ently, of middle age. As I slackened my pace
to observe more intently the operations of the brokers' men, this
gentleman approached me, and in courteous tones, and as if appealing
to me for sympathy, said, "You can't imagine the pain these
proceedings are giving me; I was born in this house more than fifty
years ago; I have never been away from it long together; I've been
familiar, all my life, with the 'things' they are carting away, and
to see the old place stripped in this way, hurts me as much as if I
were having one of my limbs cut off." As he spoke, his voice became
tremulous, and tears--actual tears--rolled down his cheeks. I was
amazed; I was completely thunder-struck. The man who thus spoke, and
who then shed tears, was, of all men in the world, the very last I
should have thought capable of a tender emotion, or of a sentimental
feeling about a lot of worn-out stools and tables. He was generally
considered to be the _hardest_ man in Birmingham, and that this man
should be capable of sentimentalism, even to tears, was a mystery to
me then, and will be a surprise to most of those who only knew the man
superficially. He was no other than Charles--or, as he was universally
called, "Charley"--Shaw. The railway company, requiring the site of
his business premises for the construction of their line, had bought
the place, and an auction sale that day had disposed of the well-worn
effects that were being carted away.

Probably no Birmingham man occupying a prominent position, was ever
so unpopular as Charles Shaw. He was generally disliked and
somewhat dreaded. He was unscrupulous and regardless of truth,
where truthfulness and his interests were antagonistic. His manners,
frequently, went far beyond the limit of decent behaviour. I hope,
however, spite of his many failings, to show, in the course of this
sketch, that he had many redeeming qualities; that he was a most
useful citizen; and that he was not altogether so black as he was
painted.

He certainly was a strange mixture of good and bad qualities. He
seemed to be made up altogether of opposites. He was very bitter
against any one who had offended him, yet he was not permanently
vindictive. He was grasping in business, yet he was not ungenerous.
He was a most implacable enemy, yes he was capable of warm and most
disinterested friendship. He could descend to trickery in dealing,
yet as a magistrate he had a high and most inflexible ideal of
honour, honesty, and