r Cardini, an
aged Italian, who had been an intimate of the Garcia family, and was
well acquainted with Garcia's admirable method. Under his care my voice
improved in character and in compass, and the daily exercises in holding
long notes gave strength to my lungs. I think that I have felt all my
life through the benefit of those early lessons. Signor Cardini
remembered Italy before the invasion of Napoleon I., and sometimes
entertained me with stories of the escapades of his student life. He had
resided long in London, and had known the Duke of Wellington. He related
to me that once, when he was visiting the great soldier at his
country-seat near the sea, the duke invited him to look through his
telescope, saying, "Signor Cardini, venez voir comme on travaille les
Francais." This must have had reference to some manoeuvre of the English
fleet, I suppose. Mr. Boocock thought that it would be desirable for me
to take part in concerted pieces, with other instruments. This exercise
brought me great delight in the performance of certain trios and
quartettes. The reaction from this pleasure, however, was very painful,
and induced at times a visitation of morbid melancholy which threatened
to affect my health.

While I greatly disapprove of the scope and suggestions presented by
Count Tolstoi in his "Kreutzer Sonata," I yet think that, in the
training of young persons, some regard should be had to the
sensitiveness of youthful nerves, and to the overpowering response which
they often make to the appeals of music. The dry practice of a single
instrument and the simple drill of choral exercises will not be apt to
overstimulate the currents of nerve force. On the other hand, the power
and sweep of great orchestral performances, or even the suggestive charm
of some beautiful voice, will sometimes so disturb the mental
equilibrium of the hearer as to induce in him a listless melancholy, or,
worse still, an unreasoning and unreasonable discontent.

The early years of my youth were passed in the seclusion not only of
home life, but of a home most carefully and jealously guarded from all
that might be represented in the orthodox trinity of evil, the world,
the flesh, and the devil. My father had become deeply imbued with the
religious ideas of the time. He dreaded for his children the
dissipations of fashionable society, and even the risks of general
intercourse with the unsanctified many. He early embraced the cause of
temperance,