92 MY LIFE [Chap. 



of a draper and haberdasher, a friend of his father's, where he 

 went daily for a year, but taking his meals at home. He was 

 a great reader, and being well known to all the inhabitants, 

 and evidently much liked and admired, he had free access to 

 all the libraries in the place, including those of the clergyman, 

 doctor, lawyer, etc., and he says that he generally read a 

 volume every day. He also thought much about all that he 

 read, and at one time, having read many religious books, he 

 wrote three sermons, which he afterwards destroyed. He also 

 learnt dancing, of which he was very fond, and this led him 

 to observe the characters of boys and girls, and also had an 

 important influence on his views and practice of education. 



At the age of ten, at his own request, he went to London, 

 where an elder brother was engaged in a saddler's shop. 

 Through his father's introductions and the recommendation 

 of the draper in Newtown, he soon obtained an engagement 

 with a haberdasher at Stamford, who had a large business 

 in the finest qualities of goods, which he supplied to all 

 the nobility and gentry in the country round. The boy 

 Owen was to have his board, lodging, and washing, no salary 

 the first year, £8 the second, and £10 the third, and he 

 tells us that from the time of entering this house he supported 

 himself, and never applied for or received any pecuniary aid 

 from his parents. Here he remained three years, and the 

 hours of business being comparatively short, by getting up 

 early he was able to read five hours a day. He also learnt 

 here to distinguish the different qualities of all the finest 

 fabrics, which was of great use to him in after-life. 



He then returned to London, and after a visit to his 

 family in Wales, entered a large ready-money shop on Old 

 London Bridge, where he had ^2J a year, but was at work 

 for fifteen or sixteen hours a day ; so after a year he obtained 

 another situation in a large shop in Manchester at a salary of 

 £40 a year. Here he remained till he was eighteen, and a 

 circumstance occurred which changed the whole course of 

 his life. 



A mechanic named Jones supplied the firm with wire 

 frames for ladies' bonnets, of which large numbers were sold. 



