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and its trials, in his way, as was she herself in hers, and that he and she are rather partners in fall and loss, than victimiser and victim.

"She never speaks to me directly of the Prides, except in the most ordinary way, but I gather these thoughts of hers from what she says of other things.

"Miss Pride comes to see Lydia very often. Lydia has never been at the Pride's house again. I suppose some people would think Miss Pride would show her love for her brother by ignoring Lydia's existence and his sin. But I think her way is right. She said to me one day, 'I shall never give up my brother, and therefore I owe a duty to all whom he wrongs. Mercy to him must be founded on justice to them.'

to feel myself the mistress and hostess. I could not help crying a little when I reflected how the days of our old home life were numbered, but she said only, 'Lois, dost thou grudge that thou hast given a son to thy widowed mother?'

"And now, dear Hans, let me speak about ourselves. I am ready for you when you want me. I shall be very glad to come to you. Why should I not say so? Ought I not to feel so? The chestful of linen is not quite finished yet-well, its finishing will give me employment when you have to leave me alone in your strange city. I think it is a cruel and foolish custom which leaves a bride nothing to do after she is married.

"My mother says she will not return with us to your home, but will follow us very soon, -in a few weeks, just long enough for me to learn to walk alone in my new place, and

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"So, Hans, you may at once announce our betrothal.

"How pleasant it is that Paul and Else need not be unsettled in their old age. I cannot bear the saying that service is no inheritance.' It ought to be such. And what can I do about Lydia? It will be hard to leave her—and need I do so, unless it is for the best for her? Lydia does not mind what work she does now. She and I could keep your house without any more help. Could that be wrong? If not, I know my brave Hans will never say, 'It is not proper.' "And now, with my mother's blessing, I am, in life and death,

"Your own

"Lois."

"P.S.-A man has come into the shop, saying that 'old Mr. Pride has just fallen down the flight of stone steps at the railway station, and has been picked up for dead.' I cannot write one word more, and I must post this before I can ascertain the truth, or I shall miss to-night's mail."

ONCE AND FOR EVER.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "Chronicles of THE SCHÖNBERG-COTTA FAMILY."

JESUS, what once Thou wast

For evermore Thou art;

Each moment of the sacred past Lives in the Sacred Heart.

Thy "yesterday" on earth.

And Thy "to-day" above,

Thy Godhead, manhood, death, and birth, One through Eternal Love.

Babe that the mother boreChild on the mother's knee;

Child for the children evermore, Only the childlike see.

Pierced on the cross of old,

We yet Thy wounds may greet, Hear Thy "Come hither and behold The pierced hands and feet."

The Lamb of God below,

Mute 'neath the mortal pain,

Still on the Throne the Lamb we know, Still" as it had been slain."

Yea, all Thou ever wast

For evermore Thou art,

Each moment of the living past

Lives in the loving Heart.

GEORGE MOORE,

Merchant and Philanthropist.

BY THE REV. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D.

great ardour, particularly the rough sport of wrestling, in which young Moore excelled. His tendency to money-making appeared so early as the age of nine or ten, when he struggled to earn at harvest as much as a man. He is said to have been a general favourite, with the faults incident to an energetic character unsoftened by a mother's tenderness. His mother had died early. Certainly there was little of tenderness in the boy of eleven who walked thirty-four miles to see a man hanged.

MR. SMILES has taken in hand a very | Out-of-door amusements were practised with different subject from his "Scottish Naturalist." ."* And we venture to say that so far as natural character goes, the naturalist is a more attractive man than the philanthropist. Thomas Edward and George Moore both started in life from the humblest ranks. In Thomas Edward we find a man, somewhat peculiar in temper perhaps, but thoroughly devoted to pursuits which brought to him personally little but toil and danger, poverty and struggle. In George Moore we have a man singularly strong in worldly instincts, who spent the earliest and most active part of his life in one ignoble pursuit the pursuit of wealth. In middle life, George Moore is brought, as we believe, under the true and powerful influence of Divine grace. He is taught one great lesson, to use his wealth for Christian and benevolent ends, and he does an immense amount of good. But as we look along his life to its very close, it is seen to want nobility. The weak desire to raise his social position never ceases to exert its influence on Mr. Moore. In business, in marriage, in philanthropy, in social intercourse, everywhere we see the enfeebling touch of this poor passion. We conclude the volume thinking of Mr. Moore rather as the righteous man for whom one would scarcely die, than the good man for whom some would even dare to die. But all the same, the life is charged with some useful lessons, and it will be profitable to survey it from the beginning to the end.

