er evident sincerity
and ardor, the poet bowed profoundly. "I never," continued she, in the
same lively strain, "I never read anything half so laughable in all
my life. What a capital farce it is, sir!" The poet, astounded, could
scarcely believe the evidence of his ears. "'The Sorrows of Werter' a
farce!" he murmured faintly. "Oh yes, never was anything so exquisitely
ridiculous," rejoined Catalani, with a ringing burst of laughter. It
turned out that she had been talking all the while of a ridiculous
parody of "Werter" which had been performed at one of the vaudeville
theatres of Paris, in which the sentimentality of Goethe's tale had been
most savagely ridiculed. We can fancy what Goethe's mortification was,
and how the fair _diva's_ credit was impaired at the court of Weimar by
her ignorance of the illustrious poet and of the novel whose fame had
rung through all Europe.

Mme. Catalani returned to England in 1821, and found herself the subject
of an enthusiasm little less than that which had greeted her in her
earlier prime. Her concert tour extended through all the cities of
the British kingdom. In this tour she was supported by the great tenor
Braham, as remarkable a singer in some respects as Catalani herself, and
probably the most finished artist of English birth who ever ornamented
the lyric stage. Braham had been brilliantly associated with the lyric
triumphs of Mara, Billington, and Grassini, and had been welcomed in
Italy itself as one of the finest singers in the world. When Catalani's
dramatic career in England commenced Braham had supported her, though
her jealousy soon rid her of so brilliant a competitor for the public
plaudits. Braham's part in Catalani's English concert tour was a very
important one, and some cynical wags professed to believe that as many
went to hear the great tenor as to listen to Catalani.

The electrical effect of her singing was very well shown at one of these
concerts. She introduced a song, "Delia Superba Roma," declamatory in
its nature, written for her by Marquis Sampieri. The younger Linley,
brother-in-law of Sheridan, who was playing in the orchestra, was so
moved that he forgot his own part, and on receiving a severe whispered
rebuke from the singer fainted away in his place. Mme. Catalani returned
again on finishing her English engagement to Russia, where she realized
fifteen thousand guineas in four months. Concert-rooms were too small
to hold her audiences, and she was