, treated him with most brotherly kindness and cordiality.
Prince and Princess Poniatowsky also sent their cards to the now
successful artist, and gave him letters of introduction to distinguished
people which wore of great use in his concert tour. His career had now
become assured, and the world received him with open arms.

The following year, 1835, contributed a catalogue of similar successes
in various cities of Italy and France, culminating in a grand concert at
Paris in the Opera-house, where the most distinguished musicians of the
city gave their warmest applause in recognition of the growing fame and
skill of Ole Bull, for he had already begun to illustrate a new field in
music by setting the quaint poetic legends and folk-songs of his native
land. His specialty as a composer was in the domain of descriptive
music, his genius was for the picturesque. His vivid imagination,
full of poetic phantasy, and saturated with the heroic traditions and
fairy-lore of a race singularly rich in this inheritance from an earlier
age, instinctively flowered into art-forms designed to embody this
legendary wealth. Ole Bull's violin compositions, though dry and
rigorous musicians object to them as lacking in depth of science,
as shallow and sensational, are distinctly tone-pictures full of
suggestiveness for the imagination. It was this peculiarity which early
began to impress his audiences, and gave Ole Bull a separate place by
himself in an age of eminent players.

IV.

In 1836 and 1837 Ole Bull gave one hundred and eighty concerts in
England during the space of sixteen months. By this time he had become
famous, and a mere announcement sufficed to attract large audiences.
Subsequently he visited successively every town of importance in Europe,
earning large amounts of money and golden opinions everywhere. For
a long time our artist used a fine Guarnerius violin and afterward a
Nicholas Amati, which was said to be the finest instrument of this make
in the world. But the violin which Ole Bull prized in latter years
above all others was the famous Gaspar di Salo with the scroll carved
by Benvenuto Cellini. Mr. Barnett Phillips, an American _litterateur_,
tells the story of this noble old instrument, as related in Ole Bull's
words:

"Well, in 1839 I gave sixteen concerts at Vienna, and then Rhehazek was
the great violin collector. I saw at his house this violin for the first
time. I just went wild over it. 'Will you sell it?'