“ Philip was impatient of their stubborn refusal to believe in what was so plain and simple to him—that when a man was paid for what he produced he would be the gainer or loser according to the degree of his industry.
However, Philip persevered eagerly with his scheme, and in his character of honest buyer of labour he met with many surprises.
Work was scamped: he detected it, and dismissed the scampers. They went to join the clamorous crowd of incompetent or lazy workmen who cry that they only want work, but do not add to the cry that they want it on their own terms. ”

“ A fox with silent feet and cruel flair prowling about the henroost where the nestling chickens lie—a viewless wind laden with poison-germs, and bringing death wherever it blows—a lurking snake, hidden in the long grass and discovered only when it has stung—these and any other similes that can be gathered, expressive of silent secret wrong-doing to innocent things, may be taken as the signs of the Newsmonger in small places where propinquity places reputations at the mercy of all who choose to attack them. ”

“ I say that if a man wants work, he should be ready to take up any job that is offered him, whether it is in his line or not. The nature of the work is of no consequence so long as a man can do it, for all work is honourable. What is of consequence is that a man should be independent of the parish and the earnings of his wife. I say, here is work; come and do it: you shall not only have payment for what you do, but a share in whatever extra profit it may produce.’
That speech settled the whole affair so far as the men were concerned. ”

“ Philip turned away in disgust from the ethics of selfishness as expounded by his brother, and refused to believe that the primary rule for success in business was to do the best for yourself no matter what others lose, or that any enterprise of moment had ever been carried to a successful issue under the guidance of such a theory. People might hold their tongues when silence meant no harm to any one and possible good to somebody. ”

“ The more pretentious of the mansions of the nobility and gentry are pretty sure to boast of at least one fine, large, and imposing window, affording ample scope for artistic design, and, whether in the family tracing its pedigree for centuries, or the nouveau riche who began life with a struggle, heraldry and its concomitants seem to be held, more or less, in equal reverence. ”

“ A great and most important consideration in the adoption of stained glass is the great variety of design of which it is susceptible, its range of artistic production being so extensive and pecuniarily elastic as to bring it, in one form or another, within the reach of almost any one occupying a house; while for cleanliness, durability, and pleasing effect, whether in the comfortable dwelling of the thriving tradesman, or adorning the noblest monuments of private munificence or national philanthropy, it cannot fail to charm the eye by its intrinsic beauty ”

“ But a seal’s head is not a large object at any considerable distance; and if he is swimming, you have probably only a part of his head in view. If you are in a boat, your stance is more or less unsteady, however smooth the sea may be. Then, however close he may be to you, it is needless to fire, if, as is usually the case, he is looking at you; for he is quite as expert as most of the diving sea-birds in ‘diving on the fire,’ or rather throwing his head to a side with a sudden spring and splash. ”

“ It must be remembered that modern decoration means a great deal more than a mere picking out in gold and colour of the salient lines of a cornice, or the stencilled powdering of a conventional pattern over the area of a wall or a ceiling; it has advanced far beyond the province of the builder and house-painter, and demands no inconsiderable proportion of the genius of the artist. ”

“ From such, may the good grace of fortune and the honest tongues of the sturdy and the upright deliver us!—for if all the evil that is said of men were tracked to its source, that source would be found to lie, not in fact, but in the fertile imagination of the Newsmonger. ”

“ Those who were most interested in gas, foreseeing the inevitable change, whilst improving the positions they occupied so prominently and so long, sought new fields for the application of gas, in which they might hold their own, and probably more than their own, against the conquering rival. The application of gas to cooking purposes was one of the results, and, as experience has since proved, was a very useful and beneficial one. The writer has had a gas cooking-stove for some time in his possession, and offers, therefore, for the benefit of others the results of personal experience. ”

“ To be a successful seal-hunter you must be acquainted with the habits of the animal. You must be cool and cautious, yet prompt and fertile in expedients, a good stalker, a good boatman, and a good cragsman; and you must be at once a quick and a steady shot. It is not enough to strike a seal; you must shoot him with a bullet through the brain, and thus kill him instantly, or you will in all probability never see him again. ”

“ The House of Armytage and Company—I have often heard you say—place every confidence in you as their head-cashier. Thousands and thousands of pounds in the course of the year pass through your hands: piles of bank-notes, bags and bags of bright sovereigns, have been paid by you into the bank’——
‘Ay, ay!’ cried the old man, looking straight before him, as though at a vision—‘ay, ay! Bright sovereigns—bags and bags of them—bags and bags of bright sovereigns!—ah! ”

“ There is another consideration not without importance in connection with the establishment of a complete scheme of internal decoration. Light is one of the most important essentials in a building where exact and extensive business is transacted, and the presence of large and frequent windows is a necessity. But how painfully is the harmony and continuity of the ornament interrupted by the constant recurrence of these patches of white light. The eye, in following the progress of the decorative design, grows weary of the constant loss and recapture of its thread ”

“ And after all, it was strange, was it not? that, knowing of this coming insurrection at the back of the unpronounceable mountains, Our Newsmonger should have gone in for a rise, when Panslavonic Unifieds were so sure to come down with a rattling run, as soon as the first gun was fired by the obscure tribes aforesaid? Those who like it can accept the explanation as gospel truth and sure; but a healthy scepticism is not a bad state of mind for the more wary to cultivate, and the doctrine of infallibility is not so fashionable as it used to be. ”

“ Here, then, is called into requisition the art of the glass-stainer; without any vital diminution of light, the scheme of colour is no longer disturbed, a perfect chromatic harmony is established, and the window serves a double purpose, by admitting the necessary illumination from without, and enhancing the beauty of the building within. ”

