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diff --git a/old/62268-0.txt b/old/62268-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f0d2c89..0000000 --- a/old/62268-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7540 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Money-making men, by J. Ewing Ritchie - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Money-making men - - -Author: J. Ewing Ritchie - - - -Release Date: May 29, 2020 [eBook #62268] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MONEY-MAKING MEN*** - - -Transcribed from the [1886] Brain and Co. edition by David Price, email -ccx074@pglaf.org - - [Picture: Book cover] - - [Picture: George Peabody] - - THE LONDON LIBRARY. - - [Picture: Decorative graphic] - - - - - - MONEY-MAKING - MEN; - - - OR, - HOW TO GROW RICH. - - * * * * * - - BY - - J. EWING RITCHIE, - - _Author of the_ “_Explorations of Livingstone_, _Cameron_, _and - Stanley_,” _the_ - “_Life and Times of Lord Palmerston_,” “_Modern Statesmen_,” - “_Life of the Prince Consort_,” _&c._, _&c._ - - * * * * * - - BRAIN & CO., 26, PATERNOSTER ROW. - - * * * * * - - ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL. - - * * * * * - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - PAGE - CHAPTER I. -IN THE CITY 7 - CHAPTER II. -ACROSS THE ATLANTIC 35 - CHAPTER III. -CHARLES BIANCONI, THE IRISH CAR-MAN 68 - CHAPTER IV. -A FORTUNE MADE BY A VEGETARIAN 75 - CHAPTER V. -A FORTUNE MADE BY TEETOTALISM 93 - CHAPTER VI. -MONEY-MAKING PUBLISHERS 102 - CHAPTER VII. -MONEY-MAKING MEN IN THE PROVINCES 120 - CHAPTER VIII. -ECCENTRIC MONEY-MAKERS 132 - CHAPTER IX. -MORE MONEY-MAKING M.P.’s 145 - CHAPTER X. -GEORGE MOORE, CITIZEN AND PHILANTHROPIST 155 - CHAPTER XI. -ARTISTS AND WRITERS 167 - CHAPTER XII. -REFLECTIONS ON MONEY-MAKING 179 - - - - -CHAPTER I. -IN THE CITY. - - -I FEAR City people are very mercenary in their views and habits. It is -natural that they should be so; they come into the City to make money, -and that is all they are thinking of while they are there. They do not -all succeed in their attempt, I know. Some are idle and improvident, and -do not deserve to win in the battle of life. They are failures from -their birth, and go mooning about like the immortal Micawber, expecting -something to turn up, till death comes and puts an end to their -expectations. Some men are unlucky, and lose by every adventure; others -are born lucky, and, from no merit of their own, everything they touch -turns to gold. The other day a poor costermonger was run-over in the -street and killed, and it was found that he was worth several hundreds of -pounds. It would be interesting to know how a costermonger could have -made all that money by the sale of apples, oranges, and greens. A few -weeks since I heard a distinguished judge tell an audience, consisting of -school-boys, that in his own person he was an illustration of the fact -that, in this happy England, any one, however destitute of rank and -wealth and connections he might be, would rise to the position to which -his worth entitled him; and he ended with the recommendation of the wise -man of old, “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy -paths.” Only a month since I heard of the death of a Jew, who had -commenced with selling pencils in the street, and had died worth a -million of money. How was it done? Ah! that’s the question. It is not -done, as a rule, by the speculators; nor is it done by the rogues who -forget that honesty is the best policy. Many of the men who have -succeeded, it has been remarked, have generally achieved success by the -application of some very simple principle which they have established as -the general rule of their proceedings. - -Ricardo said that he had made his money by observing that, in general, -people greatly exaggerated the importance of events. If, therefore, -dealing, as he dealt, in stocks, there was reason for a small advance, he -bought, because he was certain that an unreasonable advance would enable -him to realise; and when stocks were falling he sold, in the conviction -that alarm and panic would produce a decline not warranted by -circumstances. - -Let us take another case—that of Rothschild, the third son of the -Frankfort banker, who came to England with £2,000, which he soon turned -into £60.000. “My success,” he said to Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, “all -turned on one maxim: I said, I can do what another man can. Another -advantage I had, I was an off-hand man. I made a bargain at once. When -I was settled in London, the East India Company had £800,000 worth of -gold to sell. I went to the sale and bought it all. I knew the Duke of -Wellington must have it. I had bought a great many of his bills at a -discount. The government sent for me, and said they must have it. When -they had got it, they did not know how to get it to Portugal. I -undertook all that, and I sent it through France; and that was the best -business I ever did.” Another rule of his was never to have anything to -do with unlucky men. “I have seen,” said he, “many clever men—very -clever men—who had not shoes to their feet. I never act with them. -Their advice sounds very well, but fate is against them; they cannot get -on themselves; and if they cannot do good to themselves, how can they do -good to me?” His advice to Sir Thomas’s son was sound: “Stick to your -business, young man; stick to your brewery, and you may be the great -brewer of London. Be a brewer and a banker, and a merchant and a -manufacturer, and you will soon be in the _Gazette_.” How true this is, -any one who has the slightest acquaintance with City life can at once -understand. The advice should be printed in gold in every counting-house -in London. If it were, and were acted on as well, we should hear of -fewer commercial failures. - -Let me give another anecdote of the Rothschilds. It is related of Baron -Nathan de Meyer, that on one occasion he gave a lady the following pithy -piece of advice. Seated at the dinner-table, she informed him she had an -only son, whom she was anxious to see placed well in business, and begged -him to give her a hint on the subject. For a long time the baron -hesitated; and at length, when urged by the lady, half good-naturedly and -half worried, he turned round and said—“_Well_, _madam_, _I will tell -you_. _Selling lucifer-matches is a very good business if you have -plenty of it_.” - -In his “Autobiographical Recollections,” Sir John Bowring thus speaks of -the celebrated Morrison, the founder of the great commercial house in -Fore Street:—“Morrison told me that he owed all his prosperity to the -discovery that the great art of mercantile traffic was to find out -sellers, rather than buyers; that if you bought cheap and satisfied -yourself with only a fair profit, buyers—the best sort of buyers, those -who have money to buy—would come of themselves. He said he found houses -engaged, with a most expensive machinery, sending travellers about in all -directions to seek orders and to effect sales; while he employed -travellers to buy instead of to sell; and if they bought well, there was -no fear of his effecting advantageous sales. So, uniting this theory -with another, that small profits and quick returns are more profitable in -the long run than long credits with great gains, he established one of -the largest and most lucrative concerns that has ever existed in London, -and was entitled to a name which I have often heard applied to him, ‘the -Napoleon of Shopkeepers.’” Mr. James Morrison, the founder of the Fore -Street warehouse, certainly deserves further record. He was a native of -Hants, and born of Scotch parents. Early transplanted to the metropolis -at the end of the last century, the country youth first set foot in -London, unaided in search of fortune. His first employment was a very -menial one in a warehouse, and procured him a bare maintenance; but his -industry and trustworthiness soon secured him a partnership in the Fore -Street business of the late Mr. Todd, whose daughter he married. So far -it may be said that his rise was accidental; but his constant rise was no -accident. His enormous wealth was the result of his own natural -sagacity, perseverance, and integrity. During the long course of his -devotion to trade and commerce, Mr. Morrison’s mind never stood still. -Every social change in business, in demand and supply, he keenly -discerned, and promptly acted on. Thus his great business at once became -the first of its class. After the close of the great continental wars, -and the consequent rapid increase of population and wealth, Mr. Morrison -was one of the first English traders who reversed his system of -management by an entire departure from the old exaction of the highest -prices. His new principle was the substitution of the lowest -remunerative scale of profit, and more rapid circulation of capital, and -the success of the experiment speedily created his wholesale trade -pre-eminence. “Small profits and quick returns” was his motto, and other -houses quickly followed in his wake; but the genius which originated the -movement, notwithstanding active competition, maintained its supremacy. -The result was, that, in middle age, Mr. Morrison found himself in -possession of an enormous fortune. At the time of his death, his English -property was said to be of the value of three or four millions; and, -besides, he was possessed of large investments in the United States. He -was a lover of art, an advanced politician and M.P., and, to the last -almost, a man of study and thought. - -In our own day, as much as in earlier times, the same rule applies to -City life. The linendrapers, it seems to me, are, as a rule, the most -successful. Since fig-leaves went out of fashion, the ladies—God bless -them!—have always supported the linendrapers and the silk-mercers. The -founder of the great house of Shoolbred & Co., in Tottenham-court Road, -was originally educated at the Orphan Working School—then in the City -Road, but now at Haverstock Hill. The will of the late Mr. Tarn, whose -shop was near the Elephant and Castle, was proved a little while since -under a million. He was only about sixty years old when he died, and -commenced business some thirty years ago in a little shop, being his own -shopman. Mr. Meeking, whose premises in Holborn are a series of palaces, -rose, I am told, from very small beginnings. A writer in a newspaper -says—“Not long ago I was at a meeting where there were six men, of whom -the poorest, who could scarcely write, was worth £100,000; and the -richest, who never read a book of information through in his life, was -making £50,000 a-year. They had all begun as working-men except one, who -is an M.P., and he had commenced life as a shopman, and had made £10,000 -a-year. Such are the chances for money-makers in England, where credit -is easy. But then money-making is an art—like poetry, a born gift.” So -says the writer: I differ from him. A tradesman who lives within his -income, and who sells that for which there is a yearly increasing demand, -such as beef or shoes, or butter and cheese, however stupid he may be, -however dense his ignorance, cannot but prosper. He has only to shut his -eyes and open his mouth, and take what Heaven will send him. With trade -ability, good health, and frugality, a man cannot help making a fortune. -People fail because they want to have their cake and eat it at the same -time; because they like to discount their good fortune; because they -prefer to enjoy from day to day rather than to accumulate capital; and, -lastly, because when they have money, in their eagerness to make more, -they go into some rotten company and lose all. - -Once upon a time I was at a grand party at the house of a West-end swell -and M.P. As I left I said to a friend, “How did Mr. — make his money?” -“Why,” was the reply, “by borrowing ten shillings.” On the strength of -that _recipe_ the writer of this article borrowed twenty; but, alas! the -experiment in his case did not answer. - -But to return to money-making men. “The Fludyers had begun their -career,” wrote Sir Samuel Romilly, “in very narrow circumstances; but by -extraordinary activity, enterprise, and good fortune, they had acquired -inordinate wealth, and were every day increasing it by the profits of a -most extensive commerce. Sir Samuel was an alderman of the City of -London, and a member of parliament. He had been created a baronet, and -had served the office of Lord Mayor, in a year very memorable in the -history of City honours, for it was that in which the king, upon his -marriage, made a visit to the corporation and dined in Guildhall. -Notwithstanding, however, the great elevation at which fortune had placed -these opulent relatives beyond my father, they always maintained a very -friendly intercourse with him, and professed, perhaps sincerely, a great -desire to serve him. Sir Samuel, too, was my godfather.” He died of -apoplexy, and Sir Thomas did not long survive him. - -But instances of money-making men in the City are as plentiful as -blackberries, and I merely refer to a few of them. We all have heard of -Sir Peter Laurie, who had such a wonderful way of putting down suicide, -and other evils. He came to London in early life, and worked, it is -said, as a journeyman saddler at a house in the neighbourhood of -Charing-cross, with the late Sir Richard Birnie. - -The late Mr. Thomas Tegg, who, at one time, was one of the largest -booksellers in the kingdom, acquired his fortune solely through the force -and energy of his character as a man of business. When he first came to -London, he called on Mr. Newman, a bookseller in Leadenhall Street, to -ask for employment. “What can you do, young man?” “Anything you please, -sir; I shall be willing to make myself generally useful.” “Then,” said -Mr. Newman, “go and see if you can tie up that parcel,” pointing to a -quantity of books, in a loose state, which were lying on the floor. -“That,” said Mr. Tegg at a public meeting, “was the first employment I -was ever engaged in as a bookseller.” And thus he made his money. - -Sir John Pirie, who, in 1841, was elected Lord Mayor, on returning thanks -in the Guildhall for the honour done him, said—“I little thought, forty -years ago, when I came to the City of London a poor lad from the banks of -the Tweed, that I should ever arrive at such a distinction.” - -Gentlemen learned in the law are occasionally money-making men. One of -these was John Campden Neild, M.A., barrister-at-law. He was the son of -a wealthy gold and silversmith in St. James’s Street, and who bequeathed -a large property to his miserly son, which he, in turn, considerably -enlarged, and bequeathed to her Majesty. It appeared that, since his -father’s death in 1814, he had allowed his money to accumulate, and had -scarcely allowed himself the common necessaries of life. He usually -dressed in a blue coat with metal buttons, which he prohibited being -brushed, as it would take off the nap and deteriorate its value. He was -never known to wear a great-coat; he was always happy to receive an -invitation from his tenantry in Kent and Berks to visit them, which he -occasionally did, often remaining a month at a time, as he was thus -enabled to add to his savings. His appearance and manners led people to -imagine that he was in the lowest state of poverty. Just before the -introduction of the railway system of travelling, he had been on a visit -to some of his estates, and was returning to London, when the coach -stopped at Farningham. With the exception of our miser, the passengers -all entered the inn. Missing their companion, and recollecting his -decayed appearance, they conceived he was in distressed circumstances, -and, accordingly, a sum was subscribed for the purchase of a thumping -glass of brandy and water for the benefit of the poor gentleman, which he -thankfully accepted. Many instances of a similar character may be -related. - -Alderman Harmer was the son of a Spitalfields weaver, and was left to -work his way as an orphan at the age of ten. Alderman Wire was the son -of a baker at Colchester. Alderman Kelly, who died in his 80th year, was -the architect of his own fortune. He was originally an assistant in the -employ of Mr. John Cooke, of Paternoster Row. The business chiefly -consisted in publishing works in numbers, which were sold up and down the -country by means of book-hawkers. Mr. Kelly succeeded to this business, -and so won fame and fortune. In 1836 he was Lord Mayor of London. -Thomas Cubitt, the well-known builder, born near Norwich in 1788, at an -early period in life was thrown upon his own resources, and soon learned -to trust in them. At the death of his father, when he was in his -nineteenth year, he was working as a journeyman carpenter. He shortly -afterwards, with a view to improve his circumstances, took a voyage to -India and back as captain’s joiner. On his return to London, then about -21 years of age, with the savings he had put by, he commenced a small -business in London as carpenter. After about six years, appearances of -success manifesting themselves, he took a piece of ground from Lord -Calthorpe in the Gray’s Inn Road, upon which he erected large buildings -and carried on a very large business, which business he handed over to -his brother, Mr. Alderman Cubitt, while he built what is known as -Belgravia, and, when he died, had accumulated property to the amount of a -million sterling. He was a man of most estimable qualities, -clear-headed, energetic, of unswerving integrity, kind to his family, -generous and considerate to his workpeople and dependents. - -But there are money-making men who are better than mere money-grubs. Mr. -Gompertz, born in London in 1799, the son of a Dutch diamond merchant, -was a self-taught mathematician of very high attainments, who had -distinguished himself early in life by the publication of new logarithms. -At the age of thirty, having married Miss Abigail Montefiore, sister of -Sir Moses Montefiore, Mr. Gompertz entered his name as a member of the -Stock Exchange, doing a large amount of business, but without -relinquishing his mathematical pursuits, which gradually turned to tables -connected with life insurance. After working out a new series of tables -of mortality, the subject took such a hold of his mind that he decided to -quit the Stock Exchange and to devote himself entirely to actuarial -science. Appointed actuary of the Alliance Company under its deed of -settlement, he became, both in virtue of his position and through his -high connections, its chief manager, doing his work to the satisfaction -of the directors. Mr. Benjamin Gompertz, however, aimed to be nothing -more than a man of science; his ambition being to make the best actuarial -investigations, and not to do the largest amount of business. Another -illustration we have of this higher life is afforded in the case of Mr. -Grote. Mr. Samuel Rogers may also be quoted as another illustration. It -is well to feel that, after all, there is something better than -money-making—that man does not live by bread alone. - -The great lesson of London life is, that perseverance, industry, and -integrity will win the day. In the City, daily, we see the poorest rise -to the possession of great wealth and honour. Poor lads have come to -town friendless and moneyless; have been sober, and steady, and true to -themselves. They have been firm in their opposition to London -allurements and vices; have improved the abilities God has given them, -and the opportunities placed within their reach, and become, in their -way, men of note and mark. Many a Lord Mayor has been an office-lad in -the firm of which he grew to be the head. Mr. Herbert Ingram, the -founder of the _Illustrated London News_—the tale is an old one, but none -the less true—blackened the shoes of some of the men he afterwards -represented in parliament. Mr. Anderson, of the Oriental Steam -Navigation Company, and formerly M.P. for the Orkneys, rose in a similar -manner. Mr. Dillon, of the great house of Dillon, Morrison, & Co., also -rose in a similar way. Lord Campbell, when employment was scarce, and -money ditto, held a post as reporter and theatrical critic on the -_Morning Chronicle_. Mr. Chaplin, who at one time represented Salisbury -in parliament was an extraordinary instance of a man rising from the -humblest rank. Before railways were in operation he had succeeded in -making himself one of the largest coach proprietors in the kingdom. His -establishment, from small beginnings, grew till just before the opening -of the London and North-western line. He was proprietor of sixty-four -stage-coaches, worked by 1,500 horses, and giving yearly returns of more -than half a million sterling. Sir William Cubitt, when a lad, worked at -his father’s flour-mills. Michael Faraday was the son of a poor -blacksmith; and J. W. Turner, of a hairdresser in Maiden Lane. Mr. W. -Johnson Fox, at one time M.P. for Oldham—the great orator of the -Anti-Corn-Law League, and the “Publicola” of the _Weekly Dispatch_, when -that paper could afford ten guineas a-week for a good article—was a -Norwich factory lad. - -I knew a lad, born in the village in which I was born, in the humblest -rank of life. I found him one day one of the churchwardens of a city -parish, and a man of substance. I expressed my surprise, as even he -could not read. “Ah, sir,” was his reply, “I came to London determined -to be a man or a mouse; and here I am.” It is so all over London. The -great warehouses in Cheapside and Cannon Street, and Victoria Street and -elsewhere, are mostly owned by men who began life without a rap. Go to -the “beautiful” villas around London, and ask who live there, and you -will find that they are inhabited by men whose wealth is enormous; whose -fathers were beggars; and whose career has been a marvellous success. - -In one of his songs, Barry Cornwall tells us, that when he was a little -boy, he was told that the streets of London were paved with gold; and it -must be admitted that, to the youthful mind in general, the metropolis is -a sort of Tom Tiddler’s ground, where gold and silver are to be picked up -in handfuls any day. There is a good deal, it is hardly necessary to -say, of exaggeration in this. To many, London is dark and dismal as one -of its fogs, and cold and stony as one of its own streets. It is -difficult to estimate the number of persons, in the lowest stage of -pauperism, who rise every morning not knowing where to earn their daily -broad. Wonderful are the shifts and ingenuities of this unfortunate -class. One summer day a lady friend of the writer was driving in one of -the pleasant green lanes of Hornsey, when she saw a poor woman gathering -the leaves of a horse-chestnut. She asked her why she did so. The reply -was, that she got a living by selling them to the fruiterers in Covent -Garden, who lined their baskets of fruit with them. One day it came out -in evidence at a police-court, that a mother and her children earned a -scanty subsistence by rising early in the morning, or rather late at -night, and selling, as waste paper, the broad sheets and placards with -which the waste walls of the metropolis were adorned. It seems to me, -one of the worst sights of the outskirts of London, is that of women, all -black and grimy, sifting the cinders and rubbish collected by the -wandering dustmen. Perhaps that is as dirty a way for a woman to make -money as possible; and yet it seemed to me that their hands were clean, -compared with those of certain stock and money-brokers, and promoters of -public companies, to whom it is needless more particularly to allude. - -Fortunes in London are made by trifles. I knew a man who kept a -knacker’s yard, who lived out of town in a villa of exquisite beauty, and -who drove horses which a prince or an American millionaire would have -envied. Out of the profits of his vegetable pills, Morrison bought -himself a nice estate. Mrs. Holloway used to be seen riding in one of -the handsomest carriages to be met with in the Strand, and the princely -liberality of Mr. Holloway astonished all England a little while since; -and as to the keepers of dining-rooms and City taverns, how well they -live, and in what good style, most of us know well. Before suburban -railways had become developed, in the City was to be seen more than one -proprietor of a dining-room, who drove daily a handsome mail phaeton and -pair to town in the morning to do his business, and back at night. -Thackeray had a tale, if not founded on fact, at any rate not improbable, -of a gentleman who married a young lady, drove a swell cab, and lived -altogether in great style. The gentleman was dumb as to his daily -occupation. He would not impart even the secret to his wife. Even the -prying mother-in-law was unable to solve the mystery. All that she knew -was, what everyone else knew, that her son-in-law went out in his cab, -with his tiger mounted behind, in the morning, and returned home in the -same style at night. At length, one day, the wife, going with her dear -mamma into the City shopping, recognised her lord and master in the -person of a street-sweeper, clothed in rags, and covered with dirt. The -discovery was too much for him. He was never heard of more. - -In one of his pleasant letters, Mortimer Collins wrote—“The modern -millionaire’s beneficence is ostentatious. A thousand pounds to a -charity is as good a way of saying, ‘See, I am rich,’ as the same sum -spent on a horse or a picture.” The same idea has occurred to the writer -of a modern play. The hero calls for his secretary, and asks him to -bring him the book which contains a list of his donations. “Ah,” he -says, after looking at it, “double my subscriptions to all the charities -that advertise, and put it down to our advertising account.” It is to be -feared a good deal of that charity, which covers a multitude of sins in -the City, is due to a similar desire for publicity. A good deal of -ostentatious expenditure is simply put down under the head of advertising -expenditure, and very often it is the only way by means of which a rich -tradesman or ambitious merchant can draw attention to himself and his -proceedings. This ostentation is a little annoying occasionally. For -instance, it was particularly unpleasant to Sara Coleridge, the gifted -daughter of a gifted sire. At Broadstairs she lodged in a house where -there were some children belonging to a London shopkeeper and his wife. -“These children,” the lady writes, “live on the stairs, or in the -kitchen, and never take a book or a needle in their hands, and yet their -parents are overburdening Mrs. Smith with attendance, dressing well, and -living for many weeks by the sea in commodious lodgings. The -extravagance and recklessness that go on in the families of tradesmen in -London, is beyond what the rank above them ever dream of.” Sara -Coleridge, as the wife of a clergyman, and daughter of the great -philosopher, I dare say found it hard to make both ends meet, and perhaps -was needlessly severe on the London tradesmen, and the way in which they -spend their money. Such sharp censure as she penned was natural under -the circumstances. Refined, genteel people, of limited means, are sadly -vexed at the riotous abundance of the prosperous and well-to-do. As to -ostentation, Morrison, the pill man beat every one when he gave a grand -banquet to all that was fashionable in society at Paris, and to each -parting guest presented his card, with an advertisement of his far-famed -pills. - -“Two causes led,” writes Mr. Page, “to the accumulation of the wealth -which Mr. Brassey realised. One was the small extent of his personal -expenses. He hated all show, luxury, and ostentation. He kept but a -moderate establishment, which the increase of his means never induced him -to extend. He was wont to say—‘It requires a special education to be -idle, or to employ the twenty-four hours in a rational way, without any -particular calling or occupation. To live the life of a gentleman one -must have been brought up to it. It is impossible for a man who has been -engaged in business pursuits the greater part of his life to retire; if -he does so, he soon discovers that he has made a mistake. I shall not -retire; but if for some good reason I should be obliged to do so, it -would be to a farm. There I should bring up stock, which I should cause -to be weighed every day, ascertaining at the same time their daily cost, -as against the increasing weight. I should then know when to sell, and -start again with a fresh lot.’” The second and far more important cause -which led to Mr. Brassey’s wealth, was the extent of his business. “He -knew the value of money as well as any one,” wrote a friend, “and how far -a pound would go; but he had no greediness to acquire wealth, and he was -always willing to give away a portion of his profits to any one who was -instrumental in making them, and that to a remarkable extent. At no time -did he realise more than three per cent. on the money turned over by him. -He laid out seventy-eight millions of other people’s money on works, -every one of which was of public utility; and upon that outlay he -retained two millions and a-half. Mr. Brassey’s financial management was -very simple; on each contract the agent was responsible for the money he -received; he relied upon the cashier to keep the accounts.” - -The money-making men have, some of them, done good service in their day -and generation. To the latter class emphatically belongs George Grote, -the historian, whose grandfather came over to this country from Bremen, -and established the banking-house of Grote, Prescott, and Co., on the 1st -of January, 1766. At the early age of sixteen he was placed in the -banking-house in Threadneedle Street, and commenced a business career, -which he carried on thirty two years; when, having enough to live on, he -retired, to devote himself more particularly to historical studies. And -to his house in Threadneedle Street came the Mills (father and son), Mr. -David Ricardo, Mr. John Smith, M.P., Dr. Black, of the _Morning -Chronicle_, and Mr. Charles Austin, whom Mrs. Grote describes as the most -brilliant conversationalist of his time. - -Some of our greatest lawyers became moneyed men by habits of extreme -economy in their young days. Lord Kenyon commenced his London career by -lodging in Bell Yard, Carey Street, and paying for the accommodation six -shillings a-week. His friends at this time were Dunning and Horne Tooke. -They used generally to dine, in vacation time, at a small eating-house -near Chancery Lane, where their meal was supplied to them at the charge -of 7½_d._ a-head. Tooke, in giving an account of these repasts many -years after, used to say, “Dunning and myself were generous, for we gave -the girl who waited upon us a penny a-piece; but Kenyon, who knew the -value of money, rewarded her with a halfpenny, and sometimes a promise.” - -In Addison’s club, as wittily described in the _Spectator_, the City -merchant who has made his fortune figures in a very favourable light. -“His notions of trade are,” we are told, “noble and generous; and as -every rich man usually has some sly way of jesting, which would make no -great figure were he not a rich man, he calls the sea the British common. -He is acquainted with commerce in all its parts, and will tell you that -it is a stupid and barbarous way to extend dominion by arms, for that -power is to be got by arts and industry. He will often argue, that if -this part of our trade was well cultivated, we should gain from one -nation; and if another, from another. I have heard him prove that -diligence makes more lasting acquisitions than valour, and that sloth has -ruined more nations than the sword. He abounds in several frugal maxims, -among which the greatest favourite is, ‘A penny saved is a penny -gained.’” Londoners must ever feel grateful to Addison for his genial -sketch of Sir Andrew Freeport. - -Money-making men, even in their charities, have an eye to the main -chance. In the “Greville Memoirs,” we read that Southey told an anecdote -of Sir Massey Lopes, which is a good story of a miser. A man came to him -and told him he was in great distress, and that £200 would save him. He -gave him a draft for the money. “Now,” said he, “what will you do with -this?” “Go to the bankers and get it cashed.” “Stop,” said he, “I will -cash it.” So he gave him the money, but first calculated and deducted -the discount—thus at once exercising his benevolence and his avarice. - -Money-making has its disadvantages. There was a Lord Compton, who ran -away with a rich citizen’s daughter—I refer to Sir John Spencer, to whom -there is such a fine monument in St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate. When the -nobleman became, by the death of Sir John, possessor of his fortune, it -is reported that for the time his lordship became stark staring mad, and -had to be confined. And this reminds me, that City men, who are -considered “warm” in a worldly point of view, are apt to make great -mistakes as to getting their daughters married. It is not unfrequently -that they allow cash considerations too much to interpose, and thus many -an advantageous marriage is frustrated. It is not what a man has, but -what a man is, that is the true test of character; and a citizen who has -well feathered his nest, and who thinks of the store laid up in his barn, -and of his cattle, and sheep, and other substance, is too apt to overlook -the fact, that a clever man, even if he be poor, may become rich and -great. In the life of the Claytons we have a case in point relating to -the late Lord Truro. “When a young man, and beginning his honourable -career, he formed a strong attachment to an amiable and elegant lady, the -daughter of a merchant in the City, and a member of Mr. Clayton’s church. -His offer, as a suitor, would have been responded to by the lady, but met -with a stern and inflexible opposition from her father, on the ground of -the pecuniary inequality that there appeared between them; and thus the -City merchant lost a lord for a son-in-law.” One money-making City man -is to be specially remembered as a warning to rich capitalists as to how -they make their wills. I refer to Mr. Peter Thellusson, the banker. At -the age of threescore-and-ten, Mr. Thellusson found that he was the owner -of £6,000,000 in hard cash, besides an annual rent-roll of £9,500. This -was not enough for the ambitious Peter; and hence that wonderful will, -which was such a fortune to the lawyers. He left about £100,000 to his -wife and his three sons and daughter; and the rest of his fortune, -amounting to more than £6,000,000, was conveyed to trustees, who were to -let it accumulate till after the deaths, not only of his children, but of -all the male issue of his sons and grandsons. After that event, the vast -property, with its accumulations at compound interest, was to be given to -the nearest male descendant who should bear the family name of -Thellusson, and then the great mountain of accumulated wealth was to be -divided into three portions. It was a fine will for the lawyers. In two -years after Peter Thellusson was gathered to his fathers; two bills had -been filed in Chancery impeaching the will—the one by his wife and -children, the other by his trustees; and the litigation lasted for sixty -years. The wife of the millionaire died, it is said, of a broken heart; -and the Court of Chancery so clipped and pollarded Peter Thellusson’s -oak, that when they had done with it, it was not much larger than when he -left it. Nor was this all. Parliament took the matter up; and though -they would not set aside the will, they enacted that the power of -devising property for the purpose of accumulation should be restricted to -twenty-one years after the death of the testator. - -At the head of the money-making men, I suppose, are to be placed “Plum -Turner” and “Vulture Hopkins.” The former, who was a Turkey merchant, -died in 1793. When possessed of £300,000 he laid down his carriage -because interest was reduced from five to four per cent. Vulture -Hopkins, as Pope, in his satire, calls him, I fancy has been abused much -more than he deserved. He was a wealthy merchant; the architect of his -own fortune; and resided in Broad Street. That he was a very economical -man there can be no doubt. We are told he paid an evening visit to Guy, -the founder of the hospital in Southwark, and the story is too -characteristic to be omitted. Guy lighted a farthing candle for the -reception of his guest, who explained that he had come to learn from him -the art of frugality. “And is that all you come about?” replied Guy. -“Why, then, we can talk the matter over in the dark.” Another man of -money was Sir John Cutler, a member of the Grocers’ Company, to whom the -physicians had erected a statue in Warwick Lane, but from which they -erased the subscription which adorned it when the executors claimed the -cash which they considered given. Some of these men had pompous -funerals. That of Sir John Cutler cost no less than £7,000. Cooke, the -great sugar-baker, who died in 1811 at Pentonville, had a grand funeral; -but the mob pelted the procession with cabbage-stalks. He, however, -atoned in some degree for his avarice by leaving £10,000 to four -charitable institutions. There is little virtue in being liberal with -one’s money when one has no further need of it; but society gains, and -such men as Guy, in spite of all their meanness, are public benefactors. -At any rate, the study of the lives of these men is interesting. It is -no great art, that of money-making; but it is natural that a City man -should try to make money, and that he should be interested in the lives -of those who have succeeded by their industry, or their luck, or their -talent, in this respect. I find that in this, as in other matters, a man -may be too clever by half, and that, as a rule, honesty is the best -policy. “I have tried them both,” said the Yorkshireman to his sons on -his death-bed. And the testimony of the Old Bailey is equally -conclusive. Among the Jews, success in business was believed to be a -blessing; but in our more critical age we can see that, to gain wealth, -much of the charm of life has to be sacrificed, and that gold may be -bought too dear. It is the opinion of most people that it is easier to -make a fortune than to keep it. - -Entered in “Memoirs” and “Diaries,” it is really wonderful what a volume -of recollections and statements there are relating to City ways and City -life. Every one, of course, comes to London, and is more or less -connected with that great hive of industry and enterprise known as “the -City.” One of the latest anecdotes is the following, relating to the -origin of a great City house, to which in these scraps we have before -adverted:—“On the 1st of January, 1818,” writes Mr. Macaulay, “a new -tragedy was produced at Covent Garden. The author, John Dillon, a very -young man, was the librarian of Dr. Simmons, of Paddington, famous for a -very splendid collection of valuable books. With great promise of -dramatic power, as evinced in this his first essay, he wisely left the -poet’s idle trade for the more lucrative pursuits of commerce, and became -partner in the well-known firm of Morrison, Dillon, and Co. This play -was called _Retribution_, and the chief weight of which—in a very -powerful character, Varanes—was on the shoulders of O’Neill. Charles -Kemble and Terry were his supporters—the villain of the story being well -represented.” In the person of Mr. Frank Dillon the artistic taste of -the father has proved itself to be hereditary. - -Another money-making man was the founder of the Baring family. The -origin of them in England is to be traced to Johan Baring, son of a -Lutheran pastor in Bremen. Johan, when still a lad of sixteen or -seventeen, came to England, engaged for a few years in clerkly duties, -studied hard, amassed a little money, and finally settled down as a cloth -merchant and manufacturer, in a little village near Exeter. He had four -sons; and the third of them, Francis, born 1740, came to London, where, -after finishing his education at Mr. Fuller’s academy in Lothbury, he set -up in business as an importer of wool and dye-stuffs, also acting as -agent for the original family cloth factory. “Starting,” writes Mr. -Frederick Martin, “with a fixed determination to become rich, and having -a fair amount of money to begin with, he was uniformly successful in all -his designs. Nothing failed that he undertook, and whatever he touched -became gold. Having amassed a fortune by dealing in cloth, wool, and -dye-stuffs, he resolved to quintuple the fortune by dealing in money -itself—that is, to be a banker.” As was natural, the successful man -became also the honoured man—a leading director of the East India -Company, and the friend and adviser of the premier, Lord Shelburne, who -invariably followed his counsels in matters of finance. After obtaining -a seat in parliament for Exeter, the son of Johan Baring was made a -baronet, under patent of May 29th, 1793, by William Pitt, Shelburne’s -successor in the government, after the short interregnum of the Duke of -Portland. Valuing the friendship of the shrewd man of finance, William -Pitt, as much as the Earl of Shelburne, listened to the counsel of Sir -Francis Baring, both statesmen delighting to style the reputed possessor -of two millions, on all occasions, “the prince of merchants.” - -There is another great house now flourishing in the City, of whose origin -a still more extraordinary tale is told. One of the family is now a -baronet and an M.P.; and yet the first of the line, he who laid the -foundation of the fortune of his descendants, was a ragged street boy. - -A curious anecdote relative to Nathan Rothschild and Mr. Gompertz, not -many years ago, found its way into print. Nathan (so the story runs) was -leaning one day, early in the spring of 1824, against his favourite -pillar in the Royal Exchange—long known as “the Rothschild pillar”—his -hands in his pockets, when his relative, Gompertz, ran up to him in a -high state of excitement. “Vat ish de matter?” queried Rothschild. -Thereupon the other recounted, in gasps, how he had been applying for the -vacant actuaryship of a large insurance company, and had been beaten in -the competition. Though being admittedly the best candidate, on account -of his religion, the directors declared they would have no Jew. Now -Nathan, too, got excited. “Vat!” he cried, disengaging his hands from -his pockets, and laying hold of his brother-in-law by the shoulders, “Not -take you pecause of your religion! Mein Gott! Den I will make a bigger -office for you than any of ’em.” And Nathan was as good as his word, -founding not only a bigger company than any other, but appointing Mr. -Gompertz actuary under the deed of settlement. - -Let me remark here, by way of parenthesis, that it is seldom, however, -this kind of thing succeeds. A man who starts a business in a passion, -merely to injure another, generally comes to grief. A remarkable -illustration of this occurred, a few years since, in the case of the -_Illustrated News of the World_. It was started by a gentleman who had -long coveted the _Illustrated London News_, and had agreed, on one -occasion, to purchase that paper of its original proprietor, the late Mr. -Herbert Ingram. Negotiations had been carried on for that purpose, the -price was named, and almost every detail was settled, when Mr. Ingram -wrote to say that, on reconsidering the matter, he was determined not to -part with the journal in question. The result was the establishment, in -opposition, of the _Illustrated News of the World_, and the bankruptcy of -the proprietor, who died hardly better off than a pauper. If Nathan -Rothschild’s new venture succeeded, it was, under the circumstances, an -exception to the general rule. - -Next to making a business for one’s-self, the best way of growing rich -undoubtedly is to purchase the business of one who has done well for -himself, but who leaves a few ears of corn for his successors to glean. -When Mr. Barclay, who purchased the property of Mr. Thrale’s brewery, -&c., asked Dr. Johnson, who was one of the executors, what it was that he -was going to purchase—how many were the brewing-tubs, drays, horses, and -so forth—the latter replied, “Sir, I cannot enumerate them; but it is of -more consequence to you to know that you have the potentiality of growing -rich beyond the dreams of avarice.” And, as it turned out, Johnson was -correct in his surmise. - -The name of Gideon is now little heard; but at one time, most assuredly, -he was one of our merchant princes. I refer to Simeon Gideon, who knew -how to make himself the friend of Robert Walpole, who was tolerant enough -to avail himself of the help of a Jew in those financial complications in -which he was necessarily concerned. One of the principal sources of -revenue for the State were lotteries, and it was thus Gideon made his -money. But he made his masterstroke in 1745, when the great Jacobite -insurrection threw the British world, and the mercantile public -especially, into the wildest consternation. The panic on ’Change was -universal. The funds fell with incredible rapidity, and men wanted to -sell at any price. Simeon Gideon was almost the only man who did not -lose his head. Instead of selling, he spent every penny he had, or could -borrow, in buying. This was in the month of November. During the -following month, the public mind oscillated between hope and fear. At -length, at the end of April, 1746, the news arrived of the battle of -Culloden, of the complete defeat of the insurgent army, of the flight of -the Pretender, and of the triumphant suppression of the rebellion by the -Duke of Cumberland. It was then Simeon Gideon began to sell, and found -himself in possession of something like a quarter of a million—a sum -which, in the course of fourteen or fifteen years, quadrupled itself. -Gideon’s ambition was to found an English house. He was too old, he -said, to change his religion, but he had his children baptized; and -through Walpole’s instrumentality, his eldest son was made a baronet when -in his eleventh year. It was hard work for Gideon _père_ to make a -Christian of the lad. “Who made thee?” on one occasion he asked the boy. -“God,” was the proper reply. “Who redeemed thee?” was the next question, -to which the boy replied, “Jesus Christ.” Then came a third question, -which the father had unfortunately forgotten. “Who—who,” he stammered; -and then, nothing better occurring to him, he asked, “Who has given you -this hat?” The young catechumen is reported to have confidently replied, -“The Holy Ghost.” Gideon, senior, died in the faith of his fathers in -1762. He left behind him, as heirs of his immense fortune, a son and a -daughter, and legacies amounting to about 100,000 thalers, which were to -be divided equally between Jewish and Christian benevolent societies and -the poor. We read in a letter of a contemporary—“Gideon is dead, and his -whole inheritance is worth more than the whole of Canaan.” - -Another star which dawned in the commercial world about the same time, -was Aaron Goldsmid. He came from Hamburg, and established himself in -London, as a merchant, in the middle of the last century. The house -arrived at its highest prosperity after his death, under his four sons. -At the head of the business were then two brothers, Abraham and Benjamin, -men of acknowledged integrity, and allied in friendship with Newland, the -head cashier of the Bank of England. He was also a self-made man, who -had risen from a baker’s shop to his enormously influential position. By -means of Newland, the brothers Goldsmid were brought into connection with -the government, which, since the year 1793, had been compelled to have -recourse to continual loans, in consequence of the Continental war. But -it was not only through this that they made their money. It was their -cleverness and knowledge that saved them from losing money, when all over -Europe great mercantile houses were breaking. One of the most notable -characteristics of Benjamin was, we are told, his astonishing knowledge -of firms, which was not confined merely to England, but embraced the -whole money-market in or out of England. He valued, with a certainty -bordering on the marvellous, every name on the back of a bill. In the -panic year of 1790, the house only lost £50, when ruin swept away many of -the chief firms of England and abroad. At the beginning of the present -century, there was no house greater, or more universally esteemed; and -yet the end was tragic in the extreme. One morning in April, 1808, -Benjamin Goldsmid hung himself in his bed-room. In 1810, the elder -brother, Abraham, in conjunction with the house of Baring, embarked in a -government loan of £14,000,000. The business failed; the house of Baring -survived the crash; but Abraham Goldsmid shot himself when he found how -true it was that riches take to themselves wings, and fly away. - -Here is a story of an alderman, extracted from _Maloniana_. When the -late Mr. Pitt, or Alderman Beckford, made a strong attack on the late Sir -William Baker, alderman of London, charging him with having made an -immense sum by a fraudulent contract, he got up very quietly, and gained -the House to his side by this short reply: “The honourable gentleman is a -great orator, and has made a long and serious charge against me. I am no -orator, and shall therefore only answer it in two words—Prove it.” -Having thus spoken, he sat down; but there was something in his tone and -manner that satisfied the House the charge was a calumny. - -In 1736, there was—as I dare say there is now—an old Mr. Collier in the -City. He lived in Essex, and his daughter—as is generally the case with -rich City men—soon got married. It was thus the Rev. Dr. Taylor, of -Isleworth, in 1788, described the wedding;—“Old Mr. Collier was a very -vain man, who had made his fortune in the South Sea year: and having been -originally a merchant, was fond, alter he had retired to live upon his -fortune, of a great deal of display and parade. On his daughter’s -wedding, therefore, he invited nearly fifty persons, and got two or three -capital cooks from London to prepare a magnificent entertainment in -honour of the day. When other ceremonies had concluded, the young couple -were put to bed, and every one of the numerous assemblage came into the -room to make these congratulations to the father and mother, who sat up -in bed to receive them: ‘Madame, I wish you a very good-night. Sir, all -happiness to you, and a very good-night,’ and so on through the whole -party. My father, who hated all parade, but was forced to submit to the -old gentleman’s humour, must have been in a fine fume; and my mother, who -was then but seventeen or eighteen, sufficiently embarrassed.” It is as -well rich citizens don’t indulge in such a display on the occasion of a -marriage in the family in our time. I don’t fancy even a Lord Mayor, -however fond of antiquity, would feel himself justified in attempting -anything so ridiculous now. But then it was the fashion for a well-bred -youth to address his father as “honoured sir,” and not as now, as -“governor.” - -Another money-making family was that of the Hopes, originally from -Holland. “Mr. William Hope,” says old Captain Gronow, “inherited, on -coming of age, £40,000 a-year. He exhibited, alternately, extreme -recklessness in expenditure, and the stinginess of a miser. He would one -day spend thousands of pounds on a ball or supper, and then keep his -servants for days on cold meat and stale bread. His large fortune -enabled him to give the most splendid entertainments to the _beau monde_ -of Paris. At his balls and parties all the notables of the day were to -be seen, and no expense was spared to make them the most sumptuous -entertainments then given. It was his custom, when the invitations were -issued, not to open any letters till the party was over, to save him the -mortification of refusing those who had not been invited.” - -If we are to believe the great poet, who mostly spent his life in London, -and whose name still graces a street very much reduced from what it was -in his day, Mammon-worship must have a very bad moral effect, for Mammon -was the least erected spirit that fell from heaven; and even there we are -told— - - “His looks and thoughts - Were always downward bent, admiring more - The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, - Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed - In vision beautiful.” - -Nevertheless, some of Mammon’s worshippers have found time and money for -better things, and have consecrated their wealth to noble ends. In Roman -Catholic times this was to be expected. A princely bequest, at the -dictation of the priest, was a fitting atonement for ill-gotten wealth or -an ill-spent life; but Protestantism has been equally conspicuous—and, it -is to be believed, from better motives—for good works, and that charity -which covereth a multitude of sins. In illustration of this, there is, -perhaps, no brighter name than that of Joseph Hardcastle, of whom it is -well known that, amid all his varied and extensive engagements, he -maintained a character for spotless honour and unsullied integrity, which -even calumny itself never ventured to assail. To him, from the very -outset, belonged the reputation of the English merchant of the old -school, and years served only to augment that weight of character which -he bore on the Exchange, as well as in the missionary and other -societies. He was one of the founders of the Sierra Leone Company, along -with Wilberforce and Thornton. Also he was treasurer of the Missionary -Society. In 1799, the Religions Tract Society was founded under his -roof. And at his offices, Old Swan Stairs, the Bible Society was first -launched into existence. The Hibernian Society and the Village Itinerary -Society were aided by his purse and presence. Of the latter society he -was