stout and some thin, some long and some short, some florid and some
pale, moving about in broadcloth, with varied port of dignity and
importance, who may look as if they would like to own a palace. Yet
among these the proprietor will be sought in vain. But if one ascends to
the second story, he will find himself in a new world. This is the
wholesale establishment, and here Mr. Stewart appears as the presiding
genius.

As one enters this department he may observe, in a large office on the
side of the house looking into Chambers street, the grandmaster of the
mammoth establishment, sitting at the desk, and occupied by the pressing
demands of so important a position. Here, from eight in the morning
until a late dinner hour, he is engrossed by the schemes and plans of
his active brain. He bears a calm and thoughtful appearance, and yet,
such is his executive ability, that the burden which would crush others
is borne by him with comparative ease. His aspect and manners are plain
and simple to a remarkable degree, and a stranger would be surprised to
acknowledge in that tall form and quiet countenance, the Autocrat of the
Dry Goods Trade. This man did not achieve this position save by patient
toil; his greatness was not 'thrust upon him.' It has arisen from forty
years of close application to the branch of trade which he adopted in
early life, and to which he has bent his rare powers of mind. Like most
of our successful men, he began the world with no capital beside brains;
and like Daniel Webster and Louis Philippe, his early employment was
teaching. The instructor, however, was soon merged in the business man,
and in 1827 his unpretending name was displayed in Broadway, The little
concern in which he then was salesman, buyer, financier, and sole
manager, has gradually increased in importance, until it has become the
present marble palace. It is probable that much of his early prosperity
was owing to a remarkably fine taste in the selection of dress goods;
but the subsequent breadth of his operations and their splendid success
may be ascribed to his love of order, and its influence upon his
operations. Years of practice upon this idea have enabled him to reduce
everything to a system. Beside this, he is a first-class judge of
character, reads men and schemes at a glance, and continually exhibits a
depth of penetration which astonishes all who witness it. Thus, although
sitting alone in his office, he is apparently conscious