"It was that bend in his neck, combined with his natural height, which gave him such an air of superiority in conversation. He seemed to overshadow us, and to have his own way with us, because he was enabled to look down upon us."
The Editor is talking about meeting Julius Mackenzie in his office for the first time. Mackenzie, carrying his vast knowledge and gentlemanly stance, despite being dressed in rags, creates an aura of superiority around him. The Editor feels inferior and overwhelmed. It wasn't only Mackenzie's appearance, as the editor states in the given quote, which made him overshadow the editor; it is a combination of outward and inward.
"We had not even known of the existence of these papers;-and yet there they were, going forth into the hands of hundreds of thousands of readers, all of whom were being, more or less, instructed in their modes of life and manner of thinking by the stories which were thus brought before them."
The Editor goes to Julius Mackenzie's previous workplace and there he finds out about the less known papers that were brought into consumption of so many people. People were being influenced by these papers that were below anything The Editor thought decent. The conclusion that The Editor brings about people being influenced, even instructed, how to live their life by the media is a truth that can be applied nowadays.
"It seems to me that you like poor people here in England that you may gratify yourselves by giving them, not as much to eat as they want, but just enough to keep their skins from falling off their bones."
Frederic is arguing with Nora's uncle and he makes this cynical conclusion about his charity and charity of all the people of England. Frederic has a good point; it is not the best approach to help people out of the poverty by only giving them just enough goods to survive which makes them dependent on charity; the right way to help them is to give them tools to gather the goods on their own which will result in them not needing the charity any longer.
