It
was wholly new. My brother's voice and Pleyel's were musical and
energetic. I had fondly imagined that, in this respect, they were
surpassed by none. Now my mistake was detected. I cannot pretend
to communicate the impression that was made upon me by these
accents, or to depict the degree in which force and sweetness were
blended in them. They were articulated with a distinctness that
was unexampled in my experience. But this was not all. The voice
was not only mellifluent and clear, but the emphasis was so just,
and the modulation so impassioned, that it seemed as if a heart of
stone could not fail of being moved by it. It imparted to me an
emotion altogether involuntary and uncontrollable. When he uttered
the words, "for charity's sweet sake," I dropped the cloth that I
held in my hand; my heart overflowed with sympathy and my eyes with
unbidden tears.
This description will appear to you trifling or incredible. The
importance of these circumstances will be manifested in the sequel.
The manner in which I was affected on this occasion was, to my own
apprehension, a subject of astonishment.
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