her cadenzas, however, she was obliged
to trust to her memory, for she never could improvise an ornament. Her
ear was so delicate that she could instantly detect any instrument out
of tune in a large orchestra; and her intonation was perfect. In manner
she was "peculiarly bewitching," and her attitudes generally were good,
with the exception of an ugly habit of pressing her hands against
her bosom when executing difficult passages. Her face and figure were
beautiful, and her countenance was full of good humor, though not
susceptible of varied expression; indeed, as an actress, she had
comparatively little talent, depending chiefly on her voice for
producing effect on the stage.

Mrs. Billington's __debut__ in London was on February 13, 1786, in the
presence of royalty and a great throng of nobility and fashion, in the
character of _Rosetta_ in "Love in a Village." Her success was beyond
the most sanguine hopes, and her brilliant style, then an innovation
in English singing, bewildered the pit and delighted the musical
connoisseurs. The leader of the orchestra was so much absorbed in one of
her beautiful cadenzas that he forgot to give the chord at its close. So
much science, taste, birdlike sweetness, and brilliancy had never before
been united in an English singer. So Mrs. Billington assumed undisputed
sovereignty in the realm of song, for one night made her famous. The
managers, who had haggled over the terms of thirteen pounds a week for
her first brief engagement of twelve nights, were glad to give her a
thousand pounds for the rest of the season. For her second part she
chose _Polly Peachum_ in "The Beggars' Opera," to show her detractors
that she could sing simple English ballad-music with no less taste and
effect than the brilliant and ornate style with which she first took
the town by storm. Mara, the great German singer, who until then had no
rival, was distracted with rage and jealousy, which the sweet-tempered
Billington treated with a careless smile. Though her success had been
so brilliant, she relaxed no effort in self-improvement, and studied
assiduously both vocalism and the piano. Indeed, Salomon, Haydn's
impressario, said of her with enthusiasm, "Sar, she sing equally well
wid her troat and her fingers." At the close of this season, which was
the opening of a great career, Mrs. Billington visited Paris, where
she placed herself under the instruction of the composer Sacchini, who
greatly aided her by hi