by his own countrymen.  As a rule he refused to give:  and he was right.  He held beggary of all descriptions in strong contempt, and seemed to think that, in this country, want and fault are synonymous.  Nevertheless, we are told that he did, now and then, bestow small sums in charity, though we have failed to get trustworthy evidence of a single instance of his doing so.  It is, no doubt, absolutely necessary for a man who is notoriously rich to guard against imposture, and to hedge himself about against the swarms of solicitors who pervade a large and wealthy city.  If he did not, he would be overwhelmed and devoured.  His time would be all consumed and his estate squandered in satisfying the demands of importunate impudence.  Still, among the crowd of applicants there is here and there one whose claim upon the aid of the rich man is just.  It were much to be desired that a way should be devised by which these meritorious askers could be sifted from the mass, and the nature of their requests made known to men who have the means and the wish to aid such.  Some kind of Benevolent Intelligence Office appears to be needed among us.  In the absence of such an institution we must not be surprised that men renowned for their wealth convert themselves into human porcupines, and erect their defensive armor at the approach of every one who carries a subscription-book.  True, a generous man might establish a private bureau of investigation; but a generous man is not very likely to acquire a fortune of twenty millions.  Such an accumulation of wealth is just as wise as if a man who had to walk ten miles on a hot day should, of his own choice, carry on his back a large sack of potatoes.  A man of superior sense and feeling will not waste his life so, unless he has in view a grand public object.  On the contrary, he will rather do as Franklin did, who, having acquired at the age of forty-two a modest competence, sold out his thriving business on easy terms to a younger man, and devoted the rest of his happy life to the pursuit of knowledge and the service of his country.  But we cannot all be Franklins.  In the affairs of the world millionaires are as indispensable as philosophers; and it is fortunate for society that some men take pleasure in heaping up enormous masses of capital.

Having retired from business, Mr. Astor determined to fulfil the vow of his youth, and build in Broadway a house larger and costlier than any it could then boast.  Behold the result in the Astor House, which remains to this day one of our most solid, imposing, and respectable structures.  The ground on which the hotel stands was covered with substantial three-story brick houses, one of which Astor himself occupied; and it was thought at the time a wasteful and rash proceeding to destroy them.  Old Mr. Coster, a retired merchant of great wealth, who lived next door to Mr. Astor’s residence, was extremely indisposed to remove, and held out long against every offer of the millionaire.  His house was worth thirty thousand dollars.  Astor offered him that sum; but the offer was very positively declined, and the old gentleman declared it to be his intention to spend the remainder of his days in the house.  Mr. Astor offered forty thousand without effect.  At length the indomitable projector revealed his purpose to his neighbor.