ession of such charming qualities as
these that has rendered the violin at all times the favorite companion
of the leisure moments of men eminent in the walks of literature, of
princes, and other persons of taste and refinement. Some among those
first mentioned have excelled as violin-performers, notwithstanding
their other occupations.

Girardini, when asked how long it would take to learn to play the
violin, replied, "Twelve hours a day for twenty years." Another thus
intimates how long and arduous must be the toil before its mastery can
be acquired:--

"The difficulty of thoroughly mastering the violin--the
difficulty, that is, of combining perfect execution with
brilliancy of tone and perfect expression--is so vast, that
nothing short of indomitable patience and perseverance,
united with those indispensable faculties which all good
players must possess, will succeed in overcoming them.
'Twelve years' practice,' says a musical critic, 'on the
violin, will produce about as much proficiency as one year's
practice on the piano.' If that is so, we may well imagine
that a man, who by dint of perseverance has at length
qualified himself to take his place in an orchestra, may
content himself by merely maintaining his acquired skill,
without attempting to rival the great heads of the
profession.

"The time which some students will devote to fiddling is
almost incredible. We have known a clever man to practise
every waking hour in the day, rising early and sitting up
late, and sparing hardly one hour in the twenty-four for
meals, for two years together, in the hope of qualifying
himself for the leadership in a provincial orchestra; which,
after all, he failed in doing. We have known men who fiddled
in bed when they could not sleep, rather than waste the
time; and others who have carried a dumb finger-board in
their pockets, in order to practise the fingering of
difficult passages while walking abroad or travelling by
coach."

It is, however, far from the purpose of the writer to discourage
those who may wish to become proficient as performers on this
delightful instrument, or to do otherwise than attempt to increase the
number of those, who, having carefully listened to master-players, and
having thus learned of the wonderful intonations and of the great
refinement of musical expression of