Sir - Mr. Norman Lindsay, whom so many of us admire in spite of himself, does ill-service to the memory of the late Dame Nellie Melba by repeating a remark probably made by the great singer in a moment of passing exasperation. If any Australian citizen was ever consistently loyal to Australia it was Melba. She loved the people of this country, and she was as proud of this land of her birth as she was of her career. That Melba deplored certain aspects of Australian life as much as does Mr. Norman Lindsay is perfectly true. She, too, longed to find her fellow-countrymen genuinely interested in the things that are ultimately of more importance than a football final. Australia, as a whole, has not yet learned to look upon her painters, poets and musicians as individuals of essentail value to her development as a nation, a fact of which Melba was sadly aware. She was not the only one who has given utterance to an opinion delivered more in sorrow than in anger; nevertheless she not only truly loved her fellow-countrymen, but also believed firmly in their artistic destiny. -
Yours, &c.,
FRITZ HART.
East Melbourne, Nov. 30.
First published in The Argus, 1 December 1931
