Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. BarnumBarnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
General
Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891; Circus owners -- United States -- Biography
I was always supplied with complimentary tickets when she gave concerts
in New York, and on the occasion of her last appearance in America, I
visited her in her room back of the stage, and bade her and her husband
adieu, with my best wishes. She expressed the same feeling to me in
return. She told me she should never sing much, if any more, in public;
but I reminded her that a good Providence had endowed her with a voice
which enabled her to contribute in an eminent degree to the enjoyment of
her fellow beings, and if she no longer needed the large sums of money
which they were willing to pay for this elevating and delightful
entertainment, she knew by experience what a genuine pleasure she would
receive by devoting the money to the alleviation of the wants and
sorrows of those who needed it.
“Ah! Mr. Barnum,” she replied, “that is very true, and it would be
ungrateful in me to not continue to use for the benefit of the poor and
lowly, that gift which our kind Heavenly Father has so graciously
bestowed upon me. Yes, I will continue to sing so long as my voice
lasts, but it will be mostly for charitable objects, for I am thankful
to say I have all the money which I shall ever need.” Pursuant to this
resolution, the larger portion of the concerts which this noble lady has
given since her return to Europe, have been for objects of benevolence.
If she consents to sing for a charitable object in London, for instance,
the fact is not advertised at all, but the tickets are readily disposed
of in a private quiet way, at a guinea and half a guinea each.
After so many months of anxiety, labor and excitement, in the Jenny Lind
enterprise, it will readily be believed that I desired tranquility. I
spent a week at Cape May, and then came home to Iranistan, where I
remained during the entire summer.
JENNY LIND CONCERTS.
TOTAL RECEIPTS, EXCEPTING OF CONCERTS DEVOTED TO CHARITY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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