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Moore was the younger son of a Cumberland statesman or yeoman, whose forefathers had led a wild and stirring life, fostering a brave, fearless, independent spirit, with a desire to acquire as much as possible of their neighbours' property at the smallest cost to themselves. In fact these freebooters went on the principle of acquiring property in the cheapest market and selling it in the dearest, and we rather think that young Moore inherited something of their spirit-his practice, however, being qualified by punctual payment for all that he acquired. His education was of the poorest sort. His teacher was a drunkard, whose chief assistants in knocking learning into the boys were a cane and a thick ruler.

George Moore, Merchant and Philanthropist." By Samuel Smiles, LL.D. 1878.

Determined to leave home and push his way in the world, George Moore was apprenticed to a draper at Wigton, in Cumberland. It was a miserable arrangement, and the wonder is he was not ruined. He had to get his meals in a public-house, and it was part of his duty in the shop to give whisky to all the good customers. His master was a drunkard, and the senior apprentice a bully and a coward. Then he got into the habit of gambling, all the more dangerous because he had luck at cards. He got so fond of this that he would often spend nearly the whole night at the public-house gambling. The cure of this pernicious and ensnaring habit came in a very singular way. In locking up his master's premises he had been accustomed to leave a window on the ground floor unfastened, and to let himself in by that in the middle of the night. One Christmas time, his master finding this out, and hearing of his gambling habits, had the window fastened in his absence; and Moore, in order to get to his bed, had to clamber over the roofs of the adjacent houses, and hanging over the parapet, let his feet drop on the sill of his window, and thus get an entrance. Soon after he got into bed his master came to look after him, and Moore, feigning to be asleep, heard him vow that as soon as he awoke he should be turned adrift. Next day he lay in bed, never moved, and nobody came to him. Hearing the waits sing some Christmas carols, he felt a new spirit come over him. He was overwhelmed with remorse and penitence. He thought of his father, and feared he might bring his grey hairs down with sorrow to the grave. He resolved to leave off gambling, and by God's help he was enabled to carry out the resolution. His master was induced to give him another trial.

He was now steady as a rock, and attended an evening school to improve his education. He became very valuable in connection with the business, for the master was becoming more and more unsteady, and George had really to steer the ship. He was a great favourite in the town. He showed his interest and sympathy by often running from house to house asking after the welfare of ailing inmates, playing games, amusing the young, and assisting the old.

His apprenticeship coming to an end, George determined to go to London to push his fortune. His purpose was very unwelcome to his father, and especially to his sister Mary, who was next younger than he, and as often happens in the case of sisters nearest of age, specially attached to him. But George had made up his mind, and so firm was his will even in boyhood, that once he did this, he never changed. He had no one to take him by the hand, and he had little in his rugged Cumberland speech and manners to recommend him; but he had courage and perseverance, and no little faith in himself.

When he went through the drapers' shops and asked a place behind the counter, his speech, manners, and appearance were so rough that people laughed at him, and asked him if it was not a porter's place he wished for. His first fortnight in London was a fortnight of bitter martyrdom, and it was only after he had knocked in vain at every door that Mr. Ray, a Cumberland man, more out of pity for the lad than for business reasons, offered him a berth at thirty pounds a year. The most memorable thing that happened to him during the year he was in this place, was one day when a bright little girl came tripping into the warehouse, accompanied by her mother. It was his master's daughter. On seeing her, George exclaimed, "If ever I marry, that girl shall be my wife!" It seemed sheer madness. But somehow the idea had penetrated at once to the core of his heart. It became a tremendous power in his after-life. The incident is romantic, but not pleasing. How much more should we have thought of him had his marriage sprung from a genuine attachment, instead of a mere business speculation! After a year, having had enough of retail business, Moore passed into the service of a wholesale house, Fisher, Stroud, and Robin

son.

Here he passed through a new ex

Strange to say, in later life that master came to London destitute, and his old apprentice made a provision for him

for life.

perience of his deficiencies, and found especial cause to cultivate such qualities as quickness, promptitude, and accuracy. When a country boy has the right stuff in him, though he may at first be far surpassed by the town boy, he gradually gains on the other, and ultimately is considerably ahead. It was so with Moore. Though his hours of work were heavy, he felt that his education had been woefully deficient, and, joining a night school, he would pore over books till midnight, striving to make up his lee way. In business he began to show smartness and extraordinary willingness. The head of the firm, who at first had said that he had known many a Cumberland blockhead, but that Moore was the greatest of them all, began now to perceive his value. He was made town traveller of the firm. After eighteen months he was found to be too good for that department, and appointed to a more important post-the Manchester and Liverpool circuit. This may be said to have been the beginning of his remarkable success. He turned out to be one of the most extraordinary travellers that a mercantile house ever had. His activity was enormous. He would do in one day the work of three. His manner was very winning; he found out the right side of his clients, and conquered almost at sight. In Ireland, where his master had lost all his business, he fought hard and brought it back. He had forethought, carefulness, method, and perseverance. To these qualities he owed his success. His salary was but £150 per annum, and higher offers came to him. He refused to change except for a partnership. The partnership came, and in 1830, at the age of twenty-four, he became a member of the firm of Groucock, Copestake, and Moore, of Bow Churchyard, London.

