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diff --git a/40677-8.txt b/40677-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f7ca56f..0000000 --- a/40677-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11697 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers, by William Edward Winks - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers - -Author: William Edward Winks - -Release Date: September 6, 2012 [EBook #40677] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS *** - - - - -Produced by Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier, Matthew Wheaton -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - LIVES OF ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS. - - BY - - WILLIAM EDWARD WINKS. - - - NEW YORK: - FUNK & WAGNALLS, PUBLISHERS, - 10 AND 12 DEY STREET. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Time out of mind _The Gentle Craft_ has been invested with an air of -romance. This honorable title, given to no other occupation but that of -shoemakers, is an indication of the high esteem in which the Craft is -held. It is by no means an easy thing to account for a sentiment of this -kind, or to trace such a title to its original source. Whether the -traditionary stories which have clustered round the lives of Saints -Anianus, Crispin and Crispianus, or Hugh and Winifred, gave rise to the -sentiment, or the sentiment itself is to be regarded as accounting for -the traditions, one cannot tell. Probably there is some truth in both -theories, for sentiment and tradition act and react on each other. - -Certain it is, that among all our craftsmen none appear to enjoy a -popularity comparable with that of "the old Cobbler" or "Shoemaker." -Most men have a good word to say for him, a joke to crack about him, or -a story to tell of his ability and "learning," his skill in argument, or -his prominence and influence in political or religious affairs. Both in -ancient times and in modern, in the Old World and in the New, a rare -interest has been felt in Shoemakers, as a class, on account of their -remarkable intelligence and the large number of eminent men who have -risen from their ranks. - -These facts, and especially the last--which has been the subject of -frequent remark--may be deemed sufficient justification for the -existence of such a work as this. - -Another reason might be given for the issue of such a book as this just -now. A change has come over the craft of boot and shoe making. The use -of machinery has effected nothing short of a _revolution_ in the trade. -The old-fashioned Shoemaker, with his leathern apron and hands redolent -of wax, has almost disappeared from the workrooms and streets of such -towns as Northampton and Stafford in Old England, or Lynn in New -England. His place and function are now, for the most part, occupied by -the "cutter" and the "clicker," the "riveter" and the "machine-girl." -The old Cobbler, like the ancient spinster and handloom weaver, is -retiring into the shade of the boot and shoe factory. Whether or no he -will disappear entirely may be questionable; but there can be no doubt -that the Cobbler, sitting at his stall and working with awl and hammer -and last, will never again be the conspicuous figure in social life that -he was wont to be in times gone by. Before we bid him a final farewell, -and forget the traditions of his humble yet honorable craft, it may be -of some service to bring under one review the names and histories of -some of the more illustrious members of his order. - -Long as is the list of these worthy "Sons of Crispin," it cannot be said -to be complete. Only a few examples are taken from Germany, France, and -the United States, where, in all probability, as many illustrious -Shoemakers might have been met with as in Great Britain itself. And even -the British muster-roll is not fully made up. With only a few -exceptions, _living men_ are not included in the list. Very gladly would -the writer have added to these exceptions so remarkable a man as Thomas -Edward, the shoemaker of Banff, one of the best self-taught naturalists -of our time, and, for the last sixteen years, an Associate of the -Linnæan Society. But for the Life of this eminent Scotchman the reader -must be referred to the interesting biography written by his friend Dr. -Smiles. - -In writing the longer sketches, free and ample use has been made of -biographies already in existence. But this has not been done without the -kind consent of the owners of copyrights. To these the writer tenders -his grateful acknowledgments. To the widow of the Rev. T. W. Blanshard -he is indebted for permission to draw upon the pages of her late -husband's valuable biography of "The Wesleyan Demosthenes," _Samuel -Bradburn_; to Jacob Halls Drew, Esq., Bath, for his courtesy in allowing -a liberal use to be made of the facts given in his biography of his -father, _Samuel Drew_, "The Self-Taught Cornishman;" and to the -venerable _Thomas Cooper_, as well as to his publishers, Messrs. Hodder -& Stoughton, for their kind favor in regard to the lengthy and detailed -sketch of the author of "The Purgatory of Suicides." This sketch, the -longest in the book, is inserted by special permission of Messrs. Hodder -& Stoughton. - -The minor sketches have been drawn from a variety of sources. One or two -of these require special mention. In preparing the notice of John -O'Neill, the Poet of Temperance, the writer has received kind help from -_Mr. Richard Gooch_ of Brighton, himself a poet of temperance. Messrs. -_J. & J. H. Rutherford_ of Kelso have also been good enough to place at -the writer's service--but, unfortunately, too late to be of much use--a -copy of their recently published autobiography of John Younger, the -Shoemaker of St. Boswells. In the all-too-brief section devoted to -American worthies, valuable aid has been given to the author by Henry -Phillips, Esq., jun., A.M., Ph.D., Corresponding Member of the -Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, U.S.A. - -In all probability the reader has never been introduced to so large a -company of illustrious Sons of Crispin before. It is sincerely hoped -that he will derive both pleasure and profit from their society. - - WILLIAM EDWARD WINKS. - - CARDIFF, 1882. