s,
and though altogether dissimilar in most respects, they were alike in
one--they were all of very large size.

Phrenologists tell us that the size of a man's head is indicative of
his mental power, and these hats certainly bore out the theory, for
their owners were mostly self-made men, and were, without exception,
men of mark. I will not mention the name of any of those now living,
but two of the largest hats there belonged respectively to Walter
Lyndon and Joseph Gillott.

Mr. Gillott, we are told, in a newspaper published soon after his
death, was "born of poor but honest parents." I should like very much
to inquire here, how it is that novel writers, magazine contributors,
and newspaper reporters always write "poor _but_ honest." Is there
really anything antithetic or antagonistic in poverty and honesty? To
my mind the phrase always seems offensive, and it will be well if
it is discontinued in the future. It is one of those little bits of
clap-trap so common among reporters, who use phrases of this kind
continually, without a thought as to their appropriateness.

However, Joseph Gillott was born in Sheffield about three months
before the present century commenced. His parents _were_ poor, but
they managed to give him a good plain education, and they taught him
self-reliance. They taught him, too, to train and cultivate the fine
faculty of observation with which he was naturally endowed. In very
early life, we are told, he, by forging and grinding the blades
of pen-knives, contributed greatly to the income of the parental
household. It is said that even at a very early age, his quick
perception and his acute nervous organisation enabled him to produce
much finer work than others of far greater experience in the same
trade, whose obtuseness had kept them in a state of comparative
drudgery all their lives.

When he became of age, and was "out of his time," the cutlery trade in
Sheffield was very much depressed, and he came to Birmingham, hoping
to obtain employment in a trade which, owing to a caprice of fashion,
was just then in an inflated condition. This was the business of
making steel buckles, and other articles of polished steel for
personal adornment. In this he was very successful, and soon after his
arrival in the town, he took a small house in Bread Street, a little
way down on the right from Newhall Street, and here he started
business for himself. He had no capital, but he had great skill. Mr.
S.A.