character of the performers was also improved.  From being dissolute they became generally respectable; and at present it may be safely asserted that a better-conducted, more frugal or industrious class of men and woman can scarcely be found than are the Italian players.  That class of actresses with whom their profession is only a means of displaying their beauty and splendid but often ill-gotten robes and jewelry, is little known in Italy, Such persons would be scarcely tolerated either by their comrades or by the public.  Indeed, although within the past few years, owing to the unsettled state of affairs, a great many plays of questionable morality have been acted, especially in Rome, still the tone of the performances usually witnessed in an Italian theatre is greatly above the average of what even Americans applaud; and a French play has to go through more careful pruning for the Italian stage than for ours.

The Italian actors have always been in the habit of forming themselves into troupes, or, as they call them, compagnie, placed under the direction of one person, who is both manager and principal performer.  They divide these troupes according to the various kinds of acting; thus, there are companies of tragic, melodramatic and comic actors, but it is very rare to find a combination of tragedy and comedy in the same entertainment.  There are at present about eighty different troupes of actors in Italy, including those devoted to the marionnette and dialect performances.  The principal are the “Salvini,” “Ristori,” “Majeroni,” “Sedowsky,” and “Rossi” for tragedy, the “Bellotti Bon” for high comedy, and the “De Mestri” for farce and vaudeville.  The “Ristori,” “Salvini” and “Rossi” troupes have been the round of the world.  The “Bellotti Bon” has, I believe, never quitted Italy.  It is a remarkable combination of well-trained actors, devoted exclusively to the representation of modern society plays and dramas, mostly translated or adapted from the French.  Bellotti-Bon, the director, is not excelled in his own line even on the stage of the Theatre Francais.  His company is rich, and its scenery and dresses are tasteful.  The late Signora Cazzola, formerly the leading lady of this troupe, was perhaps the best high-comedy and dramatic actress Italy has produced.  Signer Salvini informed me that Alexandre Dumas fils told him he preferred this lady’s interpretation of the role of Marguerite Gauthier (Camille) in La Dame aux Camelias to that of Madame Doche, who created the part.  She produced a great effect when the dying Camille looks at herself in the glass for the first time after her long illness.  Instead of screaming or fainting, as is usual with most actresses who undertake the character, Signora Cazzola stood for a long time gazing intently at the havoc disease had wrought upon her lovely countenance.  Then, with a deep sigh and an expression of intense agony, she turned the mirror with its back toward her, implying