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PREFACE - - CHAPTER I. - - Sir Cloudesley Shovel: The Cobbler's Boy who became an Admiral - - - CHAPTER II. - - James Lackington: Shoemaker and Bookseller - - - CHAPTER III. - - Samuel Bradburn: The Shoemaker who became President of the Wesleyan - Conference - - - CHAPTER IV. - - William Gifford: From the Shoemaker's Stool to the Editor's Chair - - - CHAPTER V. - - Robert Bloomfield: The Shoemaker who wrote "The Farmer's Boy" - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Samuel Drew: The Metaphysical Shoemaker - - - CHAPTER VII. - - William Carey: The Shoemaker who Translated the Bible into Bengali - and Hindostani - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - John Pounds: The Philanthropic Shoemaker - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Thomas Cooper: The Self-educated Shoemaker who "Reared his own - Monument" - - - CHAPTER X. - - A Constellation of Celebrated Cobblers - - - ANCIENT EXAMPLES. - - The Cobbler and the Artist Apelles - - The Shoemaker Bishops: Annianas, Bishop of Alexandria, and - Alexander, Bishop of Comana - - The Pious Cobbler of Alexandria - - "Rabbi Jochanan, The Shoemaker" - - - EUROPEAN EXAMPLES: _France_. - - SS. Crispin and Crispianus: The Patron Saints of Shoemakers - - "The Learned Baudouin" - - Henry Michael Buch: "Good Henry" - - - _Germany._ - - Hans Sachs: "The Nightingale of the Reformation" - - Jacob Boehmen: The Mystic - - - _Italy._ - - Gabriel Cappellini: "il Caligarino" - - Francesco Brizzio: The Artist - - _Holland._ - - Ludolph de Jong: The Portrait-Painter - - Sons of Shoemakers - - - GREAT BRITAIN. - - "Ye Cocke of Westminster" - - Timothy Bennett: The Hero of Hampton-Wick - - - _Military and Naval Heroes._ - - The Souters of Selkirk - - Watt Tinlinn - - Colonel Hewson: The "Cerdon" of Hudibras - - Sir Christopher Myngs, Admiral - - - _Astrologers and others._ - - Dr. Partridge - - Dr. Ebenezer Sibly, F.R.C.P. 222 - - Manoah Sibly, Short-hand Writer, Preacher, etc - - Mackey, "the Learned Shoemaker" of Norwich, and two other Learned - Shoemakers - - Anthony Purver, Bible Revisionist - - - _The Poets of the Cobbler's Stall._ - - James Woodhouse, the Friend of Shenstone - - John Bennet, Parish Clerk and Poet - - Richard Savage, the Friend of Pope - - Thomas Olivers, Hymn-Writer - - Thomas Holcroft, Dramatist, Novelist - - Joseph Blacket, "The Son of Sorrow" - - David Service and other Songsters of the Shoemaker's Stall - - John Struthers, Poet and Editor - - John O'Neill, the Poet of Temperance - - John Younger, Fly-Fisher and Corn-Law Rhymer - - Charles Crocker, "The Poor Cobbler of Chichester" - - - _Preachers and Theologians._ - - George Fox, Founder of the Society of Friends - - Thomas Shillitoe, the Shoemaker who stood before Kings - - John Thorp, Founder of the Independent Church at Masboro' - - William Huntingdon, S.S. - - Robert Morrison, D.D., Chinese Scholar and Missionary - - Rev. John Burnet, Preacher and Philanthropist - - John Kitto, D.D., Biblical Scholar - - - _Science._ - - William Sturgeon, the Electrician - - - _Politicians._ - - Thomas Hardy, of "The State Trials" - - George Odger, Political Orator - - - AMERICAN EXAMPLES. - - Noah Worcester, D.D., "The Apostle of Peace" - - Roger Sherman, the Patriot - - Henry Wilson, the Natick Cobbler - - John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Quaker Poet" - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - SIR CLOUDSLEY SHOVEL, - - JAMES LACKINGTON, - - REV. S. BRADBURN, - - ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, - - SAMUEL DREW, M.A., - - WILLIAM CAREY, - - THOMAS COOPER, - - JOSEPH BLACKET, - - J. G. WHITTIER - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -[Illustration: SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL] - -Sir Cloudesley Shovel, - -THE COBBLER'S BOY WHO BECAME AN ADMIRAL. - - "Honor and shame from no condition rise; - Act well your part, there all the honor lies. - Fortune in men has some small difference made, - One flaunts in rags, one nutters in brocade; - The cobbler aproned and the parson gowned, - The friar hooded, and the monarch crowned. - "What differ more' (you cry) 'than crown and cowl?' - I'll tell you, friend,--a wise man and a fool. - You'll find, if once the monarch acts the monk, - Or, cobbler-like, the parson will be drunk; - Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow; - The rest is all but leather or prunella." - - --POPE, _Essay on Man_. - - -SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL. - -On the south side of the choir of Westminster Abbey may be seen a very -handsome and costly monument, on which reclines a life-sized figure in -marble, representing a naval commander. The grotesque uniform and -elaborate wig are of the style of Queen Anne's time. The commander -himself has all the look of a well-bred gentleman and a brave officer. -He is a capital type of the old school of naval heroes, stout in person, -jolly in temper, but terrible in action, by whom our shores were -defended, our colonies secured to us, and the power and stability of the -British Empire were established for centuries to come. These men had, in -many instances, risen from the lowest social status, and had been -compelled to begin their nautical career in the humblest fashion, -accepting the most menial position the naval service could offer them. -When they came to hold positions of command, they had, perhaps, no -culture nor general education; the little knowledge they possessed was -confined to the arts of navigation and warfare, and this they had picked -up in actual service. Such knowledge served them well, and made them -equal to any emergency. It made them capable of deeds of valor and -enterprise, that brought renown to their own name and honor to their -country. They could sail round the world; they could, by their -discoveries, add new territories to the British crown, and open up -splendid fields for commercial enterprise; they could keep their vessels -afloat in a gale of wind, get to windward of the enemy if they wanted, -pour a broadside into him, board and capture his vessels or blow up his -forts; and, very often fighting against fearful odds, beat him by dint -of superior skill in seamanship and greater courage in action. Such a -commander was "old Benbow," whose name appears so often in the nautical -songs of the last century; and such a commander was his contemporary, -Sir Cloudesley Shovel, to whose memory the handsome monument just -referred to is erected. Let us pause for a moment to read the -inscription. It runs thus: - - "Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Knt., Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, - Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet: The just reward - of long and faithful services. He was deservedly beloved of - his country, and esteemed though dreaded by the enemy, who had - often experienced his conduct and courage. Being shipwrecked on - the rocks of Scilly, in his voyage from Toulon, the 22d of - October 1707, at night, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, - his fate was lamented by all, but especially by the seafaring - part of the nation, to whom he was a worthy example. His body - was flung on the shore, and buried with others in the sands; - but being soon after taken up, was placed under this monument, - which his royal mistress has caused to be erected to - commemorate his steady loyalty and extraordinary virtues." - -If a stranger to Sir Cloudesley Shovel's history were to stand looking -at this fine monument, admiring the fine figure which adorns it and -reading the glowing epitaph, he would no doubt be greatly amazed if the -intelligent verger by his side were to whisper in his ear, "That man was -once a cobbler's boy; the first weapons he ever used in fighting the -battle of life were the awl and hammer and last." - -Yet such was really the case. It is true he did not remain long at his -humble craft. He left it, indeed, sooner than any of the notable men -whose life-story we have to tell in this book; yet he wore the leathern -apron long enough to entitle him to a place in the category of -_Illustrious Shoemakers_. - -Cloudesley Shovel was born in the county of Norfolk in the year 1650, at -a village called Clay, lying on the coast between Wells and Cromer. His -parents are said to have been in but "middling circumstances;" but it is -to be feared that even this modest term describes a better position than -they actually held. They were evidently of the humblest class, and had -no means of giving their boy either a good education or a good start in -the way of business. Cloudesley came by his rather singular name as no -doubt thousands had done before his time, and have done since. It was -given him in honor of a relative who was in good circumstances, and in -the hope that it might probably be a "means of recommending him to this -relative's notice." But fortunately, as it proved for him, and proves -also for many others, no fortune was left him. His parents were glad to -send him to the village shoemaker to learn the art and mystery of making -and mending boots and shoes. - -Finding the drudgery of a sedentary occupation and the flatness and -quietude of village life irksome to his active temperament and aspiring -spirit, after a few years' work at shoemaking, he made off to sea. His -taste lying in the direction of the royal naval service, he went and -joined himself to a man-of-war. Here he had the good fortune to come -under the care and command of Sir John Narborough. This distinguished -officer had once been in Cloudesley's position as a man-of-war's -cabin-boy, and having shown himself a smart sailor and an industrious -student of navigation, had been rapidly promoted by his generous -captain, Sir Christopher Myngs. Sir John Narborough was therefore well -disposed, by his kindly disposition and his own early experience, to -favor any youth of promise placed in similar circumstances to those -through which he himself had passed. In young Cloudesley the gallant -captain seems to have seen his own character portrayed and his own -career enacted over again. The lad was smart at seamanship, and -uncommonly diligent when off watch in the study of any nautical books he -could lay hands on. He seems to have found out very early in his course -that the secret of success in life lies in being _ready_, when the time -comes, to seize and use the great opportunities of fortune which sooner -or later come in every one's way; that fortune waits on diligence and -courage; and that the future is pretty secure to the man who, whatever -be his position, works hard and does his plain duty every day. - -The first incident in his naval career is an illustration of this. He -was on board the flag-ship commanded by Admiral Sir John Narborough in -one of the most hotly contested battles fought between the English and -the Dutch. The masts of the flag-ship were shot away early in the -engagement. The admiral saw that his case was hopeless, however bravely -his men might fight, unless the English reserve, which lay some distance -off to the right, could be brought round to his aid. The thing wanted -was to get a message conveyed to the captain of the reserve. Signalling -was out of the question, of course; the message must be _carried_ to the -ships somehow. Yet he saw plainly that in such a hurricane of shot and -shell, and with so many of the enemy's vessels close at hand, no boat -could hope to reach the English ships. But a man might _swim_ to them! -Acting on this thought, Sir John wrote an order and called aloud for -volunteers to swim with it, under the fire of the enemy, to the -neighboring ships. Among the able-bodied sailors who presented -themselves for the terrible duty young Cloudesley stood forth. Looking -at him with admiration mingled with something like pity, the admiral -exclaimed, "Why, what can you do, my fearless lad?" "I can swim, sir," -said young Cloudesley, and added in the spirit of a patriot and a hero, -"If I be shot, I can be easier spared than any one else." After a -moment's hesitation on the part of the tender-hearted admiral, the paper -was handed to the boy, who placed it between his teeth and plunged into -the water. Cheered by his comrades, he swam on through a perfect hail of -shot, bearing, as it seemed, a charmed life, until at length the smoke -of battle concealed him from their view. The gallant Sir John and his -brave crew held on in the most determined manner until it seemed that no -hope was left that the brave lad had reached the friendly vessels in -safety and delivered the message. They were beginning to think of him -and of themselves as lost, when a sudden and terrific roar of cannon on -their right announced that the English vessels were bearing down on the -Dutch. In a few hours the enemy was flying in all directions. The -cabin-boy was not forgotten when the honors and rewards of victory came -to crown the events of that terrible day, for all agreed that he had -done a deed that deserved well of his country. When the sun was setting -on the