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 She then went to Paris, where she excited vast enthusiasm, and laid the foundation of a reputation never surpassed by any dramatic singer. Not that she ever attained very great perfection in her vocalisation, or her method of throwing out her voice; but she had the most wonderful gift of assimilating herself to every character; there was in her accents something so penetrating, so indescribably touching, that she possessed unlimited command over the feelings of her audience. She gave the deepest study to her art, and every representation seemed to mark a progress. She first appeared in the character of Desdemona, in London, in March, 1824. This was always one of her finest parts; and some years afterwards furnished a subject for comparison with Madame Malibran, with whom it was also a favourite rôle. If the latter, in her vocal execution and the pure feeling of music, had an incontestable advantage, nobody could deny to Madame Pasta a higher conception, more unity, and, in a word, a truer expression of the unfortunate Venetian.

In 1829, Madame Pasta purchased a beautiful country-seat near lake Como; and after passing her summers there for some years, she at length appeared to give up the stage, having lived quietly for three years in this agreeable retreat. When in 1840 she accepted proposals from the Russian court, to go to St. Petersburg, the emoluments given her for that season were fixed at forty thousand dollars.

Madame Pasta has received more praise, and awakened more enthusiasm, than any actress of the age. Bellini wrote Norma and the Sonnambula expressly for her; in the latter, it was surprising to see her admirable in a simplicity so very different from the stately parts in which She generally excelled. Her Anna Bolena exhibits an energy and dignity which have served as a model to all subsequent actresses.  PAULA, ST., lady of noble birth and great learning. She embraced Christianity; and when she became a widow, she retired to Bethlehem, where she built a monastery, and led a very devout and ascetic life. St. Jerome was the director of her charitable institutions, and he also taught her to read the Scriptures in Hebrew. She died in 407, aged sixty. It was said that she was descended from the families of the Gracchi and Scipios.  PAULINA, lady of exquisite beauty, and great wealth and virtue, lived in the reign of Tiberius, about the year 30. She was married to Saturninus, a husband worthy of her. Decius Mundus, a Roman knight, fell desperately in love with her, and tried every means, in vain, to obtain her affections. He even offered her two hundred thousand drachmæ. At length Ide, a female domestic of his father's, offered to enable him to accomplish his object for fifty thousand drachmæ, which he gave her. This woman, knowing Paulina's great veneration for Isis, bribed several of the priests of this goddess, who went to Paulina, and told her that the god Anubis was passionately enamoured of her, and that she must visit him. Elated with this honour, Paulina communicated the desire to her husband, who, confiding in her virtue, cheerfully granted the request. She went to the temple, and, being shut up in the dark,