The concert postponed from May 21st was then announced for June 3rd, but the question of the high prices had yet to be disposed of. Conflicting statements were made--one to the effect that Paganini expressed his regret that they had not been fixed still higher! Be that as it may, that was not the time to trifle with an angry public. There was not a moment to be lost, and some one must give way. The matter was soon decided. On June 2nd, appeared in _The Courier_ and _The Globe_ the translation of a letter from Paganini, which may be reproduced for the sake of its contents: "The time appointed for my first Concert at the King's Theatre so nearly approaches, that I feel it my duty to announce it myself, and to claim the favour of the English nation, which honours the arts as much as I respect her. Having been accustomed in all the towns of the Continent to double the usual prices at the theatres where I have given my Concerts, and, but little acquainted with the customs of this Capital, where I present myself for the first time, I thought I might do the same here. But having been informed by several papers that the existing prices here are higher than those on the Continent, and having myself ascertained that the statement was correct, I willingly second the wish of a public whose esteem and protection I desire as my greatest recompense. (Signed) NICOLO PAGANINI. London, June 1st, 1831." At last the concert took place in the King's Theatre, June 3rd, 1831. There was an orchestra erected on the stage. Many musicians have left a record of the extraordinary impression made by Paganini on that occasion, and have attempted to describe the man. In the present place quotation may be limited to the remarks of the editor of _The Harmonicon_, William Ayrton, a cultivated musician, and a sober-minded critic. He wrote thus: "The long, laboured, reiterated articles relative to Paganini, in all the foreign journals for years past, have spoken of his powers as so astonishing, that we were quite prepared to find them fall far short of report; but his performances at his first concert, on the 3rd of last month, convinced us that it is possible to exceed the most sanguine expectation, and to surpass what the most eulogistic writers have asserted. We speak, however, let it be understood, in reference to his powers of execution solely. These are little less than marvellous, and such as we could only have believed on the evidence of our own senses; they imply a strong natural propensity to music, with an industry, a perseverance, a devotedness, and also a skill in inventing means, without any parallel in the history of his instrument." [Illustration: _Plate VII.--See Appendix._ SKETCH BY D. MACLISE, R.A.]