 [ Mendelssohn ] has shown us that a Jew may have the amplest store of specific talents , may own the finest and most varied culture , the highest and tenderest sense of honour – yet without all these pre @-@ eminences helping him , were it but one single time , to call forth in us that deep , that heart @-@ searching effect which we await from art [ ... ] The washiness and the whimsicality of our present musical style has been [ ... ] pushed to its utmost pitch by Mendelssohn 's endeavour to speak out a vague , an almost nugatory Content as interestingly and spiritedly as possible . 
