fifty years afterwards.

Beginning in a comparatively small way, he started with a strict
determination to conduct his business upon thoroughly honest and
truthful principles. He had the sagacity to see that the surest way
to success was to gain the confidence of his customers, and he firmly
held through life to the system of rigid adherence to truth; to the
plan of always making _honest_ goods; and to the avoidance of every
kind of misrepresentation as to the quality of his wares. He used to
say that all through his long and successful business career he never
lost a customer through misrepresentation on his part, and that
he generally found that one transaction with a fresh man secured a
permanent customer.

Another leading principle in his business programme was to employ
the best workmen he could find, and the highest talent for superior
offices he could secure. He probably paid higher wages and salaries
than any manufacturer in the district. This proved to be wise economy
in the long-run, for his goods became famous for excellence in design
and workmanship, and were sought and prized in every market of the
world.

As his business fame increased, the development of his trade became
enormous. Pile after pile of extensive blocks of buildings rose, one
after another, on ground adjoining the original manufactory, until at
length the entire establishment covered many acres of ground. Many of
these buildings were five or six storeys high. The machinery and tools
were all of the very best quality that could be obtained, and use
was invariably made of every suitable scientific appliance as soon as
discovered. For many years Mr. Aitken, whose name in Birmingham will
always be remembered in connection with Art, was at the head of the
designing department of the works. His correct knowledge and wonderful
skill in the application of correct principles of form and colour
to articles of manufacture for daily use, raised the fame of Mr.
Winfield's house as high, artistically, as it was for excellence of
material and workmanship.

Mr. Winfield was one of the first, if not the very earliest, to apply
the stamping process to the production of cornices, cornice-pole ends,
curtain bands, and other similar goods. The singular purity of colour
which, by skilful "dipping" and lacquering, he was able to produce,
at a period when such matters were little attended to, secured for his
goods a good deal of admiration and a ready sale. At