He

Compared by some of his fellows to a lion, and by others to an eagle, he worked now with the energy of a steam-engine. continued to conduct the department of traveller, in which his success had been so great. For years the business just doubled yearly. He used to say that for twelve years he worked some sixteen hours a day, and with hardly a holiday. It was not till 1841, the year after his marriage, that he began to take things more quietly. Like too many other commercial travellers, he worked on Sundays as well as on week-days, making up accounts and looking over stock. As a rule, he was up two nights in the week. A few hours' sleep on a sofa satisfied him. The thought of resting to take a few hours' plea

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VII. N.S.

57

drunkard. My temptations were very great. All customers that came to see my stock of goods were invited to drink, no matter at what hour. . . . During my travelling days, I had no time to think. At night I tumbled into bed without asking God's blessing, and I was generally so tired that I fell asleep in a few minutes."

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Yet even during this utterly worldly period of his life, Moore did not live for himself alone. The kind heart that used to carry heavy parcels at night for his brother William, who was not strong enough for his berth as porter, was touched with many a fellowcreature's struggles, and eagerly sought to lighten them. He did a great deal for Cumberland, especially for its Benevolent Society, to which, when he went to London, he subscribed his first guinea. He laboured very earnestly and very successfully to raise the standard of education throughout the county. He instituted a very useful scheme of Perambulating Libraries in Cumberland, the idea of which he had got from the similar scheme of Samuel Brown, of Haddington. The Commercial Travellers' School was, to a large extent, his own creation. He took extraordinary pains to promote the success of a Prison Reformatory, designed to look after prisoners when discharged, but found it very hard work to get the institution to work properly, and it was only after many years' most sturdy application of his motto Persevere," that he at length allowed it to be closed, saying that it was the only work he had ever begun and given up. He was deeply interested in a Hospital for Incurables. A special hobby was to pay the marriage fees of poor couples who were living unmarried, in order that they might be in a more hallowed relation. One wonders that he did not fulminate against the customs which place money barriers in the way of the marriage of the poor. The demoralization of women through the ravages of sensual vice, the degradation of those who should have been guardians of purity into the promoters and partners of abominable wickedness, distressed him greatly, and a refuge for fallen women was another of his schemes. It was one of his ways of working for such objects to beg from others as well as give liberally himself. As the cares of business came to take up less of his time, the labours of philanthropy came in their place. It was a saying of his, "For work go to the busy man, not to the idle." So full was he of philanthropic work, that when nominated to the high office of Sheriff of London he paid the

fine of £415 13s. 4d. to decline the honour. For a similar reason, he declined every proposal to offer himself for a place in Parliament. Without difficulty he might have been returned for many places, and for places of such mark as the county of Cumberland, the City of London, and the county of Middlesex, and the men who urged him to stand were sometimes the highest in rank and influence; but he uniformly declined, saying that he had not education enough to fit him for the office; that if he went into Parliament it must be to work and not look on; and that the work of Parliament was so heavy that he should have to give up all the other labours, for which he felt that he was much better fitted. The modesty and conscientiousness that led him to this conclusion give us a more favourable view of his character than we get from the general course of his life.

Moore was now one of the merchantprinces of the metropolis, and he must have a princely house. He seems to have gone into this project with some misgivings, and the undertaking appears to have been more his wife's than his own. The mansion was situated in Kensington Palace Gardens, and Mr. Moore took possession of it in 1854. It was a splendid house, full of the choicest objects of art-everything of the highest quality. "It was long before I felt at home in it," says Mr. Moore, "nor did it add at all to our happiness." It naturally led him to see more company, and to develop social qualities of which he possessed a considerable share. His wife, for whose sake he had built and furnished the house, did not live long to enjoy it. Splendour and wealth could not arrest the cold hand when it was laid upon her, and on the 4th December, 1858, Mr. Moore was left in a state of loneliness, which the largeness and splendour of his dwelling seemed to make more difficult to bear.

It was about this time that the intense worldliness of Mr. Moore's life began to be broken in upon by the claims of religion. His biographer tells us that he left among his papers many passages relating to his religious life. In the course of the volume we have a number of extracts from these, but the development of this, by far the most important aspect of his life, is not presented with the sympathetic interest that we should have desired. His carelessness during the early part of his life has already been adverted to. In the first and uninterrupted flow of worldly prosperity, everything went so well with him that thoughts of the unseen

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