This distinction, however, should be noted that while Corelli is recommended for the acquisition of _tone_ and _steadiness_, he is not a sufficient authority as to the varieties and subtleties of _bowing_; for (as heretofore observed) much that relates to these has been added _since_ his time to the province of the violin. But the cultivation of these graces and refinements of the bow is, after all, in its natural order, a thing for later attention. The simplicity of Corelli is always admirable for the earlier purposes; and then, for the niceties of the bow, and for the communication of modern resources, there are various special guides of good value—as the studies of Fiorillo—the elaborate, systematic, and explanatory “Violin-School” of Spohr, as edited for English students by Mr. John Bishop—and that justly-cited boast of the French _Conservatoire_, the combined system of Rode, Kreutzer, and Baillot[65]. Among the consequences of that ambition of display which I have had occasion to refer to as a root of evil among Amateurs, is the tendency to throw off prematurely the salutary restraints of professional aid. This is a mistake of the most injurious kind. The violin, as the most difficult of all instruments, demands more than any other the prolonged assistance of the Master. There is no such being to be met with as a _real_ self-taught Violinist. Scrapers and raspers there may be, of various degrees of roughness and wretchedness, who have found out the art of tormenting, _by themselves_; but _that_ is quite another matter. Paganini himself, the most wild and singular of players, did not acquire his excellence independently of magisterial rule. He was amply tutored during the early years of his study; and, when he had become a great Master, he still proceeded by calculations founded partly on what he had already been taught, though transcending it in reach and refinement. Let not the aspiring student, therefore, seek to _fly_ before he can _run_, and reject the preceptor while his state is essentially that of pupilage. They who, at a very early period, discontinuing the _study_ of the instrument, think of playing to _amuse their friends_, will fail inevitably, and be considered as the very reverse of what is agreeable or, to present the same notable truth at the point of an indifferent epigram: _Beginners_, lab’ring at the fiddle, Are apt to flounder _in the middle_: Such, when our comfort they diminish, Are wisely prayed to _make a finish_!