FIRST APPEARANCE OF CHRISTINE NILSSON.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1641, 20 August 1887, Page 3

FIRST APPEARANCE OF CHRISTINE NILSSON.

" In a little hat among tall pines on tha ea'ate of Cou^t Hamilloa, near Wexlo, Id S wed on " («aya Mr Louis En gel), " the hat consisting of tyro rooms, belonging to a poor forester, on August 3, m the year 1843, was born a little tow. beaded girl, the y< ungeßt < f soven children, who never spoke unless specially questioned, bat continually aang, trying to imitate the birds or the murmuring ot the waten — In fact, obeyiag an Inner Impulae to Imitate the great melody of nature, never having heard anything else "The Sjoabohl (batnlet) of Snugge, to whioh the part of the forest belonged where the had first seen the light of dsy, was a few miles distant from Wexio, and the high ambition of the poor children wbb to ba able to get to Ihe fair of Wexio, and earn a few peme aomebow m that great town of aome 1800 inhabitants. In order to reach that glorioiiß reßult, little Christine, who had taught heraolf to play on a small fiddle which belonged to her elder brother (anc which you oan see any day yon please m the magnificent manaion ebo haa built for herself ia South K°nsington) entered into partnership with hec brother, "who was a'roady her inferior as a violinist, and they itarted out togather for the celebrated Wexio. * * : On lh«y went, nntil they reached, on i their way, ) jungby (' by ' means village,) where there was held a email fair, eni ' where the yrurg viol'niet pccom;. anied her own voice m the few Swed Bh caMcca ' songs ehe had then heard and retained i m her precocious memory. 11 With great pride ehe rehtea that ] this, her first open-air concert, brought ] her the treasure of threepence halfpenny, forewarning her of the notold wealth j which awaited the children at tbo town ] fair. Thitber, then, they repaired, with all the courage that success, glory, and money can give, and arrived a little tired, bat hopefal, at the Mr. There was suddenly a big audience, who wondered If the violin played Christine, or Christine the violin. When tha admiring crowd assembled, it attracted the attention of Mr Tornerhjelm, the Provincial Judge, who tried tv find oat, as everyone of aa woald, what was the matter. " Well, fortunately for the great singer, the judge, a noan over bi'x feet high,, looked over tho shoulders of the people at the littlo girl who formed the centre of attraction, and then he saw and heard, over and above the scraping of the littlo fiddle, what he thought the sweetest and most enohanting timbre of voice ho had ever heard before. A highly-educated man, and accustomed to read m the physiognomy of the people who wore brought before him their character aod probable capabilities, be spoke first to the boy, then to tbo little girl, and there and then laid tho foundation of the groat prima donna's fortune by tbe present of untold wealth — a sixpence " Christine, already frightened with the responsibility of carrying her I/juog-by funds, suddenly grown rich, beyond her expectations, with great firmness insisted on their immediate return to the only place where so much money could be safely invested or deposited— their father's hut. You can see, m one of Christine's great saloons, the li'.tlo skirt, which did not dedcend to the ankle, the toilet of her first concert, minus the least bit of shoe" or stockingß, and the cherishod portrait of two good Swedish peasants— father and mother — m a rich gold frame, which cost more than a long series of concerts at that time could have bought her. "Although not quite so rich as she became hereafter, she returned with the first money earned from her first sncceßs m publio to her father, who saw, real and allre, 9sd, the produce of two concerts, In his daughter's little hand. Strange ss it may appear, the great Bucceas and the great financial result remained for a few days without aDy further consequences ; wheD, just as a second artistic journey was contemplated, tho above-mentioned judge who naturally had had some difficulty In un&arthiog the vf hereabouts of his small prima donna came Btralght upon the father and Baked him would he allow his Honor the Provincial Judge, to take temporary possession of the youngest child, and if she *ere found to be bo intelligent and gifted as she was supposed to bo, to give her the education which would, perhaps, male the name of little Christine somewhat better known I The father referred him to thb mother, as every well-bred father will ; and the mother, with that abnegation that makes of motherly love the only reliable, nevtr-to be-found-wanting love In the world, instantly oonsented to separate herself from her beloved, child — the youngcat child to boot — so long as that sacrifice could do the child any good. This little preliminary arranged, tho first important aep In Christine's life was made."