and Herz, Sivori, Ole
Bull, Thalberg, were alike ready to approve his genius, and to testify
that approval in the choice of his melodies as themes about which to
weave their witcheries of embellishment. Complimentary letters from men
of literary note poured in upon him; among others, one full of generous
encouragement from Washington Irving, dearly prized and carefully
treasured to the day of Foster's death. Similar missives reached him
from across the seas,--from strangers and from travellers in lands far
remote; and he learned that, while "O Susanna!" was the familiar song of
the cottager of the Clyde, "Uncle Ned" was known to the dweller in tents
among the Pyramids.

Of his sentimental songs, "Ah, may the Red Rose live alway!" "Maggie by
my Side," "Jennie with the Light-Brown Hair," "Willie, we have missed
you," "I see her still in my Dreams," "Wilt thou be gone, Love" (a duet,
the words adapted from a well-known scene in Romeo and Juliet), and
"Come where my Love lies dreaming" (quartet), are among the leading
favorites. "I see her still in my Dreams" appeared in 1861, shortly
after the death of his mother, and is a tribute to the memory of her to
whom he was devotedly attached. The verses to most of these airs--to all
the successful ones--were of his own composition. Indeed, he could
seldom satisfy himself in his "settings" of the stanzas of others. If
the metrical and symmetrical features of the lines in hand chanced to
disagree with his conception of the motion and proportion befitting in a
musical interpretation; if the sentiment were one that failed, whether
from lack of appreciation or of sympathy on his part, to command
absolute approval; or if the terms employed were not of a precise thread
and tension,--if they were wanting, however minutely, in _vibratory_
qualities,--of commensurate extent would be the failure attending the
translation.

The last three years of his life Mr. Foster passed in New York. During
all that time, his efforts, with perhaps one exception, were limited to
the production of songs of a pensive character. The loss of his mother
seems to have left an ineffaceable impression of melancholy upon his
mind, and inspired such songs as "I dream of my Mother," "I'll be Home
To-morrow," "Leave me with my Mother," and "Bury me in the Morning." He
died, after a brief illness, on the 13th of January, 1864. His remains
reached Pittsburg on the 20th, and were conveyed to Trinity Church,
where on th