peed to be on time at another palatial mansion,
where his piece appears near the end of the programme. The audiences
hardly have time to learn who is playing or singing before the bird has
flown and a new one, just out of his carriage, is ready to sing and fly
again. The very much dressed audience comes and goes at each place, and
the music is often drowned in the clatter of half empty wine-glasses and
the rattle of more empty heads. It is very grand, exceedingly tiresome,
and wonderfully profitable. A player or singer of first-class reputation
who is willing to follow up a London season in this style, can win more
money than by a year of concert giving. Each house pays for its one
piece of music, and as many as five houses can be visited in one
evening.

It is a rather startling method of procedure, but it is the custom of
the country. Madam Urso could not decline to do as all the other
musicians did, however much she might stand on the simple dignity of her
American name. She everywhere called herself an American, and, as it
always happens, won the more respect and admiration for her
independence. It is always an advantage to be known as an American in
Europe, and Madam Urso is only too glad and proud to acknowledge all
that she owes to the country of her adoption.

The English press could here be largely quoted, to give some idea of the
high position Madam Urso won in the musical world at that great art
centre. It is needless to give it, as it is well known that her American
reputation, great as it is, is not equal to that in England. The English
are even more willing to give Camilla Urso her honors due than are we,
and having said this we have said enough.

In July, 1872, Madam Urso returned to Boulogne, and after a short rest
returned to New York, early in September. A concert tour through the
Canadas was at once taken, and after a brief and most successful trip,
she returned to New York. She afterwards made a journey to New Orleans,
where she assisted at the opening of the new Exposition Hall.
Unfortunately, Camilla Urso was here taken sick with the chills and
fever, and was obliged to come North at once. She came to Boston, but
lost much valuable time, both from concerts and practice, by a long
illness at the St. James Hotel.

We now come, as it were, in sight of the present time. The year 1873,
though it was a disastrous one to art interests generally, by reason of
the panic, was one of uninterrupted success