d out for him by the master mind which has concerted the
whole.

The breaking out of the war between the United States and Great Britain
multiplied the hazards and embarrassments of the enterprise.
The disappointment as to convoy rendered it difficult to keep up
reinforcements and supplies; and the loss of the Lark added to the
tissue of misadventures.

That Mr. Astor battled resolutely against every difficulty, and pursued
his course in defiance of every loss, has been sufficiently shown.
Had he been seconded by suitable agents, and properly protected by
government, the ultimate failure of his plan might yet have been
averted. It was his great misfortune that his agents were not imbued
with his own spirit. Some had not capacity sufficient to comprehend the
real nature and extent of his scheme; others were alien in feeling and
interest, and had been brought up in the service of a rival company.
Whatever sympathies they might originally have had with him, were
impaired, if not destroyed, by the war. They looked upon his cause as
desperate, and only considered how they might make interest to regain
a situation under their former employers. The absence of Mr. Hunt, the
only real representative of Mr. Astor, at the time of the capitulation
with the Northwest Company, completed the series of cross purposes. Had
that gentleman been present, the transfer, in all probability, would not
have taken place.

It is painful, at all times, to see a grand and beneficial stroke of
genius fall of its aim: but we regret the failure of this enterprise
in a national point of view; for, had it been crowned with success,
it would have redounded greatly to the advantage and extension of our
commerce. The profits drawn from the country in question by the British
Fur Company, though of ample amount, form no criterion by which to judge
of the advantages that would have arisen had it been entirely in the
hands of the citizens of the United States. That company, as has been
shown, is limited in the nature and scope of its operations, and can
make but little use of the maritime facilities held out by an emporium
and a harbor on that coast. In our hands, besides the roving bands of
trappers and traders, the country would have been explored and settled
by industrious husbandmen; and the fertile valleys bordering its rivers,
and shut up among its mountains, would have been made to pour forth
their agricultural treasures to contribute to the general