sad scene of wreck and ruin, the courageous yet modest youth came -and stood once more on the deck of the flag-ship. As soon as the old -admiral saw him he spoke to him a few words of generous appreciation and -sincere thanks, finishing with the significant remark, "I shall live to -see you have a flag-ship of your own." The prediction came true, as we -shall presently see. - -Not very long afterward Cloudesley Shovel was made lieutenant of His -Majesty's navy. The first opportunity he had of distinguishing himself -in this capacity was on an expedition sent out by the British to punish -the corsairs of Tripoli. These lawless and daring rogues had long -infested the Mediterranean, doing immense mischief to commerce and -committing sad depredations all along the coast, wherever they found it -possible to land with safety. No vessel or port, from the Levant to the -Straits of Gibraltar, was safe from their attack. Sir John Narborough -was therefore commissioned to bring them to terms or effectually punish -them. Arriving before Tripoli, their headquarters, in the spring of -1674, he found the enemy in great strength under the shelter of their -formidable forts, and decided, first of all, according to his -instructions, to try the effect of negotiations. Lieutenant Shovel, then -only twenty-four years of age, a tall thin young man, with little on his -face to indicate that he had come to manhood, was sent with a message -for the Dey of Tripoli, asking for satisfaction for the past and -security for the future. This message was delivered in a spirit becoming -a British sailor acting on behalf of the interests of his country; but -the Dey, a haughty and imperious man, refused to treat with such a -youth, and one, too, who held so subordinate a position, and after -treating him with insolence, sent him back to his admiral with an -indefinite answer. The wily ex-cobbler, however, had kept his eyes open -while on land, and on returning to Sir John, gave him so good an account -of the character of the fortifications and the disposition of the pirate -fleet, that he was sent back to the Dey with a second message, and -instructed to make further observations. He was treated on his second -visit with even greater insolence, but took all quietly, not caring how -much he was detained by the Dey's abuse, so long as he could look round -him and obtain a good view of the enemy's strength and position. Coming -back once more to his vessel, he explained the whole situation, and -described a plan of attack which he felt confident would be successful -in destroying the vessels lying at anchor in the bay. The admiral was so -much pleased with his lieutenant's smartness, and so satisfied that his -plan was practicable if conducted with skill and courage, that he -decided to intrust the execution of it to "his boy Shovel." On the night -of the 4th of March the young lieutenant took command of all the boats -of the fleet, which had been filled with combustible material, rowed -quietly into the harbor under cover of the darkness, made straight for -the guard-ship, which he set on fire and thoroughly disabled, thus -preventing it from giving orders to the other ships, and, before the -enemy could prepare for action, fired and blew up his vessels one after -another, and then leaving them in a state of the utmost confusion and -distress, brought all his boats back to the British fleet without the -loss of a single man. It was a brave exploit, cleverly conceived and -brilliantly executed. As a wholesome castigation of these impudent -pirates it was of the utmost value; and more than this, it crippled -their power for mischief for a long time to come. - -The generous Sir John Narborough fully appreciated the courage and skill -of his youthful subordinate, and gave him the most honorable mention in -the official letters sent to the authorities at home. He was at once -promoted to the rank of captain. This office he held for eleven years, -until the death of Charles II. in 1685. During the three years of James -II.'s reign, Captain Shovel is said to have been in every naval -engagement that occurred. He had therefore ample opportunity of -distinguishing himself and obtaining still further promotion. Soon after -the accession of William III., Captain Shovel was conspicuous by his -daring and clever manoeuvring at the battle of Bantry Bay. He was then -in command of the ship "Edgar," and the favorable notices he had -received from Admiral Hobart brought his gallantry before the attention -of his monarch, who conferred upon the brave captain the honor of -knighthood. Captain, now Sir Cloudesley Shovel, was held in high esteem -by King William III., who intrusted him with the difficult and -responsible duty of conveying the troops to Ireland in 1690, on the -occasion of the Irish rebellion which terminated in the bloody battle of -the Boyne. This duty was discharged with so much ability that the King -decided to promote Sir Cloudesley to the rank of "_rear-admiral of the -blue_." In conferring this reward upon the gallant commander, the -grateful monarch marked his sense of the value of the service rendered -by delivering the commission with his own hands. Before the year came to -a close Sir Cloudesley added one more item to the long list of his -services by giving timely assistance to General Kirke at the siege of -Waterford. This town was held by the adherents of James II., and had -long defied all attempts of General Kirke to take it. The chief strength -of the town lay in Duncannon Castle, on which an attack was made by Sir -Cloudesley's ships and men. A surrender was speedily negotiated, and the -influential town of Waterford fell into the hands of the English. Two -years after this the King declared him "_rear-admiral of the red_," -giving him at the same time the command of the squadron which was to -convey the King to Holland. - -Soon after his return from Holland he was ordered to join the fleet then -under the command of Admiral Russell, and bore a very important part in -the brilliant naval victory known as the battle of La Hogue. His last -services during the reign of William III. were rendered in connection -with the bombardment of Dunkirk, which he undertook at the King's -express command. The author of the "Lives of British Admirals,"[1] -referring to the esteem in which Sir Cloudesley Shovel was held by his -king and country at the close of this reign, says, "He was always -consulted by His Majesty