Page 31

                    WILLIAM    MORRIS                 31
                            For the next five years, Morris
 R lved and labored in London; devtn    thV iesvdb
I  combining his workshops and residence to technical
Sexperiments and to new     literary studies. During this
   period, the business affairs of Morris & Company were
   directed by a Mr. Taylor, a man of artistic taste and
   financial ability, under whom the Firm became organized
   :;and prosperous. These years were also marked by the
 'i receipt of the first really important commission in non-
 i ecclesiastical decorative work: the mural decoration of
 the Green     Dining  Room    at the South   Kensington
   Museum, which to-day      remains intact, and which,
 ii athough of heavy first cost, is now regarded by the
   Museum authorities as the most economical outlay ever
   >mae upon the buildings. The work, from its singular
      meiproved to be of great value 'in making knowni the
   name of the Firm and the specific character of its produc-
   tions. As is usual, success engendered success, and the
   business extended so rapidly as even to cause anxiety
   mong the members of the Company. As we have seen,
 ! the catal, invention and control were supplied practically
 b by Morris, who, nevertheless, under the original instru-
 i4( ment of the partnership, could not claim greater rights in
   the management of the assets of the Firm than any of his
 qv),,fve or six associates. On the other hand, the members
 whose connection with the Firm     was slight, might, at
   ny. moment, find themselves seriously involved in the
   lties Of the business, which had been established
   Sproto the passage of the Limited Company Act. The
     |__pois, after the first year or two, and for several reasons,
  bd never been divided. But these legal claims now
  Sreresented sums which involved intricate calculations,
  ::aid which, if settled, would drain the resources of the
  ?business, that is to say: the private fortune of 'William
  Q Morris.
  ~                        The question    of dissolution
  ; having been discussed, three of the partners: Burne-
  P'