-In the _variety_ of expression, as well as in its _quality_, the violin has often been signalized for its approximation to the human voice. The _finesse_ of perception of a clever woman has discovered in that remarkable instrument, and its ligneous family, a yet closer approach to human character. The ingenious parallels which this lady has drawn are described by Monsieur Beyle, in a pa.s.sage which I here translate from his curious and amusing work on Haydn and Mozart.-"In listening to the quartetts of Haydn, this lady felt as if present at a conversation held by four agreeable persons. She found in the _First Violin_ the semblance of a man of considerable intelligence, of the middle time of life, an accomplished talker, and equally capable of sustaining the conversation, as of furnis.h.i.+ng the subject of it. In the _Second Violin_, she recognized a _friend_ of the First, who endeavoured by every possible method to draw out his brilliant qualities,-was rarely occupied about _himself_,-and kept up the discourse rather by his approbation of what fell from the others, than by advancing any ideas of his own. The _Tenor_ was a solid, profound, and sententious personage, who gave support to the remarks of the First Violin, by maxims of a laconic turn, but of striking truth. As for the _Violoncello_, 'twas a good woman, of a somewhat babbling inclination, who said nothing to signify overmuch, but yet would not be without her share in the conversation. She contributed a certain grace to it, however, and, whilst she was talking, the other interlocutors got time to breathe! One thing, with respect to her, was not difficult to discover-namely, that she cherished a secret bias for the _Tenor_, and gave him the preference over his instrumental brethren."

If these comparisons should appear too fanciful, let it be remembered that the subject is inviting, and might even be carried a good deal further. We should only wonder that Monsieur Beyle's clever female friend, having contrived to make up so snug a little party, did not still further develop their capabilities, and explain, "avec circonstance," the _matter_ of their amiable chit-chat. _Why_ she should have chosen, by the by, to a.s.sign to the _Violoncello_ the feminine gender, is by no means obvious. According to the general rules of proportion, which govern s.e.x, it would be otherwise. Perhaps the creation of that instrument subsequently to the fiddle, as a help-mate to it, may have suggested this notion to our speculatist; but, _n'importe_; let us be content, rather than differ with a lady, to allow personification under the softer s.e.x to the instrument in question, which may then figure characteristically, like one of Byron's heroines, as

"Somewhat large, and languis.h.i.+ng, and lazy."

Apropos of personification-a curious little pamphlet, of a dozen pages only, but containing some ingenious turns of fancy, was printed by Dove, in 1828, from the pen of a Mr. K--, a gentleman of refined taste in various matters of art and literature. It is ent.i.tled, "Carluccio and Signora Violina; a musical _jeu d'esprit_ for the benefit of Violinists, in the manner of Lucian;" and it consists of a sort of dialogue between a lover and his mistress-the latter being represented by the Violin. In a.s.signing the feminine gender to the instrument, the author thus accounts for the innovation he has hazarded:-"We have _Viola_ in Shakspeare, and _Viola_ in music. Why not, then, _Violina_-especially as her voice is treble?"

Sit juvenis quondam, nunc faemina.-_Virg._

To the foregoing hints on distinctive peculiarities among the Fiddle tribe, I am tempted to add a few words about the two extremes that const.i.tute, respectively, the _giant_ and the _dwarf_ of the race; namely, the _double-ba.s.s_ (or _contra-ba.s.so_) and the _kit_. The former of these, then-the double-ba.s.s-is a fellow of imposing appearance, with the weight and strength of an Ajax, and a voice that you might conceive him to have borrowed from a thunder-cloud. In the a.s.sembled circle, he is dogmatical, slow, and heavy; yet one is forced to confess that there is a _depth_ in all he utters, and that what he wants in brilliancy, is amply made up in profundity. He hears the _flourishes_ of those around him, but seems to take little heed of them-and sometimes makes a solemn pause, as if in meditation, while the rest are chattering away. His manner, even when he perfectly _agrees_ with what is advanced by others, has a bluffness in it, that is not _very_ unlike _dissent_. His arguments are of the sledge-hammer kind, knocking down contradiction.

He is the Doctor Johnson of the society-he settles matters with a _growl_. With all his surliness, however, he is a thoroughly good fellow at bottom, and, as he is well-understood, and pretty much humoured, by his a.s.sociates, the general harmony is none the worse for his presence-nay, rather, would be very sensibly subtracted from, were he absent.-As for the _kit_, he is a pert little whipper-snapper, with a voice as _uppish_ as his notions of _himself_, and a figure _any thing_ but _symmetrical_, since it is, at once, by an odd contrariety, stunted in height, and lanky in appearance. He is hardly ever seen in the company of his own kith and kin, his own fraternity of the larger growth-for his vanity leads him to seek distinction on _any_ terms, and so he goes into dancing academies, or among family step-hop-and-jump-learners, where he is a sort of c.o.c.k-of-the-walk, and where, to judge from the quaint and abruptly intermitted strains that proceed from him, he seems to crow and chuckle at the absurdities of the "awkward squad" whom he delights to set in motion. As he is p.r.o.ne to imitation, and proud of his squeaking voice, you will sometimes hear him mimic the style and accents of his bigger brethren, behind their backs; but these attempts incline you only to a smile-which he mistakes for approbation. On the whole, though tolerated, he is never respected. The very person who _introduces_ him into such society as that just mentioned, makes a mere convenience of him; but, because he is usually carried thither in the _pocket_ of his introducer, he fancies himself, forsooth, a prodigious pet! Was there ever such impudence?

