Our Masonic Contemporaries.

ordered design . They may serve as fresh examples to illustrate the old maxim—that genius itself cannot neg lect Avith safet y that ordinary discipline which g ives familiarity Avith the rules ancl methods of art . The most surprising thing ( amounting indeed to an eni gma ) in connection with Bro . Ole Bull ' s power of

execution , Avas the very small amount of manual practice which he stated himself to have been in the habit of bestoAving on the instrument , a thing quite at variance vvith all the received notions , as well as usage , on the subject . His labour was , it appears , in by far the greater part , that of the head ; and a very limited

app lication of the hands sufficed to " carry out" what he excogitated—to work out his jmrposes and " foregone conclusions . " It sounds nobly as a proposition , that it is the " mind ' s eye , " and not the blind gropings of practice , that should show the violinist the way to greatnessand give him the knowledge which is

, power ; but , alas ! common natures—nay , all that are not marvellously " uncommon " •—find it necessary to draw to the utmost on both these resources , and cannot spare their hands from the neck of the

instrument . ¦ This comparatively trifling amount of musical cultivation , however , while it remains on a whole a " marvel and a mystery , " may be accepted as a proof itself of how little trick ( setting aside his extravagant quartet on one string ) there is in Bro . Ole-Bull ' s performance ; for the successful display of tricks is essentially

dependent on the most assiduous manipulation- —the charlatanerie of the instrument being the triumph of the hand , as distinguished from that of the mind . To particularise the various merits which belong to his execution would lead beyond the limit here proposed—else might his SAveet and pure tone , his delicate

harmonics , his frequent and Avinniug duplicity of notes and shakes , his rapid and exact staccato , & a ., be severally dwelt upon in terms of deli g ht . " We cannot forbear referring , however , to the "ravishing " of his consummate arpeggio , forming a finely regulated shoAver of notes , rich , round , and most distinct , although wrought out by such sli ght undulations of the how as to leave in something like a puzzle our notions of cause and effect .

To suit the Avide range 01 effects which his fancy sometimes dictated , it appears ( another marvel ) that he subjected his violin to some kind of alterative process , for AA'hich purpose ho would open it ( to use his own expression ) like an oyster . The manners and customs of this young artist , at the time Avhen he ivas exciting attention in England

, bore an impress of genius Avhich it was impossible to mistake ; and his occasional sallies of enthusiasm served to impart an increased interest to the abiding modesty Avhich tempered ancl dignified his character . In describing the state of his OAVU mind , under the immediate domination of musical ideashe ictured it

, p under the forcible figure of heaven and . hell , while he Avould speak of the object and intention of his playing as being to raise a curtain for the admission of those around him as participants in the mysteries open to himself . In his habits he is very temperate , Avisely avoiding to wear outbartificial excitementsthe

, y , spontaneous ardours of his eminently vital temperament . All the ordinary arts and intrigues by Avhich it is So common , and is sometimes thought so necessary , for

Our Masonic Contemporaries.

men to seek professional advancement , seems completely alien to the nature of this child of the North . In person he is tall , Avith a spare but muscular figure , li ght hair , a pale countenance , ancl a quick , restless eye , which becomes extremely animated while in the act of playing . When it is added that he entertains an invincible

antipathy to cats , exhibiting unequivocal signs ' of distress whenever one of those sleek and sly animals was discoA'ered in the social circle , we have furnished all the information Ave are able to give concerning a brother well entitled to commemoration . UnfortunatelyAve cannot tell where Bro . Ole Bull

, was initiated ; but that he is a Mason there is no doubt , as , during his visit to this country , he was frequently an honoured guest in several lodges , and delighted many of the brethren by his wonderful talents .

British Achitects.—New Materials For Their Lives.

BRITISH ACHITECTS . —NEW MATERIALS FOR THEIR LIVES .

SIB JOHK SOANE . —In one of the last conversations I had with the Builder ' s well-informed correspondent and friend , JohnBritton ( to -whom illustrated England owes so much ) , our talk turned to a subject not much to his liking—his old forgetful friend Sir John Soane . It arose , I remember ( the subject was not of my seeking ) from a discovery made bSir Francis Chantrey

, y , one of Soane ' s executors , and communicated , laughingly , to his "friend and assistant , Allan Cunningham , " of an entry in the bank-book of Sir John Soane of a payment , to a well-known literary veteran , for what Soane considered " a good and acceptable service . " The sumif my memory does not fail me ( and it is

, seldom wrong in matters connected with English literature and Euglish art ) , was £ 500 ; and the servicethe destruction , by " a Avell-knownhand , " of aportrait of Soane by Mr . Maelise . The portrait , hung in the rooms of the Literary Fund , was in no Avay a flattering likeness of the rich and able architect of the Bank of

England , but one , to use JN orthcote s illustration , for " Lodge's Heads , " a " Book of Beauty , " or any future gallery of illustrious Englishmen . Soane thought , like Mrs . Oldfield , in Pope" One would not look quite "horrid when , one ' s dead ,. And , Betty , give this cheek a little red ;"

and Avith Queen Elizabeth as well , who , in her last years , never saw herself in a mirror , on canvas , panel , or coin that represented her truly . All this is Avritten ramblingly , but still to the point . On this occasion , thus p leasantly brought to mind , Mr . Britton informed me that Soanethe son of a bricklayerat Beadingin

, , , Berkshire , was born at Whitchurch , in Oxfordshire , and iu the year 1755 . If I remember ri ghtly , he added , that he had gone to the expense of obtaining a baptismal certificate to that effect . My old friend Britton had , I suspect , some other motive than mere curiosity for obtaining the register of Soane ' s baptism .

He got , however , the entry too late to annoy Soane , if such had been his intention ; not like my clever and sarcastic friend the late Bight Honourable John Wilson Croker , Avho , out of sweet revenge for Madame D'Arbly ' s refusal to aid him in his annotated Boswell , procured tbe entry of Madame Fanny ' s baptism , at