whenever maritime affairs were under -consideration." - - [1] See Campbell's "Lives," etc., vol. iv. p. 247. - -His first service in the reign of Queen Anne was performed as "_admiral -of the white_." The town of Vigo in Spain had been captured by Sir -George Rooke, and Sir Cloudesley was ordered to go out and bring home -the spoils of the united Spanish and French fleets, which lay disabled -in the harbor. This difficult task was accomplished with a rapidity and -dash which made so favorable an impression on the court, that on his -return "it was immediately resolved to employ him in affairs of the -greatest consequence for the future." In 1703 he was put in command of -the grand fleet, and protected the interests of England from the hostile -attempts of the French and allied powers in the Mediterranean. At the -battle of Malaga in 1704, Sir Cloudesley's division of nine ships led -the van, and had to bear the brunt of the enemy's attack to such an -extent, that at the beginning of the engagement he was almost entirely -surrounded by the French, and more than 400 of his men were either -killed or wounded. On his return home he was presented to the Queen by -Prince George, and shortly afterward received the appointment of -commander-in-chief and rear-admiral of the English fleet. As Admiral -Shovel he won great credit for the part he took in the capture of the -important city of Barcelona in 1705. - -In the month of October, 1707, after bearing an honorable part in the -expedition under Prince Eugene against Toulon, he set sail with ten -ships of the line, five frigates, and other war vessels for the shores -of England. But he was destined never to see again the country he had -served so nobly and loved so well. By some strange mischance, which has -never been fully accounted for, his own vessel and several others, on -the night of the 22d of October, struck on the rocks of the Scilly -islands and perished. The brave admiral and his three sons-in-law, who -were on board his vessel, besides a large number of officers and seamen, -were drowned. The body of Sir Cloudesley Shovel was washed on shore, and -having been found by a number of smugglers, was stripped of an emerald -ring and other valuables, and buried in the sand. On attempting to sell -their booty, the miscreants found that the ring they prized so much -betrayed their guilty secret. They were compelled to point out the spot -where the body had been concealed. England, of course, could not allow -one of her noblest sons to lie in so ignominious a grave. The body was -at once removed to London by express order of Her Majesty Queen Anne, -and laid in the most honorable grave the nation had to give-- - - "In the great minster transept, - Where the lights like glories fall, - And the organ rings and the sweet choir sings - Along the emblazoned wall."[2] - - [2] Sir Cloudesley Shovel sat for several years as - member of Parliament for the city of Rochester. In the - Guildhall of that city there is an interesting portrait, - representing the gallant sailor as Rear-Admiral. A tablet - states that the hall was painted and decorated by his desire - and at his expense, 1695-6. The portrait from which our - engraving is taken is by Michael Dahl, and was originally at - Hampton Court. It was presented by George IV. in 1824 to - Greenwich Hospital. Sir C. Shovel at the time of his death was - one of the governors of Greenwich Hospital. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -[Illustration: JAMES LACKINGTON] - - -JAMES LACKINGTON - -SHOEMAKER AND BOOKSELLER. - - Sutor Ultra Crepidam Feliciter Ausus. - - --_Latin Motto, Quoted on Frontispiece to - "Lackington's Memoirs."_ - - I. LACKINGTON, - - Who a few years since began Business with five Pounds, - Now sells one Hundred Thousand Volumes Annually. - - --_From Frontispiece to First Edition of "Memoirs - and Confessions," 1791-92._ - - "I will therefore conclude with a wish, that my readers may - enjoy the feast with the same good humor with which I have - prepared it.... Those with keen appetites will partake of each - dish, while others, more delicate, may select such dishes as - are more light and better adapted to their palates; they are - all genuine British fare; but lest they should be at a loss to - know what the entertainment consists of, I beg leave to inform - them that it contains forty-seven dishes of various sizes, - which (if they calculate the expense of their _admission - tickets_) they will find does not amount to twopence per dish; - and what I hope they will consider as _immensely_ valuable (in - compliance with the precedent set by Mr. Farley, a gentleman - eminent in the culinary science), a striking likeness of their - _Cook_ into the Bargain. - - "Ladies and Gentlemen, pray be seated; you are heartily - welcome, and much good may it do you."--_From Preface to - Lackington's "Memoirs and Confessions," published 1826._ - - -JAMES LACKINGTON. - -One of the most successful booksellers of the last century was James -Lackington, whose enormous place of business at the corner of Finsbury -Square, London, was styled somewhat grandiloquently "The Temple of the -Muses." A flag floated proudly over the top of the building, and above -the principal doorway stood the announcement, no less true than -sensational, "The Cheapest Bookshop in the World." Lackington was an -innovator in the trade, and had introduced methods and principles of -doing business which at first awaked the ire of the bookselling -fraternity, but were at length generally adopted, thus inaugurating a -new era in the history of this important business. His name cannot be -omitted from any complete history of booksellers, and it is none the -less deserving of a place in the category of illustrious shoemakers; for -Lackington commenced life as a shoemaker, and for some time after he had -entered on bookselling speculations continued to work at the humble -trade to which he had served an apprenticeship. - -When Lackington was about forty-five years of age, and had made a -considerable fortune in the bookselling trade, he wrote and published a -singular book, in which he narrated the principal events in his life, -under the form of "Letters to a Friend." This book bears the title -"Memoirs and Confessions," and is certainly one of the most remarkable -autobiographies ever presented to the world. What portion of its -contents may be referred to by the term "memoirs" as distinguished from -"confessions" it