FROM REV. DR. A. McKENZIE’S SERMON ON THANKSGIVING DAY, 1880.
From these men of our own Commonwealth let me turn to a man of another land, whose venerable and stately presence has been often seen in our streets; who has been the citizen of many climes, making his name a familiar word, and filling the air with melody; a man who stood before kings and held them in wondering silence by the witchery of his fingers, and the harmony of his thoughts; who drew the souls of men after him by the sound of the mystic strings he touched. He made to himself a great renown, the music and the man; both were honored, both were loved. Now the hands have lost their cunning, and the good, gray head is seen no more. Yet will he keep his place with all who knew him. It was among his own people that he was greatest and best. He loved his country, its men and women, its mountains and valleys, its rivers and lakes, its history and its hope. He carried it with him where he went. He sought its honor and toiled for its welfare. Loyal and loving, he wore its name upon his brow. When he stood as one entranced, his tall form swaying to and fro, his eye gazing far away, and the utter stillness was scarcely broken by the sweet, weird strains which floated into it, it was the heart of Norway we saw and heard, incarnate in her son, beating, breathing, singing in his spirit.
When he lay wearied and dying in his island–home Norway grew still. Spacious and comely was the room which he had made for song, where the singer rested; but the land which mourned was wider.
He heard the requiem there, but the land was to be full of requiem. From off the quiet waters came the tribute of admiring minstrelsy, which long will be repeated.
When he was gone, royalty and humanity hastened with their homage to his memory. The great city begged for his honored form to give it choicest burial. It lay in state in his own house. It was borne in grand procession to the distant shore. The walks were strewed with living green. The people wept and praised. His trophies went before him, but the stricken hearts of men were on every side of him. The eloquent words of friendship and reverence were spoken. He found his resting–place among the great, on a spot which had been kept for a king—which had found a king.
And he wore no royalty but his great manhood.
Why this honor to a man? Because he had dealt well by the land. He had given it good and glory, and the gift returned. Norway loved him because he loved Norway.
INDEX.
Aix–la–Chapelle, Ole Bull at, [244].
Alexander, the prestidigitateur, [174].
Algiers, concerts in, [193].
Amsterdam, concerts at, [134].
Andersen, Hans C., letter to Ole Bull, [105];
meets him in Marseilles, [193];
quoted, [129], [150].
Andunson, Thorgeir, [201].
Antwerp, concerts at, [124].
Appleton, Mr. T. G., [272], [299], [301].
Artot, the violinist, [151], [161].
Assandri, Mdlle., [86].
Augsburg, concerts at, [115].
Bach, Emil, [267].
Baillot, [20], [22], [40], [41], [74].
Baltimore, concerts at, [164], [178], [213], [216].
Bates, Miss C. F., sonnet to Ole Bull, [300].
Bavaria, Queen Dowager of, [115].
Bendixen, Mr., remarks at Ole Bull’s funeral, [324].
Bennett, J. G., [233].
Bergen, [1].
Berlin, Ole Bull in, [96], [97], [108], [124], [248].
Berlioz, [40].
Bernadotte (Karl Johan), [31].
Bettina Von Arnim, [238].
Björnson, Björnsterne, [236];
his funeral address, [317].
Bjornstjerna, Count, [119].
Bochsa, the harpist, [88].
Bologna, Ole Bull at, [55].
Booth, Edwin, [305].
Bordeaux, concerts at, [191], [196].
Borgund church, the, [147].
Boston, concerts at, [165], [170], [176], [254], [271], [305].
Botta, Mrs., her “Farewell,” [187].
Boucher, the brothers, [142].
Bremen, concerts at, [107], [143].
Breslau, concerts at, [110], [131].
Bristol, R. I., Ole Bull at, [168].
Brizzi, Leader of the Orfeo at Florence, [262].
Brun, J. N., the poet, [35].
Brunswick, concerts in, [107].
Brussels, Ole Bull at, [124], [280].
Burgesh, Lord, [81].
Cairo, Egypt, visit to, [270].
California, tour in, [224].
Cambridge, residence in, [299];
concert in, [305].
Carlsbad, Ole Bull at, [239].
Cary, Alice, visit to, [165].
Cassel, Ole Bull at, [38], [107], [112].
Cessole, Count, [93].
Charleston, S. C., Ole Bull at, [157].
Chatsworth, stay at, [90].
Chicago, concerts at, [253].
Child, Mrs. L. M., quoted, [61], [66], [125], [153], [170], [172], [181];
visited by Ole Bull, [230].
Chopin, [49], [65].
Christian Frederic, Prince of Denmark, [32].
Christiania, Ole Bull at, [27], [40], [100],132, [134], [144], [148], [206], [245].
Cincinnati, concerts at, [254].