helping hand, and at another time praises as extravagantly as he before
has blamed, and kills time in such ways as these,--he may be an
encyclopædia of knowledge, but his success will always fall short of his
hopes. Firmness, decision, energy, and a delicate, quick perception; the
art not to say too much or too little, and to be quite clear in his own
mind, and with constant considerate kindness to increase the courage and
confidence of his pupils,--these are requisite above all things for a
singing-master as well as for a piano-teacher.

* * * * *

"My singers are to be educated for the public, for the stage, and must
therefore sing loud, study hard, force their execution, and make use of
a great deal of breath. How else will they be able to produce an
effect?"

_Answer._ What, then, is the effect of your culture? I know of none,
except that they at first are applauded, because they are young and
pretty, and are novelties; because they have good voices, and the
benevolent public wishes to encourage them; and then they disappear in a
year or two without leaving any trace.

"The singing-teacher can succeed in cultivating not more than one good
voice in twenty, with any noteworthy result. Hence the decadence of the
art of singing."

_Answer._ Unless some unusual disturbance or sickness occur, all voices
improve till the twenty-fourth year. When this is not the case, it is to
be attributed only to the singing-teacher.