Decline of Cumberland Wrestling. 227 



of George Moore, Merchant and Philan- 

 thropist." In the first of these two pages, 

 we see the country boy, " uncouth and thick- 

 set," entering the service of Messrs. Flint, 

 Ray and Co., in the April of 1825. At the 

 second page we find him, in the June of 

 1830, inducted as a partner into the firm of 

 Messrs. Groucock and Copestake, long after- 

 wards known as Messrs. Groucock, Cope- 

 stake, and Moore. In April of that year 

 George Moore celebrated his twenty-fourth 

 birthday. His rapid success was due to his 

 extraordinary energy as a commercial traveller 

 in the service of Messrs. Fisher, Stroud and 

 Robinson, of Watling Street, City, then the 

 first lace house in the East End. Again his 

 good luck, in being a Cumberland man, was 

 of essential service to him, as Mr. Fisher 

 came from the same part of England. His 

 salary was ^40 a year, and he found that he 

 had still much to learn. Soon Mr. Fisher 

 began to blame him for his slowness and 

 stupidity. " l I have had many a stupid 

 blockhead from Cumberland,' he exclaimed, 

 'but you are the worst of them all.' He 

 kept on repeating this two or three times 



