The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1850-01-14
RiaonorInnai.


1 e~-NAe~%A
denis on the other side Of CanalSsteet The critic
Ofshs Bee happened t6vrise onsla 9Th ofIsahsfy
fhnd this scedent made BIN Boast shcontinehtiy
that we had suffered from his critical hands de-
feat Of Ch4Imette We have heard, ere this Of
Dragging b6iletins, and the historical recoectons
Of our readers may doubtless recall the nationality
Of generals who have most INDUCED in these mill
tary extravagsnzas. Doubtless our friend Of the
Bee could have written dispatch from Waterloo
that would have made Napoleon victorious and his
| enemies vanquished. A Frenchman has facility
in believing himself to be on the winning side;
and if the superstition is agreeable, who so ma
| lcious as to break the illasion2
Not only the regulas critic of the Bee had his
fling at us but several correspondents of that jour
nal have brought numbering artillery of names and
authorities 20 bear upon US. Racine and Corneille,
and Voltaire and Victor Hugo, and Lamartine and
we know not how many besides, have been cited
as proof of the excellence of French taste and
French poetry. Now let us say with all Difference,
that these great poets in spite Of the artificial
restraints which French versifcation threw around
them. With Madame de Stael we think the great
poets Of France have written in prose ); and though
Racine is intensely tender and. pathetic, and Cor
nellie magnicenty grand and sublime yet it's Bos-
suet, and Pascal and Jean Jacques Rousseau who
are the inspired prophets of French literature.
| So much, in passing, about French literature.
AT another time we may enlarge upon the theme ;
at present object is to uphold Biscaccanti's
singing, and answer certain structures of the
Courier's reviewer.
/ Let us say, then, that the remarks which have
been made by the French critics on Biscacciantis
singing, are such as truly musical people would
never tolerate. Altogether general in their fault
finding these reviewers cannot, or have not pointed
out single specific defect in our country woman
performances. Not that we pretend to say Biscac-
Giant is perfect. Faults may be found with Grisi,
or Jenny Lind, or Viardot- Garcia. But it is not
faults that the finely musical ear hunts after and
dwels upon. To discover the beautiful and the
sublime, either in the composer or in the singer, is
the Office and delight Of the true musical apprecia-
tor. 1t is only when the fault becomes glaring
and ntolerable, that the critic notices it and calls
for correction. Now we defy all the sneering
Frenchmen, from King Dagobert upwards and
downwards, to point out any such signal fault in
Biscaccanti. Every one who hears her can Judge
for himself whether she has merit or not. If the
hearer feels himself carried away in trance of pas
sonate harmony and thrilling sounds-if his soul
bounds and his Imagination scars as the notes
issue from the fair singers throat-then may he
be sure that there are musical merit and power in
Biscacciant's performance. From the effect pro-
duced on the feelings Of the human heart true Art
admits of no appeal.
After having intimated that Signora Biscaccianti
might have learned something from Madame Dew
ries on Thursday evening-God forbid that Biscac-
Giant should ever far forget her own talent as to
initiate any thing she heard in La Favorite" that
night!-the reviewer of the Courier passes to our
humble selves, and begins by complaining that we
did not sign our name to the article of Monday. 1t
is hardly necessary to say that the editors never
sign the articles they write If any one feels him
self particularly aggreved by what we write he can
Railways have responsible name by calling at our
| office. No one say that there was any thing
personally offensive in article OF last Monday
Hence there was no need for an individual name
As to the understanding of the word chic, we can
only say that we comprehend its import fully and
completely. We have the merritt any it be-to
know something of Partisan slang. We have put
on blouse and drank at Paul Nicquets with the
Partisan thieves and citfonierS, and our knowl-
edge OF chic was picked up among the registering
students OF the Latin quarter and its Specification
liked on us by visits TO La Chaumiere, and such like
places. Nor was chic, by any means, the least
significant word we picked up in that same Paris,
which, take it all in all-from the Chaussee d An
tin to the Barrere du Tr6ne-is the most farcical
and yet most disgusting city in Christendom. Be-
meath the appearance Of elegance and refinement
| there Turks in this Partisan world, an amount of
deprayed taste and sensual yulgarity which chokes
up the aspirations of the higher Art, and degrades
men who might otherwise soar beyond the depress-
ing influences of the world they live in
Although brought up in the backwoods, we
were early taught to carry into our judgments on
art and artists the worship of nature and the
natural which was breathed into us by the grandly-
flowing rivers and majestic forests of our native
land. The trimmed trees and walled-in lakes of
Versailles could not Danish the remembrance of the
words and waters that youthful fancy admired
and loved. And when we went to Italy and
listened to Italian music, we seemed to hear the
whisperiDgs of the same god that breathedthrough
our native forests and bathed in our native foods
The Courier says truly that Bellini is simple and
it is because he isssimple and natural that the |
Frenchfnd it SO difficult to appreciate his music.
The simply grand and the unahectedly sublime, are
Of most difficult comprehension to French musicians
and Frenchmen generally.
The last thing the Courier says about u.s. is that |
we seem DESTROYS of introducing nativism into art
We always eschewed the idea. We will not |
praise an artist merely because he is an American
nither will we-as the Parisians dosing paans
to one because be has been successful in other |
countries than own. But when we find any |
extraordinary endowment of nature, or any high |
cultivation of art in countryman or country
woman, we hope shall be pardoned for dwelling
on the fact with some pride and satisfaction. In
Biscaccianti-the pupil of Pasta--we behold the
impulse given TO American musical taste by the
land which has been for ages the chosen seat Of
harmony and of song. 1t was from the Italian
poets that Milton drew much of his inspiration; it
was in Italy that Shakespeare sought many of his
finest thoughts and inagnations; it was in Italy
that Byron sent forth those strains which have
made his wrongs and SORROWS the charm and
the soace of the world While we derive so much
of our highest poetry from Italy, it is there, we
trust that America will look for the best models in
mus zeal composition and musical execution.
TINE Is MoNEY-Ho few can realize this oAquoted
fact and often waste hours that properly applied might pave
the TO fortune. year has commenced, and il is
the very period for REFORM YOUNG Co.. of Camp street.
eosnt moment as ii flies. and particularly invite
III a..