t of the artizan would be most precarious.

There is not a mechanic but has the use of the money of the master who
employs him. When the unskilled labourer lays down his spade, he leaves
idle a capital worth eighteen-pence; but when a skilled artizan or
mechanic leaves his mill or his workshop, he leaves idle a capital of
from a hundred to two hundred pounds per man. Nor does the skilled
workman run any risk whatever as regards the sums invested, though he
virtually shares the profits in the shape of the wages paid for his
labour. The profit which remains is the master's return for his
management and his risks. It is well known, however, that the risks are
not always covered, as the _Gazette_ in bad times abundantly
demonstrates.

The workman in good employment is not liable to losses by bad debts; he
has no obsolete machinery from time to time left useless on his hands;
and he has no anxiety about finding a market for his goods, nor fears
respecting fluctuations in the price of the raw material. These are
important advantages in his favour, which he does not usually take into
account. It is true he suffers if trade is bad, but he earns high wages
if it be good: he can then save money if he chooses to do so. He may be
said to participate in the adversity or prosperity of his firm, but
without incurring any of the liabilities of partnership.

Mr. Carlyle has given a curious account of the great English
manufacturer. "Plugson, of St. Dolly Undershot, buccaneer-like, says to
his men, 'Noble spinners, this is the hundred thousand we have gained,
wherein I mean to dwell and plant my vineyards. The hundred thousand is
mine, the three-and-sixpence daily was yours. Adieu, noble spinners!
drink my health with this groat each, which I give you over and above!'"

This account of the manufacturing buccaneer is a picture drawn by a man
of genius from his imagination. There are probably many readers who
believe the picture to be drawn from fact. There may, of course, be
masters who are buccaneers; but there are also masters who are not
buccaneers. There are dishonest manufacturers, as there are dishonest
literary men, dishonest publicans, dishonest tradesmen. But we must
believe that in all occupations honesty is the rule, and dishonesty the
exception. At all events, it is better that we should know what the
manufacturers really are,--from fact rather than from fiction.

Let us first take a large manufacturing firm, or rather ser