to illustrate the
transitory nature of earthly possessions.

The great capitalists of New-York are chiefly identified with its real
estate, and their wealth has generally arisen from its advance in value.
Few great fortunes have lasted long, when left to 'the caprices of
trade, and the sons of our merchant-princes generally turn out poor men.
The great estates of the city are of a very limited number, and are
mainly included in the names of Whitney, Goellet, Lorrillard,
Rhinelander, Stuyvesant, Lenox, and Astor. The first of these was so
long an _habitue_ of Wall street, Front street, and Coenties Slip, that
even now, when wandering along those thoroughfares, we almost momently
expect to meet him. We can not but think that at the next turn we shall
see that shrunken and diminutive form, that meagre, hungry-looking
countenance, and that timid, nervous eye, which indicated the fear of
loss or the dread approach of charity. His office was held for years in
the second story of a warehouse in Front street, a spot in whose
vicinity he had passed nearly three-score years. Thither he had come in
his boyhood, a poor, friendless, New-Jersey lad, had found friends and
employment, had at last got to be a grocer, and had gradually
accumulated a large capital, by the closest economy. At this time the
war of 1812 broke out, and cotton became very low, in consequence of the
difficulty of shipping it to England. Mr. Whitney had at that time a
vast amount of outstanding accounts in the Southern States, and his
debtors were glad to pay him in this depreciated article. We have been
informed that Jackson's cotton defences of New-Orleans were of his
property. As neutral ships were permitted to sail between the
belligerent ports, Mr. Whitney exported large quantities of cotton to
England, and held the balance of his stock until the close of the war,
when it advanced enormously. This advance, together with the proceeds of
his exports, at once made him a millionaire, and the capital thus
acquired never lost a chance of increase. Giving up the details of
trade, Mr. Whitney bought large quantities of real estate, on which he
erected warehouses and obtained a princely rental. In addition to this,
he dealt more largely in commercial paper than any other man in the city
and perhaps in the Union. His habits of industry continued, and were a
theme of remark, as we observed him in his daily walk from his office to
the great moneyed centre of America,