and venture. Sales were uncertain, since the effort of
     production was doubled by the task of creating an intelri-
     gent purchasing public. And, hardest of all, there was
     no reserve fund upon which to draw. The extension of
     the business, although finally remunerative, at times
     unbalanced the finances, and Morris, little by little, cast
     his entire fortune into the rapidly developing scheme.
     But owing to his industry, sagacity and constancy, the
     Firm survived, and a capital began to form itself from the
     accumulated profits. These last were, in strict law, and
     according to the first contract, equally divisibie among
     the partners who, it is needless to say, bore very unequal
     shares in the labor of designing and executing; none
     beside Morris and Faulkner devoting their exclusive time
     to the affairs of the company. Hence, through the initial
     -fault of the enterprise, arose unpleasant complications
     which impaired and even destroyed friendships, and
     nearly led to disaster, at the time of the dissolution and
     reconstitution of the Firm in 1874.
4 r:                          As the Company extended its
     activities, which were at first largely confined to the
     podction of household furniture and stained glass,
     ,Morris was subjected to the sarcasm of Rossetti. "Top
     ,has taken to worsted work" wrote the Chief of the
     Pre-Raphaelites; using the familiar name applied to
     Morris by his intimates, as a shortened form of Topsy,
     and as indicating his thick mop of hair. The "worsted
     work," or rather embroidery in crewels, was applied to
     dark serge of Yorkshire manufacture, and designed for
     mural decoration. In after years, this material with its
     a;i ed ornament, was superseded by the chintzes and
     paper-hangicns which became the staple products of the
     irmn. Still later, were developed the beautiful carpets
     and tapestries upon which Morris lavished the best efforts
     of his study and manual skill, as well as a wealth of
     'time and physical strength.
                              Midway in the sixties, the
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WVILLIAM MORRIS


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