chim, Ernst, Levey, &c.
&c., are all in the list of great players; but there never was more than
one Paganini; he is unique and unapproachable.

"In Dublin, in 1830, Paganini saved the Musical Festival, which would
have failed but for his individual attraction, although supported by an
army of talent in every department. All was done in first-rate style,
not to be surpassed. There were Braham, Madame Stockhausen, H. Phillips,
De Begnis, &c. &c., Sir G. Smart for conductor, Cramer, Mori, and T.
Cooke for leaders, Lindley, Nicholson, Anfossi, Lidel Hermann, Pigott,
and above ninety musicians in the orchestra, and more than one hundred
and twenty singers in the chorus. The festival was held in the
Theatre-Royal, then, as now, the only building in Dublin capable of
accommodating the vast number which alone could render such a
speculation remunerative. The theatre can hold two thousand six hundred
persons, all of whom may see and hear, whether in the boxes, pit, or
galleries. The arrangement was, to have oratorios kept distinct on
certain mornings, and miscellaneous concerts on the evenings of other
days. The concerts were crushers, but the first oratorio was decidedly a
break down. The committee became alarmed; the expenses were enormous,
and heavy liabilities stared them in the face. There was no time to be
lost, and at the second oratorio, duly announced, there stood Paganini,
in front of the orchestra, violin in hand, on an advanced platform,
overhanging the pit, not unlike orator Henley's tub, as immortalized by
the poet. Between the acts of the Messiah and the Creation, he fiddled
'the Witches at the Great Walnut Tree of Benevento,' with other equally
appropriate interpolations, to the ecstatic delight of applauding
thousands, who cared not a pin for Hadyn or Handel, but came to hear
Paganini alone; and to the no small scandal of the select few, who
thought the episode a little on the north side of consistency. But the
money was thereby forthcoming, every body was paid, the committee
escaped without damage, and a hazardous speculation, undertaken by a few
spirited individuals, was wound up with deserved success.

"When the festival was over, the town empty, and a cannon-ball might
have fired down Sackville-street, without doing much injury, Paganini
was engaged by himself for a series of five performances in the theatre.
For this he received L1,143. His dividend on the first night's receipts
amounted to L330 (_horresc