 things as compliments,« remarked Spence. »They see an
Englishman coming along, and as a matter of course they consider him a person of
wealth and leisure, who will be grateful to any one for suggesting how he can
kill time. Having nothing in the world to do but enjoy himself, why shouldn't
the English lord drive to Baiæ and back, just to get an appetite?«
    »Lord, eh?« growled Mr. Bradshaw, rising on his toes, and smiling with a
certain satisfaction.
    Threescore years all but two sat lightly on Jacob Bush Bradshaw. His cheek
was ruddy, his eyes had the lustre of health; in the wrinkled forehead you saw
activity of brain, and on his lips the stubborn independence of a Lancashire
employer of labour. Prosperity had set its mark upon him, that peculiarly
English prosperity which is so intimately associated with spotless linen, with a
good cut of clothes, with scant but valuable jewellery, with the absence of any
perfume save that which suggests the morning tub. He was a manufacturer of silk.
The provincial accent notwithstanding, his conversation on general subjects soon
declared him a man of logical mind and of much homely information. A sufficient
self-esteem allied itself with his force of character, but robust amiability
prevented this from becoming offensive; he had the sense of humour, and enjoyed
a laugh at himself as well as at other people. Though his life had been absorbed
in the pursuit of solid gain, he was no scorner of the attainments which lay
beyond his own scope, and in these latter years, now that the fierce struggle
was decided in his favour, he often gave proof of a liberal curiosity. With
regard to art and learning, he had the intelligence to be aware of his own
defects; where he did not enjoy, he at least knew that he ought to have done so,
and he had a suspicion that herein also progress could be made by stubborn
effort, as in the material world. Finding himself abroad, he had set himself to
observe and learn, with results now and then not a little amusing. The
consciousness of wealth disposed him to intellectual generosity; standing on so
firm a pedestal, he did not mind admitting that others might have a wider
outlook. Italy was an impecunious country; personally and patriotically he had a
pleasure in recognizing the fact, and this made it easier for him to concede the
points of superiority which he had heard attributed to her. Jacob was rigidly
sincere; he had no touch of the snobbery which shows itself in sham admiration.
If he liked a thing he
