But we know, through her works, that, whatever
the stains on her life and reputation may have been, there is in her a
soul so capable of goodness and honor as to depict them most
successfully in her ideal forms. It is her works, and not her private
life, that we are considering. Of her works we have means of judging;
of herself, not. But among those who have passed unblamed through the
walks of life, we have not often found a nobleness of purpose and
feeling, a sincere religious hope, to be compared with the spirit that
breathes through the pages of Consuelo.
The experiences of the artist-life, the grand and penetrating remarks
upon music, make the book a precious acquisition to all whose hearts
are fashioned to understand such things.
We suppose that we receive here not only the mind of the writer, but
of Liszt, with whom she has publicly corresponded in the "_Lettres
d'un Voyageur_." None could more avail us, for "in him also is a
spark of the divine fire," as Beethoven said of Ichubert. We may thus
consider that we have in this book the benefit of the most electric
nature, the finest sensibility, and the boldest spirit of
investigation combined, expressing themselves in a little world of
beautiful or picturesque forms.
Pages:
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288