thousand instruments, all sold, paid for, and the money spent, and it affords me great satisfaction.” To return to “Le Messie.” This wonderful instrument remained in Vuillaume’s possession until his death. He kept it for inspection in a glass case, and never allowed it to be touched, even by the most experienced hands, as we can personally testify. These precautions gave rise to the rumour of its being a violin of his own construction, and the statement written by him inside the belly has, therefore, an additional interest and importance. We have some interesting records of the anxieties attendant upon such precious possessions, in a correspondence which passed between Vuillaume and Madame Alard (his daughter) at the time of the Franco-German war. On the 30th of August, 1870, he wrote—“In my last I spoke to you of Alard’s Violin, of my ‘Messie,’ and of certain valuables which I have here. I do not know what to do with them, for, if one survives, one will be able to recover the valuables when the hubbub is over, as some sous can be buried; but violins cannot be buried.” In another letter he wrote—“I do not know what to do with the precious things I have; first, there are your violins—what ought I to do with them? The boxes of plate, my medals, and the ‘Messie’—where ought I to place all these in case of pillage?” The medals referred to are no doubt those conferred upon him in connection with the Paris Exhibitions of 1827, 1834, 1839, 1844, 1855, and the Great Exhibition in England of 1851. Again he wrote on the 13th of September—“I am going to hide your husband’s violins with the ‘Messie.’ I have found quite a safe hiding place protected from fire—‘puis à la grâce de Dieu’!” “Le Messie” happily escaped the dangers apprehended by Vuillaume, and after his death (19th March, 1875), in the absence of definite instructions as to its disposal, it was inherited by his only children, Jeanne Emilie and Claire Marie, in common. The former was the wife of M. Alard, the violinist, and the second daughter had married M. Mestayer, in whose charge the violin was left, together with other valuable instruments, during Vuillaume’s absence from Paris in the terrible time of the Commune. After his death the violin was valued for the estate at £1,000, and in 1877 M. Alard bought out his sister-in-law’s half-share for £500 and thus became, through his wife, the entire owner. Vuillaume probably considered it unnecessary during his lifetime to present Alard with this violin, as he was already well provided with instruments, and had the choice of some of the finest that passed through Vuillaume’s hands. These included the famous Stradivari known as the “Alard,” the fine Giuseppe Guarnieri, dated 1742 (presented after Alard’s death to the Paris Conservatoire), and the Grand Nicolo Amati, dated 1645, now in the possession of Baron Knoop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: