The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 1 19 



career he hardly made a misstep through defect of 

 his own judgment, and his memory retained for 

 years the minutest details. He Hved nearly a 

 quarter of a century in retirement, in the society of 

 his family, and of eminent practical and literary 

 men, his mind retaining its vigour after his bodily 

 strength had become enfeebled." Mr. Astor's will 

 contained numerous charitable provisions, amongst 

 others ten thousand pounds to the poor of Waldorf, 

 his native village in Germany, and a splendid 

 library to his adopted city. New York. As a child 

 this extraordinary man had been taught to rise 

 early, and devote a part of his first waking hours 

 to reading the Bible, a practice that he never re- 

 linquished even when the cares of business sat 

 most heavily upon him. He died at New York in 

 the spring of 1848, in his seventy-fifth year. Should 

 any of my readers feel their interest awakened, and 

 care to pursue the subject further, I may mention 

 that the " Life of Astor," by David Ralph Jaques, 

 may be found in Freeman Hunt's " Lives of 

 American Merchants," published at New York in 

 1858. 



" Well," continued Pierre, " when the news of the 

 formation of the 'Pacific Fur Company' reached 

 Montreal the excitement was enormous. The 

 North-West Company, then in the zenith of its 



