He acknowledged it with emphasis and a great show of
gratitude. He said many times:--
"If you had not done just as you did, I should never have seen one
dollar of my money; no, not one dollar of it."
But he not only did not compensate him for his services, but he did
not even reimburse the small sum of money which the captain had
expended in performing those services. Astor was then worth ten
millions, and the captain had his hundred dollars a month and a family
of young children.
Thus the great merchant recompensed great services. He was not more
just in rewarding small ones. On one occasion a ship of his arrived
from China, which he found necessary to dispatch at once to Amsterdam,
the market in New York being depressed by an over-supply of China
merchandise. But on board this ship, under a mountain of tea-chests,
the owner had two pipes of precious Madeira wine, which had been sent
on a voyage for the improvement of its constitution.
"Can you get out that wine," asked the owner, "without discharging the
tea?"
The captain thought he could.
"Well, then," said Mr.
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