Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, July 1850 — John Shaqi
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, July 1850Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, July 1850
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
admiration and profound sympathy she excited at Berlin, Vienna, Dresden,
Bremen, Munich, Aix la Chapelle, and, indeed, wherever her voice was
heard on the stage and at concerts. The testimonies of the highest
private regard, and public appreciation, were lavished upon her in the
shape of costly gifts, wreaths of silver, poetic tributes, philosophical
criticisms, the breathless silence or overwhelming applause of entranced
multitudes, and all the signs of enthusiastic delight at the advent of a
true child of nature and of song. To us the record of her two visits to
England are yet vivid, and it is needless to reiterate the extraordinary
demonstrations which there attested her singular merits, and unequalled
attractiveness. The population of Berlin and Vienna assembled at
midnight to bid her adieu; and when she last left her native city, every
ship in the harbor was manned and every quay crowded to see her embark
in the presence of the queen. Nor are these spontaneous tributes to be
exclusively ascribed to the love of novelty and the excitement of
renown. Heroes and heroines the world cannot do without, unless it
lapses into frigid and selfish materialism; admiration for talent and
sympathy with genius are but human instincts. It is seldom, however,
that these sentiments are upheld and sanctioned by reverence for worth.
Therefore is it beautiful to witness the voluntary oblations which
attend the great artist whose expression, however eloquent, is the true
manifestation of a pure, noble and disinterested spirit. It is not Jenny
Lind in her personality, but as a priestess of art, an interpreter of
humanity, a gifted and loyal expositer of feelings, that lend grace to
life and elevation to the soul, that draws the common heart toward her
with such frank and ardent gratulation. Her well-known and
unostentatious charities, her simplicity of life, her sympathy with her
fellow-creatures, and unaffected manners, so accord with the glorious
art she so rarely illustrates as to justify to reflection the impulsive
admiration she excites.
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