Such was the figure that created and directed the great property of
Tono-Bungay, and from the successful reconstruction of that company
passed on to a slow crescendo of magnificent creations and promotions
until the whole world of investors marveled. I have already I think,
mentioned how, long before we offered Tono Bungay to the public, we took
over the English agency of certain American specialties. To this was
presently added our exploitation of Moggs' Domestic Soap, and so he took
up the Domestic Convenience Campaign that, coupled with his equatorial
rotundity and a certain resolute convexity in his bearings won my uncle
his Napoleonic title.
II
It illustrates the romantic element in modern commerce that my uncle
met young Moggs at a city dinner--I think it was the Bottle-makers'
Company--when both were some way advanced beyond the initial sobriety
of the occasion. This was the grandson of the original Moggs, and a very
typical instance of an educated, cultivated, degenerate plutocrat. His
people had taken him about in his youth as the Ruskins took their John
and fostered a passion for history in him, and the actual management of
the Moggs' industry had devolved upon a cousin and a junior partner.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363