Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume Three).djvu/569

 highly praised literary composition. Seven years had now elapsed since March 2, 1899, when he had completed his three score years and ten. His seventieth birthday had been distinguished by two banquets,—one at Delmonico's, given by his American friends, and the other given by the German Liederkranz, in their hall,—where very large and distinguished companies rehearsed the long list of his strivings for the public welfare, and showered upon him praise and good wishes. The suggestion of sadness, inevitable on such occasions, found no reflection in either his words or his feelings. Since then the years that make old age had come with little warning and rested lightly. Physically he was in good condition, save that his hearing was less keen and he perhaps more frequently suffered from a malady to which he had long been subject. Mentally he was as vigorous and alert as ever. The joy that he had always found in formulating his thoughts was unabated. His correspondence was almost preposterously large for a man in private life. The range of his personal friendships was as extensive as that of his interest in public affairs, and contributed thus mightily to the demands upon his attention. With the progress of the years his name had become a feature of the official directories in a great variety of philanthropic and educational movements, in addition to those political organizations with which his whole life was identified. The Germanic Museum of Harvard University, the Germanistic Society of America, the National Arbitration Conference, the State Charities Aid Association, and the organization for the erection of a monument to General Sigel in New York were among the societies that bore his name on the list of their managing boards and commanded his interest and influence. In his family he was very happy, with his four children, two daughters and two sons, until, in the summer of 1900, a