She was perfection — an angel, in talents, temper, and goodness. At fifty-two one would kneel to her,--what must she have been at twenty? She herself took the place of my mother, who was not in America. She plaited my hair, attended to my dresses, and cared for me in everything.Camilla accompanied Madame Sontag to New Orleans, where they gave eighteen concerts, followed by six weeks of opera, in which Madame Sontag was the star. The two artists created a genuine furore, exciting their Southern audiences to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. Bouquets came in showers, and the applause was incessant. One night Madame Sontag carried eighty-six bouquets from the stage, and the fairy violinist often received fifteen or twenty. From New Orleans Madame Sontag went to Mexico, and Camilla never saw her again. They parted in March, 1854, and Signor Urso took his daughter to Savannah, and subsequently gave concerts in different cities of Georgia and some other Southern States. They then returned to New York, where, in May, they heard of the sudden death of Madame Sontag by cholera. The news of this loss prostrated the sensitive child with grief. She refused to appear at concerts, and seemed to lose all animation and vivacity. A change of scene was at last imperatively necessary, and she went with her father to Canada in 1856. This trip was very successful, though not entirely professional. She travelled through the country, giving some concerts, and winning admiration from crowded houses. One incident of her trip was very enjoyable,--her reception on board of a French corvette. The officers desired to do honor to their gifted little compatriot, and invited her to visit them. She was then a charming young lady of fourteen She appeared before her admiring friends in a costume
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S. M. Betts and Company. Hartford, Conn. 1871.
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