rectitude. He could be coarse in his conduct and
demeanour, and yet he could occasionally be as courteous and dignified
as the most polished gentleman. He was overbearing where he felt he
was safe, yet where he was met by courage and firmness he yielded
quietly and quickly.

My own introduction, and subsequent acquaintance, were strangely
characteristic of the peculiarly antithetic nature of the man. They
began in ill-temper, and resulted in commercial relations of a most
friendly nature, extending over many years, without a second unkindly
word. The first time I saw him occurred one day when I was making a
round of calls upon the merchants of the town, to exhibit a case of
samples of goods of my own manufacture, and I called upon Mr. Shaw.
Going up the passage I have mentioned above, and climbing a rickety
stair, I found myself in a room containing a couple of clerks. Upon
my inquiring for Mr. Shaw, one of them went into another room to
fetch him, and I took the opportunity to note the peculiarities of the
place. It was a long room with a sloping ceiling; there were two or
three very old, ink-stained, worm-eaten desks; a dingy map hung here
and there, and a few shelves and wooden presses were arranged upon the
walls. The place had been whitewashed once, no doubt, but the colour
was now about the same as that of a macadamised road, and the whole
place seemed dirty and neglected.

Presently Mr. Shaw appeared. I had heard his character pretty freely
discussed, and I was prepared for a rough reception. He looked at my
samples, and inquired very minutely into the prices of each. As to one
article, which I quoted to him at fifteen shillings the gross, I said
that in that particular item I believed my price was lower than that
of any other maker. He said nothing, but left me, went back to his
private office, returned with a file of papers, and selecting one,
addressed me in angry tones, saying, "Now, just to show you what a
_blessed_ fool you are, you shall see an invoice of those very goods,
which I have just bought at fourteen shillings." I was mistaken, that
was very clear; but I said, "It appears that I am wrong as to those,
but here are other goods which no one but myself is making; can we do
business in these?" This put him in a violent rage, for he stormed as
he said, "No! You've made a _consummate_ fool of yourself by making
such a stupid remark. I've no confidence in you; and where I've no
confidence I'll never do