The Morning Chronicle publishes, but without date, some interesting ex-
tracts from letters written by Madame Pasta to her "dear child" and pupil Mademoiselle Parodi. They are interesting both as displaying the affec- tionate solicitude which the great singer feels in her adopted daughter, and also as displaying the fervour of that genius, and the true judgment, which elevated Madame Pasta to the highest point of her art. In congratulating Mademoiselle Parodi on coming to England, where she will meet "the fos- tering warmth of applause" which develops the beauty and energy of talent, Madame Pasta draws a true distinction. When the genius is pure, the stimulus of applause increases the love of study; "after which, the in- spirations are not only more beautiful and more prompt, but more truth- ful." She congratulates her disciple on possessing a severe self-criticism, which will prevent her from falling into the fatal error of many promising young singers—vocal and dramatic exaggeration, stimulated by false and inopportune applause. Grimace and abrupt gesture may sometimes sur- prise an audience out of applause; but they disturb the full and true evolu- tions of the vocal organ. Madame Pasta glances touchingly at the cir- cumstances which made her abandon her own career before its natural ter- mination. She found that she could not reproduce the beauties of her art; the sounds and tones that she could command could not express what she felt, and thus many phrases remained imperfect. "I suffered deeply from this, and it appeared to me as if each day I was getting more and more distant from perfection. Now I am consoled, for I live in your triumphe
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