," said Viotti, "I will give you twenty francs for your violin. You
can buy a much better one for that price; but let me try it a little."

He took the violin in his hands, and produced some extraordinary
effects from it. A considerable crowd gathered around, and listened
with curiosity and astonishment to the performance. Langle seized on
the opportunity, and passed around the hat, gathering a goodly amount of
chink from the bystanders, which, with the twenty francs, was handed to
the astonished old beggar.

"Stay a moment," said the blind man, recovering a little from his
surprise; "just now I said I would sell the violin for twenty francs,
but I did not know it was so good. I ought to have at least double for
it."

Viotti had never received a more genuine compliment, and he did not
hesitate to give the old man two pieces of gold instead of one, and then
immediately retired from the spot, passing through the crowd with the
tin-plate instrument under his arm. He had scarcely gone forty yards
when he felt some one pulling at his sleeve; it was a workman, who
politely took off his cap, and said:

"Sir, you have paid too dear for that violin; and if you are an amateur,
as it was I who made it, I can supply you with as many as you like at
six francs each."

This was Eustache; he had just come in time to hear the conclusion of
the bargain, and, little dreaming that he was so clever a violin-maker,
wished to continue a trade that had begun so successfully. However,
Viotti was quite satisfied with the one sample he had bought. He never
parted with that instrument; and, when the effects of Viotti were sold
in London after his death, though the tin fiddle only brought a few
shillings, an amateur of curiosities sought out the purchaser, and
offered him a large sum if he could explain how the strange instrument
came into the possession of the great violinist.

After resigning his position as director of the Grand Opera, Viotti
returned to London, which had become a second home to him, and spent his
remaining days there. He died on the 24th of March, 1824.

V.

Viotti established and settled for ever the fundamental principles of
violin-playing. He did not attain the marvelous skill of technique, the
varied subtile and dazzling effects, with which his successor, Paganini,
was to amaze the world, but, from the accounts transmitted to us, his
performance must have been characterized by great nobility, breadth, and
beauty