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old Mr. Astor's musical parties, and at one of these he said to us, as we stood together: ‘You are my singing birds.’
Of our two repertoires, mine was the most varied, as it included French and German songs, while she sang mostly operatic music.
The rich volume of her voice, however, carried her hearers quite away.
Her figure and carriage were fine, and in her countenance beauty of expression lent a great charm to features which in themselves were not handsome.
Although the elder Astor had led a life mainly devoted to business interests, he had great pleasure in the society of literary men. Fitz-Greene Halleck and Washington Irving were familiar visitors at his house, and he conceived so great a regard for Dr. Joseph Green Cogswell as to insist upon his becoming an inmate of his family.
He finally went to reside with Mr. Astor, attracted partly by the latter's promise to endow a public library in the city of New York.
This was accomplished after some delay, and the doctor was for many years director of the Astor Library.
He used to relate some humorous anecdotes of excursions which he made with Mr. Astor.
In the course of one of these, the two gentlemen took supper together at a hotel recently opened.
Mr. Astor remarked: ‘This man will never succeed.’
‘Why not?’
inquired the other.
Houghton and Mifflin Company, 1899.
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