treasurer sixteen years. As he came of an old Nonconformist -stock—one of his ancestors was an ejected clergyman—Mr. Hardcastle, who -lived mainly at Hatcham, was buried in Bunhill Fields. - -In Plough Court, Lombard Street, there was a firm well-known and highly -respected. It was a firm long remarkable for the extraordinary -philanthropic activity of its practices, and for the excellence of its -chemicals. Mr. Allen, the senior partner, was a lecturer in chemistry at -Guy’s Hospital, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a personal and intimate -friend of the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Sussex, Lord Brougham, Sir Fowell -Buxton, the Gurneys, Thomas Clarckson, and many other of the leading -philanthropic and public characters of the past generation. He was also -a minister among the Quakers, and a prime mover in founding a host of -schools, asylums, and benevolent institutions. Another partner in the -firm was the late Luke Ronard, F.R.S., the eminent meteorologist, who was -also a preacher among the Quakers till the last portion of his life, when -he joined the communion of the Plymouth Brethren, with whom also he was -an active labourer in good efforts of various kinds. A third partner of -the firm was the late Mr. John Thomas, who, after his very accurate and -skilful scientific researches had gained him a competency, retired from -business, and devoted the remainder of his life to an extraordinary -series of efforts, in conjunction with Mr. William Ewart, M.P., Mr. -Barret Lennard, M.P., Mr. John Sydney Taylor, the editor of the _Morning -Herald_, the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington, D.C.L., and the late Mr. -Peter Bedford, of Croydon, for the removal of the punishment of death -from the numerous offences, some of them very trivial, for which it was -at one time inflicted. A writer in the _Sunday at Home_, in the year -1866, remarks, that it is no exaggeration to say, that the splendid -triumphs of mercy, which have rendered the reign of King William IV. for -ever illustrious in history, were, either directly or indirectly, largely -owing to the strenuous, continuous, and truly wonderful labours of Mr. -Barry and this small group of his philanthropic coadjutors. Such were -the partners in the firm at Plough Court, a house frequented by all -classes of men—by princes of the blood-royal, by peers and statesmen, by -scientific discoverers and professors, by missionaries and preachers, by -schoolmasters and authors, by reformed criminals and escaped slaves. It -became a centre of conference and movement for much of the metropolitan -philanthropy during the reigns of George IV. and William IV. - -It is to the credit of the City that some of these money-making men have -been amongst the most earnest supporters of every religious and -philanthropic enterprise. Here we get a pleasant glimpse of one of them. -Heard writes to Wilberforce, in 1790, of the death of John Thornton:—“He -was allied to me by relationship and family connection. His character is -so well known that it is scarcely necessary to attempt its delineation. -It may be useful, however, to state, that it was by living with great -simplicity of intention and conduct in the practice of Christian life, -more than of any superiority of understanding or of knowledge, that he -rendered his name illustrious in the view of all the respectable part of -his contemporaries. He had a counting-house in London, and a handsome -villa at Clapham. He anticipated the disposition and pursuits of the -succeeding generation. He devoted large sums annually to charitable -purposes, especially to the promotion of the cause of religion, both in -his own and other countries. He assisted many clergymen, enabling them -to live in comfort, and to practise a useful hospitality. His personal -habits were remarkably simple. His dinner-hour was two o’clock; he -generally attended public worship at some church or Episcopalian chapel -several evenings in the week, and would often sit up to a late hour in -his own study, at the top of the house, engaged in religious exercises. -He died without a groan or a struggle, and in the full view of glory. -Oh, may my end be like his!” He was the Sir James Stephen in the -_Edinburgh Review_ for 1844, “a merchant renowned in his generation for a -munificence more than princely.” Mr. Thornton was an Episcopalian, and -it was owing to him that the venerable John Newton became pastor of St. -Mary Woolnoth. His benevolence was as unsectarian as his general habits; -and he stood ready, said Mr. Cecil, to assist a beneficent design in any -party, but would be the creature of none. It was thus he was mainly -instrumental in founding, and supporting for a while, a Dissenting -academy at Newport-Pagnell, which was placed under the care of the Rev. -Josiah Bull. Also he extended his patronage and pecuniary assistance to -the institution at Marlborough, under the direction of the Rev. Cornelius -Winter, and was thus brought into connection with Mr. Jay, towards whose -support he contributed while passing through his academic course. Mr. -Thornton spent myriads of pounds in the purchase of livings for -evangelical preachers, in the erection and in enlargement of places of -worship, both in the Church of England and among Dissenters, in sending -out Bibles and religions books by his ships to various parts of the -world, and in numerous other ways. Nor was his beneficence exclusively -confined to religious objects. Mr. Newton says—“Mr. Bull told my father, -that while he (Mr. Newton) was at Olney, he had received from Mr. -Thornton more than £2,000 for the poor of that place. He not only,” -continued Mr. Bull, “gave largely, but he gave wisely. He kept a regular -account—not for ostentation, or the gratification of vanity, but for -method—of every pound he gave in a ledger, which he once showed me. I -was then a boy, and, I remarked, on every page was an appropriate text. -With him giving was a matter of business.” Cowper, in an elegy he wrote -upon him, said truly— - - “Thou hadst an interest in doing good, - Restless as his who toils and sweats for food.” - -It is needless to add that he lived at Clapham, and had Wilberforce for a -nephew. His son, Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark, followed in his -father’s steps to a certain extent. One day, when he was at Bath, he -desired Jay to bring with him Foster, the essayist, to dinner. The -attempt was a failure. Jay writes—“Mortifyingly he (Foster) again showed -his indisposition to talk; and our most excellent entertainer was not -much favoured to make his company easy and free and communicative, for -his manner was particularly cold, distant, and reserved. Foster said—yet -I think very untruly—that he sat as if he had a bag of money under his -arm; but at this time Mr. Foster had a silly kind of prejudice against -persons of affluence, however their wealth had been obtained.” - -Let us recall the memory of Mr. John Poynder. As an East Indian -proprietor he spoke much in favour of the abolition of Sutteeism, and -against the monstrous tax arising from the idolatrous worship of -Juggernaut. His publications were numerous, and chiefly on religious -subjects—the evangelisation of our East Indian dominions, the paganism of -popery, the sanctification of the Lord’s day. He was a staunch Tory and -churchman; “but,” writes Jay, of Bath, “never was there a warmer advocate -of evangelical truth and the doctrines of the Reformation; never was -there a more determined enemy to popery and its half-sister, Puseyism; -never did man more strive to serve his generation by the will of God.” A -name that should be dear to Dissenters is that of Mr. William Coward, who -was the friend of Doddridge, and who supplied the funds for his college -for the training of Congregational ministers, first at Daventry, and -afterwards at Wymondley, and now in Torrington Square, when the students -were entered at University College. Coward College is now incorporated -in the New College, St. John’s Wood. Mr. Coward was rather an eccentric -in 1732, Dr. Jennings first intimated Mr. Coward’s idea to Doddridge, and -recommended him not to comply with Mr. Coward’s idea to come and live at -Walthamstow, where the latter lived; adding, “that the likeliest way to -keep it in the worthy old gentleman’s good graces, is perhaps, not to be -quite so near him.” In a note, the editor of the Doddridge -correspondence adds—“William Coward, Esq., was a zealous Nonconformist, -having accumulated a large fortune as a merchant. It may be said,” adds -the editor, “that Mr. Coward still continues a generous benefactor to the -cause of Nonconformity, as he left about £20,000, the interest of which -is, in accordance with the provisions of his will, distributed in its -service by four trustees, whose number must always be maintained, and who -have hitherto conducted their important duties with so much propriety -that their conduct has not in any instance been questioned.” Mr. Coward -seems to have defrayed the expenses of a volume of sermons published by -Dr. Doddridge. Mr. Coward had a will of his own, and some of his -regulations may seem to us not a little whimsical. One was to receive no -guest at his mansion after the hour of eight. The Rev. Hugh Farmer had a -comical experience of this when, about that hour, he knocked for -admission in vain. Mr. Farmer, after repeated raps at the floor, began -to feel uncomfortable. While involved in this dilemma he was observed by -a footman of Mr. Snell’s, who was passing near on his way home, and who -reported to his master that a strange gentleman was trying to gain -admittance at Mr. Coward’s beyond the hour. The hospitable Mr. Snell -immediately sent to say that his door was open; and from that evening the -celebrated Mr. Farmer—he was a favourite pupil of Dodderidge, and was -thought in many respects to resemble him—became a permanent member of Mr. -Snell’s family circle. Mr. Coward seems to have had a keen eye for -orthodoxy, and complained of Dr. Watts that he was a Baxterian. He is -also reported as growing cold to Dr. Guyse and Dr. Jennings, and falling -most passionately in love with Dr. Taylor. Mr. Coward seems to have died -in 1738. In 1818, there was a wealthy stock-broker—the late Mr. Thomas -Thompson, of Pondsfort Park, who was deeply grieved with the destitute -condition of the seamen in the port of London. In the February of that -year a meeting on the subject was held in the London Tavern, to form a -provisional committee to purchase and prepare a ship. At a subsequent -meeting, it was announced that the _Speedy_, an old sloop-of-war, had -been purchased of the government, and fitted up at a cost of nearly -£3,000, to seat 750 hearers. The opening services on board the floating -chapel were held on May 4th, when three sermons were preached—that in the -morning by the Rev. Rowland Hill. Mr. Thompson called on the reverend -gentleman, stated the neglected condition of sailors, and the plans in -contemplation, and begged him to consent to preach the opening sermon on -board the floating chapel. Mr. Hill heard all, rang the bell in silence, -and his old servant appeared. “John,” he said, “fetch my pocket-book.” -Mrs. Hill, who had hitherto been a quiet listener, now interposed, -asserting that his engagements were already too numerous, and that he -would wear himself out. Stroking his chin and shaking his head, with his -characteristic habit, he replied, “My dear, I must preach for poor Jack.” -Thus was the first floating chapel for sailors happily launched, and the -Port of London Society for the Spiritual Benefit of Sailors brought into -active operation. To the ship, and the general objects of the society, -Mr. Smith contributed, from first to last, about £3,000. Another -society, called into existence by Mr. Thompson’s activity and Christian -devotedness and liberality, was the Home Missionary Society, which was -inaugurated at the London Tavern on August 11th, 1819. At that time Mr. -Thompson resided at Brixton Hill, and on week-day evenings held religious -meetings amongst the neglected poor of that district and of Streatham. -Gas-lights and police being then unknown, Mr. Thompson’s family were -thankful when he came home from these charitable peregrinations safe and -sound. It must be remarked here that Mr. Thompson was one of the -founders, in 1827, of the Merchant Seamen’s Orphan Asylum. The first -election was for five boys only, but it soon became a large and -flourishing institution. Though a Dissenter, the Pastoral Aid and -Special Services Aid Societies owed him much. As his daughter truly -writes of him—“Mr. Thompson was one of those who helped to mould the -benevolent character of the age in which he lived.” - -Another name, well known in religious circles, was that of the late Mr. -Thomas Wilson, who was the first to begin chapel-building on a large -scale in London. Even in our more ostentatious day, Mr. Wilson’s -charities would be considered princely. - -And here, for the present, we take leave of the Christian merchant -princes of London—the righteous men who possibly may have preserved it -from the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. - -In the great mediæval cities of the continent, it was the men who had -made money by trade who were the first to spend it liberally for the -promotion of art, and the benefit of charity and religion. It has been -so in London. Our Norman barons, our men with pedigrees running up to -the time of the Conqueror, have done little for the welfare of the -people, compared with the men of humble birth, who, as they have grown in -wealth, have also grown in their estimate of its power to help those -lower in the social scale than themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER II. -ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. - - -IT is in America, as was to be expected, that rise more quickly than in -any other country. Every one is ambitious, and there he realises the -fact that no position is beyond his power if he will but work for it. -Franklin was a printer’s boy, General Putnam was a farmer, Roger Sherman -was a shoemaker, and Andrew Jackson was a poor boy, who worked his way up -from the humblest position; Patrick Henry, the great American orator, was -a country tavern-keeper; Abraham Lincoln was equally low placed in his -start in life. But even in America it is hard work to make a fortune. -Niorse, an American artist, but a better chemist and mechanician than a -painter, thought out the magnetic telegraph on a Havre packet-ship, but -met the common fate of inventors. He struggled for years with poverty -and a thousand difficulties. He failed to interest capitalists. At -last, when he was yielding to despair, and meditated suicide, on the last -night of a session of Congress, at midnight, when the Appropriation Bill -was being rushed through, he got an appropriation of £6,000 for an -experimental line between Washington and Baltimore; then success, -rewards, honours, titles of nobility, gold medals, and an immense -fortune. The American inventor of the sewing machine had similar -misfortune, and then as great a success. - -“There are two kinds of men and two kinds of business in New York,” says -an American author. The old-school merchants of New York are few; their -ranks are thinning every day. They were distinguished for probity and -honour; they took time to make a fortune. Their success proved that -business success and mercantile honour were a good capital. Their -colossal fortunes and enduring fame prove that, to be successful, men -need not be mean, or false, or dishonest. When John Jacob Astor was a -leading merchant in Now York, there were few who could buy goods by the -cargo. A large dealer in tea, knowing that few merchants could outbid -him, or purchase a cargo, concluded to buy a whole shipload that had just -arrived, and was offered at auction. He had nobody to compete with, and -he expected to have everything his own way. Just before the sale -commenced, to his consternation he saw Mr. Astor walking slowly down the -wharf. He went to meet him, and said—“Mr. Astor, I am sorry to meet you -here this morning; if you will go to your counting-room, and stay till -after the sale, I’ll give you a thousand dollars.” Without thinking much -about it, Mr. Astor consented, turned on his heel, and said—“Send round -the cheque.” He lost money, but he kept his word. When the lease for -Astor House was nearly out, some parties from Boston tried to hire it -over the heads of the then tenants. In a private interview with Mr. -Astor, they wanted to know his terms. He replied, “I will consult Mr. -Stetson (the tenant), and let you know.” To do that was, as they were -well aware, to defeat the object they had in view. The old New York -merchant never gave a guarantee as to the genuineness of the article he -sold. It were needless to ask it. - -In New York, in Boston, and elsewhere, the rule of prosperity is plain. -One of the best-known presidents of a New York bank began his career by -blacking boots: he came to New York a penniless lad, and sought -employment at a store. “What can you do?” said the merchant. “I can do -anything,” replied the boy. “Take these boots and black them.” He did -so, and he blacked them well, and did everything else well. - -Alexander Stewart (when alive, reputed to be the richest man in the -world) was born in Ireland, came young to New York, and, with a little -money that was left him by a relative in Ireland, took a small shop. He -kept in it from fourteen to eighteen hours a day. He was his own -errand-boy, porter, book-keeper, and salesman. He lived over his store, -and, for a time, one room served as kitchen, bedroom, and parlour. Mr. -Stewart began business when merchants relied on themselves, when banks -gave little aid, when traders made money out of their customers, not out -of their creditors. One day, while doing business in this little store, -a note became due which he was unable to pay. The banks were unfriendly, -and his friends, as is always the case when you want to borrow, were -peculiarly hard up. Resolving not to be dishonoured, he met the crisis -boldly. He made up his mind never to be in such a fix again. He marked -every article in his shop below cost price; he flooded the city with -hand-hills; they were everywhere—in basements, shops, steamboats, hotels, -and cars, promised everybody a bargain, and took New York by storm. The -little shop was crowded. Mr. Stewart presided in person. He said but -little, offered his goods, and took the cash, all attempts to beat him -down he quietly pointed to the price plainly written on each package. He -had hardly time to eat or sleep; everyone came and bought, and when they -got home customers were delighted to find that they were not cheated, but -that they had secured a real bargain. Long before the time named for -closing the sale in the hand-bill, the whole store was cleaned out, and -every article sold for cash. The troublesome note was paid, and a -handsome balance left over. For the future, he resolved to trade no more -on credit. The market was dull, times were bad, cash was scarce; he -would buy on his own terms the best of goods, and thus he laid down the -foundation of a fortune which, long before he died, was reckoned at -30,000,000 dols. 1836, an American writer thus described his mode of -doing business:—“Though Mr. Stewart sells goods on credit, as do other -merchants, he buys solely for cash. If he takes a note, instead of -getting it discounted at a bank, he throws it into a safe and lets it -mature. It does not enter into his business, and the non-payment of it -does not disturb him. He selects the style of carpet he wants, buys -every yard made by the manufacturer, and pays cash. He monopolises -high-priced laces, sells costly goods, furs, and gloves, and compels the -fashionable world to pay him tribute. Whether he sells a first-rate or a -fourth-rate article, the customer gets what he bargained for. A lady on -a journey, who passes a couple of days in the city, can find every -article that she wants for her wardrobe at a reasonable price. She can -have the goods made up in any style, and sent to her house at a given -hour, for the opera or ball, or for travel. Mr. Stewart will take a -contract for the complete outfit of a steamship; furnish the carpets, -mirrors, chandeliers, china, silver-ware, cutlery, mattresses, linen, -blankets, napkins, with every article needed, in every style demanded. -He can defy competition. He buys from the manufacturer at the lowest -cash price; he presents the original bills, charging only a small -commission. The parties have no trouble; the articles are of the first -class. They save from ten to twenty per cent., and the small commission -pays Stewart handsomely. He furnishes hotels and churches in the same -manner; as easily he could supply the army and navy. He attends -personally to his business. He is down early, and remains late; those -who pass through the Broadway at the small hours may see the light -burning brightly from the working-room of the marble palace. He remains -till the day’s work is done and everything squared up. He knows what is -in the store, and not a package escapes his eye. He sells readily, -without consulting books, invoice, or salesmen. He has partners, but -they are partners only in the profits. He can buy and sell as he will, -and holds the absolute management of the concern in his own hands.” - -Who has not heard of the Harpers of New York, whose publishing house in -Franklin Square was, and it may be is, the largest of the kind in the -world; as they do all the business connected with the publication of a -book under one roof. In 1810, James Harper left his rural home on Long -Island, to become a printer. His parents were devout Methodists. His -mother was a woman of rare gifts. She embraced him on his departure, and -bade him never forget the altar of his God, his home, or that he had good -blood in his veins. In his new office all the mean and servile work was -put upon the printer’s devil, as he was called. At that time Franklin -Square was inhabited by genteel people—wealthy merchants; and poor James -Harper’s appearance attracted a good deal of unpleasant comment. His -clothes, made in the old homestead, were coarse in material, and -unfashionable in cut. The young swells made fun of the poor lad. They -shouted to him across the streets—“Did your coat come from Paris?” “Give -us a card to your tailor.” “Jim, what did your mother give a yard for -your broadcloth?” Sometimes, in their insolence, the fellows came near, -and, under pretence of feeling the fineness of the cloth, would give an -unpleasant nip. The lad had a hard life of it; but he resolved not to be -imposed upon. One day, as he was doing some menial work, he was attacked -by one of his tormentors, who asked him for his card. He turned on his -assailant, having deliberately set down a pail that he was carrying, -kicked him severely, and said, “That’s my card; take good care of it. -When I am out of my time, and set up for myself, and you need -employment—as you will—come to me and I will give you work.” Forty-one -years after, when Mr. Harper’s establishment was known throughout all the -land—after he had borne the highest municipal honours of the city, and -had become one of the wealthiest men in New York—the person who had -received the card came to Mr. James Harper’s establishment, and asked for -employment, claiming it on the ground that he had kept the card given him -forty-one years before. With great fidelity James served out his time. -His master was pleased with him. In a patronising way he told him, when -he was free, he should never want for employment. James rather surprised -his old master by informing him that he intended to set up for himself; -that he had already engaged to do a job, and that all he wanted was a -certificate from his master that he was worthy to be trusted with a book. -In a small room in Dover Street, James, and his brother John, began their -work as printers. Their first job was 2,000 volumes of “Seneca’s -Morals.” Their second book laid the foundation of their fortune. The -Harpers had agreed to stereotype an edition of the Prayer-book for the -Episcopal Society of New York. Stereotyping was in a crude state, and -the work was roughly done. When the Harpers took the contract, they -intended to have it done at some one of the establishments in the city. -They found that it would cost them more than they were to receive. They -resolved to learn the art, and do the work themselves. It was a slow and -difficult labour, but it was accomplished. It was pronounced the best -piece of stereotyping ever seen in New York. It put the firm at the head -of the business. It was found to be industrious, honourable, and -reliable. In six years it became the great printing-house of New York. -Other brothers joined the firm of Harper Brothers. Besides personal -attention to business, the brothers exercised great economy in their -personal and domestic expenses; one thousand dollars was what it cost the -brothers each to live for the first ten years of their business life. As -regarded their _employés_, the utmost care was taken. The liberal, -genial, honourable spirit of the proprietors prompted them to pay the -best wages, and secure the best talent. Those who entered the house, -seldom or never left it. Boys became men, and remained there as -_employés_ all the same. - -In New York the love of Mammon finds no small place even in sanctified -breasts. The author of “Sunshine and Shade,” in New York, says—“Among -the most excited in the stock-market are men who profess to be clergymen. -One of this class realised a snug little fortune of 80,000 dollars in his -speculations. He did not want to be known in the matter. Daily he laid -his funds on the broker’s desk. If anything was realised it was taken -quietly away. The broker, tired of doing business on the sly, advised -the customer, if the thing was distasteful to him, or he was ashamed -openly to be in business, he had better retire from Wall Street.” Men of -this class often have a nominal charge. They affect to have some -mission, for which they collect money; they roam about among our -benevolent institutions, visit prisons or penitentiaries—wherever they -can get a chance to talk, to the great disgust of regular missionaries, -and the horror of superintendents. They can be easily known by white -cravats, sanctified looks, and the peculiar unction of their whine. “One -man,” continues the writer in question, “especially illustrates the -gentlemen of the cloth who are familiar with stocks. His name appears in -the Sunday notices as the minister of an up-town church; down town he is -known as a speculator. His place of worship is a little house built in -his yard. It is not as long or as wide as the room in which he writes -his sermons. The pastor is a speculator; his church is his capital, and -on ’Change Rev. pays well. He has controlled and abandoned half-a-dozen -churches. He went over to London, made a written contract with Mr. -Spurgeon, the celebrated preacher, by which the latter was to visit -America. It bound Spurgeon to give a certain number of lectures in the -principal cities of the land. Tickets were to be issued to admit to the -services. One-half of the proceeds Spurgeon was to take with him to -London to build his tabernacle, the other half was to be left in the -hands of the gentleman who brought him over and engineered him through. -The contract, coming to light, produced a great commotion, and Mr. -Spurgeon declined to fulfil it. The war breaking out, this clerical -gentleman tried his hand at a horse contract. He approached a general of -high position, and said he was a poor minister, times were hard, and he -wanted to make a little money; would the general give him a contract? -One was placed in his hands for the purchase of a number of horses. The -minister sold the contract, and made a handsome thing of it; the -government was cheated. A committee of Congress, in looking up frauds in -the city, turned up this contract. In a report to Congress, the general -and the minister were mentioned in no complimentary terms. While these -transactions were going on in New York, the general was in the field -where the battle was the thickest, maintaining the honour of the flag. -The report in which his name was dishonourably mentioned reached him. -His indignation was aroused. He sent a letter to the speculating -preacher, sharp as the point of his sword. He told him if he did not -clear him in every way from all dishonourable connection in the -transaction complained of, he would shoot him in the street as soon as he -returned to New York. The frightened minister made haste to make the -demanded reparation.” Happily for the credit of America, the author -already referred to says, “Such men are held in as light esteem by the -respectable clergy of the city, and by the honourable men of their own -denomination, as they are by the speculators whom they attempt to -imitate.” - -What a contrast to such contemptible men was John Jacob Astor, who, at -the age of twenty, left his German home, resolving to seek a fortune in -the New World. He was a poor uneducated boy, and he trudged on foot from -his home to the seaport whence he was to sail. He was educated by his -mother. His school-books were his Bible and Prayer-book, and these he -read and pondered over to the last hour of his life. When he left home, -a small bundle contained all his worldly possessions. He had money -enough, for a common steerage passage—that was all. He landed penniless -on American soil. As he left his native village, he paused and cast a -lingering, loving look behind. As he stood under the linden tree he -said, “I will be honest; I will be industrious; I will never gamble.” He -kept these resolutions till the day of his death. He sailed from London -for America in 1783. In the steerage he made the acquaintance of a -furrier, which was the means of his introduction to a business by which -he made millions. All sorts of stories are circulated about the early -career of Mr. Astor. It was said that he commenced by trading in apples -and pea-nuts. He took with him seven flutes, from his brother’s -manufactory in London; these he sold, and invented the proceeds in furs. -He went steadily to work to learn the trade for himself: he was frugal, -industrious, and early exhibited great tact in trade. He was accustomed -to say, later in life, that the only hard step in making his fortune was -in the accumulation of the first thousand dollars. He possessed marked -executive ability. He was quick in his perceptions. He came rapidly to -his conclusions. He made a bargain, or rejected it at once. In his very -earliest transactions he displayed the same characteristics which marked -him in maturer life. He made distinct contracts, and adhered to them -with inflexible purpose. He founded the American Fur Company, in which -he had shares, and by means of which he amassed a fortune of over 50,000 -dollars. His son succeeded in his father’s business, and in his father’s -ability for acquiring money. His habits were very simple, and mode of -life uniform. - -Next to Astor, perhaps, in America, we are most familiar with the name of -Commodore Vanderbilt, one of the self-made millionaires of the city of -New York. He began life a penniless boy, and took to the water early. -His first adventure was rowing a boat from Staten Island to the city. He -took command of a North River steamboat when quite young, and was -distinguished at the start for his resolute, indomitable, and daring -will. He began his moneyed success by chartering steamboats, and running -opposition to all the old lines up the North River, up the East River, up -the Connecticut—everywhere. Making a little money, he invested it in -stocks which were available in cash, and always ready for a bargain. -Honourable in trade, prompt, firm, and reliable, he was decided in his -business, and could drive as hard a bargain as any man in the city. His -custom was to conduct his business on cash principles, and never to allow -a Saturday night to close without every man in his employ getting his -money. If anybody was about to fail, wanted money, had a bargain to -offer, he knew where to call. Nothing came amiss—a load of timber, coal, -or cordage, a cargo of a ship, or a stock of goods in a factory, -glass-ware, merchandise, or clothing—the commodore was sure to find a use -for them. A writer, in 1868, thus describes him:—“From nine to eleven -the commodore is in his up-town office; at one in his down-town office. -Between these hours he visits the Harlem and Hudson River stations. He -is now nearly eighty years of age. He it as erect as a warrior; he is -tall, very slim, genteel in his make-up, with a fine presence, hair white -as the driven snow, and comes up to one’s idea of a fine merchant of the -olden time. He is one of the shrewdest merchants, prompt and decided. -In one of the down-town mansions, where the aristocracy used to reside, -he has his place of business. He drives down through Broadway in his -buggy, drawn by his favourite horse, celebrated for his white feet, one -of the fleetest in the city, and which no money can buy. His office -consists of a single room, quite large, well-furnished, and adorned with -pictures of favourite steamers and ferry-boats. The entrance to the -office is through a narrow hall-way, which is made an outer room for his -confidential clerk. He sees personally all who call, rising to greet the -comer, and seldom sits till the business is discharged, and the visitor -gone. But for this he would be overrun and bored to death. His long -connection with steamboats and shipping brings to him men from all parts -of the world who have patents, inventions, and improvements, and who wish -his endorsement. II a man has anything to sell he settles the contract -in a very few words. The visitor addresses the commodore, and says. ‘I -have a stock of goods for sale; what will you give?’ A half-dozen sharp -inquiries are made, and a price named. The seller demurs, announcing -that such a price would ruin him. ‘I don’t want your goods. What did -you come here for if you did not want to sell? If you can get more for -your goods, go and get it.’ Not a moment of time will be lost, not a -cent more be offered; and if the man leaves, with the hope of getting a -better price, and returns to take the first offer, he will probably not -sell the goods at all.” - -Turning from steamboats, Mr. Vanderbilt long ago became interested in -railroads. In this line, so great was his success that he could control -the market. “An attempt,” says an American writer, “was made some time -since to break him down by cornering the stock.” He wanted to -consolidate the Harlem Road with the Hudson. Enough of the legislature -was supposed to have been secured to carry the measure. The parties who -had agreed to pass the bill intended to play foul. Besides this, they -thought they would indulge in a little railroad speculation. They sold -Harlem, to be delivered at a future day, right and left. These men let -their friends into the secret, and allowed them to speculate. Clear on -to Chicago, there was hardly a railroad man who was not selling Harlem -short. The expected consolidation ran the stock up; the failure of the -project would, of course, run it down. A few days before the vote was -taken some friends called upon Commodore Vanderbilt, and gave him proof -that a conspiracy existed to ruin him, if possible, in the matter of -consolidation. He took all the funds he could command, and, with the aid -of his friends, bought all the Harlem stock that could be found, and -locked it up safe in his desk. True to the report, the bill was -rejected. The men who had pledged themselves to vote for it, openly and -unblushingly voted against it. They waited anxiously for the next -morning, when they expected their fortunes would be made by the fall of -Harlem. But it did not fall. To the surprise of everybody, the first -day it remained stationary; then it began to rise steadily, to the -consternation and terror of speculators. There was no stock to be had at -any price. Men were ruined on the right hand and on the left. Fortunes -were swept away, and the cry of the wounded was heard up and down the -Central Road. An eminent railway man, near Albany, worth quite a pretty -fortune, who confidently expected to make 50,000 dollars by the -operation, became penniless. One of the sharpest and most successful -operators in New York lost over 200,000 dollars, which he refused to pay -on the ground of conspiracy. His name was immediately stricken from the -Stock board, which brought him to his senses. He subsequently settled, -but thousands were ruined. Vanderbilt, however, made enough money out of -this attempt to ruin him, to pay for all the stock he owned in the Harlem -Road. Not satisfied with his achievements on the land and on the -American rivers, Mr. Vanderbilt resolved to try the ocean. He built a -fine steamer at his own cost, and equipped her completely. The Collins -line was then in its glory. Mr. Collins, with his fine fleet of -steamers, and his subsidy from the government, was greatly elated, and -very imperious. It was quite difficult to approach him. Any day, on the -arrival of a steamer, he could be seen pacing the deck, the crowd falling -back and making space for the head of the important personage. One of -his ships was lost; Vanderbilt applied to Collins to allow his steamer to -take the place vacant on the line for a time; he promised to make no -claim for the subsidy, and to take off his ship as soon as Collins built -one to take her place. Collins refused to do this: he felt afraid if -Vanderbilt got his foot into this ocean business, he would get in his -whole body; if Vanderbilt could run an ocean-steamer without subsidy, -government would require Collins to do it; he saw only mischief any way. -He not only refused, but refused very curtly. In the sharp Doric way -that Vanderbilt had of speaking when he is angry, he told Collins that he -would run his line off the ocean, if it took all of his own fortune and -the years of his life to do it. He commenced his opposition in a manner -that made it irresistible, and a work of short duration. He offered the -government to carry the mails, for a term of years, without a dollar’s -cost to the nation; he offered to bind himself, under the heaviest bonds -the government could exact, to perform this service for a term of years, -more promptly and faithfully than it had been ever done before. His -well-known business tact and energy were conceded. His ability to do -what he said, nobody could deny; his proposition was not only laid before -the members of Congress, but pressed home by a hundred agencies that he -employed. The subsidy was withdrawn; Collins became a bankrupt; his -splendid fleet of steamers, the finest the world had ever seen, were -moored at the wharves, where they laid rotting. Had Collins conceded to -Vanderbilt’s wishes, or divided with him the business on the ocean, the -Collins’ line not only would have been a fact to-day, but would have been -as prosperous as the Cunard line. - -When the rebellion broke out, the navy was in a feeble condition; every -ship in the south was pressed into the rebel service. The men-of-war at -Norfolk were burned. At Annapolis they were mutilated and made unfit for -service. The efficient portion of the navy was cruising in foreign seas, -beyond recall. The need of ships of war and gun-boats was painfully -apparent. The steam-ship _Vanderbilt_ was the finest and fleetest vessel -that ever floated in American waters. Her owner fitted her up as a -man-of-war at his own expense, and fully equipped her. He then offered -her for sale to government at a reasonable price. Mr. Vanderbilt found -that there were certain men, standing between the government and the -purchase, who insisted on a profit on every vessel that the government -bought. He refused to pay the black-mail that was exacted of him if his -vessel became the property of the nation. He was told that, unless he -acceded to these demands, he could not sell his ship. Detesting the -conduct of the men, who, pretending to be patriots, were making money out -of the necessities of the nation, he proceeded at once to Washington, and -presented the _Vanderbilt_, with all her equipments, as a free gift to -the nation. - -There were few men who attended more closely to business than the late -Mr. Vanderbilt; and, as an American writer remarked of him a few years -before his death, “financially he was ready for the last great change.” -At that time his property was estimated at about thirty millions of -dollars. He was very liberal where he took an interest; but very fitful -in his charities. He often not only subscribed liberally, but compelled -all his friends to do the same. He was prompt, sharp, decisive in his -manner of doing business; he was punctual in his engagements to the -minute; he was very intelligent and well-informed, and, in commercial and -national affairs, had no rival in shrewdness and good judgment. He was -affable, assumed no airs, and was pleasant and genial as a companion; and -when time began to tell on his iron frame, and he began to feel the -decrepitude of age, he was not unmindful of its admonitions, and entered -into no new speculations; for he wished to leave no unfinished business -to his children, amongst whom his large property—the results of -favourable endeavour and successful financial operations—was divided. - -In the great cities of America—in such centres as Chicago and New -York—the men who make the most show of wealth, who live in the finest -houses, drive the best horses, give the grandest parties, were many of -them grooms, coachmen, hotel porters, boot-blacks, news-boys, printers’ -devils, porters, and coal-heavers, who have risen from the lower walks of -life, and who left their respective homes, a few years ago, with all -their worldly wealth in the crown of their hat, or tied up in a -pocket-handkerchief. They did the hard work of the office, swept out the -stores, made the fires, used the marking-pot, were kicked and cuffed -about, and suffered every hardship. The men who made New York what it -was were men of the old school; they were celebrated for their courtesy -and integrity; they came from the humblest walks of life—from the plough -and anvil, from the lapstone and printing-case, from the farm and quarry. -They worked their way up, as Daniel worked his, from the position of a -slave to Prime Minister of Babylon. Some of them went from their stores -to compete with the ablest statesmen in the world; they were the fathers -and founders of the American nation. These old schoolmen ate not a bit -of idle bread; they were content with their small store and pine-desk; -they owned their own goods, and were their own cashiers, salesmen, -clerks, and porters; they worked sixteen hours a day, and so became -millionaires. They would as soon have committed forgery as be mean and -unjust in trade; they made their wealth in business, and not in -fraudulent failures; they secured their fortunes out of their customers, -and not out of their creditors.—Not so, Young America! An American -writer says:—“He must make a dash. He begins with a brown-stone store, -filled with goods, for which he has paid nothing; marries a dashing -_belle_; delegates all the business that he can to others; lives in -style, and spends his money before he gets it; keeps his fast horse, and -other appendages equally fast; is much at the club-room, and in billiard -or kindred saloons; speaks of his father as ‘the old governor,’ and of -his mother as ‘the old woman;’ and, finally, becomes porter to his clerk, -and lackey to his salesman. Beginning where his father left off, he -leaves off where his father began.” - -Let us give a few more American illustrations of the way to wealth, -Boston has the honour of originating the express companies of America. -One morning a man took the East Boston ferry, bound for Salem, over the -Eastern Railroad. He held in his hand a small trunk, trimmed with red -morocco, and fastened with red nails. The trunk contained a few notes -which the person was to collect; a small sum of money he was to pay; and -a few commissions he was to execute. “These,” says an American -newspaper, “were the tangible things in the trunk. Besides these notes, -money, and orders, that little trunk, which a child might have carried, -contained the germ of the express business of the land, whose agencies, -untiring as the sun, are almost as regular.” Alvin Adams—for that is and -was the name of the individual referred to—commenced the express -business, as an experiment, between New York and Boston in 1840. He had -no business, no customers, and no money. He shrewdly saw the coming -greatness of his calling, though for one year it was carried on in the -smallest possible way. He had indomitable energy; his integrity was -without a question; he gained slowly on the confidence of the community, -and closed the year with a future of success before him. In 1854, the -business was transformed into a joint-stock company, and it now stretches -out its arms to all the towns and villages in the land. It is an express -company for merchandise, from a bundle to a ship-load. The amount of -money received and disbursed every day exceeds that of any bank in the -nation. It collects and pays out the smallest sum, and from that to a -large waggon loaded with money, and drawn by three horses. During the -war, the company rendered efficient service to the government: in time of -peril or panic, when the property of the army was abandoned or -sacrificed, it bore away cart-loads of money by its coolness and courage, -and saved millions to the Treasury. The company opened a department -expressly to carry money from the private soldiers to their families. -For a very small sum, funds were taken from the soldier and delivered to -his friends in any part of the land. On several occasions, the transport -department in the army being in utter confusion, application was made to -the Adams’ Express Company for relief. - -Jacob Little originated the dashing, daring style of business in stocks, -by which fortunes are made and lost in a single day. In 1817, he came to -New York, and entered the store of Jacob Barker, who was at that time the -shrewdest merchant in the city. In 1822, he opened an office in a small -basement in Wall Street. Caution, self-reliance, integrity, and a -far-sightedness beyond his years, marked his early career. For twelve -years he worked in his little den as few men work. His ambition was to -hold the foremost place in Wall Street. Eighteen hours a day he devoted -to business; twelve hours to his office. His evenings he spent in -visiting retail houses, to purchase uncurrent money; he executed all -orders committed to him with fidelity; he opened a correspondence with -leading bankers in all the principal cities from New York to New Orleans. -For twelve years Mr. Little was at the head of his business; he was the -Great Bear of Wall Street; his mode of business enabled him to accumulate -an enormous fortune; and he held on to his system till it beat him down, -as it had done many a strong man before. - -“For more than a quarter of a century,” writes the author of “Sunshine -and Shadow,” in New York, “Mr. Little’s office, in the Old Exchange -Buildings, was the centre of daring gigantic speculations. On ’Change -his tread was that of a king. He could sway and disturb the street when -he pleased. He was rapid and prompt in his dealings, and his purchases -were usually made with great judgment. He had unusual foresight, which, -at times, seemed to amount to defiance. He controlled so large an amount -of stock, that he was called the Napoleon of the Board. When capitalists -regarded railways with distrust, he put himself at the head of the -railroad movement. He comprehended the profit to be derived from their -construction. In this way he rolled up an immense fortune, and was known -everywhere as the railway king. He was the first to discover when the -business was overdone, and immediately changed his course. At the time -the Erie was a favourite stock, and selling at par, Mr. Little threw -himself against the street. He contracted to sell a large amount of this -stock, to be delivered at a future day. His rivals in Wall Street, -anxious to floor him, formed a combination. They took all the contracts -he offered; bought up all the new stock, and placed everything out of Mr. -Little’s reach, making it, as they thought, impossible for him to carry -out his contracts. His ruin seemed inevitable, as his rivals had both -his contracts and his stock. If Mr. Little saw the way out of his -trouble, he kept his own secrets; asked no advice; solicited no -accommodation. The morning dawned when the stock would have to be -delivered, or the Great Bear of Wall Street would have to break. He came -down to his office that morning, self-reliant and calm, as usual. He -said nothing about his business or his prospects. At one o’clock he -entered the office of the Erie Company. He presented certain -certificates of indebtedness which had been issued by the corporation. -By those certificates the company had covenanted to issue stock in -exchange. That stock Mr. Little demanded. Nothing could be done but to -comply. With that stock he met his contract, floored the conspirators, -and triumphed.” - -Reverses, so common to all who attempt the treacherous sea of -speculation, at length overtook Mr. Little. Walking from Wall Street -with a friend one day, they passed through Union Square, then the abode -of the wealthiest people of New York. Looking at the rows of elegant -houses, Mr. Little remarked—“I have lost money enough to-day to buy the -whole square. Yes,” he added, “and half the people in it.” Three times -he became bankrupt; and what was then regarded as a colossal fortune, -was, in each instance, swept away. From each failure he recovered, and -paid his debts in full. It was a common remark among the capitalists, -that “Jacob Little’s suspended papers were better than the cheques of -most men.” The whole man inspired confidence. He was retiring in his -manner, and quite diffident, except in business. He was generous as a -creditor. If a man could not meet his contracts, and Mr. Little was -satisfied that he was honest, he never pressed him. After his first -suspension, though legally free, he paid every creditor in full, though -it took nearly a million of dollars. His charities were large and -unostentatious. The Southern rebellion, alas! swept away his remaining -fortune, and he died poor and resigned in the bosom of his family. His -last words were—“I am going up. Who will go with me?” - -We must not omit a name from this chapter, well known all the world -over—that of James Bennett, the founder of what is still a power, the -_New York Herald_. Scotland was the birth-place of Bennett. He was -reared under the shadow of Gordon Castle. His parents were Roman -Catholics, and he was trained in their religion. Every Saturday night -the family assembled for religious service. James was kept at school -till he was fifteen years of age, and he then entered a Roman Catholic -seminary at Aberdeen, his parents intending him for the ministry. He -pursued his studies, on the banks of the Dee, for three years, and then -threw up his studies, and abandoned his collegiate career. The memoirs -of Benjamin Franklin impressed him greatly, and he felt an earnest desire -to visit America, and the home of Franklin, and he landed there in 1819. -At Portland he opened a school as teacher, and thence he moved to Boston. -He was charmed with all he saw in the city and vicinity; he hunted up -every memorial of Franklin that could be found; he examined all the -relics of the Revolution, and visited the places made memorable in the -struggle with Great Britain; but he was poor, and well-nigh discouraged. -He walked the common, without money, hungry, and without friends. In his -darkest hour he found a New York shilling, and from that hour his fortune -began to mend. He obtained a position at Boston as proof reader, and -displayed his ability as a writer, both in prose and verse. In 1822, he -came to New York, and immediately connected himself with the press, for -which he had a decided taste. He was not dainty in his work; he took -everything that was offered him. He was industrious, sober, frugal, of -great tact, and displayed marked ability. He soon obtained a position on -the _Charleston Courier_ as translator of Spanish-American papers. He -prepared other articles for the _Courier_, many of which were in verse. -His style was sharp, racy, and energetic. In 1825, he became proprietor -of the _New York Courier_ by purchase. It was a Sunday paper; but not a -success. In 1826, he became associate editor of the _National Advocate_, -a democratic paper. Leaving that, he became associate editor of the -_Inquirer_, conducted by Mr. Noah; he was also a member of the Tammany -Society, and a warm partisan. During the session of Congress, Mr. -Bennett was at the capital writing for his paper; and while at that post, -a fusion was effected between the _Courier_ and the _Inquirer_. Again, -he had to leave the paper on account of a difference between him and the -editor as regarded the bank. At this time he turned his attention to the -New York press, which was then seriously behind the age. He felt that it -was not what was demanded, and resolved to establish a paper that should -realise his idea of a metropolitan journal. He had no capital; no rich -friends to back him; nothing but his pluck, ability, and indomitable -resolution. On the 6th of May, 1835, the _New York Herald_ made its -appearance. It was a small penny paper. Mr. Bennett was editor, -reporter, and correspondent; he collected the city news, and wrote the -money articles; he resolved