s, and in 1776 accepted the
invitation of Catherine to became the court composer at St. Petersburgh,
where he remained nine years and produced several of his best operas,
chief among them, "Il Barbiere di Seviglia" (a different version of
Beaumarchais's celebrated comedy from that afterward used by Rossini).

The empress was devotedly attached to him and showed her esteem in many
signal ways. On one occasion, while Paisiello was accompanying her in
a song, she observed that he shuddered with the bitter cold. On this
Catherine took off her splendid ermine cloak, decorated with clasps of
brilliants, and threw it over her tutor's shoulders. In a quarrel which
Paisiello had with Marshal Beloseloky, the temporary favorite of the
Russian Messalina, her favor was shown in a still more striking way. The
marshal had given the musician a blow, on which Paisiello, a very large,
athletic man, drubbed the Russian general most unmercifully. The latter
demanded the immediate dismissal of the composer for having insulted a
dignitary of the empire. Catherine's reply was similar to the one made
by Francis the First of France in a parallel case about Leonardo da
Vinci: "I neither can nor will attend to your request;' you forgot your
dignity when you gave an unoffending man and a great artist a blow. Are
you surprised that he should have forgotten it too? As for rank, it is
in my power to make fifty marshals, but not one Paisiello."

Some years after his return to Italy, he was engaged by Napoleon as
chapel-master; for that despot ruled the art and literature of his times
as autocratically as their politics. Though Paisiello did not wish to
obey the mandate, to refuse was ruin. The French ruler had already
shown his favor by giving him the preference over Cherubim in several
important musical contests, for the latter had always displayed stern
independence of courtly favor. On Paisiello's arrival in Paris, several
lucrative appointments indicated the sincerity of Napoleon's intentions.
The composer did not hesitate to stand on his rights as a musician
on all occasions. When Napoleon complained of the inefficiency of the
chapel service, he said, courageously: "I can't blame people for doing
their duty carelessly, when they are not justly paid." The cunning
Italian knew how to flatter, though, when occasion served. He once
addressed his master as "Sire."

"'Sire,' what do you mean?" answered the first consul. "I am a general
and nothing mo