211.—A BURIAL PLACE DENIED.
The incidents connected with Paganini's death and burial were as peculiar as was the life of that very peculiar man.
The great violinist died at Nice, Italy, in 1840. When a priest came to administer the last sacrament, Paganini, not believing that death was so near, postponed this final consolation of the church. The priest departed, and in a few hours the violinist died without the presence of a clergyman. This priest reported that Paganini had refused the sacrament; so, when application was made for a burial permit, it was denied by the church. The Governor of the province, and even the King, petitioned the Bishop to allow the body to be interred in sacred soil, but the decree was not altered.
A law suit was entered upon by the heirs, and a waiting room was provided for the corpse, where it could pass the time till sentence was pronounced.
While this law suit was being carried on in a bitter way to secure a good Catholic burial according to the rites of his church, and while Paganini was quietly and patiently awaiting the decision as to where should be his last resting place, a Jew proposed to one of Paganini's friends to purchase the remains, offering 30,000 francs for the embalmed mummy, for the purpose of exhibiting it in England and elsewhere!
The body reposed in a pest house for three years, awaiting interment. Finally a funeral was conceded by the Pope, and in a small boat the remains of the greatest of violinists were carried to Genoa, his birthplace, and in 1845 were interred near Parma, in a splendid tomb erected by his son.
Paganini left to his son a fortune amounting to £80,000. In his will he left a fixed sum for masses which were to be said for the repose of his soul. It is certainly to be hoped that his soul found rest sooner than it was permitted by the church for his body to rest.
His native city of Genoa has preserved Paganini's violin, a valuable Guarnerius, and since his death no hand has touched it save one, that of his pupil Sivori, for whom it was removed from its glass case.