is impossible to say, but certain it is that there are -many things in the book which its author would have done well to blot as -soon as they were written, and of which he was no doubt heartily sorry -and ashamed in after-life. Among the worst of these were his strictures -and reflections on the Wesleyan Methodists, to whom he had belonged in -early life, and from whom he had received no small benefit, temporal as -well as spiritual. When the second edition of his memoirs came to be -printed in 1803, his character had undergone a happy change. He then -saw things in a different light, and made full and complete -acknowledgment of the faults which marked the first edition; expressed -in very decided albeit very conventional terms his faith in Christian -truth, and his debt of obligation to the religious people whom he had so -sadly maligned. But words were not enough to satisfy his ardent, -thorough-going nature. His benefactions to the Wesleyan Society were -very considerable, and he seemed toward the close of his life to have -found great satisfaction in making the best use of the ample means at -his disposal. With all his faults he was an estimable man, honest, -truthful, and generous. He was never ashamed of his lowly birth and -humble apprenticeship, nor turned his back on his poor relations, but -ever sought them out and helped them when he had the power to do so. His -success in business was owing to his shrewd common-sense, his rare -insight into character, his good judgment as to the public taste and -requirements, his capital method of assorting and classifying his stock -and strict keeping of accounts, his courageous yet prudent purchases, -and his strict adherence to a few sound maxims of economy and thrift. -None but a man of original and uncommon powers of mind could have -launched out on new speculations and adventures as Lackington did with -the same uniform and certain success, and none but a man of good sense -and lofty feeling would have been proof against the ill effects which so -often attend on success. There is a touch of vanity in his memoirs, it -is true, but it is not the vanity of a man who is vain and does not know -it; he is quite conscious of his egotism, and indulges in it with -thorough good-humor as a hearty joke. He was rather fond of display, -kept a town-house and a country-house when he could afford it, and set -up a "chariot," as the phrase went in those days, and liveried servants. -Yet it was not many men in his position who would have taken for a motto -to be painted on the doors of his carriage the plain English words which -express the principle on which his business had been made to bear such -wonderful results. "But," he remarks, "as the first king of Bohemia kept -his country shoes by him to remind him from whence he was taken, I have -put a motto on the doors of my carriage constantly to remind me to what -I am indebted for my prosperity, viz., - - "SMALL PROFITS DO GREAT THINGS." - -The Lackington family had been farmers in the parish of Langford, near -Wellington, in Somersetshire. They were members of the Society of -Friends, and held a respectable position in the locality. For some -cause, not fully explained in the memoirs, James Lackington's father was -apprenticed to a shoemaker at Wellington. He made an imprudent marriage, -and for a time forfeited his father's approval and favor; but when the -good-wife proved herself to be a very worthy and industrious woman, the -old man relented and set his son up in business. This, however, was of -no advantage to him; in fact, it proved his ruin. He might have remained -a steady and hard-working man, bringing up his children honorably, if he -had remained a journeyman. The position of a master presented -temptations that were too much for his weak disposition. Lackington's -own words will best describe his unhappy circumstances in youth and the -character of his father. "I was born at Wellington, in Somersetshire, on -the 31st of August (old style), 1746. My father, George Lackington, was -a journeyman shoemaker, who had incurred the displeasure of my -grandfather for marrying my mother, whose maiden name was Joan Trott.... -About the year 1750, my father having several children, and my mother -proving an excellent wife, my grandfather's resentment had nearly -subsided, so that he supplied him with money to open shop for himself. -But that which was intended to be of very great service to him and his -family eventually proved extremely unfortunate to himself and them; for -as soon as he found he was more at ease in his circumstances he -contracted a fatal habit of drinking, and of course his business was -neglected; that after several fruitless attempts of my grandfather to -keep him in trade, he was, partly by a very large family, but more by -his habitual drunkenness, reduced to his old state of a journeyman -shoemaker. Yet so infatuated was he with the love of liquor, that the -endearing ties of husband and father could not restrain him: by which -baneful habit himself and family were involved in the extremest poverty; -so that neither myself, my brothers, nor sisters, are indebted to a -father scarcely for anything that can endear his memory, or cause us to -reflect on him with pleasure." - -James, as the oldest child in the family, fared for a time rather better -than the rest. He was sent to a dame-school and began to learn to read; -but before he could learn anything worth knowing, his mother, who was -obliged to maintain her children as best she could, found it impossible -to pay the twopence per week for his schooling. For several years his -time was divided between nursing his younger brothers and sisters and -running about the streets and getting into mischief. At the age of ten -he began to feel a desire to do something to earn a living. His first -venture in this way showed his ability and gave some promise of his -success as a man of business. Having noticed an old pieman in the -streets whose method of selling pies struck the boy as very defective, -the boy was convinced that he could do the work much better. He made -known his thoughts to a baker in the town, who was so pleased with the -lad's spirit that he at once agreed to take the little fellow into the -house and employ him in vending pies in the streets, if his father would -grant permission. This was soon obtained. In this queer enterprise young -Lackington met with remarkable success. He says: "My manner of