A \ B \ C \ D \ E \ F \ G \ H \ I \ J \ K \ L \ M \ N \ O \ P \ R \ S \ T \ U \ V \ W \Z

Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made by James D. McCabe, Jr.

J >> James D. McCabe, Jr. >> Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made





X. ACTORS.


CHAPTER XXXV.

EDWIN BOOTH.

The elder Booth--His success as an actor--His sons--Birth of Edwin
Booth--Early life--Brought up on the stage--Admiration for his
father--Travels with him--First appearance--Appears frequently with his
father--Plays Richard III. in New York--A bold venture--Learns the
details of his profession--Visits Australia and the Sandwich
Islands--Re-appearance in New York in 1857--Recollections of him at that
time--His labors in his profession--Successful tours throughout the
country--Visits England--Appears at the Haymarket Theater in
London--Studies on the continent--Appearance at the Winter Garden--The
Shakespearian revivals--Destruction of the Winter Garden by fire--Loss
of Mr. Booth's theatrical wardrobe--Popular sympathy--The new
theater--Opening of the building--Description of Booth's Theater--A
magnificent establishment--A splendid stage--Novel mode of setting the
scenes--Magnificent mounting of the plays produced there--Mr. Booth's
performances--Personal--Genius as an actor--Beneficial influence upon
the drama.


CHAPTER XXXVI.

JOSEPH JEFFERSON.

The Jefferson family--A race of actors--Jefferson the first--"Old
Jefferson"--Jefferson the third--Birth of Joseph
Jefferson--Childhood--Brought up on the stage--Olive Logan's
reminiscence--First appearance in public--Early training--Career as a
stock actor--Becomes a "star"--His success--Visits Australia, the
player's El Dorado--Pecuniary success of Jefferson in Australia--His
merits as an actor--Visits England--First appearance at the Adelphi
Theater--"Our American Cousin"--Production of Rip Van Winkle--Makes the
part his specialty--Description of his performance of Rip Van
Winkle--Personal characteristics--Devotion to his profession--Love of
art--A capital sportsman--Buys a panorama--A visit to John Sefton--"The
Golden Farmer"--Private life.


XI. PHYSICIANS.


CHAPTER XXXVII.

BENJAMIN RUSH.

Birth and early life--Adopts medicine as a profession--Studies in
Europe--Returns home, and is made a professor in the Philadelphia
Medical College--Political career--Elected to the Provincial Conference
of Pennsylvania--Action with respect to the independence of the
colonies--Elected to the Continental Congress--Signs the Declaration of
Independence--Marriage--Is made Surgeon-General of the army--Becomes
Physician-General--Troubles--Resigns his commission--Letters to the
people of Pennsylvania--Services in the State conventions--Resumes his
practice in Philadelphia--Plans the Philadelphia Dispensary--Resumes his
professor's chair--The yellow fever in Philadelphia--A scene of
terror--"The Hundred Days"--Dr. Rush's treatment of the
disease--Opposition of the Faculty--Success of Rush's
treatment--Testimony of Dr. Ramsay--Suit for damages--Dr. Rush's
services during the fever--Reminiscences--Honors from European
sovereigns--Is made Treasurer of the United States Mint--Literary
labors--Zeal in behalf of Christianity--His connection with the Bible
Society--Death.


CHAPTER XXXVIII.

VALENTINE MOTT.

Birth--Early life--Enters Columbia College--His medical
studies--Continues his studies in Europe--Great surgical genius--His
early success as an operator--Returns home--Is made Professor of Surgery
in Columbia College--His career and success as a teacher--Introduces the
system of clinical instruction--Difficulty of procuring "subjects" for
dissection--Desperate expedients--midnight adventure--A ready
rebuke--Success and skill as a surgeon--Tribute from Sir Astley
Cooper--A wonderful operation--Sketch of his original operations--His
mode of operating--Careful preparation--Success as a physician--A
progressive mind--Professional honors--Visits Europe--Reception
abroad--Operates upon the Sultan of Turkey--A cool
proposition--Personal--His last illness and death--"President Lincoln
murdered."

[Illustration: GIRARD COLLEGE]


I.

MERCHANTS.




CHAPTER I.

