acies of the different states
under whose protection he had till then lived in the public exercise of
his profession.

The truth of this appeal (which it is obvious no delinquent would have
dared to make) was never called in question, no one ever ventured to
take up the gauntlet which Paganini had thrown down, and his character
as a man thenceforward stood free from suspicion.

His whimsicalities, his love of fun, and many other points of his
character, are sometimes curiously exemplified in his fantasias. He
imitates in perfection the whistling and chirrupping of birds, the
tinkling and tolling of bells, and almost every variety of tone which
admits of being produced; and in his performance of _Le Streghe_
(The Witches) a favourite interlude of his, where the tremulous voices
of the old women are given with a truly singular and laughable effect,
his _vis comica_ finds peculiar scope.

His command of the back-string of the instrument has always been an
especial theme of wonder and admiration, and, in the opinion of some,
could only be accounted for by resorting to the theory of the dungeon,
and the supposition that his other strings being worn out, and not
having it in his power to supply their places, he had been forced from
necessity to take refuge in the string in question; a notion very like
that of a person who would assert, that for an opera dancer to learn to
stand on one leg, the true way would be--to have only one leg to stand
upon. We shall give Paganini's explanation of this mystery in his own
words:

"At Lucca, I had always to direct the opera when the reigning family
visited the theatre; I played three times a week at the court, and every
fortnight superintended the arrangement of a grand concert for the court
parties, which, however, the reigning princess, Elisa Bacciochi Princess
of Lucca and Piombino, Napoleon's favourite sister, was not always
present at, or did not hear to the close, as the harmonic tones of
my violin were apt to grate her nerves, but there never failed to be
present another much esteemed lady, who, while I had long admired
her, bore (at least so I imagined) a reciprocal feeling towards me.
Our passion gradually increased; and as it was necessary to keep it
concealed, the footing on which we stood with each other became in
consequence the more interesting. One day I promised to surprise her
with a musical _jeu d'esprit_, which should have a reference to
our mutual attachment. I ac