me of his young comrades, Jack had always spoken in the dialect of the
place, and the surprise of the colliers when he spoke in perfect English
without a trace of accent or dialect was great indeed.

Standing up in the gig in which he had driven up with Mr. Brook he spoke
in a loud, clear voice heard easily throughout the yard.

"My friends," he said, "my position here is a new and difficult one, so
difficult that did I not feel sure that you would help me to make it as
easy as possible I should shrink from undertaking it. I am a very young
man. I have grown up among you, and of you, and now in a strange way,
due in a great measure to the kindness of your employers, and in a small
degree to my own exertions to improve myself, I have come to be put over
you. Now it is only by your helping me that I can maintain this position
here. You will find in me a true friend. I know your difficulties and
your wants, and I will do all in my power to render your lives
comfortable. Those among you who were my friends from boyhood can
believe this, the rest of you will find it to be so. Any of you who are
in trouble or in difficulty will, if you come to me, obtain advice and
assistance. But while I will try to be your friend, and will do all in
my power for your welfare, it is absolutely necessary that you should
treat me with the respect due to Mr. Brook's manager. Without proper
discipline proper work is impossible. A captain must be captain of his
own ship though many of his men know the work as well as he does. And I
am glad to be able to tell you that Mr. Brook has given me full power to
make such regulations and to carry out such improvements as may be
conducive to your comfort and welfare. He wants, and I want, the Vaughan
to be a model mine and Stokebridge a model village, and we will do all
in our power to carry out our wishes. We hope that no dispute will ever
again arise here on the question of wages. There was one occasion when
the miners of the Vaughan were led away by strangers and paid dearly for
it. We hope that such a thing will never occur again. Mr. Brook expects
a fair return, and no more than a fair return, for the capital he has
sunk in the mine. When times are good you will share his prosperity,
when times are bad you, like he, must submit to sacrifices. If disputes
arise elsewhere, they need not affect us here, for you may be sure that
your wages will never be below those paid elsewhere. And now I have said
my s