THE STRAND HOUSE. 59 conviction that, in large measure, this esprit du corps had its origin in the personal influence of the junior partner. When the Milanese critic Lomazzo chose cognisances or emblems for the master-painters of the Italian Renaissance, symbolising their various genius, he assigned to Michael Angelo the dragon of contemplation, and to Mantegna the serpent of sagacity, but for Raphael he reserved the image of man-the type of intelligence and urbanity.1 It may seem a strained analogy that suggests itself between the characters of two men whose life-work differed as widely in kind as their social environment, but, in truth, the biographer of each has to record traits and method of influence upon others closely similar. Vasari wrote of Raphael that his kindly nature prevailed, even more than his art, to endear him to men; he dwells on his gentleness, his modesty, his courtesy, his anxiety to help others above all, his freedom from jealousy,—a sin besetting artists not more closely than statesmen. These are precisely the qualities which distinguished. Smith above his fellows, whether in the days when he was busy building up the great business in the Strand, or in after-days, when he was 1 Symonds, Italian Renaissance: The Fine Arts. called on to undertake some of the highest offices in the State. Indeed, had he lived in an age when men were named according to their personal qualities, no more fitting appellation could have been devised for him than Smith-the Smoother.1 Further, there was something in the concord prevailing among all classes in the employment of the Strand house, a concord established by the younger Smith, and enduring now that he has gone to his rest-something in the devotion to and confidence in their chief, felt and expressed by every one in that vast workshop, that calls to mind the spirit described by Vasari as animating the painters, sculptors, builders, decorators, engravers, and other handicraftsmen who worked under Raphael in his Roman bottega. His But it would be a mistake to suppose that Smith was indiscriminate in indulgence. principle was, once he had chosen and appointed a man to his duty, to put complete trust in him. That trust was seldom betrayed, and Smith was ever slow to be convinced that it had been forfeited; but in the rare instances when he was justly offended, he never gave a man an oppor 1 There is no reality in Dean Trench's specious derivation of "smith one that smiteth"; the laws of comparative philology are against it, and point to the real affinity with "smooth." A smith is therefore not one who smites but one who smooths-a polisher. tunity of deceiving him a second time. In visiting neglect of duty, he was as stern as his father, though not so unreserved in rebuke. Many years ago, when travelling on one of the southern lines, he observed that, as the train entered an important station, the bookstall clerk did not turn round and face it according to his instructions, but remained inattentive, and engaged in conversation with some acquaintance. The man was not only reprimanded, but his promotion was seriously retarded by the act of negligence which his employer had witnessed. He has since proved in a higher sphere that he was thoroughly capable of discharging more important duties. A clerk in the counting-house, who had been dismissed for gross misconduct, appeared before Smith one morning to plead for forgiveness. "Think of my mother, sir," he said; "she has no one to depend on but me, and if you dismiss me without a character, I shall be unable to support her." You should have thought of your mother before, sir," was all the answer given by Smith. If the inflexible justice with which he meted out punishment to wrong-doers sometimes approached severity, it was no more than the reflex of the perfect confidence he reposed in his men until they did something to forfeit it. A notable feature in the history of this house has been the rareness of instances of men employed in it setting up in business for themselves. The liberality with which they have been treated -their confidence in the known practice of their employers to advance their interests as the prosperity of the business grew, have given them such a feeling of security as to deprive them of the belief they could do any better on their own account. It is but fair to observe that the constant expansion of the trade has tended not a little towards this result. Promotion has been kept moving at a rate which would have been impossible in any business less constantly under the influence of the flowing tide. Neither in newspaper circulation nor in bookstall literature, nor in the other departments into which, as will presently be mentioned, the business came to be extended, has there ever been a check in the demand: the volume of transactions has ever been on the increase, there has been no embarrassing fluctuation in prices, and the cold shade of depression which has fallen from time to time on nearly every industry has never yet darkened the house in the Strand; consequently the relations of employer and employed have never been subjected to the heavy strain involved in a reduction of the rate of pay. It may occur to KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL. 63 some employers, less favoured by the turn of events, that it is easy, under smiling circumstances such as these, to keep a large establishment in good - humour, and to retain the devotion of old servants. No doubt there is much practical reason in this: the influence of wise management, willing service, and prosperity mutually react on each other; but if any one of these conditions is interrupted, the fruits of the others are apt to be wasted. Young Smith did not suffer close attention to business to prevent him taking an active part in philanthropic work. The services which he rendered to King's College Hospital extended over more than forty years, and are summarised in a resolution of condolence passed by the Committee of Management after his death in 1891, wherein they affirm that They are bound in gratitude to recall the long, varied, and important services which Mr Smith rendered to King's College Hospital. The munificent contributions made by him personally, and by the firm of Messrs W. H. Smith & Son, would alone ensure a grateful remembrance of his name. But the Committee are still more indebted to him for the personal guidance and support which he rendered to the Hospital, ever since he joined the Committee in 1849. . . . Since then, he served the offices of Auditor in 1862, and of Vice-Chairman from 1862-1864. For some time after his resignation of the latter office, he |