More than likely he was a "snake oil salesman" since as an
apothecary he would make and sell drugs. In those days, there were all kinds of drugs
invented by pharmacists. Some of them actually worked, most did not. Scout
says:
"Mindful
of John Wesley's strictures on the use of many words in buying and selling, Simon made a
pile practicing medicine ..." (chapter
1).
It sounds like Simon
Finch was a good salesman. He was stingy, so he saved what he made. John Wesley was a
Methodist theologian, so it appears that Simon Finch used Methodist principles, or his
interpretation of them, to make himself a better salesman. He was successful enough to
make the Finches an important name, and he is the founder of the “good family” that Aunt
Alexandra tries to remind Scout of
constantly.
.
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