GEORGE MOORE.

I. LIKE many other of the great' merchant princes of London, George Moore was in every respect a selfmade man, and the architect of his own fortune. He derived little from his parents except an honest name and industrious habits, but by means of these he achieved the proud position which he occupied for many years.

His father was a farmer at Mealsgate, near Wigton, and was the owner of the small farm which he cultivated. On April 9, 1806, George Moore was born at Mealsgate-the second son in a family of five children.

2. As the boy advanced in years he was put to school at the neighbouring village of Bolton Gate. But seventy years ago a good village school was rarely found, and the Bolton school was neither better nor worse than most others. The pupils acquired a slight knowledge of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but, as Moore used to remark in later years, no attempt was made to reach their understanding, and many of them left school little better informed than they were when they entered it.

3. Young Moore, however, made the most of his opportunities. He was a precocious boy, of restless energy both at work and at play, and excelled his companions at both; these characteristics he retained. throughout life. At the age of fourteen he was placed in the shop of a draper at Wigton, where he soon showed such an aptitude for business, and proved

Precocious, unusually quick in understanding.

so trustworthy, that his master frequently left the shop in his charge for days and even for weeks at a time.

4. Soon after his apprenticeship was completed he determined to seek for employment in London, and with the aid of his stepmother, who warmly entered into his views, he obtained a modest situation in the shop of a London draper. When George Moore thus entered upon his new life in London he was a smart active young man of eighteen years of age. He now began to feel how lamentably deficient his education had been, and he did all in his power to make up for the want of good instruction during his boyhood, by devoting some hours each evening to self-improvement.

5. Moore soon became tired of the retail business, and by the kind influence of his master he succeeded in obtaining a situation as a warehouseman in a wholesale house with a salary of 40l. a year. At the age of twenty-one he was transferred from the post of warehouseman to that of town traveller. He entered upon his new duties with alacrity,' and brought to bear upon them an ample knowledge of his business, a quick intelligence, a prepossessing manner, and a strong and vigorous constitution.

6. Such qualities were not long in making their mark, and his employers showed their appreciation of his success by appointing him to travel for the firm in one of their best country districts. His energy in this new sphere of labour was unceasing. In those days it must be remembered there were no railways, the coach being the only public conveyance, and Alacrity, cheerful readiness.

between many places coaches ran only once a day. Very frequently after a hard day's work in calling for orders, Moore would stay up nearly all night packing up his goods, and would leave by the early coach next morning rather than lose a moment of time unnecessarily.

7. His reputation as an energetic and successful traveller was now so firmly established that a rival firm to that in which he was engaged offered him a salary of 500l. a year, if he would become their traveller. An advance of salary from 150l. to 500l. a year was a very tempting offer, but Moore refused to make any change unless he were admitted to a partnership. After some delay his terms were acceded to, and he became a member of the firm of Gronock, Copestake, Moore & Co., under an agreement by which he was to receive a fourth share of the profits.

8. Moore had now attained the highway that led to his subsequent eminence. In a great measure owing to his unwearying exertions and tact, the firm in which he was a partner became more opulent 1 and more influential each year. Their premises in Bow Churchyard were gradually extended, until the establishment began to be numbered among the sights of London. A writer some years ago said, 'Counters, tables, slabs, and benches are all pressed into the service for the display of textile fabrics 2 of every kind. Many of the productions can vie in excellence with the tracery of Persia and the loomspinning of Thibet, while ideas of comfort intermingle with variety, and a stock suited to all climes and

1 1 Opulent, wealthy.

2 Textile fabrics, goods that have been made by weaving.

classes is displayed before the wondering admiration of a hundred purchasers.'

9. But this was only the centre of a system which had innumerable branches at Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Paris, New York, and Philadelphia for instance, and which drew into its fancy department some of the choicest results of French, English, and Irish manufactures.

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10. As the firm rose in eminence and wealth, Moore began to exercise great influence among City men. His hearty, genial manner, his strong and kindly sympathies, and above all his readiness to open his purse freely, and to devote much of his own time for benevolent purposes, helped to single him out among his compeers in the City as a man without whose advice and assistance it was unwise to proceed with any public business. 'Have you seen George Moore on the subject?' was the first question that a City man would put when a proposal with regard to any public or charitable movement was made to him; and until George Moore had been consulted it was considered useless to proceed any further.

II. An appeal on behalf of any worthy object was never made to him in vain. He had started life animated by ambition, but his ambition was not of a selfish sort. As his position improved and his wealth increased, his great desire seemed to be to enable others to participate in the advantages of his prosperity, and to remove those obstacles to success which he had himself encountered out of the path of those who attempted to emulate his example.

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12. Having felt the disadvantages of an imperfect

! Compeers, equals.

? Emulate, strive to equal.

education, his first great efforts were directed towards the founding of schools, and the establishment of the Commercial Travellers' Orphan Schools at Pinner, of which he was treasurer from 1846 to his death, was mainly due to his exertions. To enumerate all his charitable gifts, or even to give a list of all the important benevolent institutions with which he was connected, would be almost impossible, so numerous were they.

13. In the sphere of his public benevolence and activities Moore was necessarily associated intimately with a vast number of persons of all degrees, and he never made a friend that he did not keep. At his residence in Kensington Palace Gardens were to be found the most distinguished men of the day. The highest dignitaries of the Church were proud to acknowledge as their intimate friend one whose wealth was exceeded only by the kindness of his heart and the liberality of his hand. Noble lords and eminent commoners,' the most celebrated members of the learned professions, distinguished travellers and literary men-all were ready to meet round his table; and perhaps seated amongst them might have been seen some old Bolton schoolfellow, or some young lad who had just arrived from Wigton to commence his struggle of life, whom the host had probably met in the course of the day and asked to join the party in his open-hearted and old-fashioned neighbourly way.

14. In the midst of his benevolent work George Moore met with an accident that caused his death. He had gone to Carlisle, for the purpose of attending

1 Commoner, one under the rank of nobility, a member of the House of Commons.