to make the financial feature of his paper a -marked one; he owed nothing to the Stock Board. If he was poor, he was -not in debt; he did not dabble in stocks; he had no interest in the bulls -and bears; he could pitch into the bankers and stock-jobbers as he -pleased, as he had no interest one way or the other. He worked hard, he -rose early, was temperate and frugal, and seemed to live only for his -paper. He was his own compositor and errand-boy; collected his own news, -mailed his papers, kept his accounts, and he grew rich. His marble -palace was the most complete newspaper establishment in the world. -Before the _Herald_ buildings were completed, and while he was making a -savage attack on the national banks, he was waited upon by the president -of one of them, who said to him—“Mr. Bennett, we know that you are at -great expense in erecting this building, besides carrying on this immense -business. If you want any accommodation, you can have it at our bank.” -Mr. Bennett replied—“Before I purchased the land, or began to build, I -had, on deposit, 250,000 dollars in the Chemical Bank. There is not a -dollar due on the _Herald_ buildings that I cannot pay. I would pay off -the mortgage to-morrow if the mortgagee would allow me to. When the -building is open, I shall not owe a dollar to any man if I am allowed to -pay. I owe nothing that I cannot discharge in an hour. I have not -touched one dollar of the money on deposit in the bank; and while that -remains I need no accommodation.” One secret of his success is soon -told—“He can command the best talent in the world for his paper. He pays -liberally for fresh news, of which he has the exclusive use. If a pilot -runs a steamer hard, or an engineer puts extra speed on his locomotive, -they know that they will be well paid for it at the _Herald_ office, for -its owner does not higgle about the price. When news of the loss of -Collins’ steamer was brought to the city, late on a Saturday night, the -messenger came direct to the _Herald_ office. The price demanded was -paid; but the messenger was feasted and confined in the building until -the city was flooded with extra Sunday morning copies. The _attachés_ of -the _Herald_ are found in every part of the civilised world; they take -their way where heroes fear to travel. If in anything they are outdone, -outrun, outwritten, if earlier and fresher news is allowed to appear, a -sharp, pungent letter is written, either discharging the writer, or -sending him home. During the war, the _Herald_ establishment at -Washington was a curiosity. The place was as busy as the War Department. -Foaming horses came in from all quarters, ridden by bespattered -letter-carriers. Saddled horses were tied in front of the door like the -head-quarters of a general. The wires were controlled to convey the -latest news from every section to the last moment of the paper going to -press. Mr. Bennett is a fine illustration (this was written, of course, -in his lifetime) of what America can do for a penniless boy, and what a -penniless boy can do for himself, if he has talent, pluck, character, and -industry. In the conflict of interest, and in the heat of rivalry, it is -difficult to estimate a man rightly. In coming times, Mr. Bennett will -take his place in that galaxy of noble names who have achieved their own -position, been architects of their own fortune, and left an enduring mark -upon the age in which they lived.” - -Horace Greeley had an origin as humble, and a fight as hard as Mr. -Bennett. He was born in New Hampshire, and, from his earliest years, was -fond of study. The father had to move to a new settlement; and here, as -little was to be done at home, after breakfast the home was left to take -care of itself; away went the family—father, mother, boys, girls, and -oxen—to work together. In early life the lad gave proof that the Yankee -element was strong in him. In the first place, he was always doing -something—and he had always something to sell. He saved nuts, and -exchanged them, at the store, for the articles he wanted to purchase; he -would hack away, hours at a time, at a pitch-pine stump, the roots of -which are as inflammable as pitch itself, and, tying up the roots in -little bundles, and the little bundles into one large one, he would take -the load to the store, and sell it for firewood. His favourite out-door -sport, too, at Westhaven, was bee-hunting, which is not only an agreeable -and exciting pastime, but occasionally rewards the hunter with a -prodigious mass of honey: as much as 150lbs. have frequently been -obtained from a single tree. This was profitable sport, and Horace liked -it amazingly; his share of the honey generally found its way to the -store. By these, and other expedients, the boy always managed to have a -little money. When he started, as an apprentice, to learn the -printing-trade, he packed up his wardrobe in a small -pocket-handkerchief—and, small as it was, it would have held more—for the -proprietor had never more than two shirts and one change of clothing at -the same time, till he was of age. “If ever there was a self-made man,” -wrote an old friend, “this same Horace Greeley is one; for he had neither -wealthy nor influential friends, collegiate or academic education, or -anything to aid him in the world, save his own natural good sense, an -unconquerable love of study, and a determination to win his way by his -own efforts. He had, moreover, a natural aptitude for arithmetical -calculation, and could easily surpass, in his boyhood, most persons of -his age in the facility and accuracy of his demonstrations and his -knowledge of grammar. He early learned to observe and remember political -statistics, and the leading men and measures of the political parties; -the various and multitudinous candidates for governor and Congress, not -only in a single State, but in many; and, finally, in all the States; -together with the taxation of, and vote of this and that, and the other -Congressional districts (why democrat and what not), at all manner of -elections. These things he rapidly and easily mastered, and treasured in -his capacious memory, till, we venture to say, he has few, if any, equals -at this time, in this particular department, in this or any other -country.” After Greeley had served his apprenticeship, he came to New -York, with ten dollars in his pocket, a bundle on his back, and a stick. -It was hard work for him to find a job; but, at length, he was taken into -a newspaper-office. After a time he joined in a speculation which was to -give New York a penny paper; and, in conjunction with his partner, Mr. -Story, went on printing after the paper in question had ceased to exist. -He then started the _New Yorker_, having, in the meanwhile, abandoned the -use of stimulants, and become a vegetarian. After more or less editorial -work, more or less profitable, Greeley started the _New York Tribune_, -which, from the first, was a success. - -Another of New York’s leading men was Daniel Drew. His father died when -he was fifteen years of age, and he came to New York to seek his fortune. -Resolved to do something, and having nothing better to do, he became a -soldier as a substitute for another. Then he took to stock-keeping, and -droves of over 2,000 cattle crossed the Alleghanies under his direction. -In 1834, he began the steam-boat enterprise. In 1836, he appeared in -Wall Street. For eleven years his firm was very celebrated. Mr. Drew -was a rapid, bold, and successful operator. His connection with the Erie -Railroad, guaranteeing the paper of that company to the amount of a -million and a-half of dollars, showed the magnitude of his transactions. -In 1857, as treasurer of the company, his own paper, endorsed by -Vanderbilt to the amount of a million and a-half of dollars saved the -Erie from bankruptcy. During that year, amidst universal ruin, Mr. -Drew’s losses were immense; but he never flinched, met his paper -promptly, and said that, during all that crisis, he had not lost one -hour’s sleep. In conjunction with Vanderbilt, he relieved the Harlem -Road from its floating debt, and replaced it in a prosperous condition. - -“It would be unpardonable to forget the great Barnum,” says a New York -writer, “one of our most remarkable men. He lives among the millionaires -in a costly brown-stone house in Fifth Avenue, corner of Thirty-ninth -Street, and is a millionaire himself. He has retired from the details of -actual life, though he has the controlling interest of the Barnum and Van -Amburgh Museum. He has made and lost several fortunes; but, in the -evening of life, he is in possession of wealth, which he expends with -great liberality and a genial hospitality. He was born at Bethel, -Connecticut, and was trained in a village tavern kept by his father. He -had a hopeful buoyant disposition, and was distinguished by his -irrepressible love of fun. At the age of fifteen he began life for -himself, and married when he was nineteen. As editor of the _Herald of -Freedom_, he obtained an American notoriety. The paper was distinguished -for its pith and vigour. Owing to sharp comments on officials, Mr. -Barnum was shut up in gaol. On the day of his liberation his friends -assembled in great force, with carriages, bands of music, and flags, and -carried him home. His first appearance as an exhibitor was in connection -with an old negress, Joyce Heth, the reputed nurse of Washington. His -next attempt was to obtain possession of Scudder’s American Museum. -Barnum had not five dollars in the world, nor did he pay any down. The -concern was little better than a corpse ready for burial, yet he bound -himself down by terms fearfully stringent, and met all the conditions as -they matured. He secured the person of Charles S. Stretton, the -celebrated dwarf, and exhibited him. He also secured the services of -Jenny land, binding himself to pay her 1,000 dollars a-night for 150 -nights, assuming all expenses of every kind. The contract proved an -immense pecuniary success. From the days of Joyce Heth, to the present -time, Mr. Barnum has always had some speciality connected with his show, -which the world pronounces humbug; and Mr. Barnum does not deny that they -are so. Among these are the Woolly Horse, the Buffalo Hunt, the -Ploughing Elephant, the Segal Mermaid, the What-is-it, and the Gorilla. -But Mr. Barnum claims that, while these special features may not be all -that the public expect, every visitor to the exhibition gets the worth of -his money ten times over; that his million curiosities and monstrosities, -giants, and dwarfs, his menagerie and dramatic entertainments, present a -diversified and immense amount of entertainment that cannot be secured -anywhere else. A large or red baboon, upon a recent occasion, was -exhibited at the Museum. It was advertised as a living gorilla, the only -one ever exhibited in America. Mr. Barnum’s agents succeeded in -hoodwinking the press to such a degree, that the respectable dailies -described the ferocity of this formidable gorilla, whose rage was -represented to be so intense, and his strength so fearful, that he was -very near tearing to pieces the persons who had brought him from the ship -to the Museum. Barnum had not seen the animal; and when he read the -account in the _Post_, he was very much excited, and sent immediately to -the men to be careful that no one was harmed. The baboon was about as -furious as a small-sized kitten. The story did its work, and crowds came -to see the wonderful beast. Among others a professor came from the -Smithsonian Institute; he examined the animal, and then desired to see -Mr. Barnum. He informed the proprietor that he had read the wonderful -accounts of the gorilla, and had come to see him. ‘He is a very fine -specimen of the baboon,’ said the professor; ‘but he is no gorilla.’ -‘What’s the reason that he is not a gorilla?’ said Barnum. The professor -replied, that ‘ordinary gorillas had no tails.’ ‘I own,’ said the -showman, ‘that ordinary gorillas have no tails; but mine has, and that -makes the specimen the more remarkable.’ The audacity of the reply -completely overwhelmed the professor, and he retired, leaving Mr. Barnum -in possession of the field. Mr. Barnum’s rule has been to give all who -patronise him the worth of their money, without being particular as to -the means by which he attracts the crowds to his exhibitions. His aim -has been notoriety. He offered the Atlantic Telegraph Company 5,000 -dollars for the privilege of first sending twenty words over the wires. -It has not been all sunshine with Mr. Barnum. His imposing villa at -Bridgeport was burned to the ground. Anxious to build up East -Bridgeport, he became responsible to a manufacturing company, and his -fortune was swept away in an hour; but with wonderful sagacity he -relieved himself. As a business man, he has singular executive force, -and great capacity. Men who regard Mr. Barnum as a charlatan, who -attribute his success to what he calls humbug, clap-trap, exaggerated -pictures, and puffing advertisements, will find that the secret of his -success did not lie in that direction. Under all his eccentricity, there -was a business energy, tact, perseverance, shrewdness, and industry, -without which, all his humbugging would have been exerted in vain. From -distributing Sear’s Bible, he became lessee of the Vauxhall Saloon; -thence a writer of advertisements for an amphitheatre at four dollars -a-week; then negotiating, without a dollar, for the Museum, which was -utterly worthless; outwitting a corporation who intended to outwit him on -the purchase of the Museum over his head; exhibiting a manufactured -mermaid which he had bought of a Boston showman; palming off Tom Thumb as -eleven years of age when he was but five; showing his woolly horse, and -exhibiting his wild buffaloes at Holcken—these, and other small things -that Barnum did, are known to the public; but there are other things -which the public did not know. Barnum was thoroughly honest, and he kept -his business engagements to the letter. He adopted the most rigid -economy. Finding a hearty coadjutor in his wife, he put his family on a -short allowance, and shared himself in the economy of the household. Six -hundred dollars a-year he allowed for the expenses of his family, and his -wife resolutely resolved to reduce that sum to 400 dollars. Six months -after the purchase of the Museum, the owner came into the ticket-office -at noon; Barnum was eating his frugal dinner, which was spread before -him. ‘Is this the way you eat your dinner?’ the proprietor inquired. -Barnum said, ‘I have not eaten a warm dinner since I bought the Museum, -except on the Sabbath, and I intend never to eat another on a week-day -till I am out of debt.’ ‘Ah, you are safe, and will pay for the Museum -before the year is out,’ replied the owner. In less than a year the -Museum was paid for out of the profits of the establishment.” - -There are no better rules for business success than those laid down by -Mr. Barnum, and which have guided his course. Among them are -these—“Select the kind of business suited to your temperament and -inclination; let your pledged word ever be sacred; whatever you do, do -with all your might; use no description of intoxicating drinks; let hope -predominate, but do not be visionary; pursue one thing at a time; do not -scatter your powers; engage proper assistance; live within your income, -if you almost starve; depend upon yourself, and not upon others.” - -Perhaps one of the men who made most money by advertising, was Mr. -Barnes, the proprietor of the _New York Ledger_. The manner was entirely -his own. When he startled the public by taking columns of a daily -journal, or one entire side, he secured the end he had in view. His -method of repeating three or four lines—such as, “JENNY JONES writes only -for the _Ledger_!” or “Read Mrs. SOUTHWORT’S new story in the -_Ledger_!”—and this repeated over and over again, till men turned from it -in disgust, and did not conceal their ill-temper—was a system of itself. -“What is the use,” said a man to Mr. Barnes, “of your taking the whole -side of the _Herald_, and repeating that statement a thousand times?” -“Would you have asked me that question,” replied Mr. Barnes, “if I had -inserted it but once? I put it in to attract your attention, and to make -you ask that question.” This mode of advertising was new, and it excited -both astonishment and ridicule. His ruin was predicted over and over -again; and when he had thus amassed a fine fortune, it was felt that the -position he had secured was the one he aimed at when he was a mere -printer’s lad. He sought for no short paths to success; he mastered his -trade as a printer patiently and perfectly; he earned his money before he -spent it; in New York he was preferred because he did his work better -than others; he was truthful, sober, honest, and industrious; if he took -a job, he finished it at the time and in the manner agreed upon. He -borrowed no money, incurred no debts, and suffered no embarrassments. He -was born in the north of Ireland, not far from Londonderry, and was true -to the Scotch Presbyterian blood in his veins. - -I now come to the most illustrious name, as regards money-getters, either -in England or America. Mr. George Peabody was something more than a -money-hunter, and, in the history of money-making men, deserves the post -of honour for his philanthropy. He was born in Massachusetts, and was, -essentially, a self-taught and self-made man. After he had learnt, in -the district school, how to read and write, having been four years in a -grocer’s score, and having spent another year with his grandfather in -rustic life in Vermont, he went to join his brother David, who had set up -a drapery or dry-goods store at Newburyport. This was stopped, a few -months after, by a fire, which destroyed Peabody’s shop and most of the -other houses in the town. Fortunately, at this juncture, an uncle, who -had settled in George Town, in the district of Columbia, invited young -George to become his commercial assistant; and he stayed with him a -couple of years, managing the most part of the business. In May, 1812, -during the unhappy war between Great Britain and America, when a British -fleet came up the Potomac, this young merchant’s clerk, with others of -his time, volunteered into the patriot army, and served a few months in -the defence of Port Warburton, as a true citizen soldier. The short war -being over, his proved skill and diligence brought him the offer of a -partnership in a new concern—it was that of Elisha Riggs, who was about -to commence the sale of dry goods throughout the middle States of the -Union. Riggs found the capital, while Peabody did the work, and the firm -at once achieved immense success. Peabody acted as bagsman, and often -travelled alone, on horseback, through the western wilds of New York and -Pennsylvania, or the plantations of Maryland and Virginia, if not -farther, lodging with farmers or gentlemen slave-owners, and so becoming -acquainted with every class of people, and every way of living: indeed, -so fast did the Southern connection increase, that the house was removed -to Baltimore, though its branches were established, seven years later, at -Philadelphia and New York. About the year 1830, Mr. Riggs having retired -from business, Mr. Peabody found himself at the head of one of the -largest mercantile firms in the home-trade of America. But Mr. Peabody -had also, by this time, distinguished himself as a man of superior -integrity, discretion, and public spirit. “He coveted no political -office; he courted the votes of no party; he waited upon no caucus; put -his foot down,” says the writer of the account of his life in the “Annual -Register,” “upon no platform; but held aloof from the strife of American -factions.” His first visit to London was in 1827, whole he was still -chief partner in the Baltimore firm. In 1843, he fixed himself here, as -merchant and money-broker, with others, by the style of “George Peabody -and Co., of Warnford Court, City.” As one of the three commissioners -appointed by the State of Maryland to obtain means for restoring its -credit, he refused to be paid for his services; but the State could not -do less than vote him their special thanks. To the last he retained his -fondness for his native land, and used to celebrate the anniversary of -American Independence, on the 4th of July, with a kind of public dinner -at the Crystal Palace. - -It is as a magnificent giver as well as getter of money that Mr. Peabody -has become famous. He knew perfectly well what he was about. He had -seen as much of the world as most elderly men of business accustomed to -society and travel, and he had come to the conclusion that a man was not -made happy by fine houses, and grand equipages, and stately parks, and -galleries filled with the choicest productions of art in ancient or -modern times, or by the social status which assuredly the possession of -money gives. None of these things, he found, made a man happy; though if -he had them, and were deprived of them, the loss would make him truly -unhappy indeed. Mr. Peabody thought he knew a surer way to the -possession of happiness; and that was, by dedicating the wealth he had -honourably acquired, to the promotion of the well-being of his less -fortunate fellow-men. - -Some of his first acts of pecuniary munificence, as was to be expected, -had an American bearing. At the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, he -promptly supplied the sum needed to pay for the arrangements of the -United States contributions. In the following year he joined Mr. Henry -Grinnell, of New York, shipowner, in fitting out the expedition to the -Arctic Sea in search of Sir John Franklin. In the same year he bestowed -a large donation, since augmented to £100,000, to found a free library -and educational institute at Danvers, his native place. In 1857, he -revisited his native land, after an absence of twenty years. On this -occasion he gave £100,000 to form, at Baltimore, a noble institute -devoted to science and art, in conjunction with a free public library. -The corner-stone of this building was laid in 1858, and the structure was -then completed; but its opening was delayed by the civil war which at -that time prevailed. It was not till after the conclusion of the war -that it was finally dedicated to the purposes for which it was founded. -Mr. Peabody afterwards gave a second £100,000 to the institute. - -In 1862, Mr. Peabody made the magnificent donation of £150,000 for the -amelioration of the condition of the poor of London, and the trustees, -who were men of mark and position, immediately employed the money in -accordance with the noble donor’s wishes, in the erection of model -dwellings for working-men. In 1866, he added another £100,000 to the -fund; and in 1868, he made a further donation of about fifteen acres of -land at Brixton, 5,642 shares in the Hudson’s Bay Company, and £5,405 in -cash (altogether another £100,000); thus making the value of his gifts to -the poor of London as much as £350,000. By the last will and testament -of Mr. Peabody, opened on the day of his funeral, his executors, Sir -Curtis Sampson and Sir Charles Reed, were directed to apply a further sum -of £150,000 to the Peabody Fund, thus making a sum of half a million -sterling so employed. - -This extraordinary beneficence, on the part of a private citizen, was -acknowledged in Great Britain. The freedom of the City of London was -conferred on Mr. Peabody by the corporation. The Queen, not content with -offering him either a baronetcy or the Grand Cross of the Bath, which he -respectfully declined, wrote him a grateful letter, and invited him to -visit her at Windsor. In 1866, just before his second visit to his -native country, he received from her the gift of a beautiful miniature -portrait of herself, framed in the most costly style, which he deposited -in the Peabody Institute at Danvers. The last token of public honour -which was rendered to Mr. Peabody before his death, was the uncovering, -by the Prince of Wales, of Storey’s fine bronze statue of himself behind -the Royal Exchange. - -Mr. Peabody remained in his native land three years, during which time he -largely increased the amount of his donations, and founded more than one -or two important institutions. He gave 2,000,000 dollars for the -education of the blacks and whites in the South; 300,000 dollars for -museums of American relics at Yale and Harvard Colleges; 50,000 dollars -for a free museum at Salem; 25,000 dollars to Bishop McIlxame for Kenyon -College; and presented a sum of 230,000 dollars to the State of Maryland. -He also expended 100,000 dollars on a memorial church to his mother, and -distributed among the members of his family 2,000,000 dollars. In -recognition of his many large gifts to public institutions in America, -Mr. Peabody received, in March 1867, a special vote of thanks from the -United States. He died in London, at the house of his friend, Six Curtis -Sampson, at Eaton Square, in the seventy-filth year of his age. The -funeral took place in Westminster Abbey though, in accordance with the -wishes of the deceased, the body was afterwards conveyed to America. The -coffin-lid bore the following inscription:— - - GEORGE PEABODY, - Born at Danvers, Massachusetts, February 18th, 1795; - Died in London, England, November 4th, 1869. - The remains were taken over to America in her Majesty’s turret-ship, - the _Monarch_. - -The late Mr. A. T. Stewart, dry-goods merchant of New York, has left a -curious monument of his administrative skill in the great Working Women’s -Hotel, recently completed in that city. As a large employer of labour, -male as well as female, Mr. Stewart became impressed with the difficulty -that working-folk have in finding lodgings even in comparatively new -cities. In swiftly-growing New York, the constantly increasing demand -for business premises has pushed the population higher and higher up the -island, until one fashionable street after another has been converted -into stores and offices, and people fairly well off have built themselves -handsome dwellings further afield. This has been by no means an -unprofitable change for house-owners; for the compensation received for a -house “down town,” more than suffices to build and furnish a handsome -dwelling in that part of the city still devoted to private residences; -but to the poorer classes of inhabitants, rapid change and development of -this kind have been not a little oppressive. Far more swiftly and -suddenly than in London, the working-people have found themselves thrust -from the space previously occupied by them, but grown too valuable to be -covered by their humble homes. Like their brethren in London, they have -either retired to the suburbs and find a tiresome morning and evening -journey added to the miseries of life, or have taken refuge in large -houses let out in tenements and built expressly for the accommodation of -artisan families. Both English and American experiments in this latter -direction have been very successful. Practice has taught the proper -principle of constructing large tenement houses as well as artisans’ and -labourers’ cottages, and the working family is probably not less -commodiously, and is certainly more healthily, lodged than it has been at -any preceding period. The single man, too, is cared for; but the single -woman has hitherto been under certain disadvantages. It is obvious that -a house almost always contains more space than she wants, and costs more -money than she can afford; and it is equally clear that in cooking her -own meals separately she is wasting time, food, and fuel. Some of these -objections might, perhaps, be got over by four or five women clubbing -together; but their general feeling has never been strongly manifested in -favour of divided rule or responsibility. It is subjecting human nature -to a severe test to ask people to “room together,” as it is called in -America, the ordinary result being that the temporary “chums” never speak -again to each other for the rest of their lives. It was to obviate this -strain on human sympathy that Mr. Stewart projected the Working Women’s -Hotel, the completion of which he did not live to see. - -“Judging from the prices charged,” says a writer in the _Daily News_, -“and the regulations enforced, the working women for whom the great hotel -at New York has been constructed, are of a class somewhat above that of -the factory or work-girl proper. Seven dollars a-week for board and a -separate room, or six dollars a-head if two persons occupy the same room, -is a price that would absorb an ordinary workwoman’s entire earnings. -When it is recollected that the value of a paper dollar is now within a -fraction of that of a gold one, and that wages and other things have -fallen in price with the contraction of the currency since the civil war, -it is not easy to see from what class of actual workwomen the hotel is to -draw its customers. Women working at trades clearly cannot aspire to the -comforts provided for seven dollars a-week, and it is doubtful whether -those in a position to pay that sum will submit to the restrictions -imposed upon boarders. For the sum asked they can, at the present -moment, obtain board easily elsewhere, and enjoy perfect liberty. It is -very likely that the food and accommodation provided at the hotel are -much superior to those offered at the smaller boarding-houses with which -the outer edges of New York, Brooklyn, and Jersey City are thickly -studded; but mere eating and sleeping seem to be regarded by women, in -America at least, in a far less serious light than by men. The code of -regulations at the Working Women’s Hotel affords an amusing instance of -the severity which comes over the American when called to the lofty and -important position of keeping an hotel. In other walks of life he is -easy and good-natured, but when impelled by destiny to ‘run’ an hotel, he -undergoes a sudden transformation into a despot. The guests at the new -hotel are informed that eight large parlours have been provided for the -reception of visitors, who will not be allowed in other rooms or parlours -except by express permission of the manager. The eight parlours -specified correspond, in fact, to the strangers’ rooms at a club. It is -furthermore provided that no visiting to a room will be allowed except by -consent of all the occupants; that no washing of clothes will be -permitted in the rooms, and that no sewing-machines or working apparatus -shall be brought into them. This last regulation may appear severe, but -it is probably intended to protect those who do not sew from annoyance. -A sewing-machine is an unpleasant neighbour, it is true; but so is a -rocking-chair; yet it may be doubted whether even the despot who reigns -over this last new ‘institution’ will prove equal to the task of tabooing -that pestilent article of furniture. Animals will be rigidly excluded. -No dogs, cats, birds, or other pet creatures will be suffered; meals will -be served at fixed hours; the gas will be turned off and the hotel closed -at half-past eleven. Whether this code will be submitted to by American -working-women capable of paying from 24_s._ to 28_s._ weekly for board -and lodging remains to be seen. The upper lady-clerk in a store is, as a -rule, gifted with great strength of character, and as a fairly educated, -self-reliant, and hardworking member of society, is perfectly entitled to -display her sense of independence. She will be quick to perceive the -advantages offered by the new hotel, but it is at least probable that she -will be equally quick to resent the restrictions which it is sought to -impose upon her sovereign will and pleasure.” - -A poor rich man, not long since, died at Cincinnati, leaving property -worth considerably more than half a million sterling. He lived up an -alley in one small room, dressed in rags, and looked like a penniless -tramp, and yet he owned more than 100,000 acres of land. Another citizen -of Cincinnati also offered to present to the city his valuable -art-collection, worth £40,000, on condition that a fire-proof building -should be erected in which to store it. - -It is said that Peter Cooper, of New York, who has now (1878) entered his -eighty-eighth year, is worth £2,000,000. He began life as a coachmaker’s -apprentice; but having invented a superior kind of glue, which came into -general use, he rapidly made an immense fortune. - -The last illustration of getting on in America may be found in the case -of Carl Schurz, now (1878) one of the Secretaries of State in America. - -The history of Carl Schurz reads like a romance, for the wandering -Ulysses himself, restricted to narrower limits by the imperfect -geographical knowledge of his day, never had a tenth part of his modern -imitator’s advantages in “observant straying” over different lands, and -amidst diverse languages, nor “noting the manners and their climes” of -widely separated races. Born near Cologne in 1829, and educated first at -its gymnasium, and subsequently at the University of Bonn, Carl Schurz -enjoyed superior educational advantages, by which, naturally studious, he -greatly profited. When but nineteen years of age, under the influence of -his professor, Kinkel, he became a Revolutionist in his sentiments; and -in the year 1848, memorable for the revolutionary tide that swept over -Europe, established, in conjunction with his professor, a journal to -advocate those principles. Of this journal he was for a time sole -editor. When, in, the spring of 1849, the abortive insurrectionary -effort was made at Bonn, in which both he and the professor took a part, -they fled together to the Palatinate. Here our young student joined the -revolutionary army as adjutant, and aided in the defence of Rastadt -against the government troops. On the surrender of that place he escaped -to Switzerland, but soon returned to deliver his friend Professor Kinkel -from the fortress of Spandau. In this effort he was successful. In -1851, we find the young revolutionist at Paris, as correspondent of -German journals, and a little later at London, for a year giving lessons -in German. But the exile wearied of Europe, and his fancy drove him to -America, where he arrived ignorant of the language, and, it is to be -presumed, short of cash. But he proceeded to grapple resolutely with -both difficulties. Three years he spent in the quiet Quaker city of -Philadelphia, teaching, and learning, and writing—for there is a large -German population In Pennsylvania. Then he drifted westwards; first to -Wisconsin, where he commenced his career as a political partisan making -speeches in German, during the presidential canvass of 1856, on the -Republican side. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the -lieutenant-governorship of Wisconsin that year—fast work for one but four -years in the country. The first public speech he delivered in the -English language was in 1858, about which time he commenced the practice -of law. In 1859, he made a lecture tour through the New England States, -speaking English, as I have been informed by an auditor, very -imperfectly. Now he speaks the language with perfect purity, and a -scarcely perceptible accent. In 1860, he was an influential member of -the National Republican Convention, and one of the chief speakers during -the canvass that resulted in the election of Lincoln to the presidency. -Appointed by Mr. Lincoln minister to Spain, he soon resigned that office -to return home and take part in the civil war—the Germans forming a large -portion of the military contingent in the Federal army, the great bulk of -the German immigration having settled in the North and North-western -States; very few indeed at the South. It was a curious sequel to a -revolutionary career at home that Mr. Schurz should have been so soon -engaged in suppressing a rebellion in his adopted country. He rose to -the rank of major-general in the Federal service, and took part in the -battle of the second Bull Run, and where Stonewall Jackson defeated the -Federals at Chancellorsville. He was also at Chattanooga and Gettysburg -fights. At the close of the war he returned to the practice of the law, -and connected himself with the newspaper press in different parts of the -country as a Washington correspondent. - -When, in 1866, after the assassination of President Lincoln, Andrew -Johnson was acting President of the United States, he appointed Carl -Schurz as special commissioner to visit and report on the actual -condition of the southern country, then under process of reconstruction. -On his return from this mission our German Ulysses migrated to Detroit in -Michigan, where he founded a newspaper. The ensuing year he moved again -to the city of St. Louis, in Missouri, where he founded a German -newspaper, took an active part for General Grant in both languages in -1868, and in 1869 was elected United States senator for six years’ term -from Missouri. Disagreeing with General Grant’s policy and mode of -conducting public affairs, Mr. Schurz passed over to the Opposition to -his administration, and, in conjunction with Horace Greeley—like himself -an Abolitionist and Republican—sought to establish a reform party of -Liberal Republicans, as opposed to the Spoils party of Grant. Mr. Schurz -was the presiding officer in the Cincinnati Republican Convention, which -nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and since then his career -has been one of unmitigated success. - -In the new States, as well as in the old, these American money-makers -flourish. As I write, I hear that Mark Hopkins, the great Californian -railway millionaire, has died with upwards of £3,000,000, and his will -cannot be found. In the absence of a will his widow takes two-thirds of -the fortune, and his two brothers the remainder. Money-making, it may be -said, is the chief characteristic of Brother Jonathan and his numerous -and pushing tribe. - - - - -CHAPTER III. -CHARLES BIANCONI, THE IRISH CAR-MAN. - - -THE life of a self-made man is at all times a deeply interesting study. -We like to see how he mastered surrounding circumstances, with what -bravery he met adverse fate, and how he fared when he had triumphed and -become strong. Such a man is not always a model to be held up for -admiration. Often there is a hardness and coarseness about him which is -undesirable, and an assumption of greatness on account of pecuniary -success, which, in good society at any rate, will be resented. When the -late Mr. Peabody was honoured with a statue under the shadow of the Royal -Exchange, and within the heart of the City, it was said by some -ill-natured Yankee, that if England wished to erect statues to such men, -there were plenty of rich men America could supply us with for that -purpose; and certainly it is not in the true interests of humanity that -we should get into the habit of paying too much homage to worshippers of -the Golden Calf. Undoubtedly it will be much to be deprecated if that be -the worship of the future; but it is a danger in these levelling days, -when democracy is coming more and more to the front, against which the -preacher and the moralist must ever guard the nation. At all times the -tone of public thought must be pitched low, and when rank has lost its -_prestige_, the danger of being swamped by vulgar plutocrats is immensely -increased. As was to be expected, Mrs. O’Connell is very proud of her -father, and, as was also to be expected, the father was very proud of -himself. He was a very illiterate man. He even could not spell the word -money properly; but no man knew better what it meant, and no man could -have ever anticipated that he would have secured so much of it as he did. -As a boy he had the reputation of being stupid, and also wild; and it -seems to have been with the view of getting rid of him that his father -sent him from his home in the Lombard Highlands, in company with one -Andrea Faroni, to England, where he was to learn to become a dealer in -prints, barometers, and eye-glasses. It was a fortunate thing for -Charles Bianconi that Favoni brought him instead to Ireland. In -London—the great cold world of London—it would have fared hard with the -poor Italian lad. In Dublin and the country round, the good-looking -foreigner, with his bright eyes and his civil tongue, met with a warm -reception—a reception all the more warm, inasmuch as he was of the Irish -faith; but even then it is strange how he prospered as he did. Without -knowing a word of the language, and with fourpence in his pocket to pay -expenses, he was sent out into the country on the Monday morning with two -pounds’ worth of prints to sell, and with the understanding that he was -to be back by Saturday night; but the lad had made up his mind to be a -somebody, and he was as good as his word; and he had not been long in -Ireland before he hit on the idea which led him to fame and fortune. - -One of his first lessons in Ireland was, he tells us, the great -difference between the pedlar doomed to tramp on foot, and his more -fortunate fellow who could post or ride on horseback. When he became a -small shopkeeper at Carrick, the need of equestrian conveyance was -brought home to him in a still more forcible manner. “I supplied,” he -writes, “my Carrick shop with gold-leaf from Waterford, going down in Tom -Mahony’s boat to buy it. Carrick-on-Suir is twelve or thirteen miles -from Waterford by land, but the windings of the river make it twenty-four -by water. This boat, then, was the only public conveyance. The time of -its departure had to depend upon the tide, and it took four or five hours -to make the journey.” One day, going to Waterford by the boat, Bianconi -got sodden with the wet, and was laid up with cold and pleurisy for a -couple of months. This Irish experience was putting him in the right -track; and in 1815, when good horses were to be had cheap, in consequence -of the peace, he had the courage to start his cars, running at first -between Carrick and Clonmel, a distance of some twelve miles. At first -Bianconi only contemplated carrying the poorer people. There was the -aristocratic mail-coach for the people of quality; but greatness was -thrust upon him. In 1830 he carried the mails direct from the -post-office, and had bought up some leading coaching lines. In his -latter years he had 1,400 horses at work, and daily covered 3,800 miles. -Still further, to give the reader an idea of the extent of his business, -we may note there were 140 stations for the change of horses, and that -these latter consumed from 3,000 to 4,000 tons of hay, and from 30,000 to -40,000 barrels of oats annually. In England Bianconi could never have -made his fortune in this way. In Ireland he appeared at the right time, -and was the right man in the right place. - -As a benefactor to Ireland it is almost impossible to overestimate -Bianconi’s usefulness. The farmer who formerly drove spent three days in -making his market; when the cars came into operation one day was -sufficient, thereby saving two clear days and expense of his horse. -Another good object gained was the opening up the resources of the -interior of the country. And lastly, there was the civilising effects of -the intercommunion created among classes of the country, by means of -travelling together on one or other of the Bianconi cars. The way in -which the system was organised ensured its success, “I take my drivers,” -said Mr. Bianconi at the Cork meeting of the British Association for the -Advancement of Science, “from the lowest grade of the establishment. -They are progressively advanced, according to their respective merits, as -opportunity offers, and they know that nothing can deprive them of these -rewards, and also of a pension of their full wages in cases of old age or -accident, unless it be their own wilful and improper conduct.” The whole -establishment must have had a beneficial influence over a large area. -Any man found guilty of uttering a falsehood, however venial, was -instantly dismissed, and this consequently insured truth, accuracy, and -punctuality. It must be remembered, too, at the time in which Mr. -Bianconi commenced his career, the county of Tipperary was much -disorganised, owing to the maladministration of the laws, and to the -almost total severance of the bond which ought to have united the upper -and humble classes of society. At that time the Catholics were generally -looked down upon as beings of an inferior race. A Catholic was not -permitted to buy or become possessed of land. In his very short -autobiography, Mr. Bianconi thus describes the grievances of the Roman -Catholics:— - - “One of the injustices of which the Catholics used to tell me, was - the unfair way in which the Catholics were treated in Clonmel. - Amongst others, they relate a practice then in existence. The - Protestant shopkeepers, upon a certain day, used to go about the town - levying a tax upon their Catholic neighbours who attempted to open - shops within the town walls of Clonmel. They used to wring from each - individual from two to four guineas, which they called intrusion - money. My informants especially praised an old Mrs. Ryan, now dead, - who boldly refused to comply with their demands. The tax-makers, - therefore, seized her goods. She afterwards recovered them at law, - and her spirited conduct led to the abolition of this toll. We - Catholics had at one time to pay a tax upon all bought merchandise, - while our more favoured Protestant and Dissenting fellow-townsmen - were saved not only from a needless expenditure, but from the galling - contact with such a class as the toll-gatherers. In the house, 112, - Main Street, was the news-room, which I joined. I was greatly struck - by the loud and consequential talk constantly going on between a Mr. - Jephson and a Sir Richard Jones, and two more of their set, whereas I - and my fellow-Papists were not allowed to speak above a whisper. - This I resolved not to submit to; for I could see no reason why, when - I had paid my money in a public place, I should not share all equal - rights. Others followed my example; and as we all, Protestants and - Papists, indulged in equally noisy declamation, a stranger entering - our news-room would have been puzzled to say which party were the - privileged administrators of the penal code.” - -Irish like, Mr. Bianconi managed now and then to have his joke. One day, -when he was sending home in a large wooden case a very superior -looking-glass, an old lady asked what was in the box thus carefully -conveyed. “The Repeal of the Union,” was Bianconi’s reply. The old -woman’s delight and astonishment knew no bounds. She knelt down on her -knees in the middle of the road, to thank God for having preserved her so -long, that at last, in her old days, she should have seen the Repeal of -the Union. As another illustration, we quote the story of the opposition -car:— - - “His first attempt he thought was going to be a failure; scarcely - anybody went by car. People were used to trudging along on foot, and - they continued to do, thus saving their money, which was more - valuable than their time. Another man would have abandoned the - speculation; but Mr. Bianconi did nothing of the kind. He started an - opposition car, at a cheaper rate, which was not known to be his—not - even by the rival drivers, who raced against each other for the - foremost place. The excitement of the contest, the cheapness of the - fare, the occasional free lifts given to passengers, soon began to - attract a paying public, and before very long both the cars every day - came in full. He had bought a great, strong, yellow horse, as he - called him, to run in the opposition car; he gave, he said, £20 for - the animal. One evening his own recognised driver came to him in - great pride and excitement. ‘You know the great, big, yallah horse - under the opposition car? Well, sir, he’ll never run another yard. - I broke his heart this night. I raced him from beyant - Moore-o’-Barns, and he’ll never thravel agin.’ Mr. Bianconi told me - he was obliged to show the greatest gratification at the loss of his - beast; but it gave him enough of the opposition car, which there and - then came to an end, like the poor horse. The habit of travelling on - a car increased among a people when they had become alive to its - advantage.” - -The main principle on which Bianconi acted was never to despise poor -people, or apparently small interests. “His great enterprise,” wrote Dr. -Cook Taylor, “arose from the problems, how to make a two-wheeled car pay -while running for the accommodation of poor districts and poor people, as -regularly as the mail-coaches did for the rich; and when that was solved, -how to regulate a system of traffic by a network of cars, the cars -increasing in size as the traffic required, from the short one-horse car, -holding six people, to the long four-horse car, holding twenty people.” -One extract more will give the reader Mr. Bianconi’s secret of -money-making:— - - “I remember when I was earning a shilling a day in Clonmel, I used to - live upon eightpence, and that did not prevent the people from making - me their mayor. I did the same at Cashel and at Thurles, and that - does not prevent me from at present living between the towns, on a - property of seven miles circumference, and on which I pay her Majesty - £7 2_s._ 6_d._ per year, or from being a J.P. or a D.L. - - “It gives me sincere pleasure in seeing you follow the sound - principle of having your wants within your means. Don’t be fond of - changes. It is better for you to be at the head of a small republic - than at the foot of a great one.” - -Mrs. O’Connell writes:— - - “I may add, as a postscript, what my father once said to a young - Yorkshireman, ‘Keep before the wheels, young man, or they will run - over you. Always keep before the wheels.’” - -In his way, Mr. Bianconi was a religious man. He and his priest were -always on good terms. He did not run his cars on a Sunday, because the -Irish, being a religious people, will not travel for business on that -day. He also found his horses worked better for one day’s rest in seven. -With Daniel O’Connell he was on the most intimate terms, and Sheil was -often a guest at his house. He was an out-and-out Liberal, and always -maintained that when the Tory landlords saw that they would fail to get -one of their own party into parliament, they encouraged their tenants to -vote for the Home Rule nominee, in the hope of balking the steady-going -Liberal who could afford to be honest. “I have known,” writes Mrs. -O’Connell, “a great Protestant land-owner boast of having given tacit -support to the ultra-Liberal candidate, in the pious hope that he could -thereby cause mischief in the Liberal benches.” - -It is not pleasant to read that Bianconi, true friend to Ireland as he -was, narrowly escaped the penalty too generally attached to ownership of -land in Ireland. It was said that he was marked out to be shot!—it was -even thought that the deed had been planned and attempted, and frustrated -only by the parish priest, who asked him to take a seat in his gig on his -way home from Cashel. Bianconi had driven in from Longfield in his own -carriage, but he accepted the priest’s invitation and went back with him. -It seems there are two roads leading from Cashel towards Longfield House, -and the priest chose the longer of the two. “Why do you take this road?” -said Bianconi. “I prefer it,” replied the priest, and nothing more was -said about it then; but it was suspected that the old priest had heard -something, or got some warning, for it afterwards became known that a -party of men had that night been watching on the other road. Happily for -the credit of Ireland, Bianconi expired peacefully in 1873, at a ripe old -age, as is manifest when we state that he was born in 1786. One of his -last acts was characteristic. Struck with paralysis, he discovered, -about a week before his death an error of eightpence in the deduction for -poor-rates out of a large rent cheque. Verily, of such is the kingdom of -Mammon. Mrs. O’Connell, however, has done her best to make her father’s -memory fragrant; but she is a novice in the art of book-making, and we -must take the will for the deed. Let us hope her countrymen will study -the example she holds out to them of a man industrious, and careful, and -economical, and eager for the main chance. It is such men Ireland needs -far more than agitators for Home Rule. In the colonies no one learns -more readily the value of thrift than the Irishman, or gives us a finer -example of how to reap the golden harvest which it ensures; but in his -native land the Irishman loves more to spend money than earn it. Sir -Thomas Dargan, the great railway contractor, was, however, one of those -exceptions which teach us how, even in his native land, the poorest -Irishman may amass a fortune. Young Dargan received a good education, -and after leaving school was placed in a surveyor’s office. With little -beyond this training, and a character for the strictest integrity, he -left Ireland to push his fortunes. His first employment was under -Telford, who was then engaged in constructing the Holyhead Road. When -this was completed Dargan returned to Ireland, and embarked in several -minor undertakings, in which he was fortunate enough to gain sufficient -to form the nucleus of that princely fortune which entitled him to the -appellation of a millionaire. After the highly successful result of the -Great Exhibition of 1851, Mr. Dargan, with the view of developing the -industrial resources of his native country, and with a munificence -certainly without parallel in one who had been “the architect of his own -fortune,” resolved on founding an Industrial Exhibition in Dublin, and -placed £20,000 in the hands of a committee, consisting of the leading -citizens, and empowered them to erect a building, and to defray all the -necessary expenses connected with the undertaking, on the sole condition -that no begging-box should be handed found for further contributions. He -undertook, moreover, to advance whatever additional sums might be -required to carry the enterprise to a successful issue. In fact, before -the Exhibition opened (May 12, 1853), Mr. Dargan’s advances are said not -to have fallen far short of £100,000. