ordinary genius--men who worked lovingly, guided by motives distinct
from commercial gain, so long as they were allowed to live by their
work. When, however, the duties on foreign musical instruments were
removed, the effect was to partially swamp the gallant little band of
Fiddle-makers, who were quite unable to compete with the French and
German makers in _price_ (not _excellence_, be it distinctly
understood, for we were undoubtedly ahead of our foreign competitors,
both in style and finish, at this period). The prices commanded by
many English makers previous to the repeal of the duty were thoroughly
remunerative. Five to twenty pounds were given for English Violins,
while Violoncellos and Tenors commanded prices proportionately high.
The English Violin-makers were thus enabled to bestow artistic care in
the making of their instruments. When, however, they were suddenly
called upon to compete on equal terms with a legion of foreign
manufacturers, the result was not so much that their ardour was
damped, as that they themselves were extinguished, and served as
another instance of the truth of the adage that "the good of the many
is the bane of the few."

In matters of magnitude, whether artistic or otherwise, competition is
undoubtedly healthy, there being always a small body of patrons who
are willing to check the tendency to deteriorate, common to all
productions, by encouraging the worker with extra remuneration, in
order that a high degree of excellence may be maintained; but in
matters confined to a small circle, as in the case of Violin-making,
the number of those willing to encourage artistic workmanship is so
minute as to fail even to support _one_ maker of excellence, and thus,
when deprived suddenly of its legitimate protection, the art, with
other similar handicrafts, must drift into decadence. If we look
around the Violin world, it is everywhere much the same. In Italy
there is no Stradivari in embryo, in France no coming Lupot, in
Germany no Jacob Stainer, and in England no future Banks or Forster.
Why so? The answer is twofold. Partly there is fault in the _demand_,
arising from the marked preference of this age for cheapness at the
expense of goodness; partly, too, there is a fault in the _supply_, a
foolish desire on the part of the makers to give maturity to their
instruments, wherein they always completely fail, yet they will not
give up their conceit. Here, again, were we dealing with matters of
g