85
               Meanness of the Harpers.
him up.       To the �Illustrated News� office, saw
Leggitt, Read and Waud, Nast and Eytinge
were in the aquarium, so I didn�t go in.  Thence
to Harpers, saw �the Mayor,� and Colonel, and
broached Bob Gun�s matter, with indifferent re-
sults.         The heads of this great house are singu-
larly ugly, common-faced men, excellent types of
their class.   They are courteous to people, some of
them semi-jocular, and the Mayor loves a smutty
story; he once told Bellew he was �always ready
for a  x  x  x  x  or a fight!�    Withal they do the
religious, and the �unco guid,� who yet know their
rapacity and worldliness, like to acknowledge the
great firm as of them; to cover up their errors
&c.    I think they�re not illiberal in small things
� it always pays � but in their domestic economies,
they�re �as mean as dog-pie,� as Haney once re-
marked, and as tradesfolks who have dealings
with them, have occasion to know.   I remember
Mrs. Edwards telling me of the wife of one of
them; of her ways; her sending back dresses
which had been worn by her children, to be chang-
ed &c., and of two-penny ha�penny botherations
incidental to disbursing payment.             To the
�Courier� Office, found Smith and Dunn English,
both talking North and South and Civil War.