If there be, by a strange possibility, any special admirers of the Pigmy, who shall think him too sharply dealt with in the above sketch, let them turn for comfort to Sir John Hawkins, in whose pages they will find mention of a certain London dancing-master, named Pemberton, who was so consummate a handler of the kit, as to be able to play entire _solos_ on it, and to exhibit in his performance (so declares the statement) _all_ the graces and elegancies of _the violin_, although himself a man of the most corpulent make! Besides this consolatory reference, let me hint to the affecters of the kit, that possibly the cla.s.sic term "lyra jocosa" might, without much violence, be appropriated to the honour of their queer little favourite!

_A Caricature repudiated._-A correspondent of the _Harmonicon_, who has played on the violin amusingly enough with his _pen_, but appears, from sundry indicative points, to have been no _bowman_, has designated the instrument as "a box, half beech, half fir, on which are stretched the entrails of a cat," and from which, sounds are drawn "with a few horse-hairs," and which, moreover, "cannot be held without a distortion of the frame, and obliges us to a.s.sume an att.i.tude so disagreeable to the head, by the chin of which, it is held."-This is a description wherewith the true Amateur will hold no sympathy: he will regard it no otherwise than with "hatefullest disrelish." He will not fail to remember, too, that it is the _sheep's_ interior which is laid under contribution, and _not_ the _cat's_. Then, again, doubtless, the depression of the chin _is_ sometimes the reverse of agreeable; but this is an objection rarely in great force, except with those round-headed gentlemen who have short chins. A little punchy man, with a broad, baffling, double chin, cannot be great upon the fiddle-and should not aim at it. It is the business of a perfect performer to have a _long_ chin-a chin whose inclination or "facilis descensus" amounts to a fixed welcome towards the instrument, which it embraces with a continuity that in no degree compromises the head. Such a chin is the fiddler's firm friend;-its holdfast properties ent.i.tle it, as fitly as the virtuous man in Horace, to the appellation of "tenax propositi." Such a chin, for example, had Paganini.

_Ambition let down._-During the last year of Spagnoletti's Saturnian rule at the Opera-House, when the reins of leaders.h.i.+p were somewhat relaxed in the hands of that good senior, it chanced that one of his subjects, scarcely less ambitious than was Jove of old, and equally hopeful of his own succession, aspired prematurely to a position in the orchestral realm as elevated as the throne of the great directing power.

In plainer language, a certain noted First Violinist, scarcely satisfied with being second to the Leader, sought to magnify his importance by the help of a stool that was considerably more _stilted_ in its proportions than that occupied by his brethren of the band. Thus raised into notice, he managed, with many flourishes of his bow-arm, to divide the public attention with the Leader himself, and was enabled to look down on all besides. But pride does not triumph thus to _the end_. Spagnoletti himself, perhaps indisposed, through his then feebler condition, to contend with usurpation, took no notice of this upstart proceeding; but the members of the band, feeling it to be an indignity to their Leader, still more than to themselves, took counsel together for the purpose of putting it down. The expedient they hit upon was equally ingenious and successful. One of the carpenters of the establishment had private instructions to saw off a small bit from the lanky legs of the stool, previously to each night's sitting in the orchestra; and, by this graduated system of reduction, or what musicians would term a "_sempre diminuendo_," the obnoxious pretender was "let down easy," and brought to a reasonable level. Thus, though not going down, in his own estimation, he was much depressed, in the eyes of all beside. Whether he thought it worth while, when he discovered his situation, to enquire how it happened, is more than remains on record-but, if he did so, it is easy to conceive the sort of vague reply by which his mystification would be "made absolute."

_A new resource in difficulty._-The following graphic sketch-a piece of what our American brethren delight to designate as the _real grit_-is from Colonel Crockett's "Adventures in Texas:"-

"As we drew nigh to the Was.h.i.+ta, the silence was broken alone by our own talk and the clattering of our horses' hoofs; and we imagined ourselves pretty much the only travellers, when we were suddenly somewhat startled by the sound of music. We checked our horses, and listened, and the music continued. 'What can all that mean?' says I. We listened again, and we now heard, 'Hail, Columbia, happy land!' played in first-rate style. 'That's fine,' says I. 'Fine as silk, Colonel, and leetle finer,'

says the other; 'but hark, the tune's changed.' We took another spell of listening, and now the musician struck up, in a brisk and lively manner, 'Over the water to Charley.' 'That's mighty mysterious,' says one; 'Can't cipher it out, no-how,' says a third. 'Then let us go ahead,'

says I, and off we dashed at a pretty rapid gait, I tell you-by no means slow.

