Dear, dear! On every side, look where one would, nothing but decline and calamity.

What was England coming to?
Day by day he had expected to see the failure of Sherwood Brothers; how had they escaped the common doom of sugar refiners?
Free trade, free trade; all very fine in theory, but look at its results on corn and sugar.

For his own part he favoured a policy of moderate protection.
All this was not more than Will had foreseen.

It would be annoying if Mr.Turnbull ultimately took an adverse view of his proposal; in that case, though his mother was quite free to manage her property as she chose, Will felt that he should hot venture to urge his scheme against the lawyer's advice, and money must be sought elsewhere.

A few days would decide the matter.