singing one of her spirited arias,
challenged Paganini, who said, 'Madam, how could I dare, with all the
advantages you possess in beauty and your incomparable voice, take up
your glove?' His declining was of no avail; the whole company, aware
that such an opportunity might never occur again, urged him most
strongly, and finally persuaded him to send for his violin. After an
introduction, in which gleamed now and then the motive of Malibran's
song, he gave the whole melody with additional _fiorituras_, so that
the audience, amazed and overwhelmed, could not help confessing that he
was the master. Malibran herself was most emphatic of all in
proclaiming him the victor."

Paganini's favourite violin was a Joseph Guarnerius. An Italian
amateur, who evidently knew its value, lent it to the great maestro,
and, after hearing him play upon it, declared that no other hand should
touch it, and presented it to Paganini. He left it to his native city
of Genoa, where it is preserved in the town hall.

Ferdinand Barth, who painted "Paganini in Prison," was the son of a
carpenter, and was born in Bavaria in the early forties. For some time
he worked as a wood carver, and then began to paint, and studied at the
Munich Academy, under Piloty. Probably his best known picture is
"Choosing the Casket," in which he has depicted the familiar scene from
the "Merchant of Venice."

MENDELSSOHN.

Like Mozart, the composer of the "Songs without Words" had a sister, a
few years older than himself, who was possessed of great musical talent.

Mendelssohn's sister, Fanny, was born in 1805. In 1829 she became the
wife of Wilhelm Hensel, a noted historical and portrait painter.
Probably the most valuable and interesting of his works is the series
of portraits of all the celebrities who, from time to time, were the
guests of the Mendelssohn family. They number more than a thousand
drawings, and include, besides likenesses of poets, painters, and
philosophers, portraits of many people famous in the annals of
music,--Weber, Paganini, Ernst, Hiller, Liszt, Clara Schumann, Gounod,
Clara Novello, Lablache, and Grisi.

Rockstro tells the story of Fanny Mendelssohn's early death in the
following words:

"On Friday afternoon, the 14th of May, 1847, Madame Hensel, the beloved
sister Fanny, to whom, from earliest infancy, Felix, the child, the
boy, the man, had committed every secret of his beautiful art life; the
kindred spirit, with whom