ADELINA PATTI 381 Normandy, and in answer to her questions about her diamonds, said, "The dia- monds you wear are beautiful indeed, but those you place in our ears are a thou- sand times better." Patti was the pet of the gifted composer of "Guillaume Tell," and no one was ever more welcome at Rossini's beautiful villa at Passy, well known as the centre of a great musical and artistic circle. The genial Italian died in November, 1868, and Patti paid her last tribute of respect to his memory by taking part in the performance of his immortal " Stabat Mater," which was given on the occasion of Rossini's burial service. Gounod, always enthusiastic in his remarks upon her, said, " that until he heard Patti, all the Marguerites were Northern maidens, but Patti was the only Southern Gretchen, and that from her all future singers could learn what to do and avoid." Although it is not the custom to bestow titles or honorific distinctions upon artists of the fair sex, yet, in, lieu of these, to such an extent have presents been showered upon Adelina Patti, that the jewels which she has been presented with from time to time are said to be of the enormous value of ^100,000. In the year 1885, when she appeared in New York as Violetta, the diamonds she wore on that occasion were estimated to be worth ,£60,000. One of the handsomest lockets in her possession is a present from Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, and a splendid solitaire ring which she is in the habit of wearing was given to her by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Of no less than twenty-three valuable bracelets, one of the most costly is that presented by the committee of the Birmingham festival. A magnificent comb, set with twenty-three large diamonds, is the gift of the Empress Eugenie. The emperors of Germany, Austria, and Russia have vied with each other in sending her jewels of the rarest value. When singing in Italy, King Victor Emmanuel each night visited the opera for the purpose of hearing her ; and at Florence, where the enthusiastic Italians applauded to the very echo, Mario, prince of Italian tenors, leaned from his box to crown her with a laurel wreath. A similar honor was bestowed upon her by the Duke of Alba at Madrid, who presented her with a laurel crown. At the opera house in that city numbers of bouquets and poems were to be seen whirl- ing through the air attached to the necks of birds. Queen Isabella of Spain, gave a large amethyst brooch surrounded by forty enormous pearls, and the Jockey Club of Paris presented her with twelve laurel crowns. The citizens of San Francisco, upon the occasion of her last visit, presented her with a five- pointed star formed of thirty large brilliants, and from the Queen of Portugal she received a massive locket containing Her Majesty's portrait, enriched by an enormous oriental pearl encrusted in brilliants ; and even at the present time scarcely a day passes without the "Diva" receiving some acknowledgment in recognition of her transcendent powers. Adelina Patti's first husband was Henri, Marquis de Caux, an equerry to the Empress Eugenie, from whom she was separated and subsequently divorced ; and, on June 10, 1886, she married Ernesto Nicolini, the famous tenor singer. In appearance, Patti is still youthful, and really seems destined to rival the
