not to declare, that they sold cheaper than they bought, and therefore must soon come to an end; yet they went on, year by year, in steady and rapid increase....  He already seemed to descry in the distance the possibility of a great wholesale establishment; but this must be reached by little and little.  He would not attempt what he could not accomplish.  Any sudden bound, therefore, by which he was at once to pass the gulf now separating him from his object, was not to be thought of.  A little at a time; secure what you have, work it well, make it fruitful, and then push on a little farther; but never stretch out to anything new till all the old is perfectly cultivated.’

The brother, who was fifteen years his senior, and a man of ordinary character, was borne on by the towering genius of Samuel the apprentice.  ’Among the customers of the shop were numbers of good women, who came from villages at a few miles’ distance, mounted on donkeys.  As the flow of purchasers was great, a crowd of these patient steeds would often be for a long time about the door, while their respective mistresses were obtaining goods.  In this concourse from a distance, the quick eye of Samuel discovered the germ of an extended trade.  Why should he not go into their neighbourhood regularly, and obtain their orders; so securing their custom always, and affording them accommodation, while he obtained new chances of extension?  His brother was much more inclined to pursue the regular course than to branch into anything new; and the caution of the one probably acted as a useful counterbalance to the energy of the other.  But Samuel was not to be held within the shop-walls:  he had his plans for erecting a great business, and no power could restrain him.  He soon set forth to the villages of Doynton and Pucklechurch, and arranged to meet the good folks at fixed times, in one house or another convenient for them, and there to receive their orders.  He made himself their friend:  he was hearty, familiar, and in earnest; he noticed their children; he knew their ways; and he rapidly gained their favour, and effected considerable sales.’

’This point gained, he began to talk of supplying the smaller shops.  “Why should not we supply them as well as other people?” His brother shrank from anything that seemed to approach the wholesale.  He feared that they would get beyond their means, and wished to pursue only the old course.  Samuel could wait, but he could not surrender.  Supply the smaller shops he would, and by degrees he managed to accomplish it.  Very gradually, the range of this quasi-wholesale trade extended.  Firmly keeping to his purpose of working all he had got, and going on little by little, he made no abrupt enterprise—­no great dash; but on, on he plodded in the humblest way, caring nothing for show, but careful that every foot of ground under him was solid.  He gradually began to make a modest sort of commercial journey; and among tradesmen to whom he would not venture to offer the higher articles of grocery, raised a considerable trade in such descriptions of goods as he might supply without seeming to push into too important a sphere.’