"As we approached the river, we saw, to the right of the road, a new clearing on a hill, where several men were at work, and running down the hill like wild Indians, or rather like the office-holders in pursuit of the depositees. There appeared to be no time to be lost; so they ran, and we cut ahead for the crossing. The music continued all this time stronger and stronger, and the very notes appeared to speak distinctly, 'Over the water to Charley!'

"When we reached the crossing, we were struck all of a heap at beholding a man seated in a sulky, in the middle of the river, and playing for his life on a fiddle. The horse was up to his middle in the water: and it seemed as if the flimsy vehicle was ready to be swept away by the current. Still the fiddler fiddled on composedly, as if his life had been insured, and he was nothing more than a pa.s.senger! We thought he was mad,-and shouted to him. He heard us, and stopped his music. 'You have missed the crossing,' shouted one of the men from the clearing.-'I _know_ I have,' returned the fiddler.-'If you go ten feet farther, you will be drowned.'-'I _know_ I shall,' returned the fiddler.-'Turn back,'

said the man.-'I _can't_,' said the other. 'Then how will you _get out_?'-'I'm sure I _don't know_.'

"The men from the clearing, who understood the river, took our horses, and rode up to the sulky, and, after some difficulty, succeeded in bringing the traveller safe to sh.o.r.e, when we recognised the worthy _parson_ who had fiddled for us at the puppet-show at Little Rock. They told him that he had had a narrow escape; and he replied, that he had found that out an hour ago! He said he had been fiddling to the fishes for a full hour, and had exhausted all the tunes that he could play without notes. We then asked him what could have induced him to think of fiddling at a time of such peril; and he replied, that he had remarked, in his progress through life, that there was nothing in universal natur so well calculated to draw people together, as the sound of a fiddle; and he knew that he might bawl until he was hoa.r.s.e for a.s.sistance, and no one would stir a peg; but they would no sooner hear the sc.r.a.ping of his catgut, than they would quit all other business, and come to the spot in flocks."

_A prejudice overcome._-Another story of a clergyman fond of fiddling-in this instance, a Scotchman-is to be found in _Tait's Magazine_.-"A number of his paris.h.i.+oners considered it as quite derogatory to his calling, that he should play upon the fiddle; so a deputation of them waited upon him, and remonstrated against this _crying_ enormity. He said-"Gentlemen, did you ever see my fiddle, or hear me play?"-"No!"-"You shall do both," said he; and immediately brought a violoncello, on which he struck up a Psalm tone, asking if they had any objection to join him with their voices. They complied; and, when all was over, they expressed themselves perfectly satisfied of his orthodoxy. "A muckle, respectable, _releegious_-sounding fiddle like _that_, there was nae harm in. Na, na! it was nane o' yer scandalous penny-weddin' fiddles that they had heard o'!"

It will not have been forgotten, by some of my readers, that the musical propensities of the Rev. Charles Wesley were made a subject of stringent comment by the poet Cowper, who pointed his remarks by the line-

"With wire and catgut he concludes the day."

It is recorded, however (if I rightly remember), that the candid and kind-hearted Cowper saw reason, afterwards, to alter his impressions on that head, and to regret that he had reflected, with such freedom of pen, on the harmless recreations of the earnestly pious minister.

--From the foregoing incidental references to men of the sacred calling, we pa.s.s, by no violent transition, into the church-yard. On a stone, in the porch at the southern entrance of the collegiate church, Wolverhampton, is the following singular epitaph. "Near this place lies Claudius Phillips, whose _absolute contempt of riches_, and _inimitable performance upon the violin_, made him the admiration of all that knew him. He was born in Wales, made the tour of Europe, and, after the experience of _both_ kinds of fortune, died in 1733."

Belonging to the same equivocal species of a.s.sociation with the grave, and by no means to be commended for its admixture of the _quaint_ with the solemn, is the following "musician's epitaph," from whence gotten, I am unable to say:-

Ah! what avails, when wrapped in shroud and pall, Who jigged, who fiddled, or who sang the best?

What are to _me_ the crotchets, quavers, all, When I have found an everlasting _rest_?

