He was of course a man of substance, made so by his wits, and at the expense of the burghers of New-York. That he was a strictly honest man, is quite certain; for his old master of the “black art” is known to have said, that when he paid him a secret visit, and suggested the propriety of manufacturing a few certificates of shares, to meet the urgency of demand, Jacob replied, that “if detected it would spoil the profits of his trade, and therefore, in honor, he could not consent to the proposal.” He honestly paid his debts, also, for the same reason, and as a man of public spirit, lent his means to assist in building the “old jail,” to confine all those rogues in, who could not pay theirs. PRINCIPLES OF TRADE. To be sure, he acted on the principle that there is no friendship in trade, and that a bargain is a bargain, however made, and must be fulfilled. What if his customers _did_ pay him a commission? he sold only his services, not his wits; and them he had a right to use for his own benefit. He had long since learned, in his profession of the “black art,” that the measure of success depended on the closeness of his secret, and if people did not know his arts, he thought it but right that they should pay for being amused by them; and following this mode of reasoning, in the scale of progression upward to the higher sciences, he judged rightly, “that if people were ignorant they must pay for instruction.” MORAL REFLECTIONS. Skilfulness in trade was, in his opinion, justly placed at the head of moral science, of which he had now become a professor; and why should he be expected to impart what he knew without a “quid pro quo?” Not he; but rather following the plain dictates of wisdom, he would learn all he could, and impart nothing. If he knew better how to make a bargain than his customers did, that was their fault, not his. People should look before they leap, and look too with their own eyes, not attempt to borrow his; they should know his mode of business before they came to him; not come and complain afterwards. These reflections while they clearly show the astuteness of his mind, also suggest the reasons why stock rose rapidly; and point out the means by which Mr. Broker pocketed nearly all the advance himself,—without ever retaining more than ten shares in his hands at any one time. In time Mr. Broker became a sage, and, as a fruit of his wisdom, left behind him a code of laws which have ever since been the standard of Wall-street. VIRTUE OF CORPORATIONS.