第42章

Whatdidtheyputintheirhotbathsafterjousting，andwastheBlackPrince——youknowtheBlackPrince——washeenameledorpainted，orwhat？Ithinkmyself，black-leaded——verylikely——likepipe-clay——butDIDtheyuseblackingsoearly？”

SoitcameaboutthatindesigningandwritingthoseMoggs’SoapAdvertisements，thatwroughtarevolutioninthatdepartmentofliterature，myunclewasbroughttorealisenotonlythelosthistory，butalsotheenormousfieldforinventionandenterprisethatlurkedamongthelittlearticles，thedustpansandmincers，themousetrapsandcarpet-sweepersthatfringetheshopsoftheoilmananddomesticironmonger。Hewasrecalledtooneofthedreamsofhisyouth，tohisconceptionofthePonderevoPatentFlatthathadbeeninhismindsoearlyasthedaysbeforeIwenttoservehimatWimblehurst。“TheHome，George。”hesaid，“wantsstraighteningup。Sillymuddle！Thingsthatgetintheway。Gottoorganiseit。”

Foratimehedisplayedsomethinglikethezealofagenuinesocialreformerinrelationtothesematters。

“We’vegottobringtheHomeUptoDate？That’smyidee，George。

Wegottomakeaciviliseddomesticmachineoutoftheserelicsofbarbarism。I’mgoingtohuntupinventors，makeacornerind’mesticideas。Everything。Ballsofstringthatwon’tdissolveintoatangle，andgumthatwon’tdryintohorn。See？Thenafterconveniences——beauty。Beauty，George！Allthesefewthingsoughttobemadefittolookat；it’syouraunt’sidea，that。Beautifuljam-pots！Getoneofthosenewartchapstodesignallthethingstheymakeuglynow。Patentcarpet-sweepersbythesegreenwoodchaps，housemaid’sboxesit’llbeapleasuretofallover——richcolouredhouse-flannels。Zzzz。Pails，f’rinstance。Hang’emuponthewallslikewarming-pans。Allthepolishesandthingsinsuchtins——you’llwanttocuddle’em，George！Seethenotion？’Stedofallthesillyuglythingswegot。”。

Wehadsomemagnificentvisions；theysoaffectedmethatwhenI

passedironmongersandoil-shopstheyseemedtomeasfullofpromiseastreesinlatewinter，flushedwiththeefforttoburstintoleafandflower。Andreallywediddomuchtowardsthatverybrightnesstheseshopsdisplay。Theyweredingythingsintheeightiescomparedtowhatoureffortshavemadethemnow，greyquietdisplays。

Well，Idon’tintendtowritedownherethetortuousfinancialhistoryofMoggs’Limited，whichwasourfirstdevelopmentofMoggsandSons；norwillItellverymuchofhowfromthatwespreadourselveswithalargerandlargerconceptionthroughoutthechandleryandminorironmongery，howwebecameagentsforthislittlecommodity，partnersinthat，gotatentacleroundtheneckofaspecialisedmanufacturerorso，securedapulluponthisorthatsupplyofrawmaterial，andsopreparedthewayforoursecondflotation，DomesticUtilities；“Doit。”theyreordereditinthecity。AndthencamethereconstructionofTono-Bungay，andthen“Householdservices“andtheBoom！

Thatsortofdevelopmentisnottohetoldindetailinanovel。

Ihave，indeed，toldmuchofitelsewhere。Itistobefoundsetoutatlength，painfullyatlength，inmyuncle’sexaminationandmineinthebankruptcyproceedings，andinmyownvariousstatementsafterhisdeath。Somepeopleknoweverythinginthatstory，someknowitalltoowell，mostdonotwantthedetails。

itisthestoryofamanofimaginationamongfigures，andunlessyouarepreparedtocollatecolumnsofpounds，shillingsandpence，comparedatesandcheckadditions，youwillfinditveryunmeaningandperplexing。Andafterall，youwouldn’tfindtheearlyfiguressomuchwrongasSTRAINED。InthematterofMoggsandDoUt，asinthefirstTono-Bungaypromotionandinitsreconstruction，weleftthecourt