STEPHEN GIRARD.


One May morning, in the year 1776, the mouth of the Delaware Bay was
shrouded in a dense fog, which cleared away toward noon, and revealed
several vessels just off the capes. From one of these, a sloop, floated
the flag of France and a signal of distress. An American ship ran
alongside the stranger, in answer to her signal, and found that the
French captain had lost his reckoning in a fog, and was in total
ignorance of his whereabouts. His vessel, he said, was bound from New
Orleans to a Canadian port, and he was anxious to proceed on his voyage.
The American skipper informed him of his locality, and also apprised him
of the fact that war had broken out between the colonies and Great
Britain, and that the American coast was so well lined with British
cruisers that he would never reach port but as a prize. "What shall I
do?" cried the Frenchman, in great alarm. "Enter the bay, and make a
push for Philadelphia," was the reply. "It is your only chance."

The Frenchman protested that he did not know the way, and had no pilot.
The American captain, pitying his distress, found him a pilot, and even
loaned him five dollars, which the pilot demanded in advance. The sloop
got under weigh again, and passed into the Delaware, beyond the defenses
which had been erected for its protection, just in time to avoid capture
by a British war vessel which now made its appearance at the mouth of
the bay. Philadelphia was reached in due time, and, as the war bade fair
to put an end to his voyages, the captain sold the sloop and her cargo,
of which he was part owner, and, entering a small store in Water Street,
began the business of a grocer and wine-bottler. His capital was small,
his business trifling in extent, and he himself labored under the
disadvantage of being almost unable to speak the English language. In
person he was short and stout, with a dull, repulsive countenance, which
his bushy eyebrows and solitary eye (being blind in the other) made
almost hideous. He was cold and reserved in manner, and was disliked by
his neighbors, the most of whom were afraid of him.

This man was Stephen Girard, who was afterward destined to play so
important a part in the history of the city to which the mere chances of
war sent him a stranger.

He was born at Bordeaux, in France, on the 21st of May, 1750, and was
the eldest of the five children of Captain Pierre Girard, a mariner of
that city. His life at home was a hard one. At the age of eight years,
he discovered that he was blind in one eye, and the mortification and
grief which this discovery caused him appear to have soured his entire
life. He afterward declared that his father treated him with
considerable neglect, and that, while his younger brothers were sent to
college, he was made to content himself with the barest rudiments of an
education, with merely a knowledge of reading and writing. When he was
quite young, his mother died, and, as his father soon married again,
the severity of a step-mother was added to his other troubles. When
about thirteen years of age, he left home, with his father's consent,
and began, as a cabin-boy, the life of a mariner. For nine years he
sailed between Bordeaux and the French West Indies, rising steadily from
his position of cabin-boy to that of mate. He improved his leisure time
at sea, until he was not only master of the art of navigation, but
generally well informed for a man in his station. His father possessed
sufficient influence to procure him the command of a vessel, in spite of
the law of France which required that no man should be made master of a
ship unless he had sailed two cruises in the royal navy and was
twenty-five years old. Gradually Girard was enabled to amass a small sum
of money, which he invested in cargoes easily disposed of in the ports
to which he sailed. Three years after he was licensed to command, he
made his first appearance in the port of Philadelphia. He was then
twenty-six years old.

From the time of his arrival in Philadelphia he devoted himself to
business with an energy and industry which never failed. He despised no
labor, and was willing to undertake any honest means of increasing his
subsistence. He bought and sold any thing, from groceries to old "junk."
His chief profit, however, was in his wine and cider, which he bottled
and sold readily. His business prospered, and he was regarded as a
thriving man from the start.

In July, 1777, he married Mary Lum, a servant girl of great beauty, and
something of a virago as well. The union was an unhappy one, as the
husband and wife were utterly unsuited to each other. Seven years after
her marriage, Mrs. Girard showed symptoms of insanity, which became so
decided that her husband was compelled to place her in the State Asylum
for the Insane. He appears to have done every thing in his power to
restore her to reason. Being pronounced cured, she returned to her
home, but in 1790 He was compelled to place her permanently in the
Pennsylvania Hospital, where, nine months after, she gave birth to a
female child, which happily died. Mrs. Girard never recovered her
reason, but died in 1815, and was buried in the hospital grounds.