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. -A FORTUNE MADE BY A VEGETARIAN. - - -PERHAPS one of the most remarkable cases of success in life is the -following, as described by Mr. Napier, of Merchiston, in a paper in -“Fraser’s Magazine.” He says:— - - “After the reading of my paper on the vegetarian core for - intemperance, before the Bristol Meeting of the British Association - in 1875, I was addressed by an elderly gentleman and his wife, who - said my views were strictly in accordance with theirs. After some - conversation, we adjourned to his hotel, where he hospitably - entertained me, and gave me a narrative of his life, with permission - to publish it in the interest of the good cause, suppressing his name - and abode, as he said he was particularly shy and retired in his - habits, and had a great objection to see his name in print. - - “He was born in the north of England in 1811; but although his hair - was grey, he otherwise appeared better preserved by fifteen years - than most persons of his age. His father was a minister of religion, - and he was the eldest of twelve children. He was of ancient and - distinguished lineage; but his father never having had more than £300 - a-year, he was obliged to send his children out early into the world, - and so at fourteen he was put into a house of business in a great - northern town. - - “For the first three years he had nothing but his board with one of - the senior clerks; but at the end of that time he got as much dry - bread and water for his lunch as he could take, and ten shilling a - a-week to board and lodge himself. He accidentally obtained some - works on vegetarianism, and was resolved to put in practice what he - had read, as otherwise he found he could not support and clothe - himself decently. I will give now his own words as nearly as I can - recollect. - - “‘I was seventeen years of age then, five feet eight inches high, and - strongly built. I had but ten shillings a-week for everything. How - should I best lay it out? The senior clerk took me as a lodger at - eighteenpence a-week, for one good room. There was a bedstead in it, - but no bedding or other furniture. I was resolved to do what best I - could, and owe no man anything. Some canvas coverings, which my good - mother had put round my packages, served me to make a mattress when - filled with hay. For the first eight weeks I slept in my oldest - clothes on this mattress. My diet was ample and nourishing, but very - cheap. Threepence a-day was the cost. About one pound of beans, - which did not cost more than a penny, half a pound of bread daily, - and two halfpenny cabbages, and three pounds of potatoes in the week. - Two-pennyworth of seed oil, {76a} one pound of twopenny rice, and - about a farthing’s worth of tartar {76b} from the wine casks, - constituted my very nourishing diet. - - “‘When my parents sent me a basket of fruit, I indulged in it freely; - but I did not care for it unless the carriage was paid, which was not - always the case. Thus 1_s._ 9_d._ for my food and 1_s._ 6_d._ for my - lodging, and 9½_d._ for my fuel and light, left me 5s. 11½_d._ for - other purposes. At the end of the eight weeks I have specified, I - was in possession of above £2. It took me nearly this sum to - purchase a straw paillasse, blankets, sheets, and pillows - second-hand. I persevered for another year on this diet, and found - myself in possession of about £12. As I had some respectable - acquaintance in the town, I resolved on spending this sum in - furniture, in order that I might have a decent room into which to ask - my visitors. Taking a lesson from the poet Goldsmith, I had ‘a bed - by night—a chest of drawers by day,’ so that my apartment, - alternately sitting-room and bedroom, was suitable for lady visitors. - I often invited the lady you see sitting opposite to you, to take tea - on Sunday with me and then go to church. She was my own age exactly, - and was the prey of a cruel stepmother; she was, in fact, a sort of - Cinderella in a large family. Her stepmother aimed at marrying her - to a widower of forty-five, with seven children; but this my young - girl of eighteen objected to. Her father at first sanctioned our - engagement; but when a suitor in a good position came forward for his - daughter, he forbade me the house, and made her walk daily with the - gentleman whom we nick-named ‘number forty-five.’ I resolved to - marry her as soon as I could furnish two more rooms and had laid in a - good stock of clothes. - - “‘My young lady studied my vegetarian books, and determined not to - eat any meat at home. All the family laughed at her, but she was - sufficiently resolute to withstand ridicule. - - “‘She told her father that, he having once sanctioned her engagement - to me, she must be bound to me, and could not accept anyone else. - Her father remonstrated with her, but it was of no use. At the end - of the two years, when I had just passed my twentieth birthday, I - called on her father and said, ‘I have now three rooms well - furnished, and am able to keep your daughter; I want you to fix a day - for my marrying her.’ He pressed my hand warmly, and said, ‘Well, I - will, and give you my blessing into the bargain.’ He was a - good-hearted man at bottom, but too much ruled by his wife. He gave - my wife a good large outfit and a purse of £10, and her stepmother - even gave her £2, and her brothers and sisters bought her a family - Bible, and one of them wrote in it, ‘At the end of ten days their - countenances did appear fairer and fatter of flesh than all the - children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat—Daniel i. 15.’ - - “The old gentleman laughed very much when he told me this, and said - that the vegetarianism of Daniel had been the text of many a sermon - which he had preached to his children, who, profiting by so good an - example, _were all vegetarians_. - - “But to resume. ‘I found myself married and very happy, but with - 10s. a-week only. We laid out our money as follows: We paid 3_s._ - 6_d._ for three rooms, 1_s._ for fuel and light, 3_s._ 6_d._ for - food, and had 2_s._ for other contingencies. Our food consisted - of—Bean stew three times a-week; potatoe pie twice a-week; puddings - without eggs twice a-week; carrots, turnips, or some green vegetable - daily. Our breakfast was porridge, either of corn or oatmeal. We - ate bread with it, thus insuring mastication, and rendering butter, - milk, tea, coffee, or cocoa unnecessary. We sometimes took tea in - the evening, but oftener cold water. We formed the acquaintance of a - fruit-merchant, who, though laughing at our vegetarianism, often sent - us baskets of fruit. I was married in December, and in the following - November my wife had a son. In a few days the wife of the head of - the firm paid us a visit, and the next day I was informed that my - salary was to be raised to 18_s._ a-week. I was before this in great - difficulty what to do, as I did not much like my wife being the sole - nurse of her child. Before this she had attended to all our wants. - I now took an Irish servant girl, who was willing to be a vegetarian - and receive 6_d._ a-week in wages for the first year. - - “‘I was in possession, at the end of my second year of married life, - of £10 sterling. I will now tell you how I invested it. ‘Our firm’ - was both speculative and manufacturing, and employed some 100 - workmen, who purchased the tools they required at rather high prices - in the town. Ascertaining that the tools might be had cheaper at - Birmingham and Sheffield, I went myself and laid in a small stock, - which I sold within a week to the workmen at 18 per cent. profit, but - still full 10 per cent. under what they were in the habit of paying. - Being offered a month’s credit, I received a consignment of tools - from Birmingham and Sheffield. At the end of a year I found myself - in possession of £150, which I had made by the sale of these tools to - our own hands. My wife kept my books, and this little business - necessitated the hiring of another room. But in other respects this - great increase of income did not induce us to enlarge our expenses. - - “‘A foreman lost his hand through an accident, and was incapacitated - for work; I made him my traveller, to call at other workshops and - sell tools to workmen. - - “‘The firms at Birmingham and Sheffield had confidence in me. I - obtained credit more largely. I engaged a warehouse and a clerk. At - the end of my fourth year of marriage I was in possession of £1,500 - by the sale of these tools. I now thought of a bold project, since I - was a capitalist. I went to the head of our firm, and I said, ‘My - wife is carrying on a business which seems likely to produce us - £1,500 a-year clear profit; I have no wish to leave your service, but - I shall certainly do so, unless my salary is raised to £250 a-year.’ - This sum being agreed on, I was contented for the present. - - “‘We now kept two servants, and lived in two floors over our - warehouse, and had two children. - - “‘I had been married about six years, and had three children,’ - continued the old vegetarian, ‘when my warehouse and all my furniture - were totally destroyed by fire; fortunately they were insured for - about £5,000. As this was another crisis in my career, I went to - ‘the firm,’ and said, ‘I now know about as much of my business as I - can learn, and have a large connection. I am offered credit if I - will embark my capital—£8,000—to open a business in opposition to - yours. But I do not want to do this if you will only give me a - liberal salary. I want £450 a-year, and I will carry on my business - in tools in my leisure hours as before.’ My terms were accepted; I - was assigned a separate office, and five clerks were at my command. - Every letter to me was now addressed Esquire; formerly I was only - Mr., at least to the firm. I got my family arms engraved on a seal. - I began to dress better. I kept three maid-servants and a page, and - lived in a house out of the town—a road-side villa, with vegetable - garden—bringing my expenses within the £450 a-year; reserving the - profits of my business for the increase of my capital. - - “‘The heads of the firm—two brothers—paid a visit to Ireland, and, - coming back, a terrific storm arose; they were washed off the deck of - the steamer and drowned, leaving in the firm only the junior, the son - of the elder brother, a young man of twenty years of age. As his - capacity was moderate, and his habits not very regular, the trustees - of the two deceased partners, of their own accord, proposed that I - should receive £750 per annum, take the entire charge of the - business, and stay an hour longer than hitherto. But after six - months, finding that I lost rather than gained by the arrangement, as - it encroached on the time I had hitherto devoted to my private - business, I plainly told the trustees that I must be taken into - partnership, or I would abandon the concern and establish a rival - business, which might very seriously damage theirs. They proposed - that I should be partner for life, with £1,500 a-year as a first - charge on the profits of the business, but should have no right to - leave any part of it to my family, but should have two-thirds of the - profits as surviving partner in case of the death of the present head - of the firm without children. A deed was executed to embrace these - provisions, and I bound myself not to enter into any other business - which would aim to rival that of the firm. On this I took a superior - house, kept a horse and open carriage, two gardeners, and otherwise - lived at the rate of about £1,200 a-year. My wife now retired - entirely from business, which she had seen after for about the half - of three days in the week. - - “‘About four years after this, to my sorrow, but at the same time - pecuniary advantage, the young man, my senior partner, died, after a - few days’ illness, from pleurisy, brought on by bathing. His - constitution was mainly built up on beer, beef, and tobacco. I, a - vegetarian, was never ill after bathing. This young man was a martyr - to the abuse of stimulants, who his foolish doctor encouraged in - their use. I have made my will, and none of my children shall - inherit a penny if they are not at the time of my death vegetarians - and total abstainers. - - “‘We had been so absorbed in business since we were married, that we - had not for ten years taken a sea-side holiday; so in the summer of - 1846 we determined on a yacht voyage to last two months, from May 1st - till July 1st, round the coast of Ireland. We hired a yacht of - fourteen tons, four men, and a boy. My wife and three eldest - children and self went on board at Liverpool, and we had a most - enjoyable sail until we reached the north-west coast of Ireland. We - landed and explored many rocky bays, and I collected many beautiful - sea-birds’ eggs, and shot many of the more uncommon of the sea-fowl, - of which I have at present a trophy of stuffed birds, nine feet long, - in my hall. - - “‘Wishing to see the wildest part of the Irish coast, we sailed for - the Arran Isles, and, landing there, spent some days in examining the - curious stones for which these islands are famous. Some fishermen - there spoke of an isolated rock in the sea, about a quarter of a mile - long, very high, with a cavern in it, as the haunt of myriads of - sea-fowl, some of species found nowhere else in the same abundance. - With one of these fishermen as our pilot we reached the spot. There - was a heavy swell round this island-rook, and we had great difficulty - in landing. We determined to anchor the yacht about half a mile off, - and proceed to the island in the boat with two of our men. Thinking - we might like to spend the day there, we took with us two bags of - rice, a basket of oranges, some loaves of bread, some peas and beans - for soup, and utensils and wood for cooking. In order to afford a - seat for the children, a tin chest from the cabin, full of a variety - of provisions, was put in the boat’s stern, and we embarked, my wife - expressing a regret that the provisions had not been emptied out lest - they should make the boat too heavy. With great difficulty we - managed to run the boat into a chasm about twenty feet wide and one - hundred feet long in the cliff, which was high and very precipitous. - This chasm formed a miniature harbour, where the boat could lie - without any danger of being swamped, in deep water close to the - cliff, against which it was moored to a projecting rock, as to an - artificial quay. It was a considerable scramble to get out of the - boat and up the cliff; we just managed it, and landing our - provisions, one of our men made a fire and acted as cook, while we - wandered over the island, and explored the cave. It was, in fact, a - sort of twin cavern, two branches having one entrance; that on the - right-hand side was about 150 feet deep, and was not tenanted, as it - had no exit; that on the left hand was a tunnel of even greater - length, and about forty feet high; it was the nesting-place of many - sea-birds; cormorants, puffins, guillemots, razorbills, several - species of seagulls, the arctic tern and gannet very abundant, and a - few pairs of the shearwater; of some sort we took a good many eggs. - We packed baskets with at least 100 dozen. I did not shoot, as I did - not like disturbing the birds, they were so tame, being but little - accustomed to the visits of man. There were some goats on the - island, which we conjectured had swum ashore from a shipwrecked - vessel. - - “‘This plateau, which was the highest part of the island, was reached - by a path ascending about 200 feet. It was a beautiful emerald - meadow, bounded by almost precipitous cliffs, which my eldest boy and - I climbed up, but my wife declined the ascent. At about five we sat - down to our dinner of pea-soup, boiled cabbage, bread, haricot beans, - batter-pudding, and fruit. - - “‘We were seated in the entrance of the cave, when suddenly a storm - sprang up. The wind was so violent, that though we sadly wished it, - we did not deem it prudent to get into our boat to rejoin the yacht. - One of the sailors went on a high part of the island to observe, and - soon informed us that the yacht had apparently dragged its anchor, - and was fast disappearing. - - “‘We were all in a sad dilemma. Leaving my dinner unfinished, I, - with my eldest son, went up the cliff; the yacht was nowhere to be - seen, and the wind was so violent that we were hardly able to keep - our feet on the cliff. I came down, and said we should be obliged to - pass the night on the island. Accordingly, the sailors brought out - of the boat all we had left in it, including some shawls, a large fur - rug, and two sails and a quantity of tarpaulin, which we had intended - to sit on had the ground been damp. Lighting a small lamp, I made a - careful survey of the right-hand cavern; it was not straight, but - turned at a sharp angle; the floor was dry, as were also the walls. - I collected a heap of loose dry sand eight or ten feet long, by as - many feet wide, and in this I spread the tarpaulin, and over this - some shawls. As it got dark, myself, wife, and three children lay - down on this extemporised bed, covering ourselves with the large fur - rug. The wind made a great noise. The sailors lay down a short - distance from us, wrapped in the sails. The next morning, between - five and six, we were all up, and I made an inventory of our - provisions. We had about eight pounds of oatmeal, about the same - quantity of haricot beans, about fourteen pounds of lentils, about - twelve pounds of maize flour, three pounds of arrowroot, two pounds - of potatoes, a cabbage, four loaves of bread, and about a dozen - oranges. With economy, we had vegetarian provisions to last a - fortnight, if we could get fresh water—as yet we had found none. In - the cavern where the sea-birds were, there was a patch of green moss - on the wall, nearly obscuring a deep crack, extending for some yards - into the rock. On putting my ear to the crack I distinctly heard - water dropping. I tied a towel to a walking-stick and poked it into - the crack, and pulled out the towel dripping. By dint of probing the - rock, I increased the supply, and at last was enabled to get an oar - into the crack, which, being placed obliquely, acted as a lead to the - water, which now trickled down sufficiently fast to fill a tin can of - a gallon capacity in about a quarter of an hour. I considered this - providential. We were on this island ten days, and slept in the same - manner. During the day we kept a sail on an oar attached to the - boat’s mast, on the highest part of the island, as a signal of - distress. We saw several vessels, but they did not come near the - island. At last a smack lay to, and sent a boat to the island, and - in about an hour we were on board the smack. On the island we - adhered strictly to our vegetarian diet, substituting sea-fowls’ eggs - for hens’ eggs. {83} - - “‘The sailors killed and roasted two kids. - - “‘The smack put us on shore at Dingle Bay, and after a month’s travel - in Ireland we returned home, and heard that our sailors, taking - advantage of our absence, had drunk too much of the store of rum they - had provided at their own expense for the voyage, and that the - vessel, becoming unmanageable, had capsised, the two men and pilot - being drowned, the boy alone escaping, and, clinging to the keel of - the yacht, he was picked up a few hours after. The yacht was righted - by some fishermen, and eventually brought to the Isle of Man, where - she was claimed by her owners, who had to pay a salvage of £70. As - this incident had occurred during my hiring of her, I recouped them - of part, and received back my baggage, not so very much injured as I - expected. At the bottom of our box of provisions were some seeds - from our garden, which we were carrying to distribute amongst the - poor Irish at the places where we landed; so, thinking that some - future shipwrecked wanderers might be benefited thereby, I cleared a - patch of ground, and planted carrot, parsnip, and cabbage seed, - before I left the little island; hoping, but not expecting, the goats - would leave the tender vegetables unmolested. - - “‘I had been married about sixteen years, when I resolved to print a - pamphlet on the subject of vegetarianism, giving my experiences and - those of my wife and family. I gave away 2,000 copies, and with some - result, for they were the means of adding over forty to the - vegetarian flock. In this pamphlet I propounded a scheme for the - renovation of my neighbourhood on vegetarian principles. At this - time I employed about eight servants, male and female, in the house - and garden. I gave the men 14_s._ a-week to find themselves, and - they were allowed a certain proportion of such common vegetables as - potatoes, carrots, turnips, and onions free. Being married men, they - had each a distinct cottage, large and comfortable, with an - ornamental flower-garden in front, and a fruit-garden at the back. - They were built in the Gothic style, after my own design. Each of - them kept bees and fowls for their own profit. Their style of living - was the envy of all their neighbours. I allow none of them to take - lodgers, and insisted on cleanliness; no rooms were papered, but all - were whitewashed annually. During the many years that have elapsed - since the first cottage was built, according to this plan, I have - added to them, until the number has reached fourteen. They are - mostly inhabited by Scotchmen. They are all temperance men, - anti-tobacco, and mostly vegetarians. I do not give a man a cottage - to himself until he is married to a clean, orderly, industrious - women. My labourers’ children turn out well. - - “‘One cottage is inhabited by my second gardener and his wife, - without children. She teaches the boys and girls of the other - cottages, and has done so for twenty years. I pay her £30 a-year. - She was a trained schoolmistress before she was married. My head - gardener is a religious man, and holds divine service in one of my - barns, for about 100 persons connected with the estate. It is like a - mother’s meeting, children of all ages being present. I am not sorry - for this, for the parson of the neighbourhood is a great man for beef - and beer, and his influence I dread on my little Arcadia. My head - gardener now and then gives a lecture on vegetarianism in - school-rooms, and we two have drown up a table suggestive of - expenditure for rich and poor. Out of his wages he keeps his father - and mother and two maiden aunts, comfortably, at an expenditure of - about 7_s._ per week. He is an Aberdeenshire man, and about forty - years of age. I hope his eldest son will become an eminent man; and - I am paying for his education at one of the universities, on account - of his extraordinary ability and fine natural disposition, and also - on account of the respect which I feel for his father, who has helped - me to carry out my principles on my estate. This man’s parents and - aunts live in Aberdeenshire, and have never been on the parish. The - laird gives them three rooms over an outhouse at 6_d._ a-week. They - spent 2_s._ a-week on oatmeal, and 1_s._ a-week on milk. They grow - vegetables enough to make a stew for dinner; a shilling’s-worth of - flour gives them a meal of bread in the evening. They eat their - bread without butter, but with their vegetable soup, made either of - peas or beans; 3_d._ buys what condiments or groceries they require. - They are always clean and tidy, and gather what fuel they need from - the peat on the moor. The blind aunts are very strong, whereas the - father is very feeble. They work the garden and collect the wood, he - going with them to lead them on their way. My gardener has drawn up - a table how an adult man may supply himself with wholesome food, - lodging, and clothing at 7_s._ 6_d._ per week on vegetarian - principles. He can get a room unfurnished for 1_s._ a-week; he can - get attendance, to a certain extent, for 1_s._ a-week extra; his - broad bill need not be more than 1_s._ 6_d._ per week; 1_s._ 6_d._ - for green vegetables, including potatoes; 6_d._ for butter or oil; - 6_d._ for cocoa, and 6_d._ for groceries; 6_d._ for clothing 6_d._ - for washing. So the money is spent. - - “‘Some of my gardeners’ sons, trained on the estate, spend no more - when they go away from it. In one of them, named Dickenson, I have - always taken a great interest, as he was the first born on the - estate, and for a humble working man he has had a glorious career. - At sixteen I gave him 16s. a-week for attending to my stove plants. - At fourteen he had 10_s._ a-week. When he was eighteen a nobleman’s - steward saw him, and offered him 30_s._ a-week to superintended a - great stove-house. As I could not give such wages I let him go, but - with great reluctance. He wrote to his father that, although he got - 30_s._ a-week and many perquisites, yet he limited his expenditure to - 8_s._ a-week until they offered to feed him and house him, when he - cut down his expenditure to 3_s._ a-week. He could have had the best - of meat, but he still preferred the vegetarian diet, and he induced - two of the other servants, who were much troubled with indigestion, - to become vegetarians. This vegetarian movement in the servants’ - hall attracted the notice of the nobleman, who was much pleased to - hear of it. By the greater use of vegetables than had been done - formerly, especially by the introduction of potato pie, haricot-bean - stew, and macaroni as every-day dishes in the servants’ hall, a - saving of £500 per annum was effected in the commissariat of the vast - establishment; therefore the nobleman was well satisfied, and - presented my young Dickenson with a gold watch and chain, value £36, - with an inscription, acknowledging his economy and fidelity. - Dickenson’s head was not turned by all this, although his wages were - soon after raised to £3 per week, and all food found. When the - nobleman died, his successor presented Dickenson with £250, - accompanied by a flattering letter, and retained him in his service - at a salary of £200 a-year, Dickenson still living as he did before. - After eighteen years’ service he was pensioned off with £100 per - annum, and now has a nursery of his own, and is reputed to be worth - between £7,000 and £8,000, although he is not more than forty years - of age. He has married lately a most frugal but accomplished - governess, who has saved £2,000. She was not a vegetarian when he - married her, but is so now. I am as proud of Dickenson as if he was - my own son. His sister is a most exemplary vegetarian governess; she - has induced no less than eight families, with whom she has lived, to - become vegetarians; and from her economy in her dress she has saved, - in the course of twenty years of governessing, £400. On her showing - me her bank-book I added £100 to it, and said if she saved £1,000 - during my lifetime, I would add £500 to it. She is trying hard, and - her brother has given her £110 towards it. - - “‘My eldest unmarried daughter keeps my domestic accounts most - beautifully, and audits those of any of the people I employ, with the - object of impressing on them the advantages of economy. I have - intimated to my children, that in proportion as they save they shall - inherit. This may be an excess of paternal government in the - estimation of many, but it has had a most beneficial effect. My - family are so methodical and self-denying that they are said to - realise some people’s idea of Quakers; but I have had little - intercourse with that sect. The success of my own offspring, and the - prosperity of my household and establishment, as you remarked to me, - seemed to be due to an exceptional combination of qualities and - circumstances—in my wife and myself in the first instance, and, - secondly, in those I employ, who are somewhat like myself. This is - true, I will admit; but it does not militate against the great - principle as laid down in the Bible, that ‘the hand of the diligent - maketh rich,’ that ‘industry has its sure reward,’ and that those who - honour their parents shall receive blessing. I have done more for my - parents than all my brothers and sisters united, and I have received - more blessing than all my brothers and sisters united. Pardon my - egotism. - - “‘I will give you a few facts of vegetarians in our county. A squire - and magistrate, with £2,000 a-year, used to spend £1,500 as a - flesh-eater; he new spends £1,150, and is more comfortable, as a - vegetarian. A barrister, whose doctor assured him that he should - take three meals of meat and a bottle of wine daily for his health’s - sake, now finds that by a vegetarian and temperance diet his expenses - are reduced more than one-half, his health is better, and there is a - corresponding increase of vigour and power of sustaining labour, such - as he never before knew. A struggling clergyman, whom custom - induced, he called it ‘compelled,’ to take three meals of meat daily, - was under this system always in debt, and obliged to send the - churchwardens, round every Christmas to ask for means to pay his way: - now, on the vegetarian diet, he balances his income and expenditure, - and is able to carry forward a few pounds every quarter. I believe, - from more than forty years’ experience of the vegetarian diet, that - were it generally adopted, nine-tenths of the pauperism and crime - would disappear, that England would be able to supply herself with - all the home-grown corn she requires, and that the national debt, if - deemed desirable, could be paid off in thirty years. - - “‘I corresponded regularly with my parents, and they, hearing I was - getting into comfortable circumstances, would frequently write me - complaints of poverty. To these I responded by remittances of money, - and at this time wrote to my father, saying I would allow him £25 - a-year, and my mother a similar amount. I visited my father about - once in two years, but always took a lodging, and took my meals apart - from him, for he was an inveterate smoker and a great beer-drinker, - and filled his snuff-box three times weekly. I once made a random - calculation that he had wasted £1,500 on stimulants in his life. - These reflections prevented me from being more liberal to him. If I - had given him £100 a-year, I only know he would have spent more on - cigars. He would have bought wine at 6_s._ a bottle, and, perhaps, - have increased his consumption of snuff. On getting a legacy of £75 - once, £40 went to pay his publican’s bill. One day my father wrote - asking me to accommodate my youngest brother and two sisters a few - weeks, that they might see the sights of the town and get change of - air. I wrote to my father that my wife and I would be very glad to - see them, but they must not expect us to make any change in our - vegetarian and temperance diet, but at the same time intimating that - our style of living was very comfortable. There was an amount of - formality between me and my father; he would sometimes call me, in - derision, the Joseph of the family, because I went away from the rest - and got rich, and I held his ill-success in life to be owing to his - improvidence and self-indulgence, and feared he might want me to keep - the whole family in idleness; accordingly I was not very much pleased - at his proposal to send my sisters and younger brother to me. - However, I assented, and they came. My elder sister, Mary Ann, was - one of those sulky, vain, indolent natures which neither my wife nor - I can sympathise with at all. Public opinion was her god, and Mrs. - Grundy her godmother. One day she said to my wife, ‘I wonder you can - endure to live as you do with your means; it strikes me as being very - poor and miserable. Most people of your means have three meals of - meat a-day. Do you never feel tired of the vegetables?’ My wife - said no, and that she did not think she could preserve the same - health and strength on a meat diet. My wife rose at six, and went to - bed at half-past ten, whereas Mary Ann and her sister could not get - down to breakfast till ten at home; but when they were with us we - took care to have the breakfast cleared away at eight, so that if - they came down at ten they had to wait till lunch before they got - anything to eat. This strict commissariat roused Mary Ann two hours - sooner than usual. - - “‘Mary Ann was fantastic in her dress, and talked a great deal of - nonsense to the servants, endeavouring to make them discontented with - the vegetarian diet, and one of them gave notice to leave in - consequence; so I thought it was time to settle with my sisters, and - I placed them in a lodging and gave them £2 a-week to feed themselves - as they chose, but they were welcome to come to our meals when they - liked. To my surprise, although professing abhorrence of a - vegetarian diet, they all came to take dinner and tea with us. My - sisters were without watches or jewellery of any kind, and begged me - to supply them. This I did, at a cost of about £40. My other - sisters living at home, as well as those married and away, hearing of - these gifts, wrote to me and demanded similar presents almost as a - matter of right. I complied, although it cost me £120 more. I began - to be weary of my family connections; they were no comfort to me, and - my elder daughters began to be impertinent in consequence of the - example of their aunts. My wife and I, when they left, resolved to - drop all intercourse with them, lest the evil association might - impair the discipline of our house. - - “‘After staying six months, instead of a few weeks, my sisters and - little brother left, saying they would probably come again about the - same time next year. True to their promise they appeared the next - year, and asked me to take a lodging for them as before. As they had - come without any invitation, I thought that I would now for the first - time read them a moral lecture, which, for the sake of the other - members of the family, I put in the form of a letter, which was a - good deal to the following effect. I have a copy of it in my - letter-book at home. It began:— - - “‘Dear Mary Ann, and my Sisters and Brothers,—After some prayer, I - consider it my solemn duty to write to you, and warn you of your - dangerous position. There is not one of you that fears God: you all - are steeped in self-indulgence of one kind or another. I won’t - mention names, but I put it to your consciences whether any of you - have ever denied yourselves to do any good action; whether or not you - have not lived lives purely selfish. You wrangled and quarrelled - like vultures at your meals, each demanding the largest share. You - girls esteemed it degrading to make your own clothes when your - milliner’s rags were worn out, and adopted a style of dress which to - my mind seemed a burlesque. You were at good schools, but you were - too indolent to make good use of them; and your brothers have spent a - small fortune on stimulants. Your marriages have all been - contemptible. Finally, let me say I have no respect for any of you; - but, as I fear God, I will not see you want. Those of you, married - and single, who will become vegetarians and renounce stimulants, I - will endeavour to assist in life, provided you bring up your children - as vegetarians. But I shall renounce all connection with those - relatives who do not in six months become vegetarians. I feel - impelled to do so by a sense of duty.’ - - “‘I had this letter printed, and sent a copy to all my brothers and - sisters; most of them replied, and said they would consider the - proposal. Of my numerous brothers and sisters, none were at this - time in prosperous circumstances, and yet they had all had a much - better chance than I; more money had been spent on their education, - and all of them had some legacies left them by an uncle, who left me - nothing, as I was supposed to be separated from the rest. - - “‘After spending about £15,000 in endeavouring to benefit my brothers - and sisters and their children, I have determined to spend no more - money on them, as they are incorrigibly self-indulgent, reckless, and - vain-glorious, but keep all my money for my own offspring and those - whom I can morally respect. Do you not think I am right, Mr. Napier? - - “‘I will now tell you the state of my family. They are all healthy - and well formed, luxuriant in hair, sound in teeth, and much better - proportioned in feature and figure than usual. I confess, sir, that - I take no small pleasure in my family. Even my married children do - nothing of importance without consulting me. I share my income - liberally with them; but they, with commendable prudence, live - plainly and economically, and save much; some are better at it than - others, but I cannot complain of any of them; they are liberal too. - My grown-up sons spend a tenth of their incomes on moral and - religious purposes. I do not devote much time to business now—not - more than three hours daily; literary, scientific, and other - intellectual pursuits fill up the rest of my time.’ - - “The vegetarian’s wife described their mansion in the country as - containing thirty rooms, among which is a fine picture-gallery, 90 - feet long; about twenty conservatories and thirty gardeners are - attached to the house. By the sale of early fruits and vegetables, - and the rearing of certain orchids, the great expense of this - wholesale gardening is reduced to about £1,000 a-year, which her - husband does not wish this hobby to exceed. He grows grapes - throughout the greater part of the year, and pine-apples also, so - that the dessert-fruit on his table is scarcely to be surpassed. His - entire living-expenses do not exceed £3,000 a-year, although his - income is something like six times that amount. Sometimes he will - spend £3,000 a-year in relieving distress, as he did at the time of - the cotton famine. His wife said he is so shy and reserved with - people in general that he avoids society; but rich people are sought - after, and he sometimes receives a thousand begging-letters in the - year. He thought his life ought to be written, and added as an - appendix to Mr. Smiles’s ‘Self-Help;’ and so I have sent this sketch - of it for publication.” - -Vegetarianism has been a stepping-stone to wealth in more than one -instance. Undoubtedly Franklin’s vegetarianism was useful to him in a -pecuniary as well as in a moral point of view. He writes:—“When about -sixteen years of age, I happened to meet with a book written by one -Tryson, recommending a vegetable diet. I determined to go into it. My -brother, being unmarried, did not keep home, but boarded himself and his -apprentices in another family. My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an -inconvenience, and I was frequently chid for my singularity. I made -myself acquainted with Tryson’s manner of preparing some of his -dishes—such as boiling potatoes or rice, making pastry, puddings, and a -few others; and then proposed to my brother, that if he would give me, -weekly, half the money he paid for my board, I would board myself. He -instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that I could save half what -he paid me. This was an additional fund for the buying of books; but I -had another advantage in it. My brother and the rest going from the -printing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, and, despatching -presently my light repast (which was often no more than a biscuit or a -slice of bread, a handful of raisins, or a tart from the pastrycook’s, -and a glass of water), had the rest of the time till their return for -study, in which I made the greater progress from that greater clearness -of head and quicker apprehension which generally attend temperance in -eating and drinking. Now it was that, being on some occasion made -ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed learning -when at school, I took Cocker’s book on ‘Arithmetic,’ and went through -the whole by myself with the greatest ease. I also read Seller’s and -Thorny’s book on ‘Navigation,’ which made me acquainted with the little -geometry it contains; but I never proceeded far in that science. I also -read, about this time, Locke on the ‘Human Understanding;’ and the ‘Art -of Thinking,’ by one of the writers of Port Royal.” - -The vegetarians would do better did they exercise more of the grace of -charity. In one of the numbers of _Social Notes_, Mr. Nunn, who is -secretary of the “Food Reform Society,” is indignant at the bill of fare -in the coffee public-houses. The food is “too stimulating, and not at -all in accordance with dietetic principles.” They sell “the -highly-seasoned, and drunkard’s thirst-creating, and expensive corned -beef,” and “innutritious and indigestible ham and bacon.” Worse than -all, the unhappy directors “must needs, of all miserable and doubtful -food, sell—pork sausages;” and not only pork sausages, but wheaten bread; -and not only wheaten bread—tell it not in Seven Dials!—but absolutely -“pander to the wretched drunkard’s appetite for stimulating, -innutritious, unhealthy, and expensive food,” by letting their customers -have beef-steaks! “Now,” says the _Echo_, “allowing all of Mr. Nunn’s -premises—and we gladly allow many of them—we think he is going a little -too far, and certainly a good deal too fast. To attempt to entirely -alter the food proclivities of the British workman while the experiment -of the coffee public-house is yet unsolved, would, we humbly think, be -decidedly of that character. It might be perfectly true that pork -sausages and wheaten bread are not the most theoretically nutritious of -food, and that they provoke thirst. Yet we fancy if the journeyman -bricklayer could not get them in the coffee-house, he would seek them in -the public-house, which it is the object of the directors of the former -to win him away from. When one has to choose between gin and beef we -fancy even Mr. Nunn would agree that the latter is of two evils the -least. Accordingly we think that to a more convenient season it would be -well to relegate the reformation of the coffee public-houses bill of -fare.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. -A FORTUNE MADE BY TEETOTALISM. - - -VEGETARIANISM has made many people rich, but much more money has been -made by men who have given up the practice of drinking beer, or wine, or -spirits, and have profitably invested the money which would have -otherwise been spent at the public-house. In every town and city and -village in the land, there are men who, by their temperance, have thus -raised themselves into a condition of comparative wealth and -independence. I have met with hundreds of such men. Let me give, as an -illustration, the career of Mr. James M‘Currey, who claims to be the -teetotal father of the Rev. Dr. Robert Maguire. M‘Currey was born in -Glasgow, as far back as 1801, and he is now, in the year 1878, a fine -hearty-looking old man, with apparently many years of usefulness before -him. His parents were working people, and when M‘Currey first went to -work as a lad, his chief employment was to fetch in the drink for the -men, and for his reward to have a sup for himself. No wonder the lad at -times drank, and, as he says, worked hard in the workshop, and worked -with equal energy at the devil’s workshop, the public-house. -Fortunately, he married a good wife, who was no friend to the whiskey; -and owing to her influence he left off going to the public-house; but -even then, when he came to London and got good work, he took occasionally -to drinking. He writes— - -“I dearly loved my wife and child, but drink came between me, and them. -Ever, on my senses returning, my remorse was horrible, more than I could -bear. I longed to get away from my work—from London, anywhere. Hard -times came; years of trial to my wife, of reproach to me, in which I was -miserable when drunk, and more miserable when sober.” Happily, in -1828–9, he became a Christian man, and a very earnest one; but even then -he had not taken the pledge, and had much trouble in consequence. -Unfortunately, he was at work in Theobald’s Road, and when the men were -paid they used to go to the public-house to get change, and M‘Currey went -with the rest. One day, just as he was going through the passage of the -inn, the head foreman, who was in the parlour, saw him passing, and said— - -“‘Come in here, M‘Currey;’ and in the next moment he had handed me a -glass of brandy-and-water, which was lying before him on the table. He -then said— - -“‘Sit down and have a pipe.’ - -“Being called upon to do this by a man in his position, I did so, for I -thought to myself I cannot very well say ‘No.’ The tempter came in an -insidious form, and I fell before his wiles. That night I was taken home -drunk to my wife. She was fit to go beside herself with grief. There -was I lying drunk in the house, where, for a long time past, we had been -so comfortable. I, who had been one of the visitors of the Strangers’ -Friend; I, who had gone to Guy’s Hospital to talk to people about their -soul’s eternal salvation; there was I, lying drunk. It was a dreadful -fall for me. I went to my class-leader about it. He said— - -“‘Well, Brother M‘Currey, what is the matter?’ - -“I told him; but there he was, the man to whom I had gone for advice, -sitting with a bottle of gin on the table, and a jug of spring water. He -filled up some and handed it to me. He said— - -“‘You see, Mr. M‘Currey, you take too much; take a little now and it will -steady your nerves;’ for I was trembling like a leaf. - -“‘It is the accursed little, sir, that is the stumblingblock to me.’ - -“‘Never mind; you take a little of this, and don’t be tempted to take too -much.’” - -We need not say that Mr. M‘Currey took some of what was offered him; but -he was glad to leave his class-leader’s presence, and church, and -neighbourhood, and he went to work at Chelsea. There he met with a -teetotaller, who persuaded him to go to a temperance meeting. He did, -and became a teetotaller. The struggle at first was long and severe. -Times were bad, and he had to borrow tools to go to work with. He had -also at that time (1837) much opposition to encounter from his -fellow-workmen, who often injured his clothes and his tools, and were -ready to do him all the harm they could. At length he borrowed a -sovereign, and commenced selling coke in the streets till better days -came round, and in a little while he commenced his career as a -master-builder. It is thus he writes in his interesting autobiography:— - -“There is a very noble verse of my countryman, Robert Burns, which I have -ever heard with admiration:— - - “‘To catch Dame Fortune’s golden smile, - Assiduous wait upon her, - And gather gear by every wile - That’s justified by honour. - Not for to hide it in a hedge, - Not for a train attendant, - But for the glorious privilege - Of being independent.’ - -“That motive seems to me to be right for both worlds. Honest -independence leads to true Christian manliness.” - -At that time Buckingham Palace was under repairs. M‘Currey writes—“I was -one of those employed on this important structure. I very frequently -used to be working for the Baroness Burdett Coutts, Lord Paget, and -others in the same rank of life. When I was at work one Saturday, some -one came in and said that her Majesty was expected home, and that the -apartments which she occupied must be finished by a certain time that was -named; and, in order to get them done by the appointed time, my employer, -a Mr. Evans, said I must work all Sunday. I said— - -“‘I will not work at all on Sunday, though I am prepared to work till -midnight every other day to get the work done, or I am willing to come at -two o’clock in the morning on Monday, and work till it is finished.’ - -“He said, ‘You are not a loyal subject.’ - -“‘Yes, I am; and if anybody were to tell me the palace was on fire, and -her Majesty inside, I would risk my life to save her; but I won’t risk my -soul for the sake of working on Sundays.’ - -“The consequence of all this was, that I got my discharge, and from that -moment I began to get on, on my own account. This was one of God’s -blessings in disguise. When I came home my wife said— - -“‘Never mind about it;’ and we kneeled down and prayed, and we opened the -hymn-hook at the very hymn where it says— - - “‘Ye fearful saints fresh courage take; - The clouds ye so much dread - Are big with mercy, and shall break - In blessings on your head.’ - -“I was really encouraged by this. It seemed like the omen of mercy and -goodness, which has ever since followed me in my path through life. - -“When I left working at her Majesty’s palace, I, under the circumstances -mentioned, had arrived at a turning-point in my worldly fortunes. -Shakspeare has said, that ‘there is a tide in the affairs of men, which, -taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;’ and I believe the tide of my -fortunes came at this time; and, through the blessing of God, it was -taken at the flood. If it has not led me on to fortune, it has at least -led me to a position of comfort and respectability, which at one period -of my life I would have deemed it impossible for me, by any amount of -diligence, to attain. I was without work and without friends, though, -thanks to teetotalism, I had a little money deposited in a place where I -could easily get it, the savings-bank at Chelsea. It was in the year -1849 that I went to see Mr. Thomas Cubitt, whom I desire to mention with -gratitude and respect. I told him my circumstances, and that I wanted to -build a house. - -“‘Well,’ he said, ‘take a piece of ground for half-a-dozen houses.’ - -“‘I am frightened to go too far at first,’ I replied. - -“‘Very well,’ he said; ‘there is nothing like making sure steps. You are -our temperance man,’ he added; ‘I remember you well.’ - -“This was the commencement of my rise in the world above the position of -a common journeyman. Mr. Cubitt offered me bricks upon credit, -sufficient to get the roof on, if I could find money for the rest. I had -£65 of my own, the savings of three years’ teetotalism; and to work I -went, and soon got the skeleton of the house up, on the piece of ground -he granted in Wellington Street, Pimlico. Although I used to rise with -the lark, I was, nevertheless, at a teetotal meeting every night; while -on Sunday I was lecturing all day long. I would not give up my -temperance work for any manor anything. My son and myself used to get up -at four o’clock in the morning, and make up a batch of mortar, so as to -be able to set the labourers to work when they came. We had two -labourers to assist us, and now and then I took on a man, just to give -him a little help to bide over the hard time immediately succeeding his -signing the pledge. At times I used to go away, and perhaps my son with -me, to another job, which would bring in a little money. When I got the -roof on I was in a terrible fix. I had spent all my money; and though -Mr. Cubitt was ready to give me all I wanted, yet I did not know him as I -do now. I got into very low spirits; but as, in leaving her Majesty’s -palace, I had made that a matter of prayer, so also did I do with this. -My wife also prayed, and thus the matter was left, apparently, no better -than before. - -“One day I went down to my work as usual, and, on looking up the street, -which was then beginning to form, I saw Mr. Robert Alsop coming along—the -very man who brought two policemen to take me in charge for holding -meetings at the ‘White Stiles,’ Chelsea. He did this partly on his own -account, and partly because the people sent a petition to have me removed -from the spot. It may be as well to give a little account of what -transpired when Mr. Alsop brought the two policemen. - -“‘I give,’ he said, ‘this man in charge. I have told him that the people -about here are much offended. We cannot allow this disturbance to go on, -and a letter has been sent on this subject. I therefore give him in -charge.’ - -“‘Then,’ said I, ‘I give Mr. Alsop in charge; and I dare you to take me -without taking him.’ - -“The policemen were in a fog—likewise Mr. Alsop. - -“‘Well, sir,’ said one of them, at last, ‘it appears Mr. M‘Currey knows -what he is doing. We know nothing about the case; and, if you force us -to take this man in charge, we must take you too.’ - -“Mr. Alsop considered for a little. He did not know what to do. The -people and the policemen were alike awaiting his decision. If he -persisted, he must he conveyed, like a culprit, along with me; and he -knew well that I cared little what was done, for by this time the roads -to the various station-houses were getting pretty familiar. If, on the -contrary, he retired from the conflict, he must do so with the ridicule -of all about him. I think he chose the wisest course. He walked away -amidst the derisive laughter of the crowd. - -“This, then, was the man whom God, and God alone, had sent to relieve me -from my embarrassment. I stood in front of the house as Mr. Alsop came -by, thinking what on earth I should do, but never for a moment dreaming -that he was likely to be a customer. - -“‘What will be the amount?’ said Mr. Alsop, pausing in his walk, and -looking up at the house. - -“I said, ‘When it is finished, and you have a good tenant, I will sell it -to you for £380. It has a sixteen-feet frontage, and is twenty-six feet -deep.’ - -“‘Who is the tenant to be?’ - -“‘I will be your tenant. I will take it for five or seven years.’ - -“‘Well, I will think of it. I will call and see thee to-morrow.’ - -“As usual, I made it a matter of prayer. The reader may be sure that I -kept a good look-out for my customer the next day, but did not let him -see that I was at all anxious about the matter. - -“‘Have you thought about what I said?’ - -“God knows I had not slept for thinking of it. - -“‘Yes, I have; and I will take £380 for it, and be your tenant for three, -five, or seven years. I am going to leave my present house.’ - -“‘I will give you £330,’ he said. - -“‘Very well, I will take that. You know it is usual to pay a deposit?’ - -“‘Oh, yes; how much do you want? I have brought a bank cheque.’ - -“‘£150 would be enough.’ - -“‘You can have more—say £200.’ - -“‘Very well, that will do.’ - -“‘He filled up the cheque for the last-mentioned amount, and we parted -for the time. I was in the highest spirits. My difficulties had -vanished. With this cheque I could command all the remaining materials -that I wanted. I went to Mr. Cubitt’s office, got the boards for the -floor, and everything else, and set the carpenters to work, early and -late. At last it was finished. Before this, however, I took ground for -two more houses, which Mr. Alsop also bought. The first one I lived in -myself for seven years. This was the very man who had given me in charge -nine months before. - -“I went on building and building until I gave up taking ground for one or -two houses, but took it for ten, then fifteen, then twenty, and then for -twenty-seven. All one side of Bessborough Street was built by me. My -son was an immense help to me. Of course, as might have been expected, -my career was not one of uninterrupted prosperity. Things went very hard -with me once or twice; but my troubles were chiefly owing to the -political commotion of the times, which disturbed trade and unsettled -men’s minds. The Chartist riots did me some harm, as did also the -Feargus O’Connor disturbances, and some trade disputes. - -“It was during the time of the Chartist disturbances that my troubles -reached their climax, and that I really thought that results, for which I -had so long laboured, were about to be removed from my reach for ever. -One day, when I was really unable to say how my engagements were to be -met, one of my foremen came and said there was a gentleman waiting to see -me about a house. I said— - -“‘Don’t bother! no one wants to buy a house in these times. - -“‘But he is a decent-looking man,’ said the foreman. - -“‘It’s no good. I see no hope of getting out of the present -difficulties, and I shall have to discharge you all.’ - -“‘I advise you to see the man. He looks a business man.’ - -“I went to see the gentleman, who was no other than the father of Dr. -Moore. As it happened, this was another turn in my life. - -“‘What do you want for this house?’ - -“‘Seven hundred guineas.’ - -“‘Well, I will come and look at it on Sunday with my son.’ - -“‘I can’t show it to you then. I don’t do business on a Sunday.’ - -“‘Very well; I don’t know that I can come again.’ - -“The next day, which was Sunday, passed in a very uncomfortable manner. -Listening to the sermon, even the thought flashed before me as to whether -I had not better have made the appointment; but it was dismissed at once. -I was almost glad when the Sunday was over. The next day I really had an -impression that he would come, and I said so to my wife. She agreed with -me. - -“At half-past ten that morning, to my great delight, the ’bus stopped at -the corner of the street, and the young doctor and his father alighted. - -“‘I have told my son,’ said the doctor, ‘that you wouldn’t let us see -your house on the Sunday, and we both say you did quite right. If a man -can’t do without working on a Sunday, he will never do with it. I went -to sea when I was fourteen years of age, and have travelled the world -almost twice over, and I have done my business without working on -Sunday.’ - -“He looked at the house, and liked it very well, and then said— - -“‘I will give you the money in Dutch consols.’ - -“‘Well, doctor, I don’t know what Dutch consols really are; I want 700 -guineas in British money.’ - -“He left me, the matter being still rather uncertain; but the next day he -came to see me again, and I took him into my parlour. He said— - -“‘I have the money ready—£50 for a deposit. I have brought it in money, -as, perhaps, you will like it better that way.’ - -“‘Thank you; I will give you a receipt.’ - -“‘No,’ he said, ‘you needn’t. I know your countrymen are a respectable -lot but for the drink, and I know you will not want to be paid twice.’ - -“The business was settled, and a friendship sprang up between myself and -the old gentleman, which lasted until he died. The arrangements for his -funeral were entrusted to me, and were carried out without any of the men -employed being allowed to partake of intoxicating drinks. In this way -those disgraceful scenes which so frequently are associated with funerals -were altogether avoided, and I was subsequently complimented by Dr. -Moore, jun., on the highly respectable way in which the arrangements were -carried out.” - -But poor M‘Currey, when he had become well-to-do and happy in his -surroundings, had much to do from intemperance in others. His eldest son -fell a victim, and so did several members of his wife’s family. One son, -who became a teetotaler when his father prospered in the world, -unfortunately, in the course of his business, met with an accident in -falling from a building, which caused his death at the early age of -forty-one. “After providing for his family, he did not forget,” says the -_Temperance Record_, “the benevolent institutions of his country. He has -left £100 each to St. George’s, Westminster, and Consumptive Hospitals; -£100 to the Strangers’ Friend Society, and £600 to the total abstinence -cause.” One of old M‘Currey’s converts said to him one day, “You -inoculated me into teetotalism, on the White Stiles, Chelsea, at a time -when I had not a sixpence. I signed the pledge at one of your open-air -meetings there, fifteen years ago, and am doing well, as you may judge -from the fact that I have now three houses.” It is thus clear that, in -many quarters, teetotalism has not only saved men from ruin, but has made -them rich as well. In the career of Mr. David Davies, M.P., we have a -remarkable illustration of this fact. He was once a “navvy;” he is now -(1878) a man of wealth, and a member of parliament. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. -MONEY-MAKING PUBLISHERS. - - -ONE of the largest publishing houses in London, that of Messrs. Cassell, -Petter, and Galpin, was founded by John Cassell, a Lancashire carpenter, -who walked to London, and when he arrived in the metropolis, found -himself with the handsome sum of twopence-halfpenny in his pocket. He -was an earnest teetotaller, and became known as a temperance lecturer. -He next commenced the sale of coffee, and finding that there was little -wholesome reading for the class to which he originally belonged, he -commenced a cheap publication, called the _Working-man’s Friend_. In -time other works followed. He then got an immense number of stereos of -engravings from French publications, and began to publish illustrated -periodicals. In time he was joined by Messrs. Petter and Galpin, -printers; and after Mr. Cassell’s lamented death the firm developed the -business, till it became one of the most gigantic character. As an -illustration of the remarkable extent of the firm’s business, I may -mention that, at a tea-meeting, held in the Cannon Street Hotel in the -early part of 1878, at which more than 600 workmen were present, Mr. -Jeffery, one of the partners, stated, “That Messrs. Cassell, Petter, and -Galpin, with the view of benefiting those of their _employés_ who had -already given, or might hereafter give, long and faithful service to the -firm, had resolved to set aside, from year to year, a fixed proportion of -their profits to form a fund, out of which certain benefits might, at -their discretion, be paid. The scheme would provide for the payment of a -sum of money, varying according to length of service, to the family or -representative of any person who might die in their employment after -seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years’ service, or, as the case might be, -for the payment of bonuses of similar amounts to those who, having served -at least seven years, might be incapacitated by old age, after the age of -sixty-five, or who might before that age be totally unable to perform any -labour owing to accident or disease. It had been estimated that the fund -about to be instituted would provide for the following payments:—To -overseers and managing clerks, after seven years’ service, £50; after -fourteen years’ service, £75; after twenty-one years’ service, £100: to -clickers, sub-foremen, and first-class clerks, after seven years’ -service, £37 10_s._; after fourteen years’ service, £56 5_s._; after -twenty-one years’ service, £75: to workmen, workwomen, and clerks, after -seven years’ service, £25; after fourteen years’ service, £37 10_s._; -after twenty-one years’ service, £50. The scheme, which also provided -for some other payments, would come into operation from the commencement -of the present year. It was intended that a periodical revision of these -tables should be made by an actuary. The amount appropriated for -carrying out the proposal for 1878 amounted to £600, and Messrs. Cassell, -Petter, and Galpin wished to set out the fact that these benefit -arrangements were voluntary on their part, and might be withdrawn by -them, wholly or in any particular case, if they should see reason for -doing so.” It is wonderful, indeed, that such a business should have -sprung from the unaided efforts of a raw, uneducated, uncouth Lancashire -lad. - -Originally, most of the great London publishers were anything but wealthy -men. Jacob Tonson started with a capital of £100, left him by his -father, a barber-sturgeon in Holborn. He is reported to have said when -he died, “I wish I could have the world to begin again, because then I -should have died worth £100,000, whereas I am now only worth -£80,000.”—Lintott, the great rival of Tonson, left his daughter £55,000, -and his son became high sheriff of Sussex.—Edmund Curll, who was born in -the West of England, after passing through several menial capacities, -became a bookseller’s assistant, and then kept a stall in the purlieus of -Covent Garden.—Thomas Guy, whose name is still held in veneration as the -founder of Guy’s Hospital, was the son of a coalheaver and lighterman. -Very early he seems to have contracted most frugal habits. According to -Nichols, he dined every day at his counter, with no other table-cloth -than an old newspaper; and he was quite as economical in his dress. In -order to get a frugal helpmate, he asked his servant-maid to become his -wife. The girl, of course, was delighted, but presumed too much on her -influence over her careful lover. One day, seeing that the paviers, -repairing the street in front of the house, had neglected a broken place, -she called their attention to it; but they told her that Guy had -carefully marked a particular stone, beyond which they were not to go. -“Well,” said the girl, “do you mend it; tell him I bade you, and I know -he will not be angry.” However, Guy was, and the marriage did not take -place. As a bachelor, Guy lived to a ripe old age. The cost of building -Guy’s Hospital was £18,793, end he left £219,499 as an endowment. He -left also money to Tamworth, his mother’s birthplace, which he -represented in parliament for many years; £400 a-year to Christ’s -Hospital, and £8,000 to his relative.—Robert Dodsley, who made a handsome -fortune as a publisher, commenced life as a footman.—The far-famed -Lackington was the son of a drunken cobbler at Wellington, and had no -education at all. Loafing about the streets all day as a child, he -thought he might turn his talents to account by crying pies, and as a -pie-boy he acquired such a pre-eminence that he was soon engaged to vend -almanacs. At fourteen he left this vagrant life to be apprenticed to a -shoemaker. He came to London with half-a-crown and a wife; but in time -he scraped together £25, and started in business in Chiswell Street. His -plan was to sell for ready money, and at low prices. He then bought -remainders of books which were generally destroyed, and thus he made a -fortune. On his chariot, when he started one, he put for his motto, -“Small profits do great things.” Again, he was very fond of repeating, -“I found all I possess in small _profits_, bound by _industry_, and -_clasped_ with economy.” - -Few have done better than the Chamberses, of Edinburgh. After months of -pence-scraping and book-hoarding, Robert succeeded in collecting a stock -worth about fifty shillings; and with nothing but these and his yearnings -for independence, and his determination to write books by-and-by, but at -present to sell them, he, at the age of sixteen, opened a little shop—a -stall—in Leith Street. His brother William also started as a bookseller -and printer in the same neighbourhood. - -William Chambers was born in Peebles, April 16th, 1800; and Robert, -coming next in order in the family, was born July 10th, 1802. The father -carried on the hereditary trade of the manufacture of woollen and linen -clothes. The grandfather held the office of elder of his church for the -last thirty years of his existence. The grandmother was a little woman -of plain appearance, a great stickler on points of controversial -divinity, a rigorous critic of sermons, and a severe censor of what she -considered degenerating manners. The mother was a beauty, and her pretty -face led her into an alliance which, in the end, could have been -productive of little happiness. Mr. Chambers speaks of his father as -“accurate, upright, aspiring in his tastes and habits, with a fund of -humour and an immense love of music.” He made some progress in science. -“Affected, like others at the time, with the fascinating works of James -Fergusson on astronomy, he had a kind of rage for that branch of study, -which he pursued by means of a tolerably good telescope, in company with -Mungo Park, the African traveller, who had settled as a surgeon in -Peebles, and one or two other acquaintances.” The failing of his father -was his pliancy of disposition. He was cheated with his eyes open. For -such men worldly ruin is only a question of time. In a little while the -family were driven from Peebles, and William had to fight the battle of -life on his own account. His education, which closed when he was -thirteen, had been by no means an expensive one. Books included, it had -cost somewhere about sis pounds. For this he was well grounded in -English. The most distressing part of his school exercises consisted in -learning by heart the catechism of the Westminster Assembly of Divines—a -document which he tells us it was impossible for any person under -maturity to understand, or to regard in any other light than as a -torture. In the case of the two brothers there was a curious -malformation. They were sent into the world with six fingers on each -hand, and six toes on each foot. By the neighbours this was considered -lucky. In the case of William, the superfluous members were easily -removed. It was not so with Robert. The supernumerary toes on the -outside of the foot were attached to or formed part of the metatarsal -bones, and were so badly amputated as to leave delicate protuberances, -calculated to be a torment for life. This unfortunate circumstance, by -producing a certain degree of lameness and difficulty in walking, no -doubt helped to make Robert the studious and thoughtful man he was. -Thus, indisposed to boyish sports, his progress in education was rapid. -Indeed as William confesses, he was left far behind. In 1813, the family -difficulties came to a head, and an emigration from Peebles to the gude -auld town of Edinburgh was necessitated. Henceforth the mother seems to -have been the head of the family. Chambers senior seems to have been a -bit of an incumbrance. Poor themselves, they were surrounded by -companions in misfortune. Widows of decayed tradesmen, teachers in the -decline of life too old to teach, licensed preachers to whom an unkind -fate had denied all church preferments, genteel unmarried women who had -known better times, and who had now to eke out a precarious existence by -colouring maps, or sewing fine needlework for the repository. This -little pauperised colony, clinging as it were on to the skirts of -respectability, was located on flats in that part of Edinburgh where -rents were not of the highest, nor the houses of the grandest -architectural character. Here they met with noteworthy individuals, and -here William found his first situation as a bookseller’s assistant, with -the magnificent salary of four shillings a-week. Lad as he was, William -then laid down a resolution, which was not only heroical, considering the -depressed circumstances of his family, which may not only be held up as -an example to others, but which laid most assuredly the foundation of his -success in after-life. “From necessity,” he tells us, “not less than -from choice, I resolved to make the weekly four shillings serve for -everything. I cannot remember entertaining the slightest despondency on -the subject.” For a lad of fourteen thus to resolve, showed that he had -the right spirit to conquer circumstances, and to win an old age of -respectability and renown. As at this time his father was appointed -commercial manager of a salt manufactory, called Joppa Pans—a smoky, -odorous place, consisting of a group of buildings situated on the -sea-shore, half-way between Portobello and Musselburgh—William was left -by himself in Edinburgh to do the best he could. Of course he went to -lodge with a Peebles woman, and was surrounded by a host of Peebleshire -people, whose delight in the evening was to call up reminiscences of -texts, and preachers, and sermons, and to discuss Boston’s “Marrow,” the -“Crook in the Lot,” and the “Fourfold State.” It is to be feared we have -not much improved on this. Such modes of spending the evening were -certainly quite equal to the modern ones of frequenting music-halls, or -of reading some of the trash now issued from the press. We must add that -William Chambers had read Franklin’s autobiography, and had imbibed -somewhat of his spirit. It is thus that a good, genuine book goes on -bearing fruit. It is thus a good example tells in all strata of society. -It is thus the life of one man is a blessing in all after time. William -Chambers all the while pursued with more or less diligence his studies. -He always rose at five in the morning to have a spell at reading. In the -same way he made some progress in French, with the pronunciation of which -he was already familiar, from the speech of the French prisoners of war -in Peebles. He likewise dipped into several books of solid worth, such -as Smith’s “Wealth of Nations,” Locke’s “Human Understanding,” Paley’s -“Moral Philosophy,” and Blair’s “Belles Lettres.” His brother Robert, -who had come to live with him, seems also to have done the same. In -1816, the latter became self-supporting; he had up to that time continued -his studies in the hope of becoming a clerk or teacher. All hope in that -direction, fortunately for himself and his country, was abandoned, and -with a few old books, the remnant of the family library, he started in -the world as a second-hand bookseller in Leith Walk. It was in 1819 that -William did the same—having left his employers—with five shillings in his -pocket, to which sum his weekly wages had latterly been considerately -advanced. Unfortunately, Robert had cleared out the family stores, and -there was no stock-in-trade with which William could furnish his scanty -shelves. He was so fortunate, however, as to get a limited amount of -credit from a London publisher of cheap standard literature, and thus he -began a career of which he or any one else might well be proud. -Bookselling by itself, however, was not sufficient; he tried caligraphy; -he taught himself bookbinding; he mastered the art of printing; he became -a publisher. His first book, of course, was a cheap edition of Burns’ -Songs. - -Such is an outline of the career of the brothers. Then comes the old -story of success, of literary and business renown, of happy domestic -life, and of the end of all. Both brothers were indefatigable writers. -“Altogether,” writes William, “as nearly as can be reckoned, my brother -produced upwards of seventy volumes, exclusively of detached papers, -which it would be impossible to enumerate.” His whole writings had for -their aim the good of society, the advancement, in some shape or other, -of the true and the beautiful. “It will hardly be thought,” he modestly -and affectionately adds, “that I exceed the proper bounds of panegyric in -stating that, in the long list of literary compositions of Robert -Chambers, we see the zealous and successful student, the sagacious and -benevolent citizen, and the devoted lover of his country.” A similar -eulogium may be pronounced on William himself. - -Robert Chambers, the younger brother, thus makes us acquainted with his -evening studies while a lad at his native town of Peebles:— - -“Among that considerable part of the population who lived down closes and -in old thatched cottages, news circulated at third or fourth hand, or was -merged in conversation on religious or other topics. My brother and I -derived much enjoyment, not to say instruction, from the singing of old -ballads, and the telling of legendary stories, by a kind old female -relative, the wife of a decayed tradesman, who dwelt in one of the -ancient closes. At her humble fireside, under the canopy of a huge -chimney, where her half-blind and superannuated husband sat dozing in a -chair, the battle of Corunna and other prevailing news was strangely -mingled with disquisitions on the Jewish wars. The source of this -interesting conversation was a well-worn copy of L’Estrange’s translation -of Josephus, a small folio of date 1720. The envied possessor of the -work was Tam Fleck, ‘a flichty chield,’ as he was considered, who, not -particularly steady at his legitimate employment, struck out a sort of -profession by going about in the evenings with his Josephus, which he -read as the current news; the only light he had for doing so being -usually that imparted by the flickering blaze of a piece of parrot coal. -It was his practice not to read more than from two to three pages at a -time, interlarded with sagacious remarks of his own by way of foot-notes, -and in this way he sustained an extraordinary interest in the narrative. -Retailing the matter with great equability in different households, Tam -kept all at the same point of information, and wound them up with a -corresponding anxiety as to the issue of some moving event in Hebrew -annals. Although in this way he went through a course of Josephus -yearly, the novelty somehow never seemed to wear off. - -“‘Weel, Tam, what’s the news the nicht?’ would old Geordie Murray say, as -Tam entered with his Josephus under his arm, and seated himself at the -family fireside. - -“‘Bad news, bad news,’ replied Tam. ‘Titus has begun to besiege -Jerusalem—it’s gaun to be a terrible business;’ and then he opened his -budget of intelligence, to which all paid the most reverential attention. -The protracted and severe famine which was endured by the besieged Jews -was a theme which kept several families in a state of agony for a week; -and when Tam in his readings came to the final conflict and destruction -of the city by the Roman general, there was a perfect paroxysm of horror. -At such _séances_ my brother and I were delighted listeners. All honour -to the memory of Tam Fleck.” - -We must again quote from Robert’s reminiscences the following -characteristic anecdotes of the grandmother of the Chamberses:— - -“She possessed a good deal of ‘character,’ and might also be taken for -the original of Mause Headrigg. As the wife of a ruling elder, she -possibly imagined that she was entitled to exercise a certain authority -in ecclesiastical matters. An anecdote is told of her having once taken -the venerable Dr. Dalgliesh, the parish minister, through hands. In -presence of a number of neighbours, she thought fit to lecture him on -that particularly delicate subject, his wife’s dress: ‘It was a sin and a -shame to see sae mickle finery.’ - -“The minister did not deny the charge, but dexterously encouraged her -with the Socratic method of argument: ‘So, Margaret, you think that -ornament is useless and sinful in a lady’s dress?’ - -“‘Certainly I do.’ - -“‘Then, may I ask why you wear that ribbon around your cap? A piece of -cord would surely do quite as well.’ - -“Disconcerted with this unforeseen turn of affairs, Margaret determinedly -rejoined in an under-tone: ‘Ye’ll no hae lang to speer sic a like -question.’ - -“Next day her cap was bound with a piece of white tape; and never -afterwards, till the day of her death, did she wear a ribbon, or any -morsel of ornament. I am doubtful if we could match this out of -Scotland. For a novelist to depict characters of this kind, he would -require to see them in real life; no imagination could reach them. Sir -Walter Scott both saw and talked with them, for they were not extinct in -his day. - -“The mortifying rebuff about the ribbon perhaps had some influence in -making my ancestress a Seceder. As she lived near the manse, I am afraid -she must have been a good deal of a thorn in the side of the parish -minister, notwithstanding all the palliatives of her good-natured -husband, the elder. At length an incident occurred which sent her -abruptly off to a recently-erected meeting-house, to which a promising -young preacher, Mr. Leckie, had been appointed. - -“It was a bright summer morning, about five o’clock, when Margaret left -her husband’s side as usual, and went out to see her cow attended to. -Before three minutes had elapsed, her husband was aroused by her coming -in with dismal cries: ‘Eh, sirs! eh, sirs! did I ever think to live to -see the day? O man, O man, O William—this is a terrible thing, indeed! -Could I ever have thought to see’t?’ - -“‘Gracious, woman!’ exclaimed the worthy elder, by this time fully awake, -‘what is’t? is the coo deid?’ for it seemed to him that no greater -calamity could have been expected to produce such doleful exclamations. - -“‘The coo deid!’ responded Margaret; ‘waur, waur, ten times waur. -There’s Dr. Dalgliesh only now gaun hame at five o’clock in the morning. -It’s awfu’, it’s awfu’! What will things come to?’ - -“The elder, though a pattern of propriety himself, is not recorded as -having taken any but a mild view of the minister’s conduct, more -particularly as he knew that the patron of the parish was at Miss -Ritchie’s inn, and that the reverend divine might have been detained -rather late with him against his will. The strenuous Margaret drew no -such charitable conclusions. She joined the Secession congregation next -day, and never again attended the parish church.” - -We now pass on to Mr. William Chambers. He gives us a capital picture of -an old Edinburgh book auction:— - -“Peter was a dry humorist, somewhat saturnine from business -misadventures. Professedly he was a bookseller in South College Street, -and exhibited over his door a huge sham copy of Virgil by way of sign. -His chief trade, however, was the auctioning of books and stationery at -the agency office—a place with a strong smell of new furniture, amidst -which it was necessary to pass before arriving at the saloon in the rear, -where the auctions were habitually held. Warm, well-lighted, and -comfortably fitted up with seats within a railed enclosure, environing -the books to be disposed of, this place of evening resort was as good as -a reading-room—indeed, rather better, for there was a constant fund of -amusement in Peter’s caustic jocularities—as when he begged to remind his -audience that this was a place for selling, not for reading -books—sarcasms which always provoked a round of ironical applause. His -favourite author was Goldsmith, an edition of whose works he had -published, which pretty frequently figured in his catalogue. On coming -to these works he always referred to them with profound respect—as, for -example: ‘The next in the catalogue, gentlemen, is the works of Oliver -_Gooldsmith_, the greatest writer that ever lived, except Shakspeare; -what do you say for it?—I’ll put it up at ten shillings.’ Some one would -perhaps audaciously bid twopence, which threw him into a rage, and he -would indignantly call out: ‘Tippence, man; keep that for the _brode_,’ -meaning the plate at the church-door. If the same person dared to repeat -the insult with regard to some other work, Peter would say: ‘Dear me, has -that poor man not yet got quit of his tippence?’ which turned the laugh, -and effectually silenced him all the rest of the evening. Peter’s temper -was apt to get ruffled when biddings temporarily ceased. He then -declared that he might as well try to auction books in the poor-house. -On such occasions, driven to desperation, he would try the audience with -a bunch of quills, a dozen black-lead pencils, or a ‘quare’ of Bath-post, -vengefully knocking which down at the price bidden for them, he would -shout to ‘Wully,’ the clerk, to look after the money. Never minding -Peter’s querulous observations further than to join in the general laugh, -I, like a number of other penniless youths, got some good snatches of -reading at the auctions in the agency office. I there saw and handled -books which I had never before heard of, and in this manner obtained a -kind of notion of bibliography. My brother, who, like myself, became a -frequenter of the agency office, relished Peter highly, and has touched -him of in one of his essays.” - -A wealthy old man was Hutton, of Birmingham, who thus describes his early -struggles to set up in business as a bookbinder:— - -“A bookbinder, fostered by the frame, was such a novelty that many people -gave me a book to bind, chiefly my acquaintances and their friends, and I -perceived two advantages attend my work. I chiefly served those who were -not judges; consequently, that work passed with them which would not with -a master. And coming from a stockinger, it carried a merit, because no -stockinger could produce its equal. - -“Hitherto I had only used the wretched tools and the materials for -binding which my bookseller chose to sell me; but I found there were many -others wanting, which were only to be had in London; besides, I wished to -fix a correspondence for what I wanted, without purchasing at -second-hand. There was a necessity to take this journey; but an obstacle -arose—I had no money. - -“My dear sister raised three guineas; sewed them in my shirt collar, for -there was no doubt of my being robbed, and put eleven shillings in my -pocket, for it was needful to have a sop to satisfy the rogues when they -made the attack. From the diminutive sum I took, it may reasonably be -supposed I should have nothing left to purchase. - -“On Monday morning at three, April 8th, I set out. Not being accustomed -to walk, my feet were blistered with the first ten miles. I must not, -however, sink under the fatigue, but endeavour to proceed as if all were -well; for much depended on this journey. Aided by resolution I marched -on. - -“Stopping at Leicester, I unfortunately left my knife, and did not -discover the loss till I had proceeded eleven miles. I grieved, because -it was the only keepsake I had of my worthy friend, Mr. Webb. Ten times -its value could not have purchased it. I had marked it with ‘July 22, -1742, W. H.’ - -“A mile beyond Leicester I overtook a traveller with his head bound. -‘How far are you going?’ he asked. ‘To London,’ replied I. ‘So am I.’ -‘When do you expect to arrive?’ ‘On Wednesday night.’ ‘So do I.’ ‘What -is the matter with your head?’ said I; ‘have you been fighting?’ He -returned a blind answer, which convinced me of the affirmative. I did -not half like my companion, especially as he took care to walk behind me. -This probably, I thought, was one of the rogues likely to attack me. But -when I understood he was a tailor my fears rather subsided, nor did I -wonder his head was wrapped. - -“Determined upon a separation, I marched apace for half-an-hour. ‘Do you -mean to hold this rate?’ ‘It is best to hold daylight while we have it.’ -I found I could match him at walking, whatever I might do at fighting. -In half-an-hour more we came to a public-house, when he gave up the -contest. ‘Will you step in and drink?’ ‘No, I shall be moving slowly; -you may soon overtake me.’ - -“I stopped at Brixworth, having walked fifty-four miles, and my whole -expense for the day was fivepence. - -“The next night, Tuesday the 9th, I reached Dunstable. Passing over -Finchley Common on the third day, I overtook a carter, who told me I -might be well accommodated at the ‘Horns,’ in St. John’s Street -(Smithfield), by making use of his name. But it happened, in the -eagerness of talking and the sound of his noisy cart, he forgot to tell -his name, and I to ask it. - -“I arrived at the ‘Horns’ at five; described my director, whom they could -not recollect. However, I was admitted as an inmate, and then ordered a -mutton-chop and porter; but, alas! I was jaded, had fasted too long; my -appetite was gone, and the chop nearly useless. - -“This meal, if it may be called a meal, was the only one during my stay; -and I think the only time I ever ate under a roof. I did not know one -soul in London, therefore could have no invitations. Life is supported -with a little; which was well for me, because I had but little to give -it. If a man has any money he will see stalls enough in London, which -will supply him with something to eat, and it rests with him to lay out -his money to the best advantage. If he cannot afford butter he must eat -his bread without. This will tend to keep up his appetite, which will -always give a relish to food, though mean; and scantiness will add to -that relish. - -“Next morning I breakfasted in Smithfield, upon frumenty, at a -wheelbarrow. Sometimes a half-pennyworth of soup and another of bread; -at others bread and cheese. When nature calls, I must answer. I ate to -live. - -“If a man goes to receive money it may take him long to do his business. -If to pay money, it will take him less; and if he has but little to pay, -still less. My errand fell under the third. I only wanted three -alphabets of letters, figures, and ornamental tools for gilding books, -with materials (leather and hoards) for binding. - -“I wished to see a number of curiosities, but my shallow pocket forbade. -One penny to see Bedlam was all I could spare. Here I met with a variety -of curious anecdotes, for I stayed long, and found conversation with a -multitude of characters. All the public buildings fell under my eye, -which were attentively examined; nor was I wanting in my inquiries. Pass -where I would I never was out of the way of entertainment. It is -reasonable to suppose that everything in London was new and wonderful to -a youth who is fond of inquiry, but has scarcely seen anything but rags -and dung-carts. Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s, Guildhall, Westminster -Hall, &c., were open to view; also both Houses (of Parliament), for they -were sitting. As I had always applied deification to great men, I was -surprised to see a hawker cram the twopenny pamphlets into a member’s -face, who, instead of caning her, took not the slightest notice. - -“I joined a youth who had business in the Tower, in hopes of admission; -but the warders, hearing the northern voice, came out of their cells, and -seeing dust upon my shoes, reasonably concluded I had nothing to give, -and, with an air of authority, ordered me back. - -“The Royal Exchange, the Mansion House, the Monument, the gates, the -churches, many of which are beautiful; the bridges, river, vessels, &c., -afforded a fund of entertainment. I attended at Leicester House, the -residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales—scraped acquaintance with the -sentinels, who told me, had I been half-an-hour sooner, I should have -seen the prince and his family take coach for an airing. - -“Though I had walked 129 miles to London, I was upon my feet all the -three days I was there. I spent half a day in viewing the west end of -the town, the squares, the parks, the beautiful building for the -fireworks, erected in the Green Park, to celebrate the peace of -Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. At St. James’s I accosted the guard at the -bottom of the stairs, and rather attempted to advance; but one of them -put forward the butt-end of his piece that I might not step over. At St. -James’s, too, I had my pocket picked of a handkerchief, which caused me -to return home rather lighter. The people at St. James’s are apt to fill -their pockets at the expense of others. - -“Observing, in one of the squares, the figure of a man on horseback, I -modestly asked a bystander whom it represented? He observed, in a surly -tone, ‘It’s strange you could see nobody else to ask without troubling -me; its George I.’ - -“I could not forbear mentioning at night, to my landlord at the ‘Horns,’ -the curiosities I had seen, which surprised him. He replied, ‘I like -such a traveller as you. The strangers that come here cannot stir a foot -without me, which plagues me to that degree I had rather be without their -custom. But you, of yourself, find out more curiosities than I can show -them or see myself.’ - -“On Saturday evening, April 13th, I set out with four shillings for -Nottingham, and stopped at St. Alban’s. Rising the next morning, April -14th, I met in the street the tailor with the muffled head, whom I had -left near Leicester. ‘Ah! my friend, what are you still fighting your -way up? Perhaps you will reach London by next Wednesday. You guessed -within a week the first time.’ He said but little, looked ashamed, and -passed on. - -“This was a melancholy day. I fell lame, from the sinews of my leg being -overstrained with hard labour. I was far from home, wholly among -strangers, with only the remnant of four shillings. The dreadful idea -operated in fears! - -“I stopped at Newport Pagnell. My landlord told me ‘my shoes were not -fit for travelling;’ however, I had no other, and, like my blistered -feet, I must try to bear them. Next day, Monday, 15th, I slept at Market -Harborough, and on the 16th called at Leicester. The landlady had -carefully secured my knife, with a view to return it should I ever come -that way. Reached Nottingham in the afternoon, forty miles. - -“I had been out nearly nine days;—three in going, which cost three and -eightpence; three there, which cost about the same; and three returning, -nearly the same. Out of the whole eleven shillings I brought four pence -back. - -“London surprised me; so did the people, for the few with whom I formed a -connection deceived me by promising what they never performed, and, I -have reason to think, never intended it. This journey furnished vast -matter for detail among my friends. - -“It was time to look out for a future place of residence. A large town -must now be the mark, or there would be no room for exertion. London was -thought on between my sister and I, for I had no soul else to consult. -This was rejected for two reasons. How could I venture into such a place -without a capital? And how could my work pass among a crowd of judges? -My plan must be to fix upon some market town within a stage of -Nottingham, and open a shop on the market-day, till I should be better -prepared to begin the world at Birmingham. - -“I therefore, in the following February, took a journey to that populous -place, to pass a propable judgment upon my future success. - -“I fixed upon Southwell as the first step of elevation, fourteen miles -distant, a town as despicable as the road to it. I went over at -Michaelmas, took a shop at the rate of 20_s._ a-year, sent a few boards -for shelves, tools to put them up, and about two hundred weight of trash, -which a bookseller would dignify with the name of books (and with, -perhaps, about a year’s rent of my shop); was my own joiner, put up the -shelves and their furniture, worth, perhaps, 20s., and in one day became -the most eminent bookseller in the place. - -“During this wet winter I had to set out at five every Saturday morning -(carrying a burthen of three pounds’ weight to thirty), open shop at ten, -starve in it all day upon bread, cheese, and half a pint of ale; take -from 1_s._ to 6_s._, shut up at four, and by trudging through the deep -roads and the solitary night five hours more, arrive at Nottingham by -nine, carrying a burthen from three to thirty pounds, where I always -found a mess of milk porridge by the fire, prepared by my valuable -sister. - -“Nothing short of a surprising resolution and rigid economy could have -carried me through this dreadful scene.” But Hutton did not despair; he -lived to a good old age, and was a wealthy man. - -The life of Kelly, the London publisher, is full of interest. Thomas -Kelly was born at Chevening, in Kent, on the 7th of January, 1779. His -father was a shepherd, who, having received a jointure of £200 with his -wife, risked the capital first in a little country inn, and afterwards in -leasing a small farm of about thirty acres of cold, wet land, where he -led a starving, struggling life during the remainder of his days. When -only twelve years old, barely able to read and write, young Kelly was -taken from school and put to the hard work of the farm, leading the team -or keeping the flock; but he was not strong enough to handle the plough. -The fatigue of this life, and its misery, were so vividly impressed upon -his memory, that he could never be persuaded to revisit the neighbourhood -in after-life; and though at the time he endeavoured to conceal his -feelings from his family, the bitterness of his reflections involuntarily -betrayed his wishes. He fretted in the daytime until he could not lie -quietly in his bed at night; and early one morning he was discovered in a -somnambulent state in the chimney of an empty bedroom, “on,” as he said, -“his road to London.” After this, his parents readily consented that he -should try to make his way elsewhere, and a situation was obtained for -him in the counting-house of a Lambeth brewer. After about three years’ -service here the business failed, and he was recommended to Alexander -Hogg, bookseller, of Paternoster Row. The terms of his engagement were -those of an ordinary domestic servant; he was to board and lodge on the -premises, and to receive £10 yearly; but his lodging, or, at all events, -his bed, was under the shop counter. - -Alexander Hogg, of 16, Paternoster Row, had been a journeyman to Cooke, -and had very successfully followed the publication of “Number” books. In -the trade he was looked upon as an unequalled “puffer;” and when the sale -of a book began to slacken, he was wont to employ some ingenious scribe -to draw up a taking title, and the work, though otherwise unaltered, was -brought out in a “new edition,” as, according to a formula, the -“Production of a Society of Gentlemen: the whole revised, corrected, and -improved by Walter Thornton, Esq., M.A., and other gentlemen.” - -Kelly’s duties were to make up parcels of books for the retail -booksellers; and his zeal displayed itself even in somnambulism; for one -night, when in a comatose state, he actually arranged in order the eighty -numbers of “Foxe’s Martyrs,” taken from as many different compartments. -He spent all his leisure in study, and soon was able to read French with -fluency, gaining the proper accent by attending the French Protestant -School in Threadneedle Street. The good old housekeeper, at this time -his only friend, was a partaker of all his studies; at all events, he -gave her the benefit of all the more amusing and interesting matter he -came across. His activity, though it rendered the head shopman jealous, -attracted Hogg’s favourable attention, and the clever discovery of a -batch of stolen works still further strengthened the interest he felt in -the serving-boy. The thieves, owing to the lad’s ingenuity, were -apprehended and convicted, and Kelly had to come forward as a witness. -“This was my first appearance at the Old Bailey; and as I was fearful I -might give incorrect evidence, I trembled over the third commandment. -How could I think, while shaking in the witness-box, that I should be -raised to act as her Majesty’s First Commissioner at the Central Criminal -Court of England?” - -Half of his scanty pittance of £10 was sent home to aid his parents; and -as his wages increased, so did his dutiful allowance. In this situation -Kelly remained for twenty years and two months, and at no time did he -receive more than £80 per annum; and it is believed that when his stipend -reached that petty maximum, he defrayed the whole of his father’s farm -rent. That he was not entirely satisfied with his prospects is evident -from the fact that, about ten years after he joined Hogg, he accepted a -clerkship in Sir Francis Baring’s office; but so necessary had he become -to the establishment he was about to leave, that his master prevailed -upon him to accept board and residence in exchange for what assistance he -might please to render over the usual hours. After six weeks of this -work, poor Kelly’s health began to suffer, and it was plain that he must -confine his labours to one single branch of trade. “Thomas,” said his -master, sagaciously enough, though, probably, with a view to his own -interests, “you never can be a merchant, but you _may_ be a bookseller.” -This advice chimed in with his inclination, if not with his immediate -prospects, and Kelly devoted himself to bookselling. - -At length Hogg, falling into bad health, and desiring to be relieved from -business, proposed to Kelly that he should unite in partnership with his -son; but Kelly thought it better to start on his own account. In 1809, -therefore, he commenced business in a little room in Paternoster Row, -sub-rented from the landlord, a friendly barber. For the first two years -his operations were confined solely to the purchase and sale of -miscellaneous books on a small scale, and the limited experiment proved -successful. Of Buchan’s “Domestic Medicine” he bought 1,000 copies in -sheets, at a low price, and having prefixed a short memoir of his author, -and divided them into numbers, or parts, he went out himself in quest of -subscribers; and 1,000 copies of the “New Week’s Preparation” were -treated in like manner, and with similar success. Kelly lived to be Lord -Mayor of London. - -Mr. Routledge, the founder of the well-known publishing-house of that -name, commenced business by opening a little shop in Ryder’s Court, -Leicester Square, for the sale of cheap and second-hand books. - -Few booksellers have done better than the Heywoods of Manchester. Abel -began life as a warehouse-boy, on the scanty pittance of 1_s._ 6_d._ -a-week. John Heywood, at the age of fourteen, found employment as a -hand-loom weaver. Within ten years his wages rose from 2_s._ 6_d._ -a-week to 30_s._, and when in receipt of this latter sum he regularly -allowed his mother 20_s._ a-week. For some time he was with his brother, -and then he took a little shop. It has been truly remarked by Mr. Henry -Curwen, in his “History of Booksellers,” that the career of the two -Heywoods is a striking example of the labour, energy, and success which -Lancashire folk are apt to think the true attributes of the typical -Manchester man. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. -MONEY-MAKING MEN IN THE PROVINCES. - - -IN 1875 a sensational paragraph appeared in most of the daily papers, -announcing the death of “an old Mr. Attwood,” who was declared to have -been a bachelor, and “the giver of all the anonymous £1,000 cheques.” It -was further stated that he had given away £350,000 in this way—£45,000 -within the last year; that he had died intestate, leaving a fortune of -more than a million sterling, and that a thousand-pound note was found -lying in his room as if it had been waste paper. The truth of the -matter, as we are informed by a connection of the family, is this. Mr. -Benjamin Attwood was a brother of Mr. Thomas Attwood, who was well known -forty years ago as a leader of the Birmingham Political Union, and one of -the first members for that borough. He was not a bachelor, but a -widower, and the fortune which he has left is believed to be much less -than the above-named sum, though its exact amount is not yet known. -After making a competent fortune by his own industry, Mr. Attwood, some -time ago, inherited enormous wealth from a nephew, the late Mr. Matthias -Wolverley Attwood, M.P., and he determined to dispose of this accession -to his income by giving it partly to his less prosperous kinsfolk, and -partly to charitable associations. He would often call at a hospital or -other benevolent institution, and leave £1,000, asking simply for an -acknowledgment in the _Times_, and never allowing his name to be -published. In this way he distributed larger sums than that mentioned in -the original rumour. It would be wrong to regard Mr. Attwood as an -eccentric man. His life was quiet, gentlemanlike, and unassuming, with -no special peculiarities, and his only motive for secret almsgiving was -the desire to do good in an unobtrusive manner. He was one of those -truly charitable men who loved to do good without letting his left hand -know what his right hand did, and he would probably have been better -pleased had his secret been kept after his death as well as it was during -his life. - -They are fortunate men these provincial Crœsuses, and don’t let the grass -grow under their feet. In the art of money-making they need learn -nothing of Cockneys or Americans, but perhaps might teach them something -as to the way to get on in the world. One of the most successful of this -class was Sir Richard Arkwright, the famous inventor and the improver of -cotton-spinning machinery. Sir Richard was born in 1732, and married, -first, Patience Holt, of Lancaster, and second, Margaret Biggins, of -Pennington. He was the son of poor parents, and the youngest of thirteen -children. He was never at school; and what little he did learn was -without aid. He was apprenticed to a barber; and after learning that -wretched business, set up for himself as a barber in Bolton, in an -underground cellar, over which he put up the sign-board with the curious -wording, “Come to the Subterraneous Barber—he shaves for a Penny,” -painted upon it. Carrying away, by his low prices, the trade from the -other barbers in the place, they reduced their prices to his level. -Arkwright then, not to be outdone, and to keep the lead in the number of -customers, put up the announcement of, “A Clean Shave for a Halfpenny,” -which, no doubt, he found answer well. After a time he quitted his -cellar, and took to tramping from place to place as a dealer in hair. -For this purpose he attended statute fairs, and other resorts of the -people, and bought their crops of hair from girls, bargaining for and -cutting off their curls and tresses, and selling them again to the -wig-makers. He also dealt in hair-dye, and tried to find out the secret -of perpetual motion. This led to mechanical pursuits; he neglected his -business, lost what little money he had saved, and was reduced to great -poverty. Having become acquainted with a watchmaker named Kay, at -Warrington, and had assistance from him in constructing his model, he -first, it is said, received from him the idea of spinning by rollers—but -only the idea, for Kay could not practically tell how it was to be -accomplished. Having once got the idea, Arkwright set to work, and -neglected everything else for its accomplishment; and, in desperation and -poverty, his poor neglected wife, who could only see waste of time and -neglect of business in the present state of affairs, and ruin and -starvation in the future, as the consequence, broke up his models, in -hope of bringing him hack to his trade and his duties to his family. And -who can blame the young wife? The unforgiving husband, however, -separated from her in consequence, and never forgave her. His poverty, -indeed, was so great at this time, that, having to vote as a burgess, he -could not go to the polling-place until, by means of a subscription, some -clothes had been bought for him to put on. Having re-made and pretty -well completed his model, but fearful of having it destroyed, as -Hargreave’s spinning-jenny had been by a mob, Arkwright removed to -Nottingham, taking his model with him. Here, showing his model to -Messrs. Wright, the bankers, he obtained from them an advance of money on -the proper condition of their sharing in the profits of the invention. -Delay occurring in the completion of the machine, the bankers recommended -Arkwright to apply to Jedediah Strutt (ancestor of the present Lord -Belper), of Derby, who, with his partner, Reed, had brought out and -patented the machine for making ribbed stockings. Strutt at once entered -into the matter, and by his help the invention was completed. Thus the -foundation of the fortune of the Arkwrights was laid, and thus arose -their cotton-mills, and their residence (Wellersley Castle) near Matlock. -Arkwright was knighted in the year 1786, and in the same year was High -Sheriff of Derbyshire. He died in 1792. - -Mr. Thorneycroft, who realised an immense fortune in the iron-trade, at -the Shrubbery Works, near Wolverhampton, was the son of a working-man, -and himself educated to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. In his -youth he proved himself a most skilful and trustworthy servant to his -employers in the iron-trade; and when about twenty-six years of age -commenced a small business on his own account.