PAREPA-ROSA, EUPHR08YNE. 



677 



tillation of liquors from tho sugar-cane and tlio 

 nl'j'trobdi augur, molasses, and ropes and cord- 

 age. Agricultural implements are rude and 

 primitive. There were constructed at tho ar- 

 senal of Asuncion, in tho three years 18t> 

 seven mail-steamers to ply to Montevideo. 



During the second Lopez administration 

 (1862-'70), commerce was hampered in various 

 ways, such as government monopolies and 

 other abuses, which rendered freedom of trade 

 unknown in the republic; and tho chief sta- 

 ples of export were purchased by the dictator's 

 s. Nevertheless, and in spite of the nat- 

 ural difficulties in the way of transporting mer- 

 chandise to the sea from this land-locked state, 

 the commerce of Paraguay had considerably 

 increased during the decade following tho 

 downfall of Rosas, the Argentine dictator, and 

 the consequent opening of the river-traffic. 



PAREPA-ROSA, EUPHROSYNK, the most 

 accomplished vocalist and operatic singer of 

 the present century, born in Edinburgh in 

 1889; died in London, January 22, 1874. Her 

 father was a Wallachian nobleman, Baron 

 Georgiades de Boyesku, of Bucharest. Her 

 mother, nee Seguin, was the daughter of Ed- 

 ward Seguin, Sen., and sister of the famous 

 basso and composer of that name. The sudden 

 death of the baron, just after the birth of 

 Kuphrosyne, left his widow, at the age of 

 twenty-one years, in poverty ; and she soon 

 after adopted the lyric stage as a profession 

 for her own support and that of her infant 

 daughter, and early commenced training her 

 to the same pursuit. The child was endowed 

 with genius of a high order; but she was 

 also patient and persevering. She made rapid 

 progress in her musical studies so rapid as 

 to astonish her teachers; and, meanwhile, 

 she had acquired a thorough mastery of five 

 languages, English, Italian, French, German, 

 and Spanish. At the age of sixteen she made 

 her debut in one of the Italian cities, and 

 attained a marked and promising success. 

 Within the next two years she had appeared 

 with constantly-increasing applause at Naples, 

 Genoa, Rome, Florence, Madrid, aud Lisbon, 

 and even the sternest musical critics of those 

 cities were enraptured by her wonderful voice, 

 her perfect training, and her admirable sim- 

 plicity of manners and of performance. In 

 1857 she made her first appearance in London, 

 in "II Puritani," in the same company with 

 Ronconi, Gardoni, and Tagliafico. From the 

 beginning she was a great favorite with the 

 British public. In 1863 she married Captain 

 Carvill, an officer in the East Indian service, a 

 man of brilliant talents and great promise, and 

 highly connected. The fortune of the young 

 couple was about $125,000 ; but the gallant 

 captain developed such a passion for specula- 

 tion, that he sunk the whole of it in a few 

 months in Peruvian mining shares, and, after 

 seven months of married life, sailed for Lima, 

 to look after his mining property, where he 

 died in April, 1865. Their infant child being 



dead, tho young widow returned to the lyric 

 stage, to repair her shattered fortunes and di- 

 vert her mind from her domestic griefs. In 

 the l:i!i.-r part of August, 1866, the came to the 

 I nit.'l States, making her debut in New 

 in Mr. II. L. Hateman's company, of which tin- 

 violinist, Carl Rosa, and the cornet-player. 

 Levy, were also members. Her first uj 

 ance was in concert ; but, during her stay in 

 the United States, she achieved high honors 

 I '"tli in oratorio and opera, in most of the 

 principal cities of tho republic. In 1867 she 

 became the wife of Carl Rosa, with whom she 

 lived a most happy and affectionate life till her 

 untimely death. Her domestic life was sin- 

 gularly free from unpleasant passages; she 

 was not lacking in dignity or energy, but she 

 was always amiable, gentle, and thoughtful for 

 the comfort and happiness of others. Her 

 rank in the musical world was of the highest, 

 and rested upon solid merits. >hc p< >-><>-., d 

 one of the most exquisite voices ever heard 

 upon the stage. It had all good qualities. 

 Its oompass was magnificent; it reached the 

 lowest notes of the soprano register, and ran 

 up with ease to F in alt, or perhaps a little 

 higher ; and in all this great extent there was 

 not an imperfect tone ; every sound was de- 

 liciously sweet, and pure, and full ; the most 

 acute critic could detect no flaw, no weakness, 

 no difference of quality. In volume it was ab- 

 solutely phenomenal. It filled the Boston 

 Colisseum of 1869, where it rang out above the 

 roar of cannon and the shouting of the monster 

 chorus. Its whispers were heard through the 

 largest opera-houses, and its clarion tones elec- 

 trified us, in triumphant songs like Handel's 

 " Let the Bright Seraphim," as no voice ever 

 did before, as no voice ever will again. So 

 perfect was the beauty of this glorious voice, 

 that it used to touch the feelings merely by its 

 rare purity and strength, quite apart from any 

 sentiment which might lie in the music. 

 Voice, however, was not the secret of her 

 power. She had reached the very pinnacle of 

 art, for she had learned to despise mere oppor- 

 tunities for vocal display, to discard vulgar 

 embellishments and tourt de force, and to es- 

 teem that the noblest style of singing which 

 was the simplest and most natural. How 

 many years of hard work and intelligent study 

 were needed before this perfect culture was 

 complete the public never suspected. When 

 she stood before them, so quiet, so easy, so 

 unaffected, the song seemed to flow from her 

 lips without an effort, and without premedita- 

 tion. She sang as if she could not help it. 

 Music had no difficulties for her. With a 

 physical strength equal to the most unparal- 

 leled demands, and a technical education 

 which had long ago triumphed over the most 

 serious problems of art, the exercise of her 

 marvelous gift became a sort of second nature. 

 Song for her was as easy as speech. The ver- 

 satility for which she has been so much praised 

 was in part the result of high culture and in 