Girard fled from Philadelphia, with his wife, in September, 1777, at the
approach of the British, and purchased a house at Mount Holly, near
Burlington, New Jersey, where he carried on his bottling business. His
claret commanded a ready sale among the British in Philadelphia, and his
profits were large. In June, 1778, the city was evacuated by Lord Howe,
and he was allowed to return to his former home.

Though he traded with the British, Girard considered himself a true
patriot, as indeed he was. On the 27th of October, 1778, he took the
oath of allegiance required by the State of Pennsylvania, and renewed it
the year following. The war almost annihilated the commerce of the
country, which was slow in recovering its former prosperity; but, in
spite of this discouraging circumstance, Girard worked on steadily,
scorning no employment, however humble, that would yield a profit.
Already he had formed the plans which led to his immense wealth, and he
was now patiently carrying out the most trying and disheartening
preliminaries. Whatever he undertook prospered, and though his gains
were small, they were carefully husbanded, and at the proper time
invested in such a manner as to produce a still greater yield. Stephen
Girard knew the value of little things, and he knew how to take
advantage of the most trifling circumstance. His career teaches what may
be done with these little things, and shows how even a few dollars,
properly managed, may be made to produce as many thousands.

In 1780, Mr. Girard again entered upon the New Orleans and St. Domingo
trade, in which he was engaged at the breaking out of the Revolution. He
was very successful in his ventures, and was enabled in a year or two to
greatly enlarge his operations. In 1782, he took a lease of ten years on
a range of frame buildings in Water Street, one of which he occupied
himself, with the privilege of a renewal for a similar period. Rents
were very low at that time, as business was prostrated and people were
despondent; but Girard, looking far beyond the present, saw a prosperous
future. He was satisfied that it would require but a short time to
restore to Philadelphia its old commercial importance, and he was
satisfied that his leases would be the best investment he had ever made.
The result proved the correctness of his views. His profits on these
leases were enormous.

About this time he entered into partnership with his brother, Captain
John Girard, in the West India trade. But the brothers could not conduct
their affairs harmoniously, and in 1790 the firm was dissolved by mutual
consent. Stephen Girard's share of the profits at the dissolution
amounted to thirty thousand dollars. His wealth was greatly increased by
a terrible tragedy which happened soon afterward.

At the outbreak of the great insurrection in St. Domingo, Girard had two
vessels lying in one of the ports of that island. At the first signal of
danger, a number of planters sent their valuables on board of these
ships for safe-keeping, and went back to their estates for the purpose
of securing more. They never returned, doubtless falling victims to the
fury of the brutal negroes, and when the vessels were ready to sail
there was no one to claim the property they contained. It was taken to
Philadelphia, and was most liberally advertised by Mr. Girard, but as no
owner ever appeared to demand it, it was sold, and the proceeds--about
fifty thousand dollars--turned into the merchant's own coffers. This was
a great assistance to him, and the next year he began the building of
those splendid ships which enabled him to engage so actively in the
Chinese and East India trades.

His course was now onward and upward to wealth. At first his ships
merely sailed between Philadelphia and the port to which they were
originally destined; but at length he was enabled to do more than this.
Loading one of his ships with grain, he would send it to Bordeaux, where
the proceeds of her cargo would be invested in wine and fruit. These she
would take to St. Petersburg and exchange for hemp and iron, which were
sold at Amsterdam for coin. From Amsterdam she would proceed to China
and India, and, purchasing a cargo of silks and teas, sail for
Philadelphia, where the final purchase was sold by the owner for cash or
negotiable paper. His success was uniform, and was attributed by his
brother merchants to _luck_.

Stephen Girard had no faith in luck. He never trusted any thing to
chance. He was a thorough navigator, and was perfect master of the
knowledge required in directing long voyages. He understood every
department of his business so well that he was always prepared to survey
the field of commerce from a high stand-point. He was familiar with the
ports with which he dealt, and was always able to obtain such
information concerning them as he desired, in advance of his
competitors. He trusted nothing of importance to others. His
instructions to the commanders of his ships were always full and
precise. These documents afford the best evidence of the statements I
have made concerning his system, as the following will show:


_Copy of Stephen Girard's Letter to Mr. ----, Commander and
Supercargo of the ship ----, bound to Batavia._

PHILADELPHIA, ----.

