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of prosperity by buying the skins of skunks and 

 musk-rats. He is reported to have said that it cost 

 him more severe effort to get the first thousand dol 

 lars, than all the others. 



Mr. Edwin T. Freedley has written much and well 

 on all these subjects. He says, referring to Astor, 

 that, 



&quot; If he had bequeathed to mankind an easy and certain 

 method of overcoming the difficulty, the bequest would have 

 been a far more valuable one than all his fortune ; entitling 

 him to the most conspicuous niche in the gallery of the 

 world s benefactors. The task, however, was beyond his 

 powers, as it has proved too vast for abler men. Franklin at 

 tempted to teach the true secret of money-catching the 

 certain way to fill empty pockets with what success we have 

 seen. Millionaires have favored the world with their dicta 

 and opinions ; but the world has not attached any great im 

 portance to their sayings, and certainly not been much 

 benefited by their observations. Mankind generally have 

 probably abandoned the idea of discovering a royal road to 

 wealth, and concluded that an individual, or nation, in order 

 to accumulate capital, must earn something by labor, and 

 then save a portion of the product. Something, however, 

 may be done and a good deal more than has been done 

 to .facilitate this accumulation; to show labor how, with 

 out extra exertion, it can increase its rewards ; and show 

 economy how, without injury to the physical system, less 

 may be consumed.&quot; 



Mr. Freedley has gone largely and thoroughly 

 into all the details of the question as to how to get 

 the first thousand dollars. He tells us 



&quot;First, How TO SAVE. The human mind receives its 

 first practical lessons in the realities of life at a very early 



