Perhaps among our readers there are some who have formed the resolution to get on in the world and become rich.  We advise such to observe how young Astor proceeded.  We are far from desiring to hold up this able man as a model for the young; yet it must be owned that in the art of prospering in business he has had no equal in America; and in that his example may be useful.  Now, observe the secret.  It was not plodding merely, though no man ever labored more steadily than he.  Mr. Bowne, discovering what a prize he had, raised his wages at the end of the first month.  Nor was it merely his strict observance of the rules of temperance and morality, though that is essential to any worthy success.  The great secret of Astor’s early, rapid, and uniform success in business appears to have been, that he acted always upon the maxim that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!  He labored unceasingly at Mr. Bowne’s to learn the business.  He put all his soul into the work of getting a knowledge of furs, fur-bearing animals, fur-dealers, fur-markets, fur-gathering Indians, fur-abounding countries.  In those days a considerable number of bear skins and beaver skins were brought directly to Bowne’s store by the Indians and countrymen of the vicinity, who had shot or trapped the animals.  These men Astor questioned; and neglected no other opportunity of procuring the information he desired.  It used to be observed of Astor that he absolutely loved a fine skin.  In later days he would have a superior fur hung up in his counting-room as other men hang pictures; and this, apparently, for the mere pleasure of feeling, showing, and admiring it.  He would pass his hand fondly over it, extolling its charms with an approach to enthusiasm; not, however, forgetting to mention that in Canton it would bring him in five hundred dollars.  So heartily did he throw himself into his business.

Growing rapidly in the confidence of his employer, he was soon intrusted with more important duties than the beating of furs.  He was employed in buying them from the Indians and hunters who brought them to the city.  Soon, too, he took the place of his employer in the annual journey to Montreal, then the chief fur mart of the country.  With a pack upon his back, he struck into the wilderness above Albany, and walked to Lake George, which he ascended in a canoe, and having thus reached Champlain he embarked again, and sailed to the head of that lake.  Returning with his furs, he employed the Indians in transporting them to the Hudson, and brought them to the city in a sloop.  He was formed by nature for a life like this.  His frame was capable of great endurance, and he had the knack of getting the best of a bargain.  The Indian is a great bargainer.  The time was gone by when a nail or a little red paint would induce him to part with valuable peltries.  It required skill and address on the part of the trader, both in selecting the articles likely to tempt the vanity or the cupidity of the red man, and in conducting