SIR--I confirm my letters to you of the ---- ult., and the ----
inst. Having recently heard of the decease of Mr. ----, merchant at
Batavia, also of the probable dissolution of his house, under the
firm of Messrs. ----, I have judged it prudent to request my
Liverpool correspondents to consign the ship ----, cargo, and
specie on board, to Mr. ----, merchant at Batavia, subject to your
control, and have requested said Liverpool friends to make a
separate invoice and bill of lading for the specie, which they will
ship on my account, on board of the ship ----, and similar
documents for the merchandise, which they will ship in the same
manner; therefore, I request that you will sign in conformity.

I am personally acquainted with Mr. ----, but not with Mr. ----,
but I am on very friendly terms with some particular friends of the
latter gentleman, and consequently I give him the preference. I am
sorry to observe, however, that he is alone in a country where a
partner appears to me indispensable to a commercial house, as well
for the safety of his own capital as for the security of the
interests of those who may confide to them property, and reside in
distant parts of the globe.

The foregoing reflections, together with the detention of my ship
V----, at Batavia, from June last, epoch of her arrival at that
port, until the 15th of September, ----, when she had on board only
nineteen hundred peculs of coffee, are the motives which have
compelled me to request of my Liverpool friends to consign the
specie and goods, which they will ship on my account, on board of
the ship ----, under your command, to said Mr. ----, subject to
your control.

Therefore, relying upon your activity, perseverance, correctness,
zeal, and attention for my interest, I proceed in pointing out to
you the plan of conduct which I wish you to pursue on your arrival
at Batavia, and during your stay at that or any port of that
island, until your departure for Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, to
await my subsequent orders.

First. On your arrival at Batavia, you are to go on shore and
ascertain Mr. ----'s residence, and, if you have reason to believe
that he is still considered at that place as a man of good credit,
and merits full confidence, you are to deliver to him my Liverpool
consignees' letters to his address, and also the goods which you
have on board, in such proportion as he may request, except the
specie, which is to continue on board, as mentioned in the next
article.

Second. The specie funds of the ship ----, which will consist of
old Carolus dollars, you are to retain on board untouched, and in
the said boxes or packages as they were in when shipped from
Liverpool, well secured, and locked up in your powder magazine, in
the after run of the said ship under the cabin floor.

The bulkhead and floor of said magazine, scuttle, iron bar,
staples, etc., must be made sufficiently strong, if not already so,
while you are at Liverpool, where you are to procure a strong
padlock and key, for the purpose of securing said specie in the
most complete and safest manner; and when you have the certainty
that it is wanted to pay for the coffee purchased on account of the
ship ----, then you are to receive the said coffee, and pay or
deliver to your consignee Spanish dollars to the amount of said
purchase, and no more, having due regard to the premium or advance
allowed at Batavia on old Spanish dollars; and in that way you are
to continue paying or delivering dollars as fast as you receive
coffee, which is not to exceed the quantity which can be
conveniently stowed on board said ship ----, observing to take a
receipt for each payment, and to see that the net proceeds of the
goods, which will have been shipped at Liverpool, must be invested
in coffee, as far as the sales will permit, and shipped on board of
said ship.

Should it happen that on your arrival at Batavia you should find
that death, absence, etc., should deprive you of the services of
Mr. ----, or that, owing to some causes before mentioned, it would
be prudent to confide my interests elsewhere, in either case you
are to apply to Messrs. ----, merchants of that place, to
communicate your instructions relative to the disposal of the
Liverpool cargo, on board of the ship ----, the loading of that
ship with good merchantable coffee, giving the preference to the
first quality whenever it can be purchased on reasonable terms for
cash, or received in payment for the sales of the said Liverpool
cargo, or for a part thereof, observing that I wished said coffee
to be purchased at Samarang, or any other out-port, if practicable;
and in all cases it must be attentively examined when delivered,
and put up in double gunny bags.

If the purchase of said cargo is made at an out-port, the ship
----must proceed there to take it in.

