treet and Broadway. On a part of this he subsequently
erected a house which was considered one of the finest in the city.

My father was disposed to be extremely careful in the choice of our
associates, and intended, no doubt, that we should receive our education
at home. At a later day his plans were changed somewhat, and after some
experience of governesses and masters I was at last sent to a school in
the near neighborhood of our house. I was nine years old at this time,
somewhat precocious for my age, and endowed with a good memory. This
fact may have led to my being at once placed in a class of girls much
older than myself, especially occupied with the study of Paley's "Moral
Philosophy." I managed to commit many pages of this book to memory, in a
rather listless and perfunctory manner. I was much more interested in
the study of chemistry, although it was not illustrated by any
experiments. The system of education followed at that time consisted
largely in memorizing from the text-books then in use. Removing to
another school, I had excellent instruction in penmanship, and enjoyed a
course of lectures on history, aided by the best set of charts that I
have ever seen, the work of Professor Bostwick. In geometry I made quite
a brilliant beginning, but soon fell off from my first efforts. The
study of languages was very congenial to me; I had been accustomed to
speak French from my earliest years. To this I was enabled to add some
knowledge of Latin, and afterward of Italian and German.

The routine of my school life was varied now and then by a concert and
by Handel's oratorios, which were given at long intervals by an
association whose title I cannot now recall. I eagerly anticipated, and
yet dreaded, these occasions, for my enjoyment of them was succeeded by
a reaction of intense melancholy.

The musical "stars" of those days are probably quite out of memory in
these later times, but I remember some of them with pleasure. It is
worth noticing that, while the earliest efforts in music in Boston
produced the Handel and Haydn Society, and led to the occasional
performance of a symphony of Beethoven or of Mozart, the taste of New
York inclined more to operatic music. The brief visit of Garcia and his
troupe had brought the best works of Rossini before the public. These
performances were followed, at long intervals, by seasons of English
opera, in which Mrs. Austin was the favorite prima donna. This lady sang
also in