422 



LIND (GOLDSOHMIDT), JENNY. 



people are mad ; I can not accept money which 

 is thrown away in this manner ; I shall give my 

 share to public charities." I was as much 

 elated as she was depressed, and I at once 

 proposed to amend our contract by giving her 

 half of the entire receipts of the first two con- 

 certs not counting those two in our engage- 

 ment and also to give her, besides her $1,000 

 a night, half of the gross receipts of every sub- 

 sequent concert or oratorio, after deducting 

 $5,500 for general expenses. This voluntary 

 proposition on my part astonished her exceed- 

 ingly, and caused her tears to flow while she 

 overwhelmed me with compliments and grati- 

 tude. From her share of the first two concerts 

 she gave $10,000, which, under the direction 

 of the mayor of New York, by her request, 

 was divided among sundry charities, and the 

 story of her great generosity ran like wild-fire 

 through the country. The third concert, which 

 by agreement we called " the first regular con- 

 cert," was given Sept. 17, 1850. I had offered 

 a prize of $200 for an ode, " Greeting to 

 America," which was awarded to Bayard Tay- 

 lor, was set to music by Benedict, and was 

 sung by Miss Lind. The enthusiasm created 

 by her first concert continued unabated, and 

 whenever and wherever she sang the demand 

 for tickets at the highest prices far exceeded 

 the supply. The 'concert tour was confined to 

 the following cities: New York, 35 concerts; 

 Philadelphia, 8 ; Boston, 1 ; Providence, 1 ; 

 Baltimore, 4; Washington. 2; Richmond, 1; 

 Charleston, 2; Havana, 3; New Orleans, 12; 

 Natchez, 1; Memphis, 1; St. Louis, 5; Nash- 

 ville, 2 ; Louisville, 3 ; Madison, 1 : Cincin- 

 nati, 5 ; Wheeling, 1 ; Pittsburg, 1 ; in all 95. 

 The total receipts, except for concerts devoted 

 to charity, were $712,161.34, an average of 

 $7,496.43 for each concert. Of this sum Miss 

 Lind's net avails were $176,675, and as money 

 then had many times the purchasing power it 

 has now, so high a price had never before been 

 paid to a public singer. In our contract, Miss 

 Lind reserved the right of giving charity con- 

 certs when she chose, and did so in several 

 cities, thus giving away not less than $50,000. 

 This created a conundrum which ran through 

 the press: "Why will Barnum and Jenny 

 Lind never fall out? " "Because one is for- 

 getting, and the other for-giving." On read- 

 ing this, Miss Lind laughed heartily, then, as- 

 suming a serious look and tone, she said : " Mr. 

 Barnum, it is not right for me to have so much 

 credit when you give the services of Benedict 

 and Belletti, all the expenses of the company, 

 including the orchestra, hire of halls, attend- 

 ance, and printing, while I give only my 

 voice." 



Our Washington concerts were attended by 

 the President, his Cabinet, and their families ; 

 by Clay, Webster, Benton, Cass, Scott, and 

 other prominent people, who, in public and 

 private, paid marked attention to Miss Lind, 

 and the concert party was specially enter- 

 tained in the White House and at Mount 



Vernon. Miss Lind was besieged by callers 

 everywhere. At Charleston, S. C., a wealthy 

 young lady, the niece of a distinguished states- 

 man, was so determined to see Jenny Lind in 

 private that she bribed one of the servants to 

 lend her a white cap and apron, and she carried 

 in the tray with Jenny's tea. At Havana we 

 passed a pleasant month in a hired furnished 

 house in the outskirts of the city, where Miss 

 Lind had a visit of several days from her fa- 

 mous countrywoman, Frederika Bremer. Af- 

 ter the termination of our contract, Miss Lind 

 gave several concerts, with varied success, and 

 during a visit to Boston she married, Feb. 5, 

 1852, Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, a German com- 

 poser and pianist, who had played at several 

 of our concerts, and to whom Miss Lind had 

 long been attached, since she studied music 

 with him in Germany. While she was in Bos- 

 ton, as especially characteristic of her gener- 

 osity, it is told that a poor working-girl paid 

 $3 for a ticket "to hear that good angel sing," 

 declaring that it was her whole week's wages. 

 This was told to Miss Lind, who exclaimed : 

 "Oh, this must not be! Poor girl! she shall 

 not lose her money; it is wifked!" and she 

 sent her a $20 gold piece. Her natural im- 

 pulses were more generous than those of any 

 person I ever met. A story of trouble brought 

 tears from her eyes and money from her purse. 

 But she was a woman of strong common sense, 

 and was equally removed from flattery and im- 

 position. She knew herself, and always main- 

 tained her rights. Once, on a steamboat jour- 

 ney on the Mississippi from New Orleans to 

 Cairo, she voluntarily sang for the gratifica- 

 tion of her fellow-passengers, and so she al- 

 ways was willing to sing on like occasions ; but 

 woe to those, however high in social station, 

 who tried to entrap her. Once her New York 

 lawyer invited her, with Benedict and Belletti, 

 to an evening party at his house near Yonkers. 

 She accepted the compliment, as she deemed 

 it, glad to vary the monotony of her public 

 career by mingling socially with refined peo- 

 ple, as she had been used to do in Europe. 

 Late in the evening her host gave her his arm, 

 as if for a promenade, and led her to an open 

 piano in a large room, where his expectant 

 guests already were seated, and said : " Now, 

 Miss Lind, you will greatly gratify us by sing- 

 ing some of your favorite selections." Her in- 

 stant and indignant response was, " Order my 

 carriage immediately." A similar scene oc- 

 curred in Havana, where, by invitation of a 

 Spanish count, ehe was at a grand ball attend- 

 ed by the most aristocratic families in that city. 

 My personal relations with Jenny Lind dur- 

 ing our engagement and ever afterward were 

 cordial and unbroken. When she undertook 

 to give concerts on her own account in this 

 country, she always regretted the want of my 

 management, and once said to me, in Bridge- 

 port : " People cheat me and swindle me very 

 much, and I find it very annoying to give con- 

 certs on my own account." When 1 was in 



