The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1872-04-05
Tho Loves of the Angles.

4
the UNHAPPY man who some months ago
''fell in love" with Mademoiselle Nilsson
in New York, and who persued her with
such pcrsistency and determination that
he had at last to be locked upin Jail, to in
sure her saftey from his afIectionate de
monstrstionsJ 1t now appears that an
other individual, said to be a respectable
citizen of Providence, has actuallybe-
come insane out of unrcquited passion
for the same lady. OF course these ex-
treme cases give feeble idea Of the mum.
Der of heads turned, more or less, or the
number of hearts which have been bro
ken, more or less, by the charms of the
charming Swedish singer. We sup
pose il would be safe to say that she has
never, during her years stay in this
country, made her appearance in opera
or concert, without playing havoc with
souls, and putting them in peril of the
jail or the mad-house. When she first
came to America, it was announced that
she wa. engaged to be married, and soon
after she got here we heard of the arrival
of a young Frenchman, to whom she had
long been betrothed, and who was last
to have the happiness of leading her to
the alter. But the Frenchman, for some
unknown reason, quickly went back to
his own country, and the gossipers at
once proclaimed that the wretchcd man
had been Tilted, and adreturned to France
in dispair. We never learned that he had
been killed on the ramparts of Paris in
fighting desperately for the. Commune,
but we can not imagine any other taking
off that would have become him SO well
as this. Had ii been his fortune to live
during the last year, and to know Of the
suitors who were besieging the heart Of
which gossip once gave him control, he
would certainly have been compelled to
debate with Hamlet whether it was
better to be or not. 1t can not be said
that, if she had got married Immediately
after her arrival here, she would have
been wholly secure from the advaPes~T'
infatuated admirers; but we must SUD
pose that IN llaR case, the hopeIessness of
their suit would at least have had a re-
straining effect upon them.
The experience of Miss Nilsson in ti,s
matter has been the experience of nearly
all celebrated actresses and songsters.
Who can tell how much the magnificent
Parepa suffered fiom countless admir-
ers before Rosa blasted all their hOpesi
Every one has heard the stories about
he suffers who persecuted Miss Kel-
logg, and who, it was at one time re-
ported, compelled her to resort to the
most extraordinary means for securing
seclusion. Poor Julia Dean, in her
day, had no rest from adorers who turned
upwherever sheappeared. Even the dash
ing Lydia Thompson has ''fred the
amorous fame" in who can tell how
many heartsG We might go on indef-
niiely with such illustrations.
In like manner, celebrated or brilliant
male performers and singers are said to
have an amount of experience in the way
of breaking the hearts of the softer sex,
vastly beyond that of ordinary men.
Everybody has heard stories about the
extent to which Edwin Booth has
touched feminine fancy, and about the
loads of tender epistles he receives from
stricken damsels. Fechter's love-mak-
ing on the stage, which was the founda-
tion of his fame in this country, not only
touched the souls of sentimental maidens,
but pierced hearts which might be sup
posed to be proof against such things.
Capoul is terrible; and how could We
mention the names of all other perform
ers who are less so?
How is this extraordinary power of
these dramatic and musical stars, of both
sexes, to be accounted for? We suppose
it is largely due to the fact that impress
ionable people are apt to attribute to
-
them personally the possession of those
traits which belong to the characters they
represent on the stage, or of those senti-
ments which swell their voices in mOlo-
dious ecstacy. When Mademoiselle Nil
sson, looking so joyous and bright, sings
before n concert audience her songs of
sentiment and affection, gayety and
pathos, or when before an operate au-
dience she appears as the devoted and
selfsacrifcing heroine, it is very easy to
imagine that she is but uttering the feel
ings which swell from her own soul, and
the traits which appertain to
her own personal nature or experience.
When Edwin Booth appears as the spec
ulative "Hamlet," or the melting
"Romeo," the imagination easily trans
ports him into the character he pOrtrays,
and endows him with the great or charm
ing genius which, for the time being, he
assumes. When this once had been done
the attraction is established, and no won
der that the vacant or half occupied
hearts resign itself to the imagination Of
the moment and transforms into realism
that which is but the display Of dramatic
or vocal art.
Deladed yictimes Of this sort should
realize their mistake in time. They
would be helped TO do 50 by understand
inc the fact that when actors portray at