enced to imprisonment for
two years and fined L500. After George IV. became king, Brummel fell into
disfavor and had to leave London. Years later, the bankrupt beau, who had
been cheated out of a snuff-box by Prince George, presented the King with
another in token of submission. In the words of Thackeray, "the King took
the snuff, and ordered his horses, and drove on, and had not the grace to
notice his old companion--favorite, rival, enemy, superior." Poor Beau
Brummel died in extreme poverty. Some of the striking episodes of the
beau's career were dramatized in a play, which has kept alive the memory of
this lesser light of modern English society.

[Sidenote: Death of Paganini]

[Sidenote: Foremost violin virtuoso]

[Sidenote: Genius and charlatan]

[Sidenote: Paganini's compositions]

The career of another striking figure of the Nineteenth Century was ended
by the death of Paganini, the most remarkable of violin virtuosi. The son
of a poor shopkeeper, with little musical knowledge, but of some
proficiency on the mandolin, Paganini received an indifferent early
schooling in music. After the boy had come under the tutelage of Costa, the
orchestral leader of Genoa, his progress on the violin was rapid. At the
age of eight he composed a violin sonata. Soon he surpassed his
instructors. At sixteen he ran away from his father, after a concert at
Lucca, and made a tour of his own through Italy. Already he was addicted to
gambling and other forms of dissipation. At Leghorn he had to sell his
violin to pay a gambling debt. A Frenchman, M. Levron, lent him his own
Guarnero violin. When he heard him play on it he was so charmed that he
made him a present of the instrument. Paganini kept the Guarnero throughout
the rest of his life. It was the turning-point of his career. After two
years of incessant practice, Paganini appeared in public again at Lucca,
where he aroused unbounded enthusiasm by his novel performances on the G
string. For the next twenty years he travelled and played throughout Italy,
vanquishing all rivals. His superstitious countrymen believed him to be in
league with the Evil One, an impression which Paganini loved to confirm by
dark utterances and eccentricities of dress. Not until 1828 did he leave
his own country to gather foreign laurels. His first appearance at Vienna
was an unprecedented triumph. The Emperor appointed him court violinist and
the city of Vienna presented him with a gold medal. From the