Having
spoken thus, he retired to the further end of the box without waiting
for any reply. These words produced the most cruel agitation in the
bosom of Corinne, and in a moment destroyed all the pleasure she
received from these expressions of applause, which principally gave her
delight because they were witnessed by Oswald.

The concert began--he who has not heard Italian singing can have no idea
of music! Italian voices are so soft and sweet, that they recall at once
the perfume of flowers, and the purity of the sky. Nature has destined
the music for the climate: one is like a reflection of the other. The
world is the work of one mind, expressed in a thousand different forms.
The Italians, during a series of ages, have been enthusiastically fond
of music. Dante, in his poem of purgatory, meets with one of the best
singers of his age; being entreated, he sings one of his delicious airs,
and the ravished spirits are lulled into oblivion of their sufferings,
until recalled by their guardian angel. The Christians, as well as the
pagans, have extended the empire of music beyond the grave. Of all the
fine arts, it is that which produces the most immediate effect upon the
soul. The others are directed to some particular idea; but this appeals
to the intimate source of our existence, and entirely changes our inmost
soul. What is said of Divine Grace, which suddenly transforms the heart,
may humanly speaking be applied to the power of melody; and among the
presentiments of the life to come, those which spring from music are
not to be despised.

Even the gaiety which the comic music of Italy is so well calculated to
excite, is not of that vulgar description which does not speak to the
imagination. At the very bottom of the mirth which it excites, will be
found poetical sensations and an agreeable reverie, which mere verbal
pleasantry never could inspire. Music is so fleeting a pleasure, that it
glides away almost at the same time we feel it, in such a manner, that a
melancholy impression is mingled with the gaiety which it excites; but
when expressive of grief, it also gives birth to a sweet sentiment. The
heart beats more quickly while listening to it, and the satisfaction
caused by the regularity of the measure, by reminding us of the brevity
of time, points out the necessity of enjoying it. You no longer feel any
void, any silence, around you; life is filled; the blood flows quickly;
you feel within you that motion which