orty thousand francs.

One of his last, if not his very last, concert was given with the
guitar-player, Signor Legnani, at Turin, on the 9th of June, 1837,
for the benefit of the poor. He was then on his way to fulfill his
engagements at the fatal Parisian casino, which opened with much
splendor in the November following. But his health had again broken
down, and the fatigue of the journey had told upon him so much that he
was unable to appear at the casino. When the enterprise was found to
be a failure, a pettifogging lawsuit was carried on against him, and,
according to Fetis, who is very explicit on this subject, the French
judges condemned him to pay the aforesaid forty thousand francs, and to
be deprived of his liberty until that amount was paid--all this without
hearing his defense!

The career of Paganini was at this critical period fast drawing to a
close. His medical advisers recommended him to return at once to the
South, fearing that the winter would kill him in Paris. He died at Nice
on May 27, 1840, aged fifty-six years. He left to his legitimized son
Achille, the offspring of his _liaison_ with the singer Antonia Bianchi,
a fortune of eighty thousand pounds, and the title of baron, of which he
had received the patent in Germany. His beautiful Guarnerius violin, the
vehicle of so many splendid artistic triumphs, he bequeathed to the town
of Genoa, where he was born. Though Paganini was superstitious, and died
a son of Holy Church, he did not leave any money in religious bequests,
nor did he even receive the last sacraments. The authorities of Rome
raised many difficulties about the funeral, and it was only after an
enormous amount of trouble and expense that Achille was able to have a
solemn service to the memory of his father performed at Parma. It was
five years after Paganini's death that this occurred, and permission
was obtained to have the body removed to holy ground in the village
churchyard near the Villa Gajona. During this long period the dishonored
remains of the illustrious musician were at the hospital of Nice, where
the body had been embalmed, and afterward at a country place near Genoa,
belonging to the family. The superstitious peasantry believed that
strange noises were heard about the grave at night--the wailings of
the unsatisfied spirit of Paganini over the unsanctified burial of its
earthly shell. It was to end these painful stories that the young
baron made a final determined effort t