_Fifty Years' Fiddling._-"An interesting jubilee was lately kept here (Mannheim). The scholars of our venerable Orchestra Director, M. Erasmus Eisenmenger, now in his 70th year, met to celebrate the fiftieth year of his life spent as an artist. It is worthy of remark that he played, in the _same_ musical saloon, the _same_ concerto on the violin that he had executed fifty years ago-as well as a double concerto of Viotti, which he played with his pupil, Chapel-master Frey, with a spirit and vigour quite wonderful at his age." (_Harmonicon_, 1830.)-[The curious in coincidences ought to be informed whether it was also the _same fiddle_, as formerly, that was thus eloquent in the hands of the worthy old gentleman.]

_Another fifty years of it!_-Teobaldo Gatti, a native of Florence, died at Paris in 1727, at a very advanced age, after having been, for rather more than half a century, a performer on the _ba.s.s-viol_ in the orchestra of the Opera there. Is it possible to be more completely identified with one's instrument?

_Glory made out of Shame._-A stranger, visiting Greenwich Hospital, saw a pensioner in a yellow coat, which is the punishment for disorderly behaviour. Surprised at the singularity of the man's appearance, he asked him what it meant? "Oh, sir," replied the fellow, "we who wear yellow coats are the _music_, and it is I who play the _first fiddle_."

(_Hawkins's anecdotes._)

_Discrimination._-"Gentlemen," said an auctioneer, addressing the bargain-hunters by whom his sale-room was crammed-"the next lot is a very fine-toned violin."-"_A violin_, sir!" exclaimed his clerk, in surprise-"You must have made some mistake, sir,-the next lot is _the fiddle_!"

_The Cremona Fiddle._-Messrs. Schramm and Karstens, the princ.i.p.als of a wealthy house of agency at Hamburg, were eager pract.i.tioners of the arts of acc.u.mulation. In the month of May, 1794, their extensive warehouse received the honour of a visit from an individual of unexceptionable appearance and costume, who, after bargaining for a certain number of ells of cloth, and ordering them to be cut off from the piece, found, on examination of his purse, that his instant coin was somewhat short of the sum required. He handed over, however, all the cash he had-took an acknowledgment for it-ordered the cloth to be laid aside for him, and arranged to return in a couple of hours with the balance of the money.

"By the by," added he, "I may just as well leave with you this _Cremona_, which is rather in my way, while I'm running about the town.

It is an instrument of particular value, for which I refused yesterday a matter of 300 ducats: place it there in the corner, on the top of the cloth, and it will be quite safe till my return."

It happened, about an hour afterwards, that a handsome carriage stopped at the door of Messrs. S. and K.'s warehouse. A personage, dressed with the utmost attention to effect, and decorated with various knightly insignia, alighted under an escort of three lacqueys in livery. Mons.

Schramm pressed forward to receive him, and conducted him into the warehouse. His highness purchased several small articles, and, whilst expressing his satisfaction at the arrangement and variety of the goods before him, chanced to rest his eyes on the violin. Caught by its appearance, he took it up, turned it over and over, contemplated it with a kindling eye, and, calling forward one of his lacqueys, ordered him to make trial of it. The domestic proceeded to do so in a masterly manner, and drew forth sounds of such harmony as to bring together, by the ears, a listening crowd of mute gapers at so extraordinary a virtuoso. Mons.

Schramm and the clerks were warmed up into an admiration far above the commercial temperature; and the whole scene appeared to partake of enchantment. Presently, motioning his domestic to stop, the great man enquired of him, in the presence of all, what he thought of the instrument, and what estimate he should incline to form of its value.

"Why, certainly," said the livery-man, after a pause of examination, "if your Excellency could make it your Excellency's own for 500 ducats, I should say that your Excellency would be in possession of the finest Cremona fiddle in the world!" The man of distinction took Mons. Schramm aside, and offered him 400: from that he ascended to 500; but the man of commerce told the man of distinction that the instrument belonged to a stranger, and explained the circ.u.mstances under which it had been left there. "Now, mark me, Mons. Schramm," said the great man; "if you can secure me this violin, you shall not repent your having obliged me: do your utmost to make the purchase for me, and go to 500 ducats, if necessary; there's my address, and I shall expect to see you at five, with the fiddle and the account."-Mons. Schramm, full of protestations of his readiness to do all in his power, respectfully bows out his visitor.

In an hour or two, the impatiently-expected owner of the instrument makes his re-appearance, takes up his parcel and violin, and is about to depart. "Stay, sir," said Mons. Schramm, a little embarra.s.sed-"one word with you, if you please-would you feel inclined to s-, to sell that violin? I could make you a good offer for it-say 350 ducats, cash." The proposition, however, is met by a short and dry answer in the negative, and a renewed movement to depart. Mons. Schramm then offers him 360, and so on, till in short, after considerable discussion, the stranger consents to part with the object of solicitation,-but still as a matter of regret,-for the sum of 470 ducats, and to give a receipt for 500. The bargain is completed, and Mons. Schramm, receiving the fiddle with a chuckle of delight, takes leave of the stranger with lavish civility.