re he made a
triumphal tour through Europe, appearing in Berlin, Paris and London. He
was acknowledged the most wonderful violinist that had ever been heard. He
soon amassed a colossal fortune. Withal, Paganini was almost as much a
charlatan as he was an original genius. He liked to impress his audiences
by fantastic eccentricities and by mere tricks of legerdemain, such as
dropping and catching his instrument, or breaking one string after another
to finish his concert on one alone. Other tricks of virtuosity, such as
tuning up the A string by a semi-tone, left hand pizzicato, or his double
thirds, were executed with such stupendous technique that they held
connoisseurs and amateurs spellbound. His individuality, in fact, was so
abnormal that it rendered him unfit to play with others in quartets or
other chamber music. As a man he had all the worst faults of a genius. The
vast sums of money which he accumulated were gambled away. His whole life
was disgraced by unbridled sensuality coupled with sordid avarice. This
explains in a measure Paganini's inferior rank as a composer. Famous are
his variations on the tune "God Save the King," his "Studies," his twenty
variations on "Il Carnevale di Venezia," and the concert allegro "Perpetual
Motion." The celebrated twenty-four violin capricci, written early in
Paganini's career, have been rendered familiar by their transcriptions to
the pianoforte by Schumann and Liszt. Paganini died from the results of
dissipation. He left his famous Guarnero fiddle to his birthplace, Genoa.

[Sidenote: Frederick William IV. King of Prussia]

In Germany, King Frederick William III. of Prussia died in his sixty-sixth
year. He was succeeded by Frederick William IV. The pending dispute between
the Prussian Government and the Vatican, arising out of the refusal of the
Rhenish priests to sanction marriages between Catholics and Protestants,
found a temporary adjustment by the new king's concessions to the clergy.

[Sidenote: Religious discussions]

[Sidenote: Chinese naval brigade]

[Sidenote: Capture of Chusan]

In England, too, church questions temporarily rose uppermost during debates
in Parliament over the proposed government assistance to schools in which
the Douay Bible, or Roman Catholic version of the Scriptures, was used. On
account of these Parliamentary debates, and the attempted reform of Irish
registration by which more Roman Catholic voters were to be admitted, a
loud anti-Popery