refused to give a license to the present -- or any future -- Ebbw Vale Company to use any of my patent processes for the manufacture of cast steel. These facts I can legally publish; I could, before the day was out, cover every hoarding in the City with these staring placards, and before the members of the Stock Exchange arrive at their offices to-morrow morning, I could have fifty cabs perambulating Cornhill and the principal City thoroughfares with similar placards posted on them, as practised at election times, and distributing handbills by the thousand; if you are of opinion that under these conditions you can get £2,000,000 capital subscribed for a New Ebbw Vale Steel Company, you may try and do so.

"On the other hand your clients, if this altered state of things is communicated to them in a quiet, businesslike way by their own financial agent, will never be mad enough to lose such a chance of realising so vast a sum in ready cash for their old works and plant.

"Iron-making, as far as rails are concerned, is played out. The company must make steel or shut up the works, and they have already put it off too long. My process has rendered large buildings filled with long rows of puddling furnaces of little value; and weak old-fashioned rolling-mills, that would do for iron, must all be replaced by stronger and more modern mills for rolling steel. Your clients must be fully aware of these facts, and they will never risk their present chance of selling the works for the mere pleasure of opposing me. I know this as well as they do, and there lies my source of power. Whereas their unconditional surrender would make everything smooth, their own best interests would be secured, you would get your commission for the formation of the company, and I should get my royalty for all the steel they make. Such is the brief outline of the steps I am bound to take if my offer is rejected."

"What, then, do you propose that I should do?" said Mr. Chadwick.

"Simply this. Go and see your clients, show them clearly their altered position, and absolutely refrain from taking one single step in advance until I have been brought face to face with the owners of the property, or their fully-authorised delegates; and if you pledge yourself to this course of action, I will, on my part, remain absolutely quiescent; but, please remember, that a single word in the public press will bring me into full activity."

Mr. Chadwick was much too keen a man of business not to recognise to its fullest extent the imminent peril in which the prosperity of the new company was involved, and said: "I will at once see my clients on the subject, and will wholly abstain from any further steps for the formation of this company until they have consented, or refused, to discuss the matter with you. But I have little doubt that they will come up to London, probably the day after to-morrow." Thus far we were mutually pledged, and at parting, I suggested that it would be far more agreeable to all parties concerned if they would meet me with a plain "Yes" or "No" to my demands, and so avoid a discussion that might easily terminate in many unpleasant words. I was the more anxious to do this, as every member of the then Ebbw Vale Company was wholly unknown to me, even by name, except Mr. Abraham Darby and Mr. Joseph Robinson; and, although very plain speaking had been necessary in the case of Mr. Chadwick, in order to fully impress him with the gravity of the crisis, it was most desirable that the vendors should be put in possession of these facts in a quiet businesslike manner through their own financial agent, and be thus able to calmly review their position from this new standpoint, make up their minds what course they intended to pursue before seeing me, and thereby avoid any heated discussions on the subject.

On the second day after this interview with Mr. Chadwick, I met by appointment at his offices, Mr. Abraham Darby, who was, I believe, the chief proprietor of the Ebbw Vale Iron Works; his partner, Mr. Joseph Robinson, was also present. We met on a friendly business footing; my terms as given to Mr. Chadwick had been accepted, and we had merely to discuss the few details that were necessary. They laid great stress on the large sums of money their patents and their experiments had cost them, setting it down, if I remember correctly, at £40,000. Then this difficulty arose: Mr. George Parry's patent was not in their hands, and £5,000 must be paid to give them an absolute control over it. This I undertook to pay, and on their arranging to go largely into the manufacture of Bessemer steel, I agreed to deduct £25,000 from