—Mr. Thomas Wilson, whose -work, the “Pitman’s Pay,” had a national reputation, who died at -Gateshead in 1858, at the ripe age of eighty-four, after having achieved -a large fortune, began life by working in a colliery. At nineteen years -of age he was a hewer in the mine. At sixteen he had sought more -congenial occupation, in which he might profit by the little culture he -had won by the sacrifice of needful rest; but he failed in the attempt, -and retired to his darksome drudgery. In time he got to be a -schoolmaster; and afterwards the humble pitman became a merchant -prince.—Andrews, a famous Mayor of Southampton, passed the first years of -his life in utter poverty, working as a farm lad, at threepence a-day, -from nine to twelve years of age; then getting employment as a sawyer; -next as a blacksmith; but always with aspirations for something better. - -The first Sir Robert Peel was the third son of a small cotton-printer in -Lancashire. Enterprising and ambitious, he left his father’s -establishment, and became a junior partner in a manufactory, carried on -at Bury by a relative, Mr. Haworth, and his future father-in-law, Mr. -Yates. His industry, his genius, soon gave him the lead in the -management of the business, and made it prosperous. By perseverance, -talent, economy, and marrying a wealthy heiress—Miss Yates, the daughter -of his senior partner—he had amassed a considerable fortune at the age of -forty. He then began to turn his mind to politics; published a pamphlet -on the national debt; made the acquaintance of Mr. Pitt, and got returned -to parliament (1790) for Teignmouth, where he had acquired landed -property which the rest of his life was spent in increasing. In -Greville’s journals we read:—“Grant gave me a curious anecdote of old Sir -Robert Peel. He was the younger son of a merchant; his fortune very -small, left to him in the house, and he was not to take it out. He gave -up the fortune, and started in business without a shilling, but as the -active partner in a concern with two other men—Yates, whose daughter he -afterwards married, and another, who between them made up £6,000. From -this beginning he left £250,000 a-piece to his five younger sons, £60,000 -to his three daughters, each; and £22,000 a-year in land, and £450,000 in -the funds to Peel. In his lifetime he gave Peel £12,000 a-year; the -others £3,000, and spent £3,000 himself. He was always giving them -money, and for objects which, it might have been thought, he -under-valued. He paid for Peel’s house when he built it, and for the -Chapeau de Paille (2,700 guineas) when he bought it.” - -In his biography, Sir William Fairbairn describes the heroic way in which -he mastered the difficulties of early years, and became famous. It -really seems that there is something in the air, or in the nature of the -inhabitants, of the northern districts of the kingdom, which has a -tendency, more or less, to make a man rise in the world. The poet tells -us how - - “Caledonia, stern and wild, - Is meet nurse for poetic child.” - -Though, as to that, neither Burns nor Scott had much to do with that part -of Scotland we call stern and wild. But the country may claim to do more -for her sons. Every one of them seems born with a thirst for getting on -in the world, for revolving not to be contented with that position in -life in which Providence has placed him; and thus it is, that when we -come to examine minutely into the lives of our heroes, industrial or -otherwise, we find that most of them were Scotchmen, or, more or less, -had Scotch blood in their veins. - -Of this we have a remarkable illustration in the case of the late Sir -William Fairbairn, who was, moreover, a worthy representative of a class -of men to whom we owe, in a large measure, the wealth and prosperity our -country now enjoys. - -William Fairbairn was born in the town of Kelso, in Roxburghshire on -February 19th, 1789. His father, Andrew, was descended, on the male -side, from a humble but respectable class of small lairds, or, as they -were called, Portioners, who farmed their own land, as was the custom in -Scotland in those days. On the female side the pedigree may have been of -higher character, for Andrew’s mother was said by him to have claimed -descent from the ancient border family of Douglas. She was a tall, -handsome, and commanding woman, and lived to a great age. William’s -mother was a Miss Henderson, the daughter of a tradesman in Jedburgh, and -the direct descendant of an old border family of the name of Oliver, for -many years respectable stock-farmers in a pastoral district at the -northern foot of the Cheviots. The lad was early sent to school, and -made fair progress in what may be called a plain English education. He -was fond of athletic exercises, and one of his feats was to climb to the -top of the mouldering turrets of the old abbey at Kelso. In the autumn -of 1799, the position of the family materially altered. The father was -offered the charge of a farm, 300 acres, in Ross-shire, which was to be -the joint property of himself and his brother, Mr. Peter Fairbairn, for -many years a resident in that county, and secretary to Lord Seaforth, of -Castle Braham; and there, in an evil hour, the family removed. But it -was there that young William, who was compelled to make himself generally -useful, first exhibited his taste for mechanics. The father next became -steward to Mackenzie, of Allan Grange; and at the school at Mullochy, -which the boy attended, he describes the advantage derived by himself and -his brother from wearing Saxon costumes instead of Tartan kilts. The -master was a severe disciplinarian, and he found English trousers very -much in the way of his favourite punishment. After two years the family -moved south, and William’s father became steward to Sir William Ingleby, -of Ingleby Manor, near Knaresborough. After a few months spent in -improving himself in arithmetic, in studying book-keeping and land -surveying, William, being a tall lad of fourteen, was sent to work at -Kelso. About this time the family were in much difficulty; but the -father got a better post at Percy Main Colliery, near North Shields, and -his son followed him there. Wages were very high, and the demoralisation -amongst the men was such as, Sir William tells us, he never saw before or -since. Pitched battles, brawling, drinking, and cock-fighting, seemed to -be the order of the day. Among the pit lads boxing was considered a -necessary exercise. And Fairbairn tells us he had to fight no less than -seventeen battles before he was enabled to attain a position calculated -to insure respect. In March, 1804, he was put into a better and more -definite position by entering regularly on a course of education as -mechanical engineer. He was bound apprentice to the millwright of the -colliery for seven years, and was to receive wages beginning with five -shillings a-week, and increasing to twelve. Sometimes, he tells us, with -extra work he doubled the amount of his wages, by which he was enabled to -render assistance to his parents. This, we take it, shows the lad was a -good one, and the bad manners of his mates had not corrupted him. This -appears still further when we see how resolute were his efforts after -self-improvement. “I became,” he writes, “dissatisfied with the persons -I had to associate with at the shop; and feeling my own ignorance, I -became fired with ambition to remedy the evil, and cut out for myself a -new path of life. I shortly came to the conclusion that no difficulties -should frighten, nor the severer labour discourage me in the attainment -of the object I had in view. Armed with the resolution, I set to work in -the first year of my apprenticeship, and having written out a programme, -I commenced the winter course in double capacity of both scholar and -schoolmaster, and arranged my study as follows:—Monday evenings for -arithmetic, mensuration, &c.; Tuesday reading, history, and poetry; -Wednesday, recreation, reading novels and romances; Thursday, -mathematics; Friday Euclid, trigonometry; Saturday, recreation and -sundries; Sunday, church, Milton, and recreation.” In this noble course -the young man persevered, in spite of the ridicule of his mates. The -battle thus manfully begun was fought bravely to the last. He was aided -in his studies by a ticket, given him by his father, to the North Shields -Subscription Library; and by the same tender passion which turned Quentin -Mastys from a blacksmith into an artist. We quote Sir William’s account -of his intellectual improvement whilst making love to the lady whom, -however, he did not ultimately marry. During his courtship, he tells us, -“I was led into a course of letter-writing, which improved my style, and -gave me greater facilities of expression. The truth is, I could not have -written on any subject if it had not been for this circumstance; and my -attempts at essays, in the shape of papers which I had read with avidity -in the _Spectator_, may be traced to my admiration of this divinity. - -“In the enthusiasm of my first attachment, it was my good fortune to fall -upon a correspondence between two lovers, Frederick and Felicia, in the -‘Town and Country Magazine’ for the year 1782, Nos. 3 and 4. This -correspondence was of some length, and was carried from number to number -in a series of letters. Frederick was the principal writer; and although -greatly above me in station, yet his sentiments harmonised so exactly -with mine, that I sat down at Frederick’s desk and wrote to my Felicia -with emotions as strong as any Frederick in existence. Frederick, by his -writing, was evidently a gentleman; and in order to prepare myself for so -much goodness as I had conjured up in Mary, I commenced the -correspondence by first reading the letter in the magazine, and then shut -the book for the reply, and to write the letter that Frederick was -supposed to have written. I then referred to the book, and how bitter -was my disappointment at finding my expressions unconnected and -immeasurably inferior to those of the writer. Sometimes I could trace a -few stray expressions which I thought superior to his; but, as a whole, I -was miserably deficient. In this way did I make love, and in this way I -inadvertently rendered one of the strongest passions of our nature -subservient to the means of improvement. For three successive winters I -contrived to go through a complete system of mensuration and as much -algebra as enabled me to solve an equation, and a course of trigonometry, -navigation, heights and distances, &c. This was exclusive of my reading, -which was always attractive, and gave me the greatest pleasure. I had an -excellent library at Shields, which I went to twice a-week, and here I -read Gibbon’s ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’ Hume’s ‘History of -England,’ Robertson’s ‘History of Scotland,’ ‘America,’ ‘Charles the -Fifth,’ and many other works of a similar character, which I read with -the utmost attention. I also read some of our best poets, amongst which -were Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ Shakspeare, Cowper, Goldsmith, Burns, and -Kirke White. With this course of study I spent long evenings, sometimes -sitting up late; but having to be at the shop at six in the morning, I -did not usually prolong my studies much beyond eleven or twelve o’clock. - -“During those pursuits I must, in truth, admit that my mind was more upon -my studies than my business. I made pretty good way in the mere -operative part; but, with the exception of arithmetic and mathematics, I -made little or no progress in the principles of the profession; on the -contrary, I took a dislike to the work and the parties by whom I was -surrounded. - -“The possession of tools, and the art of using them, renewed my taste for -mechanical pursuits. I tried my skill at different combinations, and, -like most inventors whose minds are more intent upon making new -discoveries than acquiring the knowledge of what has been done by others, -I frequently found myself forestalled in the very discovery which I had -persuaded myself was original. For many months I laboured incessantly in -devising a piece of machinery that should act as a time-piece, and at the -same time as an orrery, representing the sun as a centre, with the earth -and moon, and the whole planetary system, revolving round it. This piece -of machinery was to be worked by a weight and a pendulum, and was not -only to give the diurnal motions of the heavenly bodies, but to indicate -the time of their revolutions in their orbits round the sun. All this -was to be done in accordance with one measure of time, which the -instrument, if it could be completed, was to record. I looked upon this -piece of machinery as a perfectly original conception, and nothing -prevented me from making the attempt to carry it into execution but the -want of means, and the difficulties which surrounded me in the complexity -and numerous motions necessary to make it an useful working machine. The -consideration of this subject was not, however, lost, as I derived great -advantage in the exercise which it gave to the thoughts. It taught me -the advantage of concentration and of arranging my ideas, and of bringing -the whole powers of the mind with energy to bear upon one subject. It -further directed my attention to a course of reading on mechanical -philosophy and astronomy, from which I derived considerable advantage. - -“Finding the means at my disposal much too scanty to enable me to make a -beginning with my new orrery, I turned my attention to music, and bought -an old Hamburgh fiddle, for which I gave half-a-crown. This was a cheap -bargain, even for such a miserable instrument; and what with new bracing -of catgut and a music-book, I spent nearly a week’s wages, a sum which I -could ill afford, to become a distinguished musician. I, however, fresh -rigged the violin, and with a glue-pot carefully closed all the openings -which were showing themselves between the back and sides of the -instrument. Having completed the repairs, I commenced operations, and -certainly there never was a learner who produced less melody or a greater -number of discords. The effect was astounding; and after tormenting the -whole house with discordant sounds for two months, the very author of the -mischief tumbled to pieces in my hands, to the great relief of every -member of the family.” - -As an illustration of the benefit of learning a business well, I will -quote a paragraph from the “busy hives around us.” After describing the -large establishment of Messrs. Kershaw, Leese, and Co., Manchester, the -writer adds—“There is a moral to our sketch. Mr. Kershaw, owner of a -splendid warehouse, two factories, a cotton lord, merchant prince, and -senator of the realm, was once a poor Manchester boy, and is not an old -man now (1878). As he set Manchester an example of good taste and wise -magnificence, so he stands an example to all young men of what untiring -diligence may achieve. He rose in his house of business because he -_learned his business __well_. He waited not upon fortune from without, -but worked out his own future from within. He became one of the many of -the illustrious men whom Lancashire points to as her pride.” - -Who has not heard of Sir Titus Salt? His beneficence, especially, has -made him famous; his name is a veritable household word. The founder of -Saltaire is, in many respects, no ordinary man. He is one of those who -have neither been born great nor had greatness thrust upon them. He has -achieved it, and achieved it worthily. Possessed of large intellect, -immense strength of mind, and remarkable business acumen, he gained a -princely fortune, and made himself one of Yorkshire’s chief -manufacturers. - -Sir Titus was born in Morley, near Leeds, on the 20th of September, 1803. -Some time after his birth, his father, Daniel Salt, removed to Bradford, -where he became an extensive wool-dealer, and by-and-by took his son into -partnership. At once the young man’s rare business qualities showed -themselves, and the speculations of the firm—now Daniel Salt and Co.—grew -larger than ever. Hitherto, however, the Russian Donskoi wool—in which -they dealt extensively—had been used only in the woollen trade. The -young man saw that it would suit the worsted trade as well; so he -explained his views to the Bradford spinners, but they would scarcely -listen to him. They knew, said they, the Russian wool was valueless to -them. Young Mr. Salt was not disheartened by this. Not he! To prove -his theory, he commenced as a spinner and manufacturer himself, and his -fortune was assured. The wants of his trade led him occasionally to -Liverpool; and it was on one of these visits that the scene took place -which Charles Dickens, in his own inimitable way, described in “Household -Words.” Says he:— - - “A huge pile of dirty-looking sacks, filled with some fibrous - material, which bore a resemblance to superannuated horse-hair, or - frowsy elongated wool, or anything unpleasant or unattractive, was - landed in Liverpool. When these queer-looking bales had first - arrived, or by what vessel brought, or for what purpose intended, the - very oldest warehousemen in Liverpool docks couldn’t say. There had - once been a rumour—a mere warehouseman’s rumour—that the bales had - been shipped from South America, on ‘spec.,’ and consigned to the - agency of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co. But even this seems to have - been forgotten, and it was agreed upon by all hands, that the three - hundred and odd sacks of nondescript hair-wool were a perfect - nuisance. The rats appeared to be the only parties who approved at - all of the importation, and to them it was the finest investment for - capital that had been known in Liverpool since their first ancestors - had emigrated thither. Well, these bales seemed likely to rot, or - fall to the dust, or be bitten up for the particular use of family - rats. Merchants would have nothing to say to them. Dealers couldn’t - make them out. Manufacturers shook their heads at the bare mention - of them; while the agents of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co. looked at - the bill of lading—had once spoken to their head clerk about shipping - them to South America again. - - “One day—we won’t care what day it was, or even what week or month it - was, though things of far less consequence have been chronicled to - the half-minute—one day, a plain business-looking young man, with an - intelligent face and quiet reserved manner, was walking along through - these same warehouses in Liverpool, when his eye fell upon some of - the superannuated horse-hair projecting from one of the ugly dirty - bales. Some lady-rat, more delicate than her neighbours, had found - it rather coarser than usual, and had persuaded her lord and master - to eject the portion from her resting-place. Our friend took it up, - looked at it, felt at it, rubbed it, pulled it about; in fact, he did - all but taste it; and he would have done that if it had suited his - purpose—for he was ‘Yorkshire.’ Having held it up to the light, and - held it away from the light, and held it in all sorts of positions, - and done all sorts of cruelties to it, as though it had been his most - deadly enemy, and he was feeling quite vindictive, he placed a - handful or two in his pocket, and walked calmly away, evidently - intending to put the stuff to some excruciating private torture at - home. What particular experiments he tried with this fibrous - substance I am not exactly in a position to state, nor does it much - signify; but the sequel was that the same quiet business-looking - young man was seen to enter the office of C. W. and F. Foozle and - Co., and ask for the head of the firm. When he asked that portion of - the house if he would accept eightpence per pound for the entire - contents of the three hundred and odd frowsy dirty bags of - nondescript wool, the authority interrogated felt so confounded that - he could not have told if he were the head or the tail of the firm. - At first he fancied our friend had come for the express purpose of - quizzing him, and then that he was an escaped lunatic, and thought - seriously of calling for the police; but eventually it ended in his - making it over in consideration of the price offered. It was quite - an event in the little dark office of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., - which had its supply of light (of a very injurious quality) from the - old grim churchyard. All the establishment stole a peep at the buyer - of the ‘South American Stuff.’ The chief clerk had the curiosity to - speak to him and hear the reply. The cashier touched his coat tails. - The bookkeeper, a thin man in spectacles, examined his hat and - gloves. The porter openly grinned at him. When the quiet purchaser - had departed, C. W. and F. Foozle and Co. shut themselves up, and - gave all their clerks a holiday.” - -Thus Mr. Salt (afterwards Sir Titus) became the introducer and adapter of -alpaca wool; and in a few years his wealth was enormous. - -Seventeen years afterwards Mr. Salt left Bradford, the scene of his great -success. He saw with sadness that the great Yorkshire town was becoming -over-crowded, dirty, and smoky to a degree, and he made up his mind that -the condition of _his_ factory workers, at any rate, should be improved. -Hence he purchased a tract of land on the banks of the river Aire above -Shipley, and founded Saltaire—a true palace of industry. - - “For in making his thousands he never forgot - The thousands who helped him to make them.” - -The new works were opened in 1853, when a grand banquet took place, at -which members of parliament, mayors, and magistrates were present, -besides between 2,000 and 3,000 of Mr. Salt’s workpeople, who had marched -in procession from smoky Bradford to the fair country he had chosen for -their future labours. - -Sir Titus was made a baronet in 1869, and some years previously he held -the position of president of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce. He has -also been chief constable, magistrate, and parliamentary member for the -Bradford borough, the inhabitants of which have shown their appreciation -of his services and generosity by erecting a handsome statue to him. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. -ECCENTRIC MONEY-MAKERS. - - -A CURIOUS romance adds one more instructive fact to point the moral of a -miser’s life, and of “the love of money.” For many years past an old man -might have been seen carrying an old bag on his shoulders, scraping up -odds and ends from the gutter, and garbage from the streets. This man’s -home was in a London suburb, a wretched room filled with rubbish—old -pieces of iron and brass, bits of string, &c. Around the room were tin -deed-boxes, which some of his friends half suspected must be possessed of -properties of more or less value. The wretched man lived on what he -chanced to pick up by the way, or what was given to him by the -charitable, who thought him to be a beggar. He used to attend one of our -metropolitan hospitals as an out-patient, receiving advice and medicine -gratis. This man died in the midst of squalid wretchedness and apparent -want. His friends at once proceeded to ransack the place in search for -his money; the deed-boxes proved to be “dummies,” containing only strings -and tapes, and for some time the search proved fruitless. At last, -however, the old chair in which he used to sit was found to contain, in -the worn-out cushion, a bundle of most valuable securities, amounting to -£60,000, and a will. This will, after leaving £100 each to his -executors, devised all the residue of his property to two -institutions—one moiety to the Royal Free Hospital, Gray’s-inn-road, in -which institution he used to obtain advice and medicine gratis, as above; -and the other half to the Royal National Lifeboat Association. So that -these two useful institutions will receive £30,000 each, and possibly -more, as the result of this “miser’s” wealth! Search is being made for -further documents amid the heaps of rubbish that have been allowed to -accumulate in the wretched man’s attic. The case constitutes a sad and -melancholy illustration of this fallen nature of ours, in one of its most -afflicting forms of eccentricity and madness. - -In the case of the Dancers, we have it recorded that their money-grubbing -propensity was prominent in three generations of the family. The -grandfather, the father, and the children, were all misers—the lot of -them, Daniel Dancer, Esq., appears to have been the most distinguished. -He lived on the Weald of Harrow, where he had a little estate of about -eighty acres of rich meadow-land, with some of the finest oak timber in -the kingdom on it. Besides, there was a good farm belonging to him, -worth at that time, if properly cultivated, more than £200 a-year. One -day, coming to London to invest £2,000 in the funds, a gentleman, who met -him near the Exchange, mistaking him for a beggar, put a penny in his -hand—an affront which, it is needless to say, the beggar pocketed. In -spite of the fact that his wretched abode was often broken into, he made -a great deal of money by his penurious habits. It took many weeks to -explore the contents of his dwelling. As much as £2,500 were found on -the dung-heap in the cow-house; and in an old jacket, carefully tied and -strongly nailed to the manger, was the sum of £500 in gold and -bank-notes; £200 were found in the chimney, and an old teapot contained -bank-notes to the value of £500. Lady Tempest and Captain Holmes, his -heirs, were benefited by the old miser’s savings to the extent of about -£3,000 a-year. - -Money is sometimes strangely made. For instance, there is the case of -Gully, who was M.P. for Pontefract in 1832. “He was taken out of -prison,” writes Mr. Charles Greville, “twenty-five or thirty years ago by -a gentleman to fight Pierce, surnamed the Game Chicken. He afterwards -fought Belcher (I believe), and Gregson twice, and left the prize-ring -with the reputation of being the best man in it. He then took to the -turf, was successful in establishing himself at Newmarket, where he kept -‘a hell,’ and began a system of corruption of trainers, jockeys, and -boys, which put the secrets of all Newmarket at his disposal, and in a -few years made him rich. At the same time he connected himself with Mr. -Watt, in the north, by betting for him; and this being at the time when -Watt’s stable was very successful, he won large sums of money by his -horses. Having become rich, he embarked in a great coal speculation, -which answered beyond his hopes, and his shares soon yielded immense -profits. His wife, who was a coarse, vulgar woman, in the meantime died, -and he afterwards married the daughter of an innkeeper, who proved as -gentlewoman-like as the other was the reverse, and who was very pretty -besides. He now gradually withdrew from the betting-ring as a regular -blackleg, still keeping horses, and betting occasionally in large sums. -He ultimately bought an estate near Pontefract, and settled down as a -gentleman of fortune.” - -Of the beggarly race of misers, the most notorious was Thomas Cooke, born -in the year 1726, at Clewer, a village near Windsor. His father, an -itinerant fiddler, got his living by playing in alehouses and fairs, but -dying while Thomas was an infant, his grandmother, who lived near -Norwich, took care of him till he was able to provide for himself, at -which time he obtained employment in a manufactory where there were a -number of other boys who were paid according to the work they did. These -boys always clubbed some money from their weekly earnings for the -establishment of a mess; young Cooke, however, resolved to live cheaper, -and when the other boys went to dinner he retired to the side of a brook, -and made his breakfast and dinner at one meal upon an halfpenny loaf, an -apple, and a draught of water from the running stream, taken up in the -brim of his hat. With the money thus saved, he paid a youth, who was -usher to a village schoolmaster, to instruct him in reading, writing, and -arithmetic. Arrived at years of maturity, Cooke found employment at a -Norwich warehouse as a porter. There his sobriety and industry caused -his master to make him a journeyman, and raise his wages. Further, his -master finding that he wished for an appointment as an exciseman, -procured a situation for him near London, and he came to the capital by -the Norwich waggon with only eight shillings in his pocket; but that is -of little consequence. It is not money that makes a man succeed in life, -but the want of it. In the world, a man who begins with money generally -ends by losing it. - -Being appointed to a district, Cooke found there was great delay, and -some expense, before he could act as an exciseman; he therefore took the -situation of porter to a sugar-baker, and, in course of time, became a -journeyman. Here he did not neglect his appointment to the excise, but -reserved sufficient time to himself to give it every necessary attention. -By attending on the superior of the district in which he was to act, and -by the money he saved while in the service of the sugar-baker, Cooke was -at length enabled to assume the dignity to which he had so long aspired. -Being appointed to inspect the exciseable concerns of a paper-mill and -manufactory near Tottenham, Cooke was exceedingly well pleased; for, -being already versed in some parts of the trade from the knowledge he had -acquired at Norwich, he was desirous of learning those secrets in the -trade to which he was still a stranger. During the time he was -officially employed in this concern, the master of the paper-mills and -manufactory died. The widow, however, by the advice of her friends, -carried on the business with the assistance of the foreman. Cooke’s -knowledge of the business, but particularly the regularity with which he -rendered his accounts to the Board of Excise, induced the commissioners -to continue him in the employ. In the meantime he took a regular and -exact account of sundry infractions of the laws, which, either from -design or inadvertence, were daily committed in this paper manufactory. -Having calculated the value of the concern, and the several thousand -pounds the penalties incurred by frauds on the revenue would amount to, -he seized the opportunity of privately informing the widow, that the -penalties, if levied, would amount to more than double the value of all -her property, and expose her to beggary and the King’s Bench. He assured -her that the frauds which had been at different times committed were only -known to himself, and suddenly proposed marriage to her as the only means -of insuring his secrecy. The widow, no doubt, convinced of the truth of -the statement, and seeing in Cooke a man of comely countenance and of -good figure, gave him a favourable answer, but suggested the propriety of -deferring the marriage till the time allotted to the mourning for her -first husband had expired. Cooke agreed to this delay, having taken care -to obtain her consent and promise on parchment. At length his marriage -with this lady took place, and Cooke became possessed of all her -property, which was very large, and particularly of the mills at -Tottenham, which were on a lease to her former husband. On the -expiration of the lease, he applied to the proprietors for a renewal of -it; but, in consequence of a previous treaty, the premises were, to his -great mortification, let to another person. He next purchased a large -sugar concern in Puddle Dock, and, as he knew something of the business, -flattered himself that he would he able to add rapidly to his already -large fortune. Here he carried his former habits of parsimony and -abstemiousness to the utmost extent. - -At this time his artfulness and meanness seem to have quite gained the -upper hand. One of his plans was to have his table well supplied by the -generosity of other people. His colloquial powers were admirable. In -his latter days it was his practice, when he had marked out any one for -his prey, to find his way, by some means or other, into the house, by -pretending to fall down in a fit, or asking permission to enter and sit -down, in order to prevent its coming on. No humane person could well -refuse admission to a man in apparent distress, of respectable -appearance, whose well-powdered wig and long ruffles induced a belief -that he was some decayed citizen of better days. The host would soon -learn that this was the rich Mr. Cooke, the sugar-baker, worth £100,000; -and this would lead to an introduction to the family, all of whom the -artful sugar-baker would pretend to admire, asking the fond mamma -particularly for their names all in writing. The parents, of course, -considered that there could be but one motive for asking such a question, -and the consequence was, as he pursued the plan with a score or two of -people, that so great was the quantity of poultry, game, vegetables, and -provisions of every kind which used to be sent him, that it did not cost -him in housekeeping, for himself and his domestics, more than -fifteen-pence a-day on an average; but it was considered as great -extravagance when the expenses of a day amounted to as much as two -shillings. - -Alas! however, in spite of all his parsimony, the sugar-baking business -did not pay. At the end of twelve months he found himself considerably -the poorer. This would never do; and in order to discover the secrets of -the trade to which he had been a stranger, he was induced to invite -several sugar-bakers to dine with him, and, after plying them with plenty -of wine, he put questions to some of the younger and more unguarded of -the trade, who, in a state of intoxication, made the desirable -discoveries. His wife, astonished at his being so unusually generous, -expressed her apprehensions about the expenses of the wine, but he told -her he would suck as much of the brains—his usual phrase—of some of the -fools as would amply repay him. His wife was as much a victim as any one -else. She died of a broken heart. After he had retired from business, -Cooke went to reside in Winchester Street, Pentonville, where he -cultivated his own cabbages on a plot of ground which had been originally -laid out for a garden. To get manure for his cabbages he would sally out -on moonlight nights, with a little shovel and a basket, and take up the -horse-dung that had been dropped in the course of the day in the City -Road. He seldom passed by a pump without taking a hearty drink. In his -daily visits to the Bank, he regaled himself at the pump near the Royal -Exchange. He was in the constant habit of pocketing the Bank paper, as -he never bought anything if he could get it for nothing. - -Notwithstanding Cooke’s inordinate love of money, he was fond of -amusement. It was said of Gilpin’s wife, that— - - “Though on pleasure she was bent, - She had a frugal mind.” - -It seems the same could be said of Cooke. For instance, he was very fond -of going to Epsom races. But these excursions never cost him anything, -for he always took care to fasten himself upon some of those people whom -he used to buoy up with assurances of making them his heirs. Thus he had -his ride to Epsom in his friend’s gig and back to town, his bed during -the time of the races, his meals, and every other accommodation at the -expense of his fellow-traveller, to whom, for all this treating, he never -had the generosity to offer so much as a bottle of wine in return. - -Cooke died as he had lived, a pauper in heart. To the last he cheated -everybody. In 1811, he took to his bed, and sent for several medical men -in the hope of obtaining some relief; but all knew him so well that not -one would attend, except Mr. Aldridge, who resided close by. Cooke -permitted this gentleman to send some medicine. On his last visit the -old man very earnestly entreated him to say candidly how long he thought -he might live. Mr. Aldridge answered that he might last six days. Cooke -collected as much of his exhausted strength as he could, raised himself -in his bed, and, darting a look of keenest indignation at the surgeon, -exclaimed, “And are not you a dishonest man, a rogue, a robber to serve -me so?” “How, sir?” asked the doctor, with surprise. “Why, sir, you are -no better than a pickpocket to rob me of my gold by sending two draughts -a-day to a man that all your physic will not keep alive for above six -days. Get out of my house, and never come near me again.” During the -last days of his existence he was extremely weak, and employed his few -remaining hours in arranging matters with his creditors. Some short time -before his death, one of his executors observed to him that he had -omitted to remember his two servants in his will; the one who had served -him as his housekeeper and nurse faithfully for upwards of ten years; the -other who used to lead him about the streets, particularly to the -Exchange Pump, to regale himself, and who was also a good nurse during -the time she lived with him; but Cooke answered, “Let them be paid their -wages to the day of my death—nothing more.” On the gentleman -remonstrating on the very great injustice it would be not to leave them -something, all he could obtain was twenty-five pounds for one and ten -pounds for the other, and even from that twenty-five, after his friend -had left the room, he took the will and struck out the word five. He -treated Dr. Lettisom quite as shabbily. In order to evince his -gratitude, he told the doctor that he would make an ample donation to any -public charity which he should recommend. After the doctor had taken the -pains to explain to him the objects of different charitable institutions, -Cooke fixed upon the Humane Society for the Recovery of the Apparently -Dead, intimating, at the same time, the extent of his fortune, and -confirming it by bringing his will in his pocket, which he submitted to -the doctor’s inspection. About three weeks before his decease, he -confidently assured Dr. Lettisom that, besides the ample provision he had -made for his numerous relatives and friends, and his two maid-servants, -and still more ample bequests to almshouses, he was in possession of a -surplus fund of £40,000 unappropriated, and desired the doctor to specify -such hospitals and dispensaries as he deemed most in want of funds their -support. The doctor gave himself an immense of trouble in the matter, -but all to no purpose, the will was read, it was found that he had left -but pounds to the Royal Humane Society, and to the doctor, for all the -trouble and plague he had given him, a plain gold ring. - -“Thus lived and died,” writes his biographer, “unpitied and unlamented, -in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and possessed of a property of -£127,205 Three per Cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities, a man whose life -was chequered with as few good actions as ever fell to the share of any -person that has lived to an advanced age.” - -It is not often that money is made by gambling; yet now and then this is -the case. General Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the -Duke of Portland, was known to have won at White’s £200,000, thanks to -his notorious sobriety and knowledge of the game of whist. The general -possessed a great advantage over his companions by avoiding those -indulgences at the table which used to muddle other men’s brains. He -confined himself to dining off a boiled chicken, with toast-and-water. -By such a regimen he came to the whist-table with a clear head, and -possessing, as he did, a remarkable memory, with great coolness of -judgment, he was enabled honestly to win the sum of £200,000. If the -general was not an eccentric money-getter, he evidently got his money in -an eccentric way. - -Equally successful was the millionaire Crockford, who was originally a -fishmonger, keeping a shop near Temple Bar. His fortune was all made at -his gambling-house in fifteen or sixteen years. A vast sum, perhaps half -a million, was sometimes due to him; but as he won all his debtors were -able to raise, and gave credit, it was hard for men of fashion, fond of -play, to keep out of his lures. He retired in 1840, much as an Indian -chief retires from a hunting country when there is not game enough left -for his tribe; and the club, which bore his name, tottered to its fall. -It really seems that at that time there were no more very high players -visiting the place. It was said that there were persons of rank and -station who had never paid their debts to Crockford up to 1844. - -Morissey, the well-known American gambler, has passed away. At one time -he kept a small drinking-saloon of the lowest character. So disreputable -was the place that it was closed by the authorities. Morissey was also a -prize-fighter. Drunken, brutal, without friends or money, he came from -Troy to New York to see what would turn up. At that time an election was -in progress; and elections were carried by brute force. There was no -registry law; and the injunction to vote early and vote often was -literally obeyed. In such a city, and at such a time, Morissey was in -his element. Having acquired a little money, he opened a place for play. -He became thoroughly temperate. He resolved to behave well, to be sober, -and not gamble. Those resolutions he carried out. His house in New York -was the most elegantly furnished of any of the kind in the State; the -table, the attendants, and the cooking, were of the first order. He -followed his patrons to Saratoga, and opened there what was called a -club-house; judges, senators, merchants, bankers, millionaires, became -his guests: the disguise was soon thrown off, and the club-house assumed -the form of a first-class gambling-house at the Springs. Horse-racing -and attendant games followed, all bringing custom and profit to -Morissey’s establishment; and thus he amassed a large fortune, and died -in the odour of respectability which wealth confers. Morissey, as -Congress man, was not exactly a working member. When he first went to -Washington, Mr. Colfax hardly knew on which of the committees of the -House it would be best to put him; so he said, in a very apologetic tone, -“Well, Mr. Morissey, I should be very glad to oblige in regard to a great -many old members, and all the best places belong by right to them. -Still, I will see what I can do for you.” “Well, Mr. Speaker,” said the -new member, “I am pretty particular; but 1 will, at any rate, tell you -what I want. If there is a committee that has no committee-room, never -has any business sent to it, and never meets, I should like to be put on -the tail-end of that committee. How does it strike you?” “You relieve -me wonderfully,” said Mr. Colfax. “I will put you on the Committee of -Revolutionary Pensions.” - -Another case of that rarity, a successful gambler, is thus described in -“Sunshine and Shadow,” in New York:—“A man lives in the upper part of -this city, and in fine style. He is reputed to be worth 500,000 dollars. -He came to New York penniless. He decided to take up play as a business; -not to keep a gambling-house, but to play every night as a trade. He -made certain rules which he has kept over thirty years. He would avoid -all forms of licentiousness, would attend church regularly on Sunday, -would avoid all low, disreputable company, would drink no kind of -intoxicating liquors, wine or ale, would neither smoke nor chew, would go -nightly to his play as a man would go to his office or his trade, would -play as long as he won, or until the bank broke, would lose a certain sum -and no more; when he lost that he would stop playing, and leave the room -for the night; if he lost ten nights, he would wait till his luck -changed;” and this system he followed exactly, while tens of thousands -around him were carried away into irretrievable ruin. - -As I write I see the report of a peculiar case heard in Dublin, before -Chief Justice Morris and a special jury; and, as the _Times’_ -correspondent informs us, some very curious revelations were made in the -course of the hearing. The action was brought by a Mr. Kavanagh to -recover £7,000 on account of work and labour alleged to have been done by -the plaintiff in his capacity of manager to the defendant, a Mr. Henry -Lindsay, a bill-discounter, who, it was stated, did business to the -extent of £20,000 to £30,000 a month, and who lived alone in a large -house in a respectable street, sleeping on a stretcher, and having bills -on the house announcing it as to be let, in order that he might avoid, as -he actually succeeded in avoiding, the payment of rates, on the plea that -he was merely caretaker of the house. It also came out that defendant, -who was advanced in years, had recently paid £5,000 to compromise an -action for breach of promise of marriage. So the old gentleman had a -soft side after all! - -One of the great millionaires of France was Ouvrard, the financier—a man -sprung from a very humble origin, but of great financial capacity. -During his long career of success, which lasted from the latter part of -the last century till 1830, he made and spent millions of money. He was -ruined by making large sales in the funds, under the expectation that the -government of Louis Philippe could not stand. He was born in 1770; and -his first operation, which consisted in buying up all the paper made in -Poitou and Angoumois, and retailing it at an immense profit to the Paris -booksellers, laid the foundation of his fortune. He soon afterwards made -a contract for provisioning the Spanish fleet, which had joined the -French squadron in 1797, and made a net profit of £600,000. In 1800, he -was supposed to possess a million and a-half of English money. Soon -after he had the contract for supplying the French army in the campaign -which closed with the battle of Marengo. His prosperity continued for -many years; and in 1812, the government owed him, for enormous advances -made by him, nearly three millions of English money. He was -_Munitionnaire-Général_ for the Waterloo campaign; and, in 1828, -contracted to supply the Duc d’Angoulême with everything necessary for -the entry of the French army into Spain; but the misfulfilment of his -contract entailed heavy losses on him, and in 1830 he was completely -ruined. - -No man was more reckless in his expenditure, nor more magnificent in his -manner of living. At the time of the Directory, the _fêtes_ given by him -were the theme of the whole of Parisian society at that time. At his -splendid villa near Rueil, during the Empire, he was in the habit of -giving suppers to all the _corps de ballet_ of the opera twice a-week, -and he used to send several carriages, splendidly equipped, to bear away -the principal performers when the performance was over. There an -enormous white marble bath, as large as an ordinary-sized saloon, was -prepared for such of the ladies as, in the summer, chose to bathe on -their arrival. There a splendid supper was laid out, of which the fair -bathers and many of the pleasure-seekers of the day partook; and, besides -every luxury of the culinary art, prepared by the best cooks in Paris, -each lady received a donation of fifty louis, and the one fortunate -enough to attract the especial notice of the wealthy host a large sum of -money. Mademoiselle Georges, the celebrated tragedian of that day, cost -him, as he was fond of relating, a large sum of money. He had invited -her to sup with him at his villa; but the very day she was to come, a -note informed him that she was compelled to give up the pleasure of -supping with him, as the Emperor Napoleon had given her a rendezvous for -the same time, which she dared not refuse. Ouvrard was furious at this -_contretemps_, and he could not bear to yield the _pas_ to _le petit -Bonaparte_, whom he had known as a young captain of artillery, too happy -to be invited to his house in the days of the Directory; and under this -feeling, with a hint to the lady that she would find 100,000 francs -served up at supper, he prevailed on the actress to give the emperor the -slip. The following day the great financier received a summons forthwith -to appear at the Tuileries, and was ushered into the emperor’s presence. -After walking once or twice up and down the room, the great man turned -sharp round on his unwilling guest, and, with his eagle eye riveted on -Ouvrard’s face, sternly demanded, “Monsieur, how much did you make by -your contract for the army at the beginning of the year?” The capitalist -knew it was vain to equivocate, and replied, “4,000,000 francs, sire.” -“Then, sir, you made too much; so pay immediately 2,000,000 francs into -the treasury.” And Ouvrard, says old Captain Gronow, who tells the -story, immediately did—much, probably, to his vexation and disgust. - -Before the French Revolution, the largest fortunes in France were -possessed by the farmers of the revenue, or _fermiers généraux_. Their -profits were enormous, and their probity was very doubtful. It is -related, that one evening at Ferney, when the company were telling -stories of robbers, they asked their host, Voltaire, for one on the same -subject. The great man, taking up his flat candlestick, as when about to -retire, began—“There was once upon a time a _fermier général_—I have -forgotten the rest.” - -In the Bagot will case we see another illustration of the way in which -money is made, and the dissipation and extravagance to which it leads. -Mr. Bagot, a colonial adventurer, returned to Ireland with the reputation -of enormous wealth, and married the daughter of a baronet. Paralysed as -he was, a son was born to him, which he disowned. The Bagot case ended -in a verdict setting aside the late Mr. Bagot’s will, and disinheriting -the infant son, and thus Mrs. Bagot was in a measure legally -rehabilitated. The disclosures at the trial, however, revealed a -panorama of years of extravagance, folly, and riot, which is, we trust, -exceptional. The whole story of the Australian millionaire, Mr. Bagot, -is fraught with details that can only disgust; and it would have been -much better if the public had been spared recitals which, however -entertaining to frivolous persons, can hardly serve any good purpose by -the extraordinary publicity they have now gained. Should a new trial -take place, a good deal of the money must pass into the lawyers’ hands. - -Not long ago the death was announced of M. Basilewski, the Rothschild of -Russia, which took place at St. Petersburg, at the age of ninety-two. -The deceased, who was the father of Princess Souvaroff, was the owner of -gold mines in Siberia, which have already produced for him more than -100,000,000 of francs. - -In America, even literary men, if they have luck, make money. It is -reported of “Josh Billings” (Henry W. Shaw) that he made more money than -almost any American author by persistent working of his peculiar vein of -humour. Some years he got as much as 4,000 dollars from a weekly -newspaper for exclusive contributions: he made 5,000 or 6,000 dollars by -lecturing, and had a profit from his almanack of 8,000 or 9,000 dollars -more—18,000 to 20,000 dollars per annum. That is five or six times as -much as Emerson, Hawthorne, Lowell, or Holmes had ever made. - -One of the most marvellous careers in London is that of Baron Grant, who -commenced his city life as a clerk in a wine-merchant’s office in Mark -Lane, and whose capacity in the way of “financing” and “promoting public -companies” appears to have been unrivalled. Of course he made himself -many enemies; but that is the way of the world. The men who are the -first to fling stones at a successful rival, and to call him hard names, -are the men who morally have no claim to be censors on the ground of -higher principle or superior virtue. It is thus the unlucky ones revenge -themselves on their luckier rivals. They are prone to hit a man when he -is risen in the world. Nowhere is there more lack of charity, or more -evil speaking of one another, than in the circles where Mammon is king, -and where the great object of life is held to be the art of money-getting -and money-making. