Though a millionaire, he was their friend and brother, and they were proud and fond of him.
He gave away more than he kept.
He found places for the poor to work if possible.
He gave money to those he found were worthy.
And though he was one of the busiest men in America, he always took time to be kind.
His pastor, Mr. Collyer, said this of him:--
"His presence, wherever he went, lay like a bar of sunshine across a dark and troubled day. I have seen it light up the careworn faces of thousands of people. It seemed as if those who looked at him were saying to themselves; "It cannot be so bad a world as we thought, since Peter Cooper lives in it and blesses us.""
But how did this poor boy become a millionaire? And how did he get people to love him so?
He did it, boys and girls, by making up his mind to do it at first, and then sticking to it.
n.o.body could have had more hard things to overcome than Peter Cooper.
His parents were poor and had nine children.
His father moved from town to town, always hoping to do better.
He forgot the old saying, "A rolling stone gathers no moss."
When the fifth baby was born, he was named after the Apostle Peter, because his father said, "This boy will come to something."
But he was not a strong boy.
He was able to go to school but one year of his life, and then only every other day.
His father was a hatter, and when Peter was eight years old he pulled hair from rabbit skins for hat pulp.
Year after year he worked harder than he was able, but he was determined to win.
When his eight little brothers and sisters needed shoes, he ripped up an old one to see how it was made. Always after that he made the shoes for the family.
Do you think a lazy boy would have done that?
When he was seventeen, he bade his anxious mother good-bye, and started for New York to make his fortune.
Do you know what a lottery is?
It is a way dishonest people have of making money.
Tickets are sold for prizes, and of course only one person can get the prize, while all the rest must lose their money.
Soon after Peter Cooper reached New York he saw an advertis.e.m.e.nt of a lottery.
He might draw a prize by buying a ticket.
Each ticket cost ten dollars.
Peter had just that much money.
He thought the matter over carefully.
He wished very much to have some money, for then he could help his mother.
So he bought a ticket, and drew--nothing.
Poor boy! he was now penniless.
But he never touched games of chance again.
Years afterward he used to say, "It was the cheapest piece of knowledge I ever bought."
Day after day the tall, slender boy walked the streets of New York looking for work.
At last he found a place.
It was in a carriage shop.
Here he bound himself as apprentice for five years at two dollars a month and board.
You see he could buy no good clothes.
He had no money for cigars or pleasures of any kind.
He helped to bring carriages for rich men"s sons to ride in.
There is an old saying, that "everybody has to walk at one end of life," and they are fortunate who walk at the beginning and ride at the close.
When his day"s work was over he liked to read.
His companions made fun of him because he would not join them.
He made a little money by extra work.
He hired a teacher, to whom he recited evenings.
He was often very tired, but he never complained.
He had many friends because he was always good-natured.
He used often to say to himself, "If ever I get rich I will build a place where the poor girls and boys of New York may have an education free."
Wasn"t that a queer thought for a boy who earned only fifty cents a week?