ining the Astor Library. He is not very sociable,
but the entertainments given at his house are said to be among the
pleasantest and most elaborate to be met with in the city. Those who
know the family, however, give the credit of this to Mrs. Astor, an
amiable and accomplished lady, and one eminent for her good deeds.

Mr. Astor attends to his own business. His office is in Prince street,
just out of Broadway. It is a plain one-story building, very different
from the offices of most of the rich men of the metropolis. At ten
o'clock Mr. Astor makes his appearance here. It is no slight task to
manage so vast an estate, and to direct all its affairs so that they
shall be continually increasing the capital of the owner. There is
scarcely a laborer in the city who works harder than the master of this
office. He transacts all business connected with his estate, and is as
cold and curt in his manner as can well be imagined. He wastes neither
words nor time, and few persons find him an agreeable man to deal with.
He is perfectly informed respecting every detail of his vast business,
and it is impossible to deceive him. No tenant can make the slightest
improvement, change, or repair in his property without Mr. Astor's
consent, except at his own expense. He is accessible to all who have
business with him, but he sees no one else during his working hours. At
four o'clock he leaves his office, and sets out for home on foot. He
rarely rides, this walk being his principal exercise. He is hale and
hearty in constitution, looks much younger than he really is, and will
doubtless live to be fully as old as his father was at the time of his
death.

Mr. Astor is not regarded as a liberal man by his fellow-citizens, but
this reputation is not altogether deserved. His friends say that he
gives liberally when he gives at all. They add that he has a horror of
subscription lists and solicitors of donations, and that he turns a deaf
ear to common beggars. He makes it a rule never to give anything during
business hours. If a case interests him, he investigates it thoroughly,
and if it is found worthy of aid, he gives generously, but quietly. The
truth is, that like all rich men, he is beset by a host of beggars of
every class and description. Were he to grant every appeal addressed to
him, his vast fortune would melt away in a few years. He must
discriminate, and he has his own way of doing it.

Mr. Astor married a daughte