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. -MORE MONEY-MAKING M.P.’S. - - -LET me, in this chapter, give the first place to Samuel Plimsoll, a man -who, if he made money, spent it nobly, and deserved the peerage far more -than many who have been elected to that honour—at any rate, from the time -the Earl of Beaconsfield became Premier. He was down very low in the -social scale, and it is thus he writes of his noble poverty and of his -companions in misfortune, in that appeal on behalf of our seamen, which -stirred up the community as with the voice of a trumpet, and actually -forced parliament to legislate. “I don’t wish,” he writes, “to disparage -the rich; but I think it may reasonably be doubted whether these -qualities are so fully developed in them” (he had been writing of the -honesty, of the strong aversion to idleness, of the generosity to one -another in adversity, and of the splendid courage of the working -classes); “for notwithstanding that not a few of them are not -unacquainted with the claims, reasonable and unreasonable, of poor -relations, these qualities are not in such constant exercise, and riches -seem, in so many cases, to smother the manliness of their possessors, -that their sympathies become not so much narrowed as, so to speak, -stratified; they are reserved for the sufferings of their own class, and -also the woes of those above them. They seldom tend downwards much, and -they are far more likely to admire an act of high courage, like that of -the engine-driver who saved his passengers lately from an awful collision -by cool courage, than to admire the constantly-exercised fortitude and -the tenderness which are the daily characteristics of a British workman’s -life. - -“You may doubt this. I should once have done so myself; but I have -shared their lot; I have lived with them. For months and months I lived -in one of the model lodging-houses, established mainly by the efforts of -Lord Shaftesbury. There is one in Fetter Lane, another in Hatton Garden; -and, indeed, they are scattered all over London. I went there simply -because I could not afford a better lodging. I have had to make seven -shillings and ninepence halfpenny (three shillings of which I paid for my -lodging) last me a whole week, and did it. It is astonishing how little -you can live on when you divest yourself of all fancied needs. I had -plenty of good wheaten bread to eat all the week, and the half of a -herring for a relish (less will do if you can’t afford half, for it is a -splendid fish), and good coffee to drink; and I know how much, or rather -how little, roast shoulder-of-mutton you can get for twopence for your -Sunday’s dinner. Don’t suppose I went there from choice; I went from -stern necessity (and this was promotion too), and I went with strong -shrinking, with a sense of suffering great humiliation, regarding my -being there as a thing to be kept carefully secret from all my old -friends. In a word, I considered it only less degrading than spunging -upon my friends, or borrowing what I saw no chance of ever being able to -pay. - -“Now, what did I see there? I found the workmen considerate for each -other. I found that they would go out (those who were out of -employment), day after day, and patiently trudge miles and miles seeking -employment, returning, night after night, unsuccessful and dispirited. -They would walk incredibly long distances to places where they heard of a -job of work, and this not for a few days, but for very many days. And I -have seen such a man sit down wearily by the fire (we had a common room -for sitting, and cooking, and everything), with a hungry despondent -look—he had not tasted food all day—and accosted by another scarcely less -poor than himself, with—‘Here, mate, get this into thee,’ handing him, at -the same time, a piece of bread and some cold meat, and afterwards some -coffee; and adding, ‘Better luck to-morrow—keep up your pecker;’ and all -this without any idea that they were practising the most splendid -patience, fortitude, courage, and generosity I had ever seen. You would -hear them talk of absent wife and children sometimes—there in a distant -workhouse—trade was very bad then—with expressions of affection, and the -hope of seeing them again, although the one was irreverently alluded to -as my old woman, and the latter as the kids. I very soon got rid of -miserable self-pity there, and came to reflect that Dr. Livingstone would -probably be thankful for good wheaten bread; and if the bed was of flock -and hay, and the sheets of cotton, that better men than I in the Crimea -(the war was then going on) would think themselves very lucky to have as -good; and then, too, I began to reflect, that when you come to think of -it, such as these men were, so were the vast majority of the working -classes; that the idle and the drunken we see about public-houses, are -but a small minority of them made to appear more—because public-houses -are all put in such places; that the great bulk are at home; for the man -who has to be up at six in the morning can’t stay up at night; he is in -bed early, and is as I found my fellow inmates. * * * Well, it was -impossible to indulge in self-pity in circumstances like these; and -emulous of the genuine manhood all around me, I set to work again; for -what might not be done with youth and health; and simply by preparing -myself rather more thoroughly for my business than had previously been -considered necessary, I was soon strong enough to live more in accordance -with my previous life, and am now able to speak a true word for the -genuine men I left behind, simply because my dear parents had given me -greater advantages than these men had.” In this confession we see the -secrets of Mr. Plimsoll’s ultimate success—the better education his -parents had given him, and the courage infused into him by the example of -men lower down in the social scale. Under these circumstances he again -went to work, and the result was fame and fortune. - -The great railway king, Mr. G. Hudson, was, for a time, a money-making -M.P., who rose from the linendraper’s shop at York, to be the observed of -all observers, the lion of the day, to whom, while his money lasted, the -oldest and the proudest aristocracy in the world stood cap in hand. -Alas! however, he outlived his wealth. It took to itself wings, and flew -away. - -The mother of Joseph Hume, M.P., kept a small crockery shop at Montrose; -and yet her son went out to India, made a large fortune, and came back to -his native land to be a distinguished member of parliament, and a leader -in political and economical reform. - -Mr. I. Holden, when M.P. for the eastern division of the West Riding of -Yorkshire, told a large meeting of the electors at Leeds about his -earlier years. “I began life,” he said, “as an operative. I was a -worker in a cotton-mill, and when I had worked fourteen hours a-day, I -spent two in the evening school. I educated myself by that means till I -was able to continue my education by assisting in the education of -others; and I sometimes remember with intense emotion, entering, upon a -stage-coach, the town of Leeds, unknown, and a perfect stranger, at -twenty years of age, in order to be the mathematical master in one of the -first schools then in Yorkshire, and almost one of the first in England. -I spent many happy months in the town of Leeds.” When he began to take -an interest in politics, he watched the course of the two great parties -on the subject of Catholic emancipation and the emancipation of the -slaves, and became a Liberal. - -Edward Baines, who became M.P. for Leeds, and the proprietor of one of -the most valuable newspaper properties in the kingdom, the _Leeds -Mercury_, set off to make his fortune in 1793. His son writes:—“There -was at that time no public conveyance on the direct route from Preston to -Leeds, and the journey by coach, through Manchester, would have occupied -two days. The frugal apprentice, stout of heart and limb, performed the -journey on foot, with his bundle on his arm. A friend accompanied him to -Clithero; but he crossed the hill into Yorkshire with no companion but -his staff, and all his worldly wealth in his pocket. Wayworn he entered -the town of Leeds, and, finding the shop of Messrs. Binns and Brown, he -inquired if they had room for an apprentice to finish his time. The -stranger was carelessly referred to the foreman; and, as he entered the -_Mercury_ office, he internally resolved that, if he should obtain -admission there, he would never leave it.” And he kept his word. A man -does what he wills. To succeed in life—to be even a rich man or an -M.P.—is mainly the result of the effort of the indomitable will of a -resolute and persevering man. - -Mr. Baines succeeded because his maxim was, that what was worth doing, -was worth doing well. “He laid the foundations of future success,” -writes his son, “as a master, in the thorough knowledge and performance -of the duties of a workman. Whilst still receiving weekly wages, he -practised a prudent economy. He was anxious to improve his condition, -and he took the only effectual means to do it by saving as much as he -could of the fruits of his industry. His tastes were simple, his habits -strictly temperate, and his companionships virtuous. Always maintaining -respectability of appearance, he was superior to personal display. He -lodged with a worthy family; but on a scale of expense suited to his -circumstances.” An early marriage seems to have increased his business -energy. “At five o’clock in the morning, and, when occasion required, at -four or three, was the young printer out of bed; and whatever neighbour -rose early was sure to find him in his office. He was above no kind of -work that belonged to his trade. He not only directed others, but worked -himself at case and press. He kept his own books, and they still remain -to attest the regularity and neatness with which he kept them, though he -had no training in that department. Not a penny went or came but had its -record, either in his office or his domestic account-books. In -consequence, he always knew the exact position of his affairs. His -customers and friends steadily increased; for it was found that he was to -be depended upon for whatever he undertook. With a spirit that stooped -to no meanness, but with a nature that cheerfully yielded all respect and -courtesy; with a temper as steady as it was sanguine and happy; with -constant prudence and unfailing attention to duty, he won the confidence -of every one that knew him. His punctuality and method were exemplary; -he conducted his business, in all respects, in the best way. He not only -took any employment for his press, however humble, that came, but he -devised and suggested publications, and joined others in executing them. -But,” adds the son, “it was necessary that energy in business should be -seconded by economy at home. He began by laying down the rule that he -would not spend more than half his income; and he acted upon it. Great -was his resolution, and many the contrivances to carry out his purpose; -but husband and wife being of the same mind, assiduous and equally -prudent, the thing was done. For some time they kept but one servant. A -main secret of his frugality was, that he created no artificial wants. -He always drank water. He never smoked, justly thinking it a waste of -time and money to gratify a taste which does not exist naturally, but has -to be formed. He took no snuff. Neither tavern nor theatre saw his -face. The circle of his visiting acquaintance was small and select. Yet -he was not an earth-worm. He took an active part in the Benevolent or -Strangers’ Friend Society, and was a man of public spirit. The pure joys -of domestic life, the pleasures of industry, and the satisfaction of -doing good, combined to make him as happy as he was useful.” - -Thus it will be seen that the foundation of Mr. Baines’s success in life, -and of his eminent usefulness, was laid in those homely virtues which are -too often despised by the young and ardent, but which are of incomparably -greater value than the most shining qualities—in integrity, industry, -perseverance, prudence, frugality, temperance, self-denial, and courtesy. -The young man who would use his harvest must plough with his heifer. - -If there is a passage in all his life of which his descendants are and -ought to be most proud, it is that lowly commencement, when virtuous -habits were formed; when the temptations of youth were resisted; when -life-long friendships were won; when domestic life began in love, and -piety, and prudence; when a venerable neighbour, Mr. Abraham Dickinson, -used to remark, “Those young people are sure to get on, they are so -industrious;” and when the same good man said to a young friend at his -elbow—“C—, thou seest an example in thy neighbour Edward.” - -“All’s well that ends well,” says the proverb. It is true; yet it is -also of immense importance to begin well. Mr. Baines, some years since, -was watching an apprentice, whose habits were not steady, fold up a -newspaper. At the first fold there was a wrinkle, and at every -succeeding fold the wrinkle grew worse, and more unmanageable. Mr. -Baines said significantly to the lad—“Jim, its a bad thing to begin -wrongly.” The poor fellow found it so; for he soon fell a victim to his -vices. His master had begun right, and every succeeding fold in life was -easy and straight. The lesson is worth remembering. - -Another illustration of money-making is to be found in the case of -William James Chaplin, a native of Rochester, in Kent, whose history -affords a remarkable example of the way in which a man rises from the -humblest ranks, by talent and energy, to a place amongst the most -influential and wealthy men of the day. Before railways were in -operation, Mr. Chaplin had succeeded in becoming one of the largest coach -proprietors in the kingdom. His establishment grew from small -beginnings, until, just before the opening of the London and -North-Western Railway, he was proprietor of sixty-four stage-coaches, -worked by 1,500 horses, and returning yearly more than a million -sterling. A man who could build up such a business was not likely to let -it sink under him; and, accordingly, we find that he moved his large -capital from four-horse coaches into railway shares, and entered largely -in foreign railways, especially in France and Holland. His greatest -stake, however, was invested in the London and South-Western, of which he -became director, and afterwards chairman. In 1845, he was Sheriff of -London, when he took some pains to promote prison reform; and, in 1847, -was elected M.P. for Salisbury, as a supporter of free trade and the -ballot. He was also a deputy-lieutenant of the county of Hants. - -One of the most remarkable careers was that of Mr. Lindsay, M.P., who was -a native of Ayre, in Scotland, where he was born in 1816, and left an -orphan at six. When only fifteen years of age he commenced his career, -leaving home with three shillings and sixpence in his pocket, to push his -way as a sea-boy. He worked his way to Liverpool by trimming coals in -the coal-hole of a steamer. Arrived in that great commercial emporium, -he found himself friendless and destitute, and seven long weeks passed -before he was able to find employment, four of which were spent in such -utter destitution that he was reduced to the necessity of sleeping in the -streets and sheds of Liverpool, often eating nothing but what he begged -for. At length he was fortunate enough to be engaged in the _Isabella_, -a West Indiaman; and such were the hardships to which the cabin-boy of -that day was subjected, that, at times, it might almost be questioned -whether the change was for the better. But William Lindsay was not a lad -to be discouraged by hardships. Pressing steadily onward, in 1834, three -years after he had first joined the ship in the humblest capacity, he was -appointed to the position of second mate; but even when fortune had begun -to smile upon him, her face was not altogether unclouded; for in the same -year he was shipwrecked, and had both legs and one arm broken. The -following year he was promoted to be chief mate; and in 1836, in his -nineteenth year, he was appointed to the command of the _Olive Branch_, -which seems, however, so to have belied her name, that, being in the -Persian Gulf in 1839, in a hostile encounter, her commander was cut down -by a sabre-stroke across the breast, he at the same time killing his -assailant by a pistol-shot. The following year Mr. Lindsay retired from -the sea, and, in 1841, was appointed agent for the Castle-Eden Coal -Company. He was mainly instrumental in getting Hartlepool made an -independent port, and rendered material assistance in the establishment -of its docks and wharves. In 1845, he removed to London, and laid the -foundation of that extensive business which now entitles him to -recognition as one of the “merchant princes” of the metropolis. Nor, -amid all the bustle and occupation of a busy life, did Mr. Lindsay lose -sight of his mental improvement. Devoting his spare evening hours, which -thousands waste in idleness or dissipation, to self-instruction, he -speedily overcame the defects of his early education, and stored his mind -with a variety of sound information, which has been of essential service -to him in his subsequent career. In proof how profitably he employed -these hours of study, it may be stated that he has published various -pamphlets and letters on questions connected with the shipping interest, -in which he himself holds so large a stake; as well as a more important -work, entitled “Our Navigation and Mercantile Marine Laws.” No sooner -was his position as one of the largest shipowners and shipbrokers in the -kingdom achieved, than he resolved to get into parliament. He contested -Monmouth in April, and Dartmouth in July, 1852, in both of which he was -beaten by aristocratic influence, and the unsparing use of other means of -corruption. Undaunted by these defeats, and determined to succeed at -last, even if twenty times defeated, and to succeed, too, by purity and -principle alone, he became a candidate for Tynemouth in March, 1854, and, -after a severe struggle, was elected by a narrow majority of seventeen. -In 1857, he was again elected without opposition. When engaged in the -contest at Dartmouth, Mr. Lindsay gave the electors an account of his -career and his commercial position, which shows, in a striking light, the -magnitude of the operations of a large mercantile establishment. He -then, it appeared, owned twenty-two large first-class ships; and, as an -underwriter, he had, in his individual capacity, during the past year, -insured risks to the amount of £2,800,000. In the conduct of their -extensive export trade, the firm of W. S. Lindsay and Co., of Austin -Friars, ship and insurance brokers, of which he is the head, had, during -the same year, chartered 700 ships to all parts of the world, but -principally in India and the Mediterranean, and, as contractors, had -shipped 100,000 tons of coals, and 150,000 tons of iron; whilst, as -brokers, during the year of famine, their operations extended to -1,000,000 quarters of grain. Mr. Lindsay took part in the formation of -the Administrative Reform Association; and being present at the -initiatory meeting at the London Tavern, proposed one of the resolutions -in an amusing speech, in which he detailed his experiences connected with -the subject, both at home and abroad. In the hot debates, occasioned by -neglect and maladministration, on the Crimean war, he became quite a man -of mark in the House of Commons. And after his retirement from -parliament, he published a valuable and expensive book on the “History of -Shipping and British Commerce.” - -In connection with this subject must also be mentioned the respected name -of Mr. Brotherton, who used often to tell the House of the time when he -himself had been a poor factory lad, but who died wealthy and universally -lamented. - -Sir Samuel Morton Peto, the constructor of many of the greatest -engineering works in the country, and who for many years represented -Norwich in parliament, worked for seven years as a bricklayer, carpenter, -and mason, under his uncle, Mr. Henry Peto. - -Sir Francis Crossley, M.P., also was born in very humble circumstances, -and acquired the enormous wealth of which he became possessed by his own -energy and enterprise. Halifax, which he represented in parliament, and -where his manufactory was situated, bore witness to his liberality. - -Another M.P. who sprung from the ranks was Mr. Joseph Cowen, who -represented—as his son still represents—Newcastle-on-Tyne. Such was his -integrity, and patriotism, and perseverance, that no man was more -respected in parliament or out. Crowned with grey hairs, his tall, -muscular frame, and big head, denoted a more than average amount of -physical and mental strength. As a member of parliament, he was noted -for the regularity of his attendance. In this respect he was unrivalled. - -I have already written that the late Mr. Herbert Ingram, M.P., blacked -the shoes of one of his constituents. He was born at Boston, in -Lincolnshire, and was then apprenticed to one of his constituents. After -completing the terms of his indenture, Mr. Ingram moved to Nottingham, -where he carried on business as printer, bookseller, and news-agent. -Whilst a newsvendor, he displayed, in a remarkable degree, that industry -and perseverance for which he became distinguished in after-life. Two -instances of his extraordinary attention to business may be cited. There -was, amongst his customers, a gentleman who wanted his news very early, -and Mr. Ingram, anxious that the gentleman should not be disappointed, -walked five miles, and of course five miles back, to serve a single -customer. On one occasion he got up at five in the morning, and -travelled to London to get some copies of a paper because there was no -post to bring them, and being determined that his customers should have -the news. His industry had its reward, for he sold above 1,000 copies of -that paper in Nottingham; and it was from his experience as a newsvendor, -and in the sale of metropolitan prints, that he thought of the -speculation which was destined to make his fortune. He used to notice -that a very bad wood-cut in an old number of a newspaper would make it -sell; and it occurred to him, that if he had a number of good engravings, -and put them in a paper, they would be likely to make it sell. -Accordingly, in May, 1842, an experiment was resolved on, and the first -number of the _Illustrated News_ made its appearance. His success was -immense; but he had learned the secret of it from his experience in the -humble and laborious calling of a newspaper vendor. Indeed, the very -title of the new journal was suggested by the fact that the most -illiterate of his customers had been in the habit of coming to ask him -for the London news: they did not care what he sold them so long as he -gave them the London news; and he wisely came to the conclusion, as that -name suited the poorest class, it would suit all classes; and thus his -sagacity reaped a rich reward, and he became a famous as well as a -wealthy man. It is thus the House of Commons has become enriched by the -brains of some of the most successful money-makers of their time. - - - - -CHAPTER X. -GEORGE MOORE, CITIZEN AND PHILANTHROPIST. - - -IN 1825, a country lad arrived in London on the day before Good Friday. -As he was born in 1806, he was about twenty years of age. He had served -his apprenticeship with a linendraper at Wigton, where his master did not -prosper, and the young man determined to come to London in search of a -fortune. It was a wearisome ride then from Carlisle to London, and took -the coaches at least a couple of days; but it is a long journey that has -no end to it. In due time the coach reached the “Swan with Two Necks,” -in Lad Lane, Wood Street, and, after paying the coachman, the young man -from the country took up his residence at the “Magpie and Platter.” As -may be supposed, he felt rather lonely, and did not know what to do with -himself. He was too much fatigued, besides, to look after a situation; -so on Good Friday, as he knew the Cumberland men held their annual -wrestling match on that day, he made his way to Chelsea to observe the -sports. When he arrived there he found a young Quaker friend from -Torpenbow, who had won the belt at Keswick a few years before. The -new-comer, inspired by the event, entered his name as a wrestler. He was -described by some, who were present on the occasion, “as very -strong-looking, middle-sized, with a broad chest, and strongly-developed -muscles;” his hair was dark and curly, and almost black; his eyes were -brown, and glowed under excitement to a deeper brown; his face was -redolent of health. The new-comer “peeled” and stepped into the ring. -The first man he came against was a little bigger than himself; but he -threw him so cleverly, that the questions were asked on every side—“Who’s -that?” “Where does he come from?” “What’s his name?” His name was soon -known; and as he wrestled again, and threw his man, he was hailed with -cries of, “Weel done.” Again he succeeded; and though beaten at length -by a noted champion wrestler from Cumberland, the young man from the -country was hailed as the winner of the third prize. His name was George -Moore, and it was thus he made his _débût_ in London in the year 1825. -It is needless to say that he was recognised by his countrymen, and -treated to drink. It was the wish that he should have another wrestling -bout, and wagers were made on the subject; but to the credit of George -Moore it must be stated, that when he saw some of the lads around him -were taking more drink than was good for them, he made up his mind not to -wrestle in the proposed match, and left his admirers indignant at his -decision. - -On his return, Moore learned that the inn—indeed, the very bed in which -he had slept—had become notorious; for Thurtell, the well-known murderer, -had been taken from it by the police some time before. Moore was -horror-struck, and determined to seek fresh lodgings. He was fortunate -in finding very suitable ones in Wood Street, and thence he set out to -find a situation. It was hard work the search. People laughed at his -north-country accent, and rustic air and clothes. In one day he entered -as many as thirty linendrapers’ shops. “The keenest cut of all I got,” -Moore used to say, “was from Mr. Charles Meeking, of Holborn. He asked -me if I wanted a porter’s situation. This almost broke my heart.” -Fortunately, Mr. Ray, of Flint, Ray, and Co., had heard of the arrival of -the Cumberland lad; indeed, he had been looking out for him, and he -offered Moore £30 a-year, which the latter gratefully accepted. At that -time Moore gave no promise of being worth much more. His first -appearance is thus described:—“On incidentally looking over to the -haberdashery counter, I saw an uncouth, thick-set country lad, standing -crying. In a minute or two a large deal chest, such as the Scotch -servant-lasses use for their clothes, was brought in by a man and set -down on the floor. After the lad had dried up his tears, the box was -carried up-stairs to the bedroom where he was to sleep. After he had -come down-stairs he began working, and he continued to be the hardest -worker in the house until he left.” - -The Moore family were not penniless. George Moore was not one of the men -who came to London with half-a-crown, and with that half-a-crown swell -out into Rothschilds. His father was a man of ancient descent, though of -moderate means, and was one of the old Cumberland statesmen—a race of -landed proprietors unfortunately fast vanishing away. His godfather left -him a legacy of £100, and a hair-trunk studded with nails. His mother, -who was a statesman’s daughter, died when he was six years old. At eight -the boy was sent to school. The master was drunken and brutal, and -naturally the school was unattractive. Under a new master, however, the -lad did better. When twelve, his father sent him to a finishing school -at Blennerhasset, and he remained there for a quarter, at an expense of -eight shillings. “The master,” he adds, “was a good writer, and a -superior man—indeed, a sort of genius. For the first time I felt that -there was some use in learning, and then I began to feel how ignorant I -was. However, I never swerved from my resolve to go away from home. I -had no tastes in common with my brother. I felt that I could not hang -about half idle, with no better prospect before me than of being a farm -servant. So I determined that I would leave home at thirteen, and fight -the battle of life for myself.” It was while an apprentice that this -feeling strengthened and matured. Card-playing had been to him a snare; -but he conquered the temptation, and became all the better for the -struggle with inclination, which appears to have been sharp and severe. - -But let us return to Moore’s London life. After he had been six months -at Grafton House, one day Moore observed a bright little girl come -tripping into the warehouse, accompanied by her mother. “Who are they?” -he asked. “Why, don’t you know?” was the reply. “That’s the governor’s -wife and daughter.” “Well,” said George, “if ever I marry, that girl -shall be my wife;” and he kept his word. - -In 1826, somewhat disgusted with the retail trade (especially as, owing -to a mistake of his own, his integrity had been called in question by one -of the customers, a lady of title), Moore entered the house of Fisher, -Stroud, and Robinson, Watling Street, then the first lace-house in the -City of London. His salary was to be £40 a-year, and he wrote word to -his father that he was now a made man. How came this to be so? In the -first place, Moore had earned a good character at Grafton House; and, -secondly, Mr. Fisher, the head of the lace-house, was a Cumberland man. -Provincial ties were stronger half a century back in London than they are -now; but be that as it may, Moore had much to learn in his new place. He -was inaccurate—he lacked briskness and promptitude. Mr. Fisher blamed -his stupidity; he said he had seen many a stupid blockhead from -Cumberland, but that he was the greatest of them all. This censure seems -to have done Moore good. He set about educating himself. He was so -ashamed of his ignorance, that he actually went into a night-school. It -was at Fisher’s that Moore met with Mr. Crampton, afterwards his partner. -The latter writes—“We became close companions. His friends were my -friends, and so intimate were we, that I seemed to merge into a -Cumberland lad. George was very patriotic. All our friends were -Cumberlanders; and though I was a Yorkshireman, I was almost induced to -feign that I was Cumberland too. I was gayer than he, and he never -failed to tell me of my faults. He was a strong, round-shouldered -fellow. He was very cheerful and very willing. He worked hard, and -seemed to be bent on improvement; but in other respects he did not strike -me as anything remarkable. Among the amusements which we attended -together were the wrestling matches at St. John’s Wood. The principal -match was held on Good Friday. One day we went to the wrestling-field, -and George entered his name. The competitors drew lots. George’s -antagonist was a Life-Guardsman, over six feet high. I think I see -Moore’s smile now as he stood opposite the giant. The giant smiled too. -Then they went at it _gat hod_, and George was soon gently laid on his -back. By this time he was out of practice, and I don’t think he ever -wrestled again. Besides, he was soon so full of work as to have little -time for amusement.” - -After this Mr. Moore became traveller to the firm, and excelled, not only -in increasing the business of his employers, but in the shortness of time -in which he performed his journeys. He used afterwards to remark, that -it was the best testing-work for a young man before his promotion to -places of greater trust. At the inns which he frequented he was regarded -as a sort of hero. To show the energy with which he carried on his -business, it may be mentioned that on one occasion he arrived in -Manchester, and after unpacking his goods, he called upon his first -customer. He was informed that one of his opponents had reached the town -the day before, and would remain there for a day or two more. “Then,” -said Moore, “it is no use wasting my time with my competitor before me.” -He returned to his hotel, called some of his friends about him to help -him repack his stock, drove off to Liverpool, commenced business next -day, and secured the greater part of the orders before the arrival of his -opponent. It was while travelling in Ireland that Moore met Groucock, -then travelling for a rival firm. They had a keen fight for trade, and -Moore succeeded in regaining a good deal of it for his own firm. -Groucock, convinced of Moore’s value, offered him £500 a-year (he was -only getting £150 from Fisher) to travel for his firm. Moore’s reply -was, “I will be a servant for no other house than Fisher’s; the only -condition on which I will leave him is a partnership.” At length -Groucock gave way; and in 1830, at the age of twenty-three, Moore entered -as partner in the firm of Groucock, Copestake, and Moore. The firm was -originally established in 1825, and their first place of business was -over a trunk-shop at No. 7, Cheapside. In 1834, the firm removed to Bow -Churchyard. The capital contributed by George Moore was £670, supplied -him by his father. His line was to travel for the firm, which he did -with increased assiduity. Frequently he was up two nights in the week. - -There are many amusing stories told of the way in which Moore got his -orders. A draper in a Lancashire town refused to deal with him. The -travellers at the hotel bet him five pounds that he could not get an -order, and Moore started off. When the draper saw him entering the shop, -he cried out, “All full, all full, Mr. Moore; I told you so before!” -“Never mind,” said George, “you won’t object to a crack?” “Oh, no,” said -the draper. They cracked about many things, and then George Moore, -calling the draper’s attention to a new coat which he wore, asked what he -thought of it? “It is a capital coat,” said the draper. “Yes; made in -the best style, by a first-rate London tailor.” The draper looked at it -again, and again admired it. “Why,” said George, “you are exactly my -size; it’s quite new; I’ll sell it you.” “What’s the price?” -“Twenty-five shillings.” “What? That’s very cheap.” “Yes, it’s a great -bargain.” “Then I’ll buy it,” said the draper. George went back to his -hotel, donned another suit, and sent the great bargain to the draper. -George again calling, the draper offered to pay him. “No,” said George, -“I’ll book it; you’ve opened an account.” Mr. Moore had sold the coat at -a loss, but he was recouped by the £5 bet which he won, and he obtained -an order besides. The draper afterwards became one of his best -customers. - -On another occasion, a draper at Newcastle-upon-Tyne was always called -upon, many times without a result. He was always full; in fact, he had -no intention of opening an account with the new firm. Mr. Moore got to -know that he was fond of a particular kind of snuff—rappee, with a touch -of beggar’s brown in it. He provided himself with a box in London, and -had it filled with the snuff. When at Newcastle he called upon the -draper, but was met, as usual, with the remark, “Quite full, quite full, -sir.” “Well,” said Mr. Moore, “I scarcely expected an order, but I -called upon you for a reference.” “Oh, by all means.” In the course of -conversation George took out his snuff-box, took a pinch, and put if in -his pocket. After a short interval he took it out again, took another -pinch, and said, “I suppose you are not guilty of this bad habit?” -“Sometimes,” said the draper. George handed him the box; he took a pinch -with zest, and said through the snuff, “Well, that’s very fine.” George -had him now. He said, “Let me present you with the box; I have plenty -more.” The draper accepted the box; no order was asked, but the next -time George called upon him he got his first order. No wonder Moore -succeeded; and it was well he did. Times were bad; and it was his -opinion, that had he been laid up for three months the firm would have -stopped payment. At the end of three years Moore was made equal as a -partner with the rest. - -In 1840, after one refusal, Moore led his first love to the altar; and in -1841 he partially abandoned travelling; but the change from travelling to -office-work at first materially told upon his health. To remedy this he -took to fox-hunting, and went to America, partly on business and partly -on pleasure. One of the results of his visit to the great republic, was -the establishment of a branch of the firm at Nottingham, and the erection -of a lace factory in that town. After this he became a director of the -Commercial Travellers’ Benevolent Institution, and one of the most ardent -supporters of the Cumberland Benevolent Society, and of the Commercial -Travellers’ Schools. From the first he was the treasurer of the latter -institution. His partners were glad to see him thus employed. They -called them his safety-valves. His holidays were spent in Cumberland, a -county for which his love was strong till the last, and to the schools of -which he was ever a liberal contributor. Indeed, educational reform in -that county may be said to be almost entirely due to him. In 1852, Mr. -Moore was nominated by the Lord Mayor of London as Sheriff; but his time -was so occupied that he paid the fine of £400 rather than serve. For the -same reason, also, he declined to be an alderman, though twice pressed to -fill that honourable post. He said, “I once thought that to be Sheriff -of London, or Lord Mayor, would have been the height of my ambition; but -now I have neither ambition nor the inclination to serve in either -office. To men who have not gained a mercantile position, corporation -honours are much sought after; but to those who have acquired a prominent -place in commerce, such honours are not appreciated. At the same time, I -am bound to say that I have always received the most marked courtesy and -consideration from the corporation, even although I did not feel inclined -to join it.” Dr. Smiles reprints this without note or comment; but -surely it betrays a spirit not to be commended. Great city merchants -might well be proud to serve in such a corporation as that of London, not -as a stepping-stone for themselves, but as an honour of which the -proudest may well be proud. As regards parliament, that is another -matter. Mr. Moore always refused to be a candidate for parliamentary -honours, on the plea that parliament should be composed of the best, -wisest, and most highly educated men in the country. In this respect it -is to be regretted that a large number of M.P.’s are not of Mr. Moore’s -way of thinking. In politics it may be mentioned that Mr. Moore was a -Moderate-Liberal, and a strong Free-Trader from the very first. He was -an ardent admirer of Lord John Russell, and had much to do with his -return for the City in 1857. - -In 1854, Mr. Moore removed to his mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens. -“Although,” he writes, “I had built the house at the solicitation of Mrs. -Moore, I was mortified at my extravagance, and thought it both wicked and -aggrandising, mere ostentation and vain show to build such a house. It -was long before I felt at home in it, nor did it at all add to our -happiness. I felt that I had acted foolishly. But, strange to say, a -gentleman offered to take the house off my hands, and to give me 3,000 -guineas profit. I made up my mind to accept this offer; but my dear wife -had taken such an interest in the house that we could not decide to sell -it.” He accordingly declined the offer. But the house-warming was at -any rate characteristic. He determined that the young men and women -should be the first guests, and accordingly they were, to the number of -300. A second ball was given to all the porters and their wives, the -drivers, and the female servants, to the number of about 200. Afterwards -they had, at different times, about 800 of their friends and -acquaintances to dinner. But this was abandoned. “Happiness,” wrote Mr. -Moore, “does not flow in such a channel. Promiscuous company takes one’s -mind away from God and His dealings with men, and there is no lasting -pleasure in the excitement.” Mrs. Moore did not long enjoy her new home; -she died in 1858. At that time Mr. Moore had become a decidedly -religious man. He had a serious illness in 1850, which seems to have had -great effect, and more than ever he gave himself up to philanthropic -work—such as aiding in the establishment of a Reformatory for Discharged -Prisoners, of the Royal Hospital for Incurables, of the London General -Porters’ Benevolent Association, and the Warehousemen and Clerks’ School, -&c., &c. At Kilburn he said, “If the world only knew half the happiness -that a man has in doing good, he would do a great deal more.” George -Moore lived under the increasing consciousness of this every year. He -wrote in his pocket-book:— - - “What I spent I had, - What I saved I lost, - What I gave I have.” - -At this time, Mr. Moore seems to have made special efforts for the -spiritual improvement of the young men and women in his employment in -London, and to have retained the services of the Rev. Thomas Richardson -as chaplain. And then, as was natural, his thoughts reverted to his -native county of Cumberland, for which already he had done so much, and -for which he felt inclined to do much more on his becoming the purchaser -of the Whitehall estate, very near the parish of Mealsgate, in which he -was born. - -Mr. Moore was a great beggar as well as a great giver. With his friends -he was often very abrupt. When he entered their offices they knew what -he was about—they saw it in his face. “What is it now, Mr. Moore?” -“Well, I am on a begging expedition.” “Oh, I knew that very well. What -is it?” “It’s for the Royal Free Hospital, an hospital free to all -without any letters of recommendation; I want twenty guineas.” “It is a -large sum.” “Well, it is the sum I have set down for you to give; you -must help me. Look sharp!” The cheque was got, and away he started on a -fresh expedition. Sometimes, however, he met with rebuff after rebuff -from men rolling in wealth, who had never given a farthing to a -charitable institution. This sickened him for the day. However, he -would say, “I must not be discouraged. I am doing Christ’s work.” In -another way Mr. Moore was specially helpful. He was the constant resort -of young men wanting situations. If he could not provide for them in his -own warehouse, he endeavoured to find situations for them among his -friends. He took no end of trouble about this business. After his young -friends had obtained situations he continued to look after them. He took -down their names and addresses in a special red book kept for the -purpose, and repeatedly asked them to dine with him on Sunday afternoons. -He usually requested that they should go to some church or chapel in the -evening. In his diary are repeatedly such entries as the following; -“Dined twenty-two of the boys that I had got situations for, besides the -people that were staying in the house. I never forget that I had none to -invite me to their homes when I first came to London.” How much good -such kindness did it is impossible to tell; for the want of it many a -young man in the City goes to the bad. - -Mr. Moore’s second marriage, in 1881, seems rather to have increased than -diminished his philanthropic zeal. A wedding trip of two months in Italy -and elsewhere was but a brief interval of holiday, to be followed by -still harder work in the cause of his Lord and Master; and then came an -illness which rendered necessary for him more rest of brain and more -healthy exercise for his body. In his knowledge of London he was -unrivalled. He knew it by night as well as by day. Many a time he went -down to St. George’s in the East and to Wapping to look after the poor. -He accompanied the City missionaries into the lowest dens; and as he felt -that the only way of reformation was to get at the children, we cannot be -surprised to learn that in 1866 he became treasurer of the Field Lane -Ragged School, an institution at that time sorely in need of pecuniary -help. But his happiest days were those he spent at his Border tower at -Cumberland. There the house was always full of visitors, and there the -poor were equally welcome as the rich. There also, he loved to act the -part of a distinguished agriculturist and to preside at cattle shows. -His guests were very varied, and included bishops, Scripture-readers, -warehousemen, farmers, City missionaries, Sunday-school children, -pensioners, and statesmen. He rejoiced in hunting; but all the while he -looked after the homes of the poor, and battled with the immorality which -exists quite as much in the country as in town. - -Mr. Moore was a great lover of the Bible, and distributed it by the -thousand, far and near. He always insisted on its being read in schools. -When the Middle-class schools were established in London, he offered a -thousand pounds on condition that the Bible was read there; but he -refused to give it till he found that actually such was the case. In the -case of Christ’s Hospital, after Dr. Jacob’s sermon on the institution, -he became an ardent reformer. As prime warden of the Fishmongers’, he -distinguished himself by the vigour of his speeches. When Paris was in -want, and its people destitute of bread, he flew to their relief; and no -man was more active in giving relief for the destitute when the -_Northfleet_ was sunk. In 1872, he was proud to be the high sheriff of -his native county. Among his last public works was to give a supper to -the cabmen of London, and to attend the funeral of Dr. Livingstone. And -he died as he lived—engaged in works of mercy. In November, 1876, he -left his grand mansion in Cumberland to attend a meeting of the Nurses’ -Institute in Carlisle. While he was standing opposite the Grey Coat Inn, -two runaway horses, which had escaped from a livery stable, came -galloping up. One of them knocked Mr. Moore down. He was taken up -insensible. Sir William Gull was sent for; but from the first there was -no chance, and in twenty hours he was dead. Great was the sorrow felt -everywhere, and in London and Carlisle public meetings were held for a -George Moore memorial fund. At that in London the Archbishop of -Canterbury presided, and Mr. Samuel Morley was one of the speakers. - -Friend of the church as he was at all times, and especially attached to -the Evangelical clergy, in one thing he differed from them. “The -parsons,” he once said to a meeting of children at Wigton, “will tell you -a good deal about money. They will tell you that it is the root of all -evil; but my opinion is that it is a good thing to make plenty of money, -provided you make a proper use of it.” Such was George Moore, and such -were his views and works. We owe to Dr. Smiles a biography of him, which -is as interesting and instructive as could well be imagined. It should -be read by all City young men; it should be in every City library. The -character therein portrayed ought to be studied, and revered, and -imitated in every home. Few of us can expect to realise his wealth, but -his example is one to be held up to every City man. - -“People who believe,” says a writer in the _Daily News_, “that genius is -great natural power accidentally directed, may think that the career of -the late Mr. George Moore justifies the well-known definition. Mr. -Moore’s name was very well known, not in England only, but on the -continent, by every one who was labouring to lighten the misery of the -poor. The philanthropic schemes to which he gave the aid of his energy, -his knowledge of men and of life, and his money, were too many to be -numbered here. The French, in particular, cherish a grateful memory of -his benevolent activity, of the help he extended to the victims in the -war of 1870. To many who only heard of Mr. Moore in his later life, and -in the full tide of his helpfulness and prosperity, it may have been -unknown that he was the maker of the fortune which he distributed with a -generous hand. The biography of him by Mr. Smiles, which has just been -published, is a very interesting account of a career which began in a -humble though honourable estate, and ended by a singular accident in the -northern town where it may be said to have begun. The history of -‘Self-Help’ is not invariably edifying. The chief end of man, after all, -is not to get on in the world, to make a great deal of money, and to have -paragraphs devoted to his glory. This is so far from being the case that -one has even to overcome a slight natural prejudice against the strength -which displays itself mainly in the acquisition of a fortune. In almost -every rank of life leisure has its charms and good gifts, which a man who -never takes rest must miss. The subject of Mr. Smiles’s book escapes -from the vulgar renown of the self-made by his unselfishness. His -energy, his ceaseless labours in his early life, were not the -manifestations of a desire for wealth and for advancement, but the -natural expression of immense natural strength of mind and body. When -success was secured, the same vigour spent itself in work for other -people—for the poor, the weak, the helpless, the ignorant. Mr. Moore -might have devoted himself to the joys of the collector, of the -sportsman, of the ambitious _parvenu_. Instead of doing so, he made -amusement and enjoyment subordinate to work for the benefit of others. -He had not the hardness and narrowness of people whose career has been -one of victory over the natural pleasures and innocent impulses of an -indolent race. ‘I don’t think I ever came across any other self-made man -who had so entirely got the chill of poverty out of his bones,’ Dr. -Percival wrote to Mr. Smiles. His geniality and unselfishness soften the -edges of his iron will and determination. People may think that so much -of the material and force that make greatness, might have been better -employed in work of a nobler tone—in science, literature, law, or art. -Mr. Moore took the only career that was open to him, the career that was -most distinctly in contrast with the pastoral life to which he was bred. -He had no education in his youth, none lay within his reach in the -Cumbrian valley where he was born. With the chances of Dr. Whewell he -might have been a Whewell. With an opening in the East, he might have -been, if not a Clive, a Meadows Taylor. As it happened, the choice lay -between the existence of a farm labourer and that of a tradesman.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI. -ARTISTS AND WRITERS. - - -MEN who are not supposed to be mercenary often make a great deal of -money. Most of our artists rose from very humble beginnings. Turner was -the son of a hair-dresser. Wilkie was desperately poor; so was Barry; -and William Etty, that great colourist, was the son of a baker in -York—was bound apprentice, wholly against his will, to a printer in Hull; -but he released himself from the shackles of so uncongenial a pursuit. -He was greatly self-taught, for the help he derived for a hundred -guineas, as a private pupil of Sir Thomas Lawrence, seems rather to have -baffled him with despair; yet he became the most surprising and effective -flesh-painter of his age. The nude style of his figures has often been a -topic of remark with a certain order of critics. Etty himself was wont -to say, “‘To the pure in heart, all things are pure.’ My aim in all my -great pictures has been to paint some great moral on the heart.” He -lived, in 1849, to find all his great works—130 pictures—in the great -room of the Society of Arts: he died that year. By the universal -acclamation of artists he is regarded as our English Titian, and some -claim for him a still higher place, for his canvases have not only the -wonderful colour of that master, but the splendour of Paul Veronese. He -died in his beloved and native city of York; and the poor baker’s boy, by -his industry and genius, had become the master of a considerable fortune. - -Actors and actresses also have made much money. Amongst the money-making -men may emphatically be placed David Garrick, who was fond of money, and -careful about it to the last. Some of our earlier circus people seem to -have made much money.—Batty was reputed to have died worth half a -million.—Ducrow gave himself extraordinary airs. When the Master Cutler -and Town Council of Sheffield paid Ducrow a visit, with the principal -manufacturers and their families, Ducrow sent word that he only waited on -crowned heads, and not upon a set of dirty knife-grinders.