On the subject of purchasing coffee at government sales, I have no
doubt that it is an easy way to obtain a cargo, but I am of opinion
that it is a very dear one, particularly as the fair purchaser, who
has no other object in view but to invest his money, does not stay
on the footing of competitors, who make their payments with
Netherland bills of exchange, or wish to raise the prices of their
coffee which they may have on hand for sale.

Under these impressions, I desire that all the purchases of coffee
on my account be made from individuals, as far as practicable, and
if the whole quantity necessary to load the ship can not be
obtained at private sale, recourse must then be had to government
sales.

In many instances I have experienced that whenever I had a vessel
at Batavia, the prices of coffee at the government sales have risen
from five to ten per cent., and sometimes higher.

On the subject of coffee I would remark that, owing to the increase
of the culture of that bean, together with the immense imports of
tea into the several ports of Europe, the price of that leaf has
been lowered to such a degree as to induce the people of those
countries, principally of the north, to use the latter article in
preference to the first.

That circumstance has, for these past three years, created a
gradual deduction from the consumption of coffee, which has
augmented the stock on hand throughout every commercial city of the
northern part of the globe, so as to present a future unfavorable
prospect to the importers of that article. Indeed, I am convinced
that, within a few months from this date, coffee will be ten per
cent. cheaper in the United States than what it has been at Batavia
for these two years past; nevertheless, being desirous to employ my
ships as advantageously as circumstances will permit, and
calculating also that the price at Java and other places of its
growth will fall considerably, I have no objection to adventure.

Therefore, you must use every means in your power to facilitate
the success of the voyage.

Should the invoice-cost of the entire cargo of coffee shipped at
Java, on board of the ship ----, together with the disbursements of
that ship (which must be conducted with the greatest economy), not
amount to the specie funds and net proceeds of her Liverpool cargo,
in that event you are to deliver the surplus to your consignee, who
will give you a receipt for the same, with a duplicate, expressing
that it is on my account, for the purpose of being invested on the
most advantageous terms, in good dry coffee, to be kept at my order
and disposal.

Then you will retain the original in your possession, and forward
to me the duplicate by first good vessel to the United States, or
via Europe, to care of my correspondents at Liverpool, London,
Antwerp, or Amsterdam, the names of whom you are familiar with.

If you should judge it imprudent, however, to leave that money at
Batavia, you are to bring it back in Spanish dollars, which you
will retain on board for that purpose.

Although I wish you to make a short voyage, and with as quick
dispatch at Java as practicable, yet I desire you not to leave that
island unless your consignee has finally closed the sales of the
Liverpool cargo, so that you may be the bearer of all the
documents, and account-current, relative to the final transactions
of the consignment of the ship ---- and cargo. Duplicate and
triplicate of said documents to be forwarded to me by your
consignees, by the two first safe conveyances for the ports of the
United States.

Being in the habit of dispatching my ships for Batavia from this
port, Liverpool, or Amsterdam, as circumstances render it
convenient, it is interesting to me to be from time to time
informed of the several articles of produce and manufactures from
each of those places which are the most in demand and quickest of
sale at Java. Also of the quantity of each, size of package, and
the probable price which they may sell for, cash, adding the
Batavia duty, charges for selling, etc. Please to communicate this
to your Batavia consignee.

The rates of commission I will allow for transacting the business
relative to the ship and cargo at Java are two and a half per cent,
for selling, and two and a half per cent, for purchasing and
shipping coffee and other articles.

The consignees engaging to place on board of each prow one or two
men of confidence, to see that the goods are safely delivered on
board of the ship, to prevent pilfering, which is often practiced
by those who conduct the lighter.

I am informed that the expenses for two men are trifling,
comparatively, to the plunder which has been committed on board of
the prows which deliver coffee on board of the ships.

No commissions whatever are to be allowed in the disbursements of
my ships, whenever ship and cargo belong to me, and are consigned
to some house.

While you remain at Batavia, I recommend you to stay on board of
your ship, and not to go on shore except when the business of your
ship and cargo may render it necessary.

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

Sarah Orne Jewett - "A Country Doctor and Selected Stories and Sketches"

Goethe - "Faust"

Oliver Optic - "All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake"

William Wood - "Supplement to Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador"