lighted the circles of the king and the emperor by the occasional display of her genius;—at St. Petersburgh she eclipsed all the female vocalists. In private life, her virtues and accomplishments rendered her respectable and admired. She was naturally benevolent, and her charities were immense. But in consequence of those reverses to which the most eminent have been liable in these revolutionary days, she has found it necessary again to resort to her talents as an artist. London was the place chosen for her reappearance. She sustained the character of Linda, in July, 1849, and was received with the warmest and most enthusiastic applause. As an actress she is undeniably improved;—it is impossible for a girl of twenty, whatever be her genius, to have that knowledge of human nature, and of the passions, which are requisite for the proper conception of tragic characters. Sometimes this mental finish arrives when nature begins to withdraw the exterior charms so necessary to impersonate the heroine. In the case of Madame Sontag (she resumes her own name, professionally,) this drawback does not exist; she enjoys perfect health and vigour, her person is elegantly formed, and her graceful ladylike demeanour is peculiarly attractive. Her voice seems to have retained every element of power and beauty. It is a pure soprano, both in tone and in compass. Her early advantages of education were great; and during her retirement she has never ceased to cultivate herself in private, thus evincing the true greatness of her genius by its constant activity.
SOPHIA,
Of Hispali, was a Spanish-Arabian lady, celebrated for her poetry and oratory. She died in 1039. None of her writings are now extant. She had a sister, Maria, who was also a poet and a learned lady.
SOPHIA OF WOLFENBUTTEL,
Baptized Carolina Christina Sophia, distinguished for her sufferings and her beautiful feminine traits of character, sister of the wife of Charles the Sixth, Emperor of Germany, was united in marriage to the Prince Alexis, son and presumptive heir of Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy. In her were mingled the fairest gifts of nature and education: lovely, graceful, with a penetrating and cultivated mind, and a soul tempered and governed by virtue; yet with all these rare gifts, which softened and won every other heart, she was nevertheless an object of aversion to Alexis, the most brutal of mankind. More than once the unfortunate wife was indebted for her life to the use of antidotes to counteract the insidious poisons administered to her by her husband. At length the barbarity of the prince arrived at its climax. By an inhuman blow she was left for dead. He himself fully believed that which he so ardently desired, and tranquilly departed for one of his villas, calmly ordering the funeral rites to be duly celebrated.
But the days of the unfortunate princess were not yet terminated. Under the devoted care of the Countess of Konigsmark, her lady of honour, who had been present at the horrible event, she slowly regained health and strength, while her fictitious obsequies were magnificently performed and honoured throughout Muscovy, and nearly all the European courts assumed mourning for the departed princess. This wise and noble countess of Konigsmark, renowned