—Philip Astley -was born in 1742, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, where his father carried on -the business of a cabinet-maker. He received little or no education, and -after working a few years with his father, enlisted in a cavalry -regiment. His imposing appearance, being over six feet in height, with -the proportions of a Hercules, and the voice of a Stentor, attracted -attention to him; and his capture of a standard at the battle of Emsdorff -made him one of the celebrities of his regiment. While serving in the -army, he learned some feats of horsemanship from an itinerant equestrian -named Johnson, perhaps the man under whose management Price introduced -equestrian performances at Sadler’s Wells, and often exhibited them for -the amusement of his comrades. On his discharge from the army, he was -presented by General Elliot with a horse, and thereupon he bought another -in Smithfield, and commenced those open-air performances in Lambeth which -have already been noticed. - -After a time he built a rude circus upon a piece of ground near -Westminster Bridge, which had been used as a timber-yard, being the site -of the theatre which has been known by his name for nearly a century. -Only the seats were roofed over, the ring in which he performed being -open to the air. One of his horses, which he had taught to perform a -variety of tricks, he soon began to exhibit, at an earlier period of each -day, in a large room in Piccadilly, where the entertainment was eked out -with conjuring and _ombres Chinoises_—a kind of shadow pantomine. - -Having saved some money out of these performances, Astley erected his -amphitheatre. At the same time he had to contend with a fierce -competition from what was then the Royal Circus, which afterwards was -called the Surrey Theatre. Astley’s, however, soon became the popular -place of amusement, and as such was visited and described by Horace -Walpole. The fame of the place received a further illustration in the -remark of Dr. Johnson, who, speaking of the popularity of certain -preachers, and the ease with which they get a crowd to hear them, said, -“Were Astley to preach a sermon standing on his head, or on a horse’s -back, he would collect a multitude to hear him, but no wise man would say -he had made a better sermon for that.” - -Let us now turn to a master of homely English—a man whose name was, at -one time, in every one’s mouth, and an author, whose books, at one time, -every one read. His moral works excel in descriptive power. In politics -his savage personalities encircle sarcasm; his faculty for inventing -national nick-names, and mastery of a Saxon style of inimitable raciness, -have given his writings historical reputation. He has never been -equalled among political writers in his capacity of explaining what he -understood. He was the first journalist who called attention to the -condition of the working classes, I mean William Cobbett. - -William Cobbett was born at Farnham, in Surrey, in 1776. His father was -a very poor farmer, who knew enough to teach his boys to read, and had -enough of intellectual originality to think that the triumph of -Washington in the American War of Independence was just. William began -as a mere child to do something towards earning his own livelihood, and -took great delight in the flowers which, while weeding in great folks’ -gardens, he saw. When eleven years old, he heard some one speak of the -splendid flowers in the Royal Gardens at Kew. Without a word of -announcement, and with sixpence-halfpenny in his pocket, he set off to -seek employment in that irresistible Paradise. When he reached Richmond -his funds were reduced to threepence, and he was very hungry. In a -shop-window, however, he saw the “Tale of a Tub,” price threepence. Mind -triumphed over body; he bought the tale; and sat under a hay-stack -reading it till he fell asleep. He was delighted beyond measure with the -piece, and continued to read and re-read it for many years. The -circumstance was not of happy omen. Swift’s terrible tale we should -pronounce to be as well-fitted to sap the moral and religious principles -of a lad as any book in the English language; and lack of moral principle -was the fatal defect of Cobbett throughout life. - -He found employment at Kew, and no doubt gloated over the floral -splendours which he had come to see; but he returned to Farnham, and grew -up in his father’s house. He made an appointment one day to meet some -young friends and accompany them to Guildford Fair; but coming upon the -high road as the London coach was passing in full career, he made up his -mind on the spur of the moment to start for London. He arrived at the -foot of Ludgate Hill with half-a-crown in his pocket. An honest -hop-seller, who knew his father, took him by the hand, and he found work -as an Attorney’s clerk. He speaks with unlimited abhorrence of the -roguery he witnessed and the misery he endured in this place. “No part -of my life,” he says, “has been totally unattended with pleasure except -the eight or nine months I passed in Gray’s Inn. The office—for so the -dungeon was called where I wrote—was so dark that on cloudy days we were -obliged to burn candles. I worked like a galley-slave from five in the -morning till eight or nine at night, and sometimes all night long. * * * -When I think of the _saids_ and _so forths_, and the counts of tautology -that I scribbled over—when I think of those sheets of seventy-two words, -and those lines of two inches apart—my brain turns. Gracious Heaven! if -I am doomed to be wretched, bury me beneath Iceland snows, and let me -feed on blubber; stretch me under the burning Line, and deny me Thy -propitious dews; nay, if it be Thy will, suffocate me with the infected -and pestilential air of a democratic club-room; but save me, save me from -the desk of an attorney!” Anything seemed better than this. William, -acting again on the spur of the moment, enlisted. For more than a year -he did duty at Chatham. Here he mastered grammar—an acquisition which he -always regarded as the basis of his fortunes. He read also in a -circulating library, swallowing enormous quantities of useful or useless -knowledge, and laying it up in a memory of great tenacity. His father -meanwhile was treated by him with heartless neglect. The old man had -been offended by his running away, and appears to have made no effort to -release him from the bondage of the attorney’s office. When he enlisted, -however, his father relented, and wrote saying that the last hay-rick or -pocket of hops at Farnham would be sold off to buy his discharge. But -William vouchsafed no reply. - -Cobbett’s regiment was ordered to Canada, and he accompanied it to St. -John’s, New Brunswick. Here his conduct as a soldier was exemplary. His -talent and activity made him conspicuous, and he became sergeant-major, -raised, though he was still but about twenty, over the heads of thirty -sergeants. In 1791 the regiment returned to England, and he procured his -discharge “in consideration of his good behaviour, and the services he -had rendered his regiment.” Then occurred one of the most strange and -ambiguous episodes in his life. He lodged charges of pecuniary -defalcation against four of his late officers. A day was appointed for -their trial by court-martial. The functionaries met, the accused were -present, all was ready for commencement, when it transpired that Cobbett -was missing. As he was the accuser, the trial was adjourned to a stated -day in order that an opportunity might be afforded him to appear. The -court again met; he was again absent; the accused officers, accordingly, -were acquitted. They made some show of a wish to proceed against -Cobbett, and what looks very like a feint of arresting him in his refuge -at Farnham. But the upshot was that he escaped to France, and passed -from France, when the revolutionary atmosphere became too hot for him, to -America. Mr. Watson very properly devotes a good deal of attention to -these circumstances, and we are bound to say that we agree with him in -thinking that Cobbett was bribed with a good round sum to suppress his -charges. It was, of course, an act of flagrant and base dishonesty; but -there is nothing in Cobbett’s life to prove that he shrank from -dishonesty, or was superior to temptation. He was a most affectionate -husband and father, and many of his advices to young men and to the poor -are excellent. His talent was of a coarse kind, but very great. His -activity and indomitable spirit deserve all admiration. He boasted, -probably with truth, that he had never passed an idle day. - -Cobbett first distinguished himself in America by publishing a fierce -pamphlet against Priestley. He was soon a noted political writer, taking -the side of ultra-Toryism, and denouncing with furious emphasis all that -savoured of Radicalism or Republicanism. His talent was indubitable; and -as vehement and able rhetoric on the Church-and-King side was then in -demand, he attracted attention. On returning to England, he was welcomed -by the authorities as an out-and-out Tory, and became the most violent, -uncompromising, and popular of writers on the ministerial side. It is -worthy of recollection that William Cobbett had his windows broken by the -mob for the vehemence of his anti-popular utterances. According to his -own account he met Pitt at dinner in Mr. Windham’s house; and the fact is -not impossible, so highly did ministers at that time prize the aid of any -one who could fight for them against the patriots. - -By what steps it is needless to trace, Cobbett gradually sidled round, -and left the cause of the king for that of the mob. His circumstances -became embarrassed, and he fled to America, leaving behind him debts to -the value of upwards of £33,000. He resided at Long Island, near New -York, and continued to edit his _Register_. In a few years the -irrepressible giant—he stood six foot two, with shoulders and chest and -girth to match—returned to England. He had once denounced Tom Paine as a -miscreant whom no words could blacken. He now brought Tom Paine’s bones -with him, bent upon having a grand monument built over them in England. -In this instance he signally misunderstood his countrymen. The dead -man’s bones were laughed at, and declared to be those of an old nigger. -Cobbett proposed to sell 20,000 hair-rings at a sovereign a-piece, with -some of Paine’s hair in each; and he was reminded that when Paine died he -was almost bald. Cobbett had at last to shuffle the bones underground, -no one knows where. His own eloquence and sarcasm made him popular, and -procured him a seat in parliament. He was now the fiercest of democrats. -He assailed Protestantism and detested ministers of religion. His -quackery grew worse and worse until he died in 1835. - -Sir Francis Chantrey was a poor lad. He began his career by being a -carver on wood. Rogers used to say—“One day Chantrey said to him, ‘Do -you recollect that about twenty-five years ago a journeyman came to your -house from the wood-carver employed by you and Mr. Hope, to talk about -these ornaments (pointing to some on a mahogany sideboard), and that you -gave him a drawing to execute them by.’ Rogers replied that he -recollected it well. ‘Well,’ said Chantrey, ‘I was that journeyman.’” -Chantrey practised portrait-painting both at Sheffield and after he came -to London. It was in allusion to him that Lawrence said—“A broken-down -painter will make a very good sculptor.” - -In 1823, London society was much exercised on the subject of literary -gains. Miss Wynn writes in her “Diaries of a Lady of Quality”—“I heard -to-day from Mr. Rogers that Constable, the bookseller, told him last May -that he paid the author of ‘Waverley’ the sum of £110,000. To that may -now be added the produce of ‘Red Gauntlet,’ and ‘St. Ronan’s Well;’ for I -fancy Quentin Durward’ was at least printed, if not published. I asked -whether the ‘Tales of my Landlord,’ which do not bear the same name, were -taken into calculation, and was told they were, but of course the poems -were not. All this has been done in twenty years.” In 1803, an unknown -Mr. Scott’s name was found as the author of three very good ballads in -Lewis’s “Tales of Wonder.” This was his first publication.—Pope, who -until now had been considered as the poet who had made the most by his -works, died worth about £800 a-year.—Johnson, for his last and best work, -his “Lives of the Poets,” published after the “Rambler” and the -“Dictionary” had established his fame, got two hundred guineas, to which -was added one hundred more. Mr. Hayward, in a note, adds—“‘Waverley’ -having been published in 1814, the sum mentioned by Constable was earned -in nine years, by eleven novels in three volumes each, and three series -of ‘Tales of my Landlord,’ making nine volumes more; eight novels -twenty-four volumes, being yet to come. Scott’s first publication, -‘Translations from the German,’ was in 1796. During the whole of his -literary life he was profitably engaged in miscellaneous writing and -editing; and whatever the expectations raised by has continued popularity -and great profits, they were surpassed by the sale of the collected and -illustrated edition of the novels commenced under his own revision in -1829. Altogether, the aggregate amount gained by Scott in his lifetime, -very far exceeds any sum hitherto named as accruing to any other man from -authorship. Pope inherited a fortune, saved and speculated; and we must -come at once to modern times to find plausible subjects of comparison. -T. Moore’s profits, spread over his life, yield but a moderate income. -Byron’s did not exceed £20,000. Talfourd once showed me a calculation, -by which he made out that Dickens, soon after the commencement of -‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ _ought_ to have been in the receipt of £10,000 -a-year. Thackeray never got enough to live handsomely and lay by. Sir -E. B. Lytton is said to have made altogether from £80,000 to £100,000 by -his writings’. We hear of 500,000 francs (£20,000) having been given in -France for Histories—to MM. Thiers and Lamartine for example; but the -largest single payment ever made to an author for a book, was the cheque -for £20,000, _on account_, paid by Messrs. Longman to Macaulay soon after -the appearance of the third and fourth volumes of his History, the terms -being that he should receive three-fourths of the net profits.” This -note of Mr. Hayward’s, it should be remembered, was written in 1864. -Macaulay cleared a fine sum by his History, and so did the publishers. -During the nine years, ending with the 25th of June, 1857, Messrs. -Longman disposed of 30,978 copies of the first volume of the History; -50,783 copies during the nine years ending with June, 1866; and 52,392 -copies during the nine years ending with June, 1875. Within a generation -of its first appearance, upwards of 150,000 copies of the History will -have been printed and sold in the United Kingdom alone. - -It is to be questioned, when her life comes to be written, whether any -author has been more successful, in a pecuniary point of new, than Miss -Braddon, whose “Lady Audley’s Secret” at once placed her on the pinnacle -of fame and fortune, and yet she began the world as a ballet-girl. - -Few Irishmen, in a literary and political point of view, did better than -the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker. In his “Memoirs,” Charles Mayne Young -thus speaks of his rise and progress:— - - “I suspect few people now alive are aware of the commencement of - Croker’s career in London. Horace Smith, James’s brother, and one of - the joint authors of ‘Rejected Addresses,’ told me that he, his - brother, and Cumberland, formed the staff of the _Morning Post_ when - Colonel Mellish was its sole proprietor. On a certain quarter-day, - when he was in the habit of meeting them at the office and paying - them their salary, he took occasion to pass them unqualified - commendation for the great ability they had brought to bear upon his - journal. He assured them that the circulation of the paper had - quadrupled since their connection with it; ‘but—but—that he was, - nevertheless, under the necessity of dispensing with their pens for - the future.’ The two Smiths were so utterly unprepared for such a - declaration, that they were tongue-tied. Not so the testy - Cumberland, who took care to make himself as clearly understood as if - he had been the veritable Sir Fretful Plagiary. - - “‘What,’ he asked his employer, ‘the d—l do you mean? In the same - breath in which you laud your servants to the skies, and express your - sense of obligation to them, you discharge them oven without the - usual month’s warning!’ - - “Mellish, quite unmoved, replied—‘You must know, good sirs, that I - care for my paper, not for its principles, but as an investment; and - it stands to reason, that the heavier my outgoings, the less my - profits. I do, as I have said, value your merits highly; but not as - highly as you charge me for them. Now, in future, I can command the - services of one man, who will do the work of three for the wage of - one.’ - - “‘The deuce you can,’ said Cumberland. ‘He must be a phœnix. Where, - pray, may this omniscient genius be met with?’ - - “‘In the next room! I will send him to you.’ - - “As he left, a young man entered, with a well-developed skull, a - searching eye, and a dauntless address. - - “‘So, sir,’ screamed out Cumberland, ‘you must have an uncommon good - opinion of yourself! You consider yourself, I am told, three times - as able as any one of us; for you undertake to do an amount of work, - single-handed, which we have found enough for us all.’ ‘I am not - afraid,’ said the young man, with imperturbable _sang froid_, ‘of - doing all that is required of me.’ They all three then warned him of - the tact, discretion, and knowledge of books and men required—of the - difficulties of which he must expect to find an enterprise of such - magnitude beset, &c., &c. They began then to sound his depth; but on - politics, belles lettres, political economy, even the drama, they - found him far from shallow. Cumberland, transported out of himself - by his modest assurance, snatched up his hat, smashed it on his head, - rammed snuff incontinently up his nose, and then rushed by Mellish, - who was in the adjoining room, swearing, and saying as he left, - ‘Confound the potato. He’s so tough, there’s no peeling him!’ The - tough potato was John Wilson Croker.” - -That Charles Dickens made a great deal of money, all the world is well -aware. That in the tale of “David Copperfield,” a little of his childish -life was outlined, was known, or rather suspected; but till his life -appeared, no one had the least idea how low down in the world he and his -family were, and how much more creditable to him was his rise. - -If it is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth, Dickens certainly -had this advantage. We have seldom read a more touching picture than -that which is given of the life of the neglected, untaught, half-starved -boy at this time. It is tragic and affecting enough in itself, but it is -still more impressive as suggesting the possible lot of hundreds and -thousands in this great London of ours. The one boy, by means of -marvellous genius, forces his way to the front; but who is to tell the -story of the obscure multitude who perish in the struggle? What -imagination has ever pictured scenes as tragic as the following -experiences?— - - “It is wonderful to me how I could have been so easily cast away at - such an age. It is wonderful to me, that even after my descent into - the poor little drudge I had been since we came to London, no one had - compassion enough on me—a child of singular abilities, quick, eager, - delicate, and soon hurt, bodily or mentally—to suggest that something - might have been spared, as certainly it might have been, to place me - at any common school. Our friends, I take it, were tired out. No - one made any sign. My father and mother were quite satisfied. They - could hardly have been more so if I had been twenty years of age, - distinguished at a grammar-school, and going to Cambridge. - - “The blacking warehouse was the last house on the left-hand side of - the way, at old Hungerford-stairs. It was a crazy, tumble-down old - house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with - rats. Its wainscotted rooms, and its rotten floors and staircase, - and the old grey rats swarming down in the cellars, and the sound of - their squeaking and scuffling coming up the stairs at all times, and - the dirt and decay of the place, rose up visibly before me, as if I - were there again. The counting-house was on the first floor, looking - over the coal-barges and the river. There was a recess in it, in - which I was to sit and work. My work was to cover the pots of - paste-blacking; first, with a piece of oilpaper, and then with a - piece of blue paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to - clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as - a pot of ointment from an apothecary’s shop. When a certain number - of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to - paste on each a printed label; and then go on again with more pots. - Two or three other boys were kept at similar duty down stairs on - similar wages. One of them came up, in a ragged apron and paper cap, - on the first Monday morning, to show me the trick of using the string - and tying the knot. His name was Bob Fagin; and I took the liberty - of using his name, long afterwards, in ‘Oliver Twist.’ - - “Our relative had kindly arranged to teach me something in the - dinner-hour—from twelve to one, I think it was—every day. But an - arrangement so incompatible with counting-house business soon died - away, from no fault of his or mine; and for the same reason, my small - work-table, and my grosses of pots, my papers, string, scissors, - paste-pot, and labels, by little and little, vanished out of the - recess in the counting-house, and kept company with the other small - work-tables, grosses of pots, papers, string, scissors, and - paste-pots, down stairs. It was not long before Bob Fagin and I, and - another boy whose name was Paul Green, but who was currently believed - to have been christened Poll (a belief which I transferred, long - afterwards, again to Mr. Sweedlepipe, in ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’), worked - generally side by side. Bob Fagin was an orphan, and lived with his - brother-in law, a waterman. Poll Green’s father had the additional - distinction of being a fireman, and was employed at Drury-lane - Theatre; where another relation of Poll’s, I think his little sister, - did imps in the pantomimes. - - “No words can express the secret agony of my soul as I sank into this - companionship; compared these every-day associates with those of my - happier childhood; and felt my early hopes of growing up to be a - learned and distinguished man, crushed in my breast. The deep - remembrance of the sense I had of being utterly neglected and - hopeless—of the shame I felt in my position—of the misery it was to - my young heart to believe that, day by day, what I had learned, and - thought, and delighted in, and raised my fancy and my emulation up - by, was passing away from me, never to be brought back any - more—cannot be written. My whole nature was so penetrated with the - grief and humiliation of such considerations, that even now, famous - and caressed and happy, I often forget in my dreams that I have a - dear wife and children—even that I am a man—and wander desolately - back to that time of my life. - - “My mother and my brothers and sisters (excepting Fanny in the Royal - Academy of Music) were still encamped, with a young servant-girl from - Chatham workhouse, in the two parlours in the emptied house in Gower - Street North. It was a long way to go and return within the - dinner-hour; and, usually, I either carried my dinner with me, or - went and bought it at some neighbouring shop. In the latter case it - was commonly a saveloy and a penny loaf; sometimes, a four-penny - plate of beef from a cook’s shop; sometimes a plate of bread and - cheese, and a glass of beer, from a miserable old public-house over - the way—the ‘Swan,’ if I remember right, or the ‘Swan’ and something - else that I have forgotten. Once I remember tucking my own bread - (which I had brought from home in the morning) under my arm, wrapped - up in a piece of paper like a book, and going into the best - dining-room in Johnson’s alamode-beef-house in Charles Court, Drury - Lane, and magnificently ordering a small plate of alamode-beef to eat - with it. What the waiter thought of such a strange little - apparition, coming in all alone, I don’t know; but I can see him now, - staring at me as I ate my dinner, and bringing up the other waiter to - look. I gave him a halfpenny, and I wish, now, that he hadn’t taken - it.” - -It was thus Dickens was trained to fight the battle of life. After this -one feels inclined to say, “How great are the blessings of poverty!” -What an impulse it gives the man to raise himself above it, somehow or -other. Hazlitt used to say that “the want of money often places a man in -a very ridiculous position.” There is no doubt about that. It is also -equally clear, that, without money, there can be little comfort, little -independence of thought or action, little real manliness. Poverty is a -wonderful tonic. Volumes might be written in its praise. Almost all the -wonderful things that have been done in the world have been accomplished -by men who were born and bred in poverty. She is the nurse of genius, -the mother of heroes. She has garlanded the world with gold. Luxury and -wealth have ever been the ruin alike of individuals and nations. The -world’s greatest benefactors have been the money-getting men. Of course -there are a few exceptions; but they are the exceptions that confirm the -rule. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. -REFLECTIONS ON MONEY-MAKING. - - -WE have little faith in reflections. If a man cannot draw an inference -for himself, it is little use anyone attempting to draw it for him. The -reader of the preceding pages must have been taught, by example, how to -get money. The art of money-making is a very simple one. If your income -is twenty pounds, and you spend nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings, and -elevenpence-three-farthings, you will never be troubled about money -matters; and, in the course of years, may have a fortune commensurate -with so modest an expenditure. Having thus acquired a small amount of -capital, you must not part with it to mining-brokers or stock-brokers, -however plausible the tale they tell, and however friendly you may be -with them. They are bound to do business, and for the sake of that, will -help their nearest friend to an investment of the rottenest character. -Stock-brokers may have a sense of honour—may be gentlemen; but I question -much whether a money-broker has any feeling for his clients, I have known -little money made by outsiders speculating on the Stock Exchange or in -mines. I have known many reduced to beggary and want by such means. - -Commerce, in our day, is the high road to wealth. You must begin at the -bottom, and work your way up to the top. It is not talent that makes a -man succeed in business, but the intense determination which carries a -man through every obstacle till the desired end is attained. It was thus -George Moore became a great man. The first elements in his character -were simplicity and directness. He was prompt, energetic, precise; doing -at once what he had to do. He never cavilled about trifles. There was -no shuffling about him—no humbug. The only thing he could not tolerate -was the drone. He held strong opinions on most subjects, and he adhered -to them firmly. He never did anything by halves; he went into it body -and soul, with the whole of his nature; he went straight to the point. -When he had settled a thing he left it as something done; when two sides -of a question were presented to him, he was quick to decide, and he was -usually right in his decision. - -Dr. Smiles writes—“The successful merchant is not merely the man who is -most fertile in commercial combinations, but the man who acts upon his -judgment with the greatest promptitude.” Mr. Crampton, George Moore’s -partner, says—“I never knew him make a mistake in judgment.” - -Another fact to be observed is, that it is the country lads who, as a -rule, are the most successful. At first they fail in accuracy, and -quickness, and promptitude. They are slow compared with town-bred boys. -“The City boy,” writes Dr. Smiles, “scarcely grows up; he is rushed up; -he lives amid a constant succession of excitements, one obliterating -another. It is very different with the country boy; he is much slower in -arriving at his maturity than the town boy, but he is greater when he -reaches it; he is hard and uncouth at first, whereas the town boy is worn -smooth by perpetual friction, like the pebbles in a running stream. The -country boy learns a great deal, though he may seem to be unlearned; he -knows a good deal about nature, and a great deal about men. He has had -time to grow. His brainpower is held in reserve; hence the curious fact, -that, in course of time, the country-bred boy passes the City-bred boy, -and rises to the highest positions in London life. Look at all the great -firms, and you will find that the greater number of the leading partners -are those who originally were country-bred boys. The young man bred in -the country never forgets his origin.” “There is,” says Rochefoucauld, -“a country accent, not in his speech only, but in his thought, conduct, -character, and manner of existing, which never forsakes him.” - -George Moore had a brother. He was far apter than George; he had a -better education; he had read extensively, and was well versed in -literature; but he wanted that which his brother George had—intense -perseverance. Hence the failure of the one, and the success of the -other. It is thus the determined, persevering man who succeeds. It was -thus Warren Hastings won back the broad lands of his ancestors. - -“In New York,” says an American writer, “fortunes are suddenly made, and -suddenly lost. I can count over a dozen merchants who, at the time I -began to write this book, a few months ago, were estimated to be worth -not less than 250,000 dollars—some of them half a million—who are now -utterly penniless. At the opening of this year (1868), a merchant, -well-known in this city, had a surplus of 250,000 dollars in cash. He -died suddenly in July. He made his will about three months before his -death, and appointed his executors. By that will he divided 250,000 -dollars. His executors contributed 1,000 dollars to save a portion of -his furniture for his widow, and that was all that was left her out of -that great estate. He did what thousands have done before him—what -thousands are doing now, and will do to-morrow. He had money enough; but -he wanted a little more. He was induced to go into a nice little -speculation in Wall Street; he put in 50,000 dollars. To save it he put -in 50,000 dollars more. The old story was repeated, with the same -result.” I knew a gentleman who began the world as an advertising agent; -he managed to get a share in a newspaper, which eventually became an -immense commercial success. His share of the profits amounted to some -thousands a-year; but this was not enough—he must have more. He turned -money-lender, borrowing at 5 per cent., to lend money on bad security at -a high rate of interest. He died in the prime of life, a bankrupt, and -of a broken heart. - -It is not every one who knows when to leave off money-making; but there -is a time when a wise man will remain satisfied with what he has won. I -knew a gentleman in the Corn Exchange, who was worth £80,000. That was -not enough for him, though to many it would have been a fair fortune. He -was determined to make one grand _coup_ before finally retiring from -business, and enjoying the fruits of his industry and enterprise. He did -so against the entreaties of his friends. The grand coup was a failure, -and he died as poor as Job. Such men are to be met in London every day. - -A man who died very rich, was very poor when he was a boy. When asked -how he got his riches, he replied—“My father taught me never to play till -all my work for the day was finished, and never to spend money till I had -earned it. If I had but half-an-hour’s work to do in a day, I must do -that the first thing, _and in half-an-hour_. After this was done I was -allowed to play. I early formed the habit of doing everything in its -time, and it soon became perfectly easy to do so. It is to this habit -that I owe my prosperity.” - -Sir Titus Salt, the millionaire, who made a fortune by the introduction -of alpaca-wool-cloth into the country, was a very early riser. At -Bradford, where he first commenced business, before he had built his -grand manufactory at Saltaire, it used to be said—“There is Titus Salt; -he has made a thousand pounds before other men were out of bed.” - -It was industry that helped to make Franklin a successful man of -business. This industry was, he tells us, a source of credit. -“Particularly I was told, that mention being made of the new -printing-office at the Merchants’ Every-Night Club, the general opinion -was that it must fail, there being already two printers in the -place—Kermer and Bradford. But Dr. Baird gave a contrary opinion: ‘for -the industry of that Franklin,’ he said, ‘is superior to anything I ever -saw of the kind. I see him still at work when I go from the club, and he -is at work again before the neighbours are out of bed. This struck the -rest, and he soon after had offers from one of them to supply us with -stationery; but as yet he did not choose to engage in shop business.’ I -mention this,” adds Franklin, “more particularly, and the more -emphatically, though it seems to be talking in my own praise, that those -of my posterity who shall read it, may know the use of that virtue -(industry) when they see its effects in my favour throughout this -relation.” - -Again, let us see how men lose money; for the art of keeping money is of -greater importance to a man than that of making it. The great house of -Overend and Gurney fell, and threw all London into a panic, because the -house did not know how to keep money, but went into all sorts of ruinous -speculations, which ultimately brought it to the ground. “In a little -room in one of the by-streets of New York, up a narrow, dingy flight of -stairs, may be seen a man,” says an American writer, “doing a little -brokerage which his friends put into his hands. That man at one time -inherited the name and fortune of a house which America delighted to -honour. That house was founded by two lads who left their homes to seek -their fortunes in a great city. They owned nothing but the clothes they -wore, and a small bundle tied to a stick, and thrown over their -shoulders. Their clothes were home-spun, were woven under the parental -roof, and cut and made by motherly skill and sisterly affection. They -carried with them the rich boon of a mother’s blessing and a mother’s -prayers. They were honest, industrious, truthful, and temperate. They -did anything they found to do that was honest. They began a little -trade, which increased in their hands, and extended till it reached all -portions of the civilised world. They identified themselves with every -good work. Education, humanity, and religion blessed their munificence. -The founders of the house died, leaving a colossal fortune, and a name -without a stain. They left their business and their reputation to the -man who occupies the little chamber that we have referred to. He -abandoned the principles on which the fame and honour of the house had -been built up. He stained the name that for fifty years had been -untarnished. He fled from his home; he wandered about the country under -an assumed name. Widows and orphans who had left trust-money in their -hands, lost their all. In his fall he dragged down the innocent, and -spread consternation on all sides. A few years passed, and after -skulking about in various cities abroad, he ventured back. Men were too -kind to harm him. Those whom he had befriended in the days of his -prosperity, helped him to a little brokerage to earn his bread, and so he -lingered on, and died, poor and forgotten, and obscure;—a warning to the -prosperous, not to forget that honesty is the best policy after all.” - -A fast man in business, sooner or later, comes to grief. A young man in -New York represented a New England house of great wealth and high -standing. He was considered one of the smartest and most promising young -men in the city. The balance in the bank, kept by the house, was very -large, and the young man used to boast that he could draw his cheque any -day for 200,000 dollars, and have it honoured. The New England house -used a great deal of paper, and it could command the names of the best -capitalists to any extent. He was accustomed to sign notes in blank and -leave them with the concern, so much confidence had he in its soundness -and integrity. Yet, strange to say, these notes, with those of other -wealthy men, with nearly the whole financial business of the house, were -in the hands of the young manager in New York. In the meanwhile he took -a turn at Harry Hill’s to relieve the pressure of business. Low -amusements, and the respectable company he found, suited him. From a -spectator he became a dancer. From dancing he took to drinking. He then -tried his hand at play, and was cleaned out every night, drinking deeply -all the while. He became enamoured of a certain class of women, clothed -them in silk, velvets, and jewels, drove them in dashing teams in the -Central Park, secured them fine mansions, and paid the expenses of their -costly establishments, all the while keeping the confidence of his -business associates. In his jaded, wan, and dissipated look, men saw his -attention to business. The New England manager of the house was the -father of the young man. His reputation was without a stain, and -confidence in his integrity was unlimited. In the midst of his business -he dropped down dead. This brought things to a crisis, and an exposure -immediately followed. The great house was bankrupt, and everybody ruined -that had anything to do with it. Those who supposed themselves well off, -found themselves quite the reverse. Widows and orphans lost their all. -Men suspended business on the right hand and the left. In gambling, -drinking, and dissipation, this young fellow had squandered the enormous -sum of 1,400,000 dollars. It is an old familiar moral to be learnt from -the story of that man’s decline and fall. - -But to return to money-making. “I find,” said a shrewd merchant, “I make -most money when I am least anxious about it.” - -The distinguished American, James Halford, rose, step by step, up the -ladder of fortune till he reached the top. Some twenty years before he -had stood at the bottom, and it was curious to hear what the world said. - -“It is all luck,” cried one. “Nothing but luck. Why, sir, I have -managed at times to get up a step or two, but have always fallen down ere -long; and now I have given up striving, for luck is against me.” - -“No, sir,” cried another, “it is not so much luck as scheming; the -selfish schemer goes up, while more honest folk remain at the foot.” - -“Patronage does it all,” said a third. “You must have somebody to take -you by the hand, and help you up, or you have no chance.” - -James Halford heard all these varied opinions of the world, but still -persisted in looking upwards, for he had faith in himself. He rose from -the lowest situation in a store till he became a trader for himself, and -amassed a large fortune. - -Mr. Freedley’s unvarying motto was—“Self-reliance and self-dependence.” -He said—“My observations through life satisfy me, that at least -nine-tenths of those most successful in business start in life without -any reliance except upon their own heads and hands—_hoe their own_ row -from the jump.” - -Nicholas Longworth, the Cincinnati millionaire, says—“I have always had -these two things before me:—Do what you undertake thoroughly. Be -faithful in all accepted trusts.” - -Stephen Gerard’s motto was the well-worn one—“Take care of the cents, the -dollars will take care of themselves.” - -Mr. Stuart, the merchant prince of New York, said—“No abilities, however -splendid, can command success without intense labour and persevering -application.” - -David Ricardo had his three golden rules when on the Stock Exchange. -They were—“Never refuse an option when you can get it.” “Cut short your -losses.” “Let your profits run on.” - -A man who had, by his own unaided exertions, become rich, was asked by -his friend the secret of success. His reply was—“I accumulated about -half my property by attending to my own business, and the other half by -letting other people’s entirely alone.” - -According to the great Wedgewood, there was another—an eleventh -commandment; and it was—“Thou shalt not be idle.” - -Let us string together, in this collection, a few of Poor Richard’s -maxims— - - “I never saw an oft-removed tree, - Nor yet an oft-removed family, - That throve as well as those that settled be.” - -Again, he wrote— - - “He that by the plough would thrive, - Himself must either hold or drive.” - -Here is another— - - “Many estates are spent in the getting, - Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, - And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.” - -One must be recorded here for the benefit of the reader who would achieve -commercial success— - - “Women and wine, game and deceit, - Make the wealth small and the want great.” - -Again, Poor Richard writes— - - “Fond pride of dress is sure a curse; - Ere fancy you consult—consult your purse.” - -A truthful warning is contained in the following lines— - - “Vessels large may venture more, - But little boats should keep near shore.” - -All should remember— - - “For age and want save what you may, - No morning sun lasts a whole day.” - -And this other— - - “Get what you can, and what you get hold, - ’Tis the stone that will turn all your lead to gold.” - -One equally well worth remembering as any of Poor Richard’s, is— - - “A penny saved is twopence clear, - A pin a day is a groat a year.” - -Franklin, in a letter, finished by saying—“In short, the way to wealth, -if you desire it, is as plain as the market. It depends chiefly on two -words—industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but -make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing will -do, and with them everything. He that gets all he can honestly, and -saves all he gets, necessary expenses excepted, will certainly become -rich, if that Being who governs the world, to whom all should look for a -blessing on their honest endeavours, doth not, in His wise providence, -determine otherwise.” - -Again, in a time of scarcity, as an infallible receipt for filling empty -purses, Franklin wrote—“First, let honesty and industry be thy constant -companions; and, secondly, spend one penny less than thy clear gains.” - -Samuel Budgett, well-known as the successful merchant, when about ten -years of age, began, at Coleford, to lay the foundation of his fame and -fortune. He thus describes how he first got money—“I went,” he said, “to -the mills of Kilmersdon to school, a distance of three miles. One day, -on my way, I picked up a horse-shoe, and carried it about three miles, -and sold it to a blacksmith for a penny; that was the first penny I ever -recollect possessing, and I kept it for some time. A few weeks after, -the same man called my attention to a boy who was carrying off some dirt -opposite his door, and offered, if I would beat the boy by doing it -quicker, he being a bigger boy than myself, to give me a penny. I did -so; he made a mark upon it, and promised me that if I would bring it to -him that day fortnight he would give me another. I took it to him at the -appointed time, when he fulfilled his promise, and I thus became -possessed of threepence; since then I have never been without, except -when I gave it all away.” “One,” writes his admiring biographer, the -Rev. W. Budgett, “would not have imagined, in seeing the little schoolboy -stop and look at the old horse-shoe, that the turning-point of his life -had come; but so it was; he converts that horse-shoe into his first -penny, and never more wants a penny. Those men whom we see often without -a penny, have all of them passed by the horse-shoe in their path when -they were boys; and those other men who, from nothing, are rising -rapidly, have all had the sense to pick up the horse-shoe, and turn it -into the foundation of a fortune. Paths vary; but every boy, if his eyes -are open, will certainly find the horse-shoe in his path at one point or -another.” - -Again we fall back on Franklin. “Remember,” he wrote, “that money is of -a prolific generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring -can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six; turned again it -is seven-and-threepence, and so on, till it becomes a hundred pounds. -The more there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so that the -profits rise quicker. He that kills a breeding sow, destroys all her -offspring to the thousandth generation. He that murders a crown, -destroys all that it might have produced, even scores of pounds.” - -Our last words must be of advice to young persons upon entering the -world. - -Select the kind of business that suits your natural inclinations and -temperament. - -A business man must keep at the hold, and steer his own ship. - -Do not take too much advice. - -If you prosper in business, do not make too much show. - -Work on positive facts. Do not let hope predominate too much. Don’t be -visionary. - -Don’t put too much reliance on friends in business. - -Never accept a bill for a friend. You stand a chance of losing money and -friend. - -Speak very little in business. Pump others rather than be pumped -yourself. - -Consult wisely, and resolve firmly. - -Hesitation in business is bad; resolution, after proper consideration, is -omnipotent and healthy. - -Time, money, and judgment are three essential things for a speculation. - -Go with the tide. - -Consider everybody sharper than yourself in order to be yourself on your -guard. Take the meaning of people, not their words, as a guide in -business. Seek an interview rather than communication by letter, and -observe the person’s expression by his eyes. - -Keep your books posted up systematically. - -Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink the ship. - -Make the best of a bad bargain. - -A policy of life assurance is the cheapest and safest mode of making -provision for a man’s family. - -Finally, as Matthew Henry wrote—“Hope the best, get ready for the worst, -and then take what God sends.” - -A spendthrift, who had nearly wasted all his patrimony, seeing an -acquaintance in a coat not of the newest cut, told him he thought it had -been his great-grandfather’s coat. “So it was,” said the gentleman; “and -I have also my great-grandfather’s land, which is more than you can say.” - -A gentleman, whose place of business was not a thousand miles from the -Exchange, was annoyed, as many business men are, by impecunious -individuals desiring small loans. He adopted the following method of -dealing with them. He would listen amicably to the long preface to the -request to “Just lend me a sovereign for a few days,” and answer, -“Certainly;” and then, turning to a clerk, say: “James, we have a -sovereign to lend, have we not?” “Yes, sir,” says the well-trained -James. “Well, lend it to Mr. Beat.” “It is not in, sir; you loaned it -to Mr. Bummer the day before yesterday.” “Ah, yes; so I did. Well, when -it comes in lend it to Mr. Beat;” and bowing to the borrower, the -merchant resumes his business, and the needy one walks dejectedly out to -try a more profitable place. - -A man who would thrive should get married. A good wife is a true -helpmeet in fighting the battle of life. This is the hidden gem “of -purest ray serene.” Dr. Crosby says—“The true girl is to be sought for. -She does not parade herself as show goods. She is not fashionable -generally; she is not rich. But, oh! what a heart she has when you have -found her! So large, and pure, and womanly! When you see _her_ you -wonder if those showy things outside were really women. If you gain -_her_ love, your two thousand are a million. She’ll wear simple dresses, -and turn them when necessary. She’ll keep everything neat and tidy in -your sky parlour, and give you such a welcome when you come home, that -you’ll think your parlour higher than ever. She’ll entertain true -friends on a dollar, and astonish you with the thought how very little -happiness depends on money. She’ll make you love home (if you are not a -brute), and teach you how to pity while you scorn a poor fashionable -society that thinks itself rich, and _vainly tries to think itself -happy_. Now do not, I pray you, say any more, ‘I can’t afford to marry.’ -Go, find the true woman, and you can! Throw away that cigar; and avoid -intoxicating drinks, the GRAVE of home comforts; be sensible yourself, -and seek your wife in a sensible way.” - -Look carefully to your expenditures. No matter what comes in, if more -goes out, you will always be poor. The art is not in making money, but -in keeping it; little expenses, like mice in a barn, when they are many, -make great waste. Hair by hair heads get bald; straw by straw the thatch -goes off the cottage; and drop by drop the rain comes in the chamber. A -barrel is soon empty if the tap leaks but a drop a minute. When you mean -to save, begin with your mouth; many thieves pass down the red lane. The -ale-jug is a great waste. In all other things keep within compass. -Never stretch your legs farther than the blankets will reach, or you will -soon take cold. In clothes, choose suitable and lasting stuff, and not -tawdry fineries. To be warm is the main thing; never mind looks. A fool -may make money, but it needs a wise man to spend it. Remember, it is -easier to build two chimneys than to keep one going. If you give all to -back and board, there is nothing left for the savings-bank. Fare hard -and work hard when you are young, and you will have a chance to rest when -you are old. - -“A successful business man told me there were two things which he learned -when he was eighteen, which were ever afterwards of great use to -him—namely, ‘Never to lose anything, and never to forget anything.’ An -old lawyer sent him with an important paper, with certain instructions -what to do with it. ‘But,’ inquired the young man, ‘suppose I lose it; -what shall I do then?’ ‘You must not lose it!’ ‘I don’t mean to,’ said -the young man; ‘but suppose I should happen to?’ ‘But I say you _must -not_ happen to; I shall make no provision for any such occurrence; you -must not lose it!’ - -“This put a new train of thought into the young man’s mind, and he found -that if he was determined to do a thing, he could do it. He made such a -provision against every contingency, that he never lost anything. He -found this equally true about forgetting. If a certain matter of -importance was to be remembered, he pinned it down on his mind, fastened -it there, and made it stay. He used to say—‘When a man tells me that he -forgot to do something, I tell him he might as well have said, ‘I do not -care enough about your business to take the trouble to think of it -again.’ I once had an intelligent young man in my employment who deemed -it sufficient excuse for neglecting any important task to say, ‘I forgot -it.’ I told him that would not answer. If he was sufficiently -interested, he would be careful to remember. It was because he did not -care enough that he forgot it. I drilled him with this truth. He worked -for me three years, and during the last of the three he was entirely -changed in tins respect. He did not forget a thing. His forgetting, he -found, was a lazy and careless habit of the mind, which he cured.” - -While we write, the great orator of the age has lectured the people of -Hawarden in particular, and of England in general, on the virtues of -thrift. The subject is worthy of his genius. Thrift lies at the -foundation of all individual or national greatness. The _Times_ notes -that Mr. Gladstone only harps on an old string when he says that -Englishmen are lacking in thrift. The failing is commonly admitted, and -it is by no means confined to a single class. It pervades the whole -community. We may be more industrious than our neighbours, but we -certainly are more extravagant. We earn strenuously, but it is in order -that we may spend freely. In our choice of food and its preparation, in -our dwellings, in our comforts and luxuries, and in our recreations, we -are lavish as compared with other nations. There is probably no single -class in this country which does not, as a rule, live nearer to the -margin of its income than the corresponding class in France. The French -peasant is almost the slave of his land and his family, and labours -unceasingly for the one while he saves ungrudgingly for the other. Our -own labourers work as hard no doubt, and probably harder, but they are -much more extravagant in their habits. Their food is far more solid and -expensive, and it is dressed with far less thrift and skill. The case is -not very different with the classes higher in the social scale. Their -industry and perseverance are unrivalled, but these virtues are too often -made to do duty for prudence and economy as well. Mr. Gladstone is, no -doubt, light in attributing to friendly societies an influence which -tends in some degree to counteract the evil consequences of individual -prodigality. They do not directly encourage a more frugal mode of life -among the masses, but they develop a social feeling of common welfare -which at least counteracts individual selfishness. Thus, independently -of their purely economical advantages, they are by no means despicable -instruments of political and social education. But, after all, it is on -the individual himself that it depends whether he shall be thrifty, and -get on in the world, or shall be careless, and indolent, and extravagant, -and finally sink down to the bottom, a burden to the rest of the -community. “The way to wealth,” says an old writer, “is as plain as the -way to market. It depends chiefly on two plain words—industry and -frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use -of both.” - -As we go to press, we find a meeting held at the Mansion House, London -(the Earl of Shaftesbury in the chair), to hear Miss Emily Faithfull -lecture against the extravagance of modern life. Ladies (she said) were -sometimes accused of being the direct means of wild expenditure; and what -answer could be made to their accusers? They had only to walk in any -fashionable resort to see a great deal of prodigal display in dress, -which could be accounted for only by the explanation that many of its -wearers were living beyond their means. This state of things arose -because women were ranked by what they wore, and not by what they were. -Men and women seemed to have lost the faculty of enjoying inexpensive -pleasures. The same extravagance was to be found among high and low, -master and man. The reason of the outcry about bad servants was, because -all those of the present day wished to be like their betters; -fine-ladyism had descended from the drawing-room to the kitchen. Of the -various causes of this, one was the love of money, more deeply rooted in -the minds of the people of England than in those of any other nation in -the world. Another was the modern fusion of classes—people finding -themselves in a position in which they were compelled, by the tyranny of -custom, to “make an appearance” beyond their legitimate means. One of -the most crying evils of these times was the credit system, and its -twin-brother debt, well described as the curse of the middle classes, and -which, like drink, was carried on in a blind, stupid, reckless fashion. -The meaning of the word “economy” was continually being falsely made to -imply the saving of money, whereas it only meant the best possible -administration of time, labour, and money.—Mr. Thomas Hughes, Q.C., said -that the great dangers for this country were unthrift and intemperance; -and unless we could make it sober and thrifty it would soon become -insolvent. - - - - -ADVERTISEMENTS. {0} - - - A PRACTICAL BOOK FOR PRACTICAL MEN. - - THE INDUSTRIES OF THE WORLD. - - A Complete Course of Technical Education for the - Artizan and the Manufacturer. - - _Fully Illustrated with Diagrams and Portraits_. - - * * * * * - -In 30 parts, price 1s. each; 15 parts, price 2s. each, or in 5 divisions -(Cloth Backs), price 6s. 6d. each; also in 2 vols. 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