CONSTERNATION AT SIGHT OF FULTON'S MONSTER (Frontispiece) GIRARD COLLEGE GIRARD'S HEROISM ASTOR'S FIRST TRIP FOR FURS "MY MEN SHALL NOT SUFFER" PORTRAIT OF GEORGE PEABODY PEABODY PAYING FOR A NIGHT'S LODGING PORTRAIT OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT VANDERBILT EARNING HIS FIRST HUNDRED DOLLARS VANDERBILT CARRYING OFF THE SHERIFF FOUNDING A GREAT FORTUNE PORTRAIT OF ROBERT FULTON AN AMAZING REVELATION "THE MADHOUSE IS THE PROPER PLACE FOR HIM" WHITNEY WATCHING THE FIRST COTTON-GIN PORTRAIT OF ELIAS HOWE, JR. HOWE'S FIRST IDEA OF THE SEWING-MACHINE THE BOY COLT INVENTING THE REVOLVER PORTRAIT OF SAMUEL F.B. MORSE HOW THE NEW YORK HERALD BEGAN MARSHALL'S DEFENCE OF CHRISTIANITY PORTRAIT OF JAMES T. BRADY "THEY ARE GOING TO HANG MY BROTHER; YOU CAN SAVE HIM!" THE TRUANT'S SECRET DISCOVERED PORTRAIT OF HIRAM POWERS POWERS' DISTRUST OF THE HUNTERS FILIAL DEVOTION SHAPES A GREAT CAREER CARTWRIGHT CALLING UP THE DEVIL PORTRAIT OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE JEFFERSON, AS RIP VAN WINKLE PRESCRIBING AT THE BREAKFAST-TABLE "PRESIDENT LINCOLN HAS BEEN MURDERED!" CONTENTS. I. MERCHANTS. CHAPTER I. STEPHEN GIRARD. The fog in the Delaware--News of the war--Alarm of the French skipper--A narrow escape from capture--Arrival of Girard in Philadelphia--Early history of Stephen Girard--An unhappy childhood--Goes to sea--Is licensed to command--Becomes a trader in Philadelphia--Marries Mary Lum--Unfortunate issue of the marriage--Capture of Philadelphia by the British--Early commercial life of Stephen Girard--How he earned his first money, and the use he made of it--Aid from St. Domingo--His rigid attention to business--Thoroughness of his knowledge--One of his letters of instructions--His subordinates required to obey orders though they ruin him--Anecdote of Girard and one of his captains--His promptness and fidelity in business--He never breaks his word--How he lost five hundred dollars--Buys the old Bank of the United States and becomes a banker--Cuts down the salaries of his clerks--Refuses his watchman an overcoat--Indifference to his employés--Contrast between his personal and business habits--His liberality in financial operations--He subscribes for the entire Government loan in 1814, and enables the United States to carry on the war--His generosity toward the Government--The suspension of specie payments--Financial troubles--How Girard saved his own notes--His public spirit--How he made half a million of dollars on a captured ship--Personal characteristics--Why he valued money--His ambition--His infidelity--Causes of the defects of his character--A favorable view--Heroic conduct of Stephen Girard during the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia--The Good Samaritan--He practices medicine, and congratulates himself that he has killed none of his patients--His industry--Visit of Mr. Baring to Mr. Girard--A curious reception--Failing health and death of Stephen Girard--His will--His noble bequests--Establishment of Girard College. CHAPTER II.