“ Every man is to stand upon his own merits: if fortune be his aim, let him win it by hard work of hand and brain. The man who works hardest will get most, and he who works least will get least. I think that is perfectly simple, and easily understood by any man or woman who is willing to work. There are to be no drones, as I have said, to hamper the progress of the workers.’
Madge could see it all, and the scheme was a{357} noble one in her eyes, which ought to be workable—if they could only get rid of the drones. But that ‘if’ introduced Philip to his troubles. ”

“ There is an institution and building, without the existence of which the writing on subjects of beauty and art would be a serious waste of time—namely, the school; and here the introduction of stained glass may be found of beneficial effect. It is not to be denied that when the watchful eye of the master relaxes its vigilance, the youthful eye will wander too, and the direction of nearly every eye will be towards the window ”

“ But even this blessing may be overdone, through the indiscreet zeal of teachers, until it becomes a curse, instead of what it really ought to be, a blessing. The body of man, acted on by the unerring laws of Nature, plainly rebels against all overdosing, whether it be in food, drink, exercise, heat or cold, and clearly indicates a limit—‘Thus far, and no farther.’ So it is with the brain. Children are not all constituted alike, and it is certain that all should not be treated in the same manner in the training either of their bodies or their minds. ”

“ Whom the gods would destroy, they first madden; and what is the use of hammering your head against a stone wall? Again, when Edwin and Angelina come to an abrupt rupture, and the engagement which promised so well and looked so satisfactory all round, is broken off in a hurry, to the open-mouthed amazement of society—though the cause remains a profound mystery to all the rest, Our Newsmonger winks knowingly when he gives you the story, and tells you that he is in the confidence of both parties, and understands the whole thing from end to end. ”

“ Is not the present system of ‘cramming’ very young children not only inexpedient, but dangerous to brain and life, in trying to force too much ‘book-learning’ into small minds ill fitted for its reception? Many thoughtful people have of late given much attention to this interesting question; but the whole subject has at last been forced upon the notice of the public in a manner as tragic as it was unexpected. Two young children have lately suffered miserable deaths in consequence of overwork, in other words, over-education. ”

“ Seal-hunting is splendid sport—superior, I confidently affirm, to every other species of sport in this country at least, not excepting deer-stalking and fox-hunting. The game is a noble animal, large, powerful, exceedingly sagacious, intensely keen of sight and hearing, suspicious, shy, and wary. ”

“ The advantages of gas are felt chiefly in summer, when coal-fires are not only not required for heating purposes, but when kept lighted all day, are positively objectionable; and to the workers in the kitchen almost intolerable. The atmosphere of a kitchen where gas is used at this season contrasts strongly in temperature with that of one in which coal is burned. When coal-fires are kept up only for the preparation of each meal, the cost of relighting is somewhat considerable. ”

“ Upon these noble buildings have been lavished the utmost resources of decorative art; and latterly, stained glass has formed an important element in the general scheme of decoration, and it is to its adaptation to this class of domestic architecture that we would first draw attention.
One of the first, as it is one of the most natural, motives prompting the enrichment of the ornamental accessories of a building, is discovered in a desire to see perpetuated the memory of its founder or founders. ”

“ I am sorry that we should have had this breakdown; but I expected something of the sort; and when I started this scheme of mutual labour for mutual profit—I ought to say the system of individual work—I was prepared to encounter much misunderstanding, but I was inspired by the hope that in the end I should find real help amongst the real workers. I am convinced that there are plenty of men willing to work if they can find it. Now, why should we not work together? The principle is a very simple one, and easily understood. You want to get as much as you can. ”

“ As it is impossible to doubt the word of a man who is also a gentleman, and whom you ask to dinner four times in the year, we must take Our Newsmonger at his own showing, and assume that we have been deaf, not that he was—mistaken. ”

“ Any person who considers the amount of labour and time expended in connection with ordinary fires—the comparative difficulty of lighting them—the frequent attention necessary to maintain them, and the waste of fuel when not in use—the amount of soot they discharge about the compartment, and deposit, more particularly in open stoves, on the utensils used in cooking—the absence of any means by which the heat can be properly regulated—cannot fail to be convinced that coal for cooking purposes has a great rival in gas. ”

“ Coutts would regard him pityingly, and answer with the calmness of one whose principles are founded upon established law:
‘Why I tell a lie is because I wish to gain an advantage over somebody. If gaining this advantage be cheating, then I must cheat, because everybody else is doing the same thing; or I must submit to be cheated. However, in the City it is vulgar to talk about cheating and lies in connection with respectable business transactions. When we profit by the ignorance of others, we call it rules of trade, custom, and may occasionally go so far as to speak of sharp practice ”

“ The air is admitted through a number of holes or slits opening into the tube through which the gas passes, and in rushing forward under pressure the gas draws the air with it into the flame. To realise a maximum amount of heat out of a given quantity of gas, it is necessary to add to it a definite proportion of air. When the gas rushes rapidly towards the flame, a greater quantity of air is drawn in through the orifices provided for that purpose than when the gas passes more slowly. ”

“ That gas is economical cannot for a moment be disputed, even when the question of labour is not included. Of course the comparison will vary in different localities; but wherever the price of gas is in proportion to the price of coal—that is to say, wherever no exceptionally high price is charged for the cost of manufacturing gas—the cost of cooking by the latter will compare favourably with that of coal. A few figures taken from actual trial will make this clear. A ton of Wallsend coals in London costs twenty-six shillings, and will feed a small kitchen stove for two months ”