Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 149
149.—LIND'S FIRST ENGAGEMENT.
There never was on the stage a sweeter or more lovable disposition than that of Jenny Lind. Like the rest of mankind, Miss Lind had her troubles, and serious ones, but they never affected her serenity of temper or her kindness of heart.
The circumstances of her wedding to Otto Goldschmidt, whom she met on her American tour in 1851, are well known. Lind was under the management of P. T. Barnum, and for a time Goldschmidt was the pianist of the company.
But her narrow escape from a marriage with a less enjoyable personage is not so well known. Not long before her trip to this country she became acquainted with a certain Claudius Harris, an officer in the English army, and the result of this acquaintance was their engagement. Now Harris was a very religious fellow and quite bigoted. He kept urging her to leave the stage; and in fact his family thought she could not do better than spend the rest of her life in atoning for her theatrical career. Finally, she was persuaded, and gave a series of six farewell operatic presentations. No one thought at that time that this would be her permanent farewell to the opera, but it proved to be such.
When it came to making the arrangements for her wedding, Harris wished a promise inserted in the wedding contract to the effect that she was never to go on the operatic stage again, and he objected to her having full control of her earnings, saying that it was unscriptural.
So the engagement was nearly broken off. Harris terrified her by threats of torment here and hereafter if she broke her word. She became reconciled to the engagement. After their reconciliation, she sat at the piano singing to him, but, turning around she found him asleep! Finally Harris became more and more repugnant to her and the engagement was broken. Not long after she found a worthier man in Mr. Goldschmidt, and married him in 1852, after a year's acquaintance.