a concert and operatic tour in America in 1840, and it was while playing
with him in "Guy Manner-ing" that Charlotte Cushman, who then performed
singing parts, conceived the remarkable _role_ of _Meg Merrlies_, which
she made one of the most picturesque and vivid memories of the stage.
Francis Wemyss, in his "Theatrical Biography," refers to Braham's
appearance at the National Theatre, Philadelphia: "Who that heard
'Jephthall's Rash Vow' could ever forget the volume of voice which
issued from that diminutive frame, or the ecstasy with which 'Waft
her, angels, through the skies' thrilled every nerve of the attentive
listener? He ought to have visited the United States twenty years
sooner, or not have risked his reputation by coming at all. Like
Incledon, he was only heard by Americans when his powers of voice were
so impaired as to leave them to conjecture what he had been, and mourn
the wreck that all had once admired." Such an impression as this seems
to have been common with the American public--an experience afterward in
recent years repeated in the last visit of the once great Mario.

In private life Braham was much admired, and was always received in
the most conservative and fastidious circles. As a man of culture, a
humorist, and a raconteur, he was the life of society; and he will be
remembered as the composer who has left more popular songs, duets, etc.,
than almost any other English musician. He died in 1856, after living to
see his daughter Lady Walde-grave, and one of the most brilliant leaders
of London high life.

The Davides, father and son, also belonged to the Catalani period, the
elder having sung with her in Italy, and the younger in after years both
in opera and concert. Giacomo Davide, the elder, whose prime was between
1770 and 1800, was pronounced by Lord Mount Edgecumbe the first tenor of
his time, possessing a powerful and well-toned voice, great execution as
well as knowledge of music, and an excellent style of singing. His son
Giovanni, who became better known than himself, was his pupil. Though
singing with a faulty method, Giovanni Davide had a voice of such
magnificent compass and quality as to produce with it the most
electrical effects. M. Edouard Bertin gives an interesting account
of him in a letter from Venice dated 1823: "Davide excites among the
dilletanti of this town an enthusiasm and delight which can hardly
be conceived without having been witnessed. He is a singer of the new
s