more touching, than the voice and action of this remarkable child."

The young Rossini, after a year or two, came under the notice of the
celebrated teacher Tesei, of Bologna, who gave him lessons in pianoforte
playing and the voice, and obtained him a good place as boy-soprano
at one of the churches. He now attracted the attention of the Countess
Perticari, who admired his voice, and she sent him to the Lyceum to
learn fugue and counterpoint at the feet of a very strict Gamaliel,
Padre Mallei. The youth was no dull student, and, in spite of his
capricious indolence, which vexed the soul of his tutor, he made such
rapid progress that at the age of sixteen he was chosen to write the
cantata, annually awarded to the most promising student. Success greeted
the juvenile effort, and thus we see Rossini fairly launched as a
composer. Of the early operas which he poured out for five years it is
not needful to speak, except that one of them so pleased the austere
Marshal Massena that he exempted the composer from conscription.
The first opera which made Rossini's name famous through Europe was
"Tancredi," written for the Venetian public. To this opera belongs the
charming "Di tanti palpiti," written under the following circumstances:
Mme. Melanotte, the _prima donna_, took the whim during the final
rehearsal that she would not sing the opening air, but must have
another. Rossini went home in sore disgust, for the whole opera was
likely to be put off by this caprice. There were but two hours before
the performance, he sat waiting for his macaroni, when an exquisite air
came into his head, and it was written in five minutes.

After his great success he received offers from almost every town in
Italy, each clamoring to be served first. Every manager was required
to furnish his theatre with an opera from the pen of the new idol. For
these earlier essays he received a thousand francs each, and he wrote