a town will include tragedy and farce; things grave and gay; trifles light as air, and subjects of the deepest importance; for of such endless variety is life composed. A complete picture of Birmingham for a hundred years could not be painted without including each shade of its many-coloured and varied existence.
It only remains for me here to discharge the grateful duty of acknowledging my obligations. My first and warmest thanks are due to the proprietors of Aris's Gazette, who have generously given me the free and unrestricted use of the unique and complete file of their paper, without which this compilation would never have been thought of, and could never have been made. The early numbers of the Gazette contain the only record we possess of many important local events, and without them an accurate and perfect history of the town could not be written.
To Mr. Samuel Timmins my obligations are so numerous that I scarcely know how to discharge them. His unequalled collection of Birmingham books, and his unequalled knowledge of Birmingham past and present, have been placed entirely and unreservedly at my disposal. With a spirit of generosity and self-denial rarely equalled and never surpassed he has rendered me every assistance in his power, and the reader is indebted to his large knowledge for many curious and illustrative passages. To Mr. Toulmin Smith my warmest thanks are also due. He has helped me in many ways, and furnished me with much valuable information, his love for his native town, and this desire to aid all undertakings which affect her interest, are well known, in the humblest as well as in the most important labours for the benefit of Birmingham, his co-operation is never asked in vain. Since the publication of the first edition of