crying -pies, and my activity in selling them, soon made me the favorite of all -such as purchased halfpenny apple-pies and halfpenny plum-puddings, so -that in a few weeks the old pie merchant shut up his shop. I lived with -this baker about twelve or fifteen months, in which time I sold such -large quantities of pies, puddings, cakes, etc., that he often declared -to his friends in my hearing that I had been the means of extricating -him from the embarrassing circumstances in which he was known to be -involved prior to my entering his service." - -Such a story is a sufficient indication of character. It exhibits the -two qualities which distinguished him as a man--good sense and courage. -Another story of his boyhood is worth telling for the same reason. He -was about twelve years of age when he went one day to a village about -two miles off, and returning late at night with his father, who had been -drinking hard as usual, they met a group of women who had turned back -from a place called Rogue Green because they had seen a dreadful -apparition in a hollow part of the road where some person had been -murdered years before. Of course the place had been _haunted_ ever -since! The women dared not go by the spot after what they had seen, and -were returning to the village to spend the night. Lackington and his -father laughed at the tale, and the dauntless boy engaged to walk on in -front and go up to the object when they came near it in order to -discover what it was. He did so, keeping about fifty yards ahead of the -company and calling to them to come on. Having walked about a quarter of -a mile, the object came in sight. "Here it is!" said he. "Lord have -mercy on us!" cried they, and were preparing to run, "but shame -prevented them." Making a long file behind him, the order of procedure -of course being according to the degree of each person's courage, they -moved on with trembling steps toward the _ghost_. Although the boy's -"hat was lifted off his head by his hair standing on end," and his teeth -chattered in his mouth, he was pledged in honor and must go on. Coming -close to the dreaded spectre, he saw its true character--"a very short -tree, whose limbs had been newly cut off, the doing of which had made it -much resemble a giant." The boy's pluck was the talk of the town, and he -"was mentioned as a hero." - -His merits as a pie vender had made him a reputation, and now an -application was made to his father to allow James to sell almanacs about -the time of Christmas and the New Year. He rejoiced immensely in this -occupation and drove a splendid trade, exciting the envy and ire of the -itinerant venders of Moore, Wing, and Poor Robin to such a degree that -he speaks of his father's fear lest these poor hawkers, who found their -occupation almost gone, should do the daring young interloper some -grievous bodily harm. "But," he says, "I had not the least concern; and -as I had a light pair of heels, I always kept at a proper distance." - -At the age of fourteen he was bound for seven years to Mr. Bowden of -Taunton, a shoemaker. The indentures made Lackington the servant of both -Mr. and Mrs. Bowden, so that, in case of the death of the former, the -latter might claim the service of the apprentice. The Bowdens were -steady, religious people who attended what Lackington calls "an -Anabaptist meeting," _i.e._, we presume, a _Baptist_ chapel, for the -Baptists long bore the opprobrious epithet which was first given to them -in Germany and Holland at the time of the Reformation. The Baptists of -Taunton in 1760 seem to have been a dull, lifeless class of people, if -we may judge from the type presented in the family of the quiet -shoemaker with whom James Lackington went to live. Yet they were on a -par with the vast majority of churches, established or non-established, -in that age of religious apathy in England. The boy accompanied the -family twice on the Sabbath to the "meeting," and heard, yet not heard, -sermons full of sound morality, but devoid of anything like vigorous, -soul-searching, and soul-converting gospel truth, and delivered, withal, -in the flattest and most spiritless manner. The ideas of the family were -as circumscribed as their library, and that was small and meagre enough, -in all conscience. It may be worth while to give an inventory of its -contents. It will cover only a line or two of our space, and will be of -some use to those, perhaps, who are apt to mourn their own poverty as -regards books, and their small advantages, though, perchance, they may -have access to free libraries or cheap subscription libraries, or may be -able to buy or borrow all they could find time to peruse if only they -had the wish to read. Imagine a youth with any taste for literature -living in a sleepy town like Taunton in 1760, and looking over his -master's bookshelves and finding there a school-size Bible, "Watts' -Psalms and Hymns," Foot's "Tract on Baptism," Culpepper's "Herbal," the -"History of the Gentle Craft," an old imperfect volume of receipts on -Physic, Surgery, etc., and the "Ready Reckoner." Bowden was an odd -character, evidently. One of his strange customs is thus described: -"Every morning, at all seasons of the year and in all weathers, he rose -about three o'clock, took a walk by the river's side round Trenchware -fields, stopped at some place or other to drink half a pint of ale, came -back before six o'clock and called up his people to work, and went to -bed again about seven." - -"Thus," says Lackington, "was the good man's family jogging easily and -quietly on, no one doubting but he should go to heaven when he died, and -every one hoping it would be a good while first." - -The visit of "one of Mr. Wesley's preachers" led to the conversion of -the two sons of Lackington's employer, and set the young apprentice on a -train of thought and inquiry which eventually led him also to cast in -his lot with the Methodists. He was then about sixteen years of age, and -had so little knowledge of reading that he gladly paid the three -halfpence per week which his mother allowed him as pocket-money to one -of the young Bowdens for instruction. Yet he had at this time no -literary taste, and no thought beyond the limited round of devotional -reading, which consisted chiefly of the Bible, and the tracts, sermons, -and hymns of the Wesleys. His desire to hear the Methodist preachers was -so great at this time, that one Sunday morning, when his mistress had -locked the door to prevent his going out for this purpose, he jumped out -of the bedroom window, fondly imagining that the words of the -ninety-first Psalm, the eleventh and twelfth verses, which he had just -been reading, would be sufficient guarantee of his safety in -perpetrating such an act of rashness and folly. The last three years of -his apprenticeship were spent in the service of his master's widow, Mr. -Bowden having died when Lackington had served about four years. When he -was just twenty-one, and about six months before the expiration of his -time, a severe contest for the representation of Taunton in Parliament -took place, and the friends of two of the candidates purchased his -freedom from Mrs. Bowden's service in order to secure both his vote and -his services. The scenes of excitement and dissipation into which he was -thrown at this time unsettled his mind, and for a time entirely ruined -his religious character. The election over, he went to live at Bristol, -and lodged in a street called Castle Ditch, with a young man named John -Jones, a maker of stuff shoes, who led him into dissipation. Jones, -however, had been pretty well educated, and managed to awaken in -Lackington's mind a desire for more knowledge than he then possessed. He -was, indeed, wofully ignorant, had no idea of writing, and when he began -to feel a thirst for general reading, confesses that he dared not enter -a bookseller's shop because he did not know the name of any book to ask -for. His friend Jones picked up at a bookstall a copy of Walker's -"Paraphrase of Epictetus," which seems to have charmed the young -shoemaker immensely, and to have turned him for a time into a regular -stoic. - -The taste for reading once awakened, he soon grew weary of a life of sin -and folly. One evening he turned into a chapel in Broadmead to hear Mr. -Wesley, who was preaching there. The old fire of religious enthusiasm -was once more enkindled, and burned as fiercely as ever. His companions -were soon brought to join the Wesleyan Society, and for a time the -little knot of shoemakers working together lived a life of intense -religious devotion, working hard and singing hymns or holding religious -conversation all day, reading the works of leading evangelical divines -during the greater part of the night, and seldom allowing themselves -more than three hours' sleep. - -The religious was combined with the philosophic mind. He bought copies -of such books as Plato on the "Immortality of the Soul," Plutarch's -"Lives," the "Morals of Confucius," etc.; and, speaking of this time, he -says: "The pleasures of eating and drinking I entirely despised, and for -some time carried the disposition to an extreme. The account of Epicurus -living in his garden, at the expense of about a halfpenny per day, and -that when he added a little cheese to his bread on particular occasions -he considered it as a luxury, filled me with raptures. From that moment -I began to live on bread and tea, and for a considerable time did not -partake of any other viand, but in that I indulged myself three or four -times a day. My reasons for living in this abstemious manner were in -order to save money to purchase books, to wean myself from the gross -pleasures of eating, drinking, etc., and to purge my mind and make it -more susceptible of intellectual pleasures." - -Leaving Bristol in 1769, he lived for a year at Kingsbridge, Devonshire, -where he worked as a maker of stuff and silk shoes. In 1770 he went back -to Bristol, and lodged once more with his old friends, the Joneses. At -the end of that year he married Nancy Smith, an old sweetheart, whom he -had fallen in love with _seven_ years previously, "being at Farmer -Gamlin's at Charlton, four miles from Taunton, to hear a Methodist -sermon." Nancy was dairymaid then, and was accounted handsome; she was a -devout Methodist, and an amiable, industrious, thrifty woman. But they -were wretchedly poor at the time of their marriage, and had to go and -live in lodgings at half a crown a week. "Our finances," he remarks, -"were but just sufficient to pay the expenses of the (wedding) day, for -in searching our pockets (which we did not do in a careless manner), we -discovered that we had but one halfpenny to begin the world with. 'Tis -true we had laid in eatables sufficient for a day or two, in which time -we knew we could by our work procure more, which we very cheerfully set -about, singing together the following strains of Dr. Cotton: - - 'Our portion is not large indeed, - But then how little do we need! - For Nature's calls are few. - In this the art of living lies, - To want no more than may suffice, - And make that little do.' - -"The above, and the following ode by Mr. Samuel Wesley, we did scores of -times repeat, even with raptures: - - 'No glory I covet, no riches I want, - Ambition is nothing to me: - The one thing I beg of kind Heaven to grant - Is a mind independent and free. - - 'By passion unruffled, untainted by pride, - By reason my life let me square; - The wants of my nature are cheaply supplied, - And the rest are but folly and care. - - 'Those blessings which Providence kindly has lent - I'll justly and gratefully prize; - While sweet meditation and cheerful content - Shall make me both healthy and wise. - - 'How vainly through infinite trouble and strife - The many their labors employ; - When all that is truly delightful in life - Is what all, if they will, may enjoy.'" - -Sound sense and true philosophy this; and sorely did the young shoemaker -and his much-enduring wife feel the need of such philosophy to hearten -and console them when four and sixpence a week was all they had to spend -on eating and drinking, and when, as he states, "strong beer we had -none, nor any other liquor (the pure element excepted); and instead of -tea, or rather coffee, we toasted a piece of bread, at other times we -fried some wheat, which, when boiled in water, made a tolerable -substitute for coffee; and as to animal food, we made use of but little, -and that little we boiled and made broth of." That the cheerful -sentiments with which they set out in life did not fail them under the -stress of such hardships as these is sufficiently shown by the statement -with which he closes the chapter which deals with this part of his -history: "During the whole of this time we never once wished for -anything that we had not got, but were quite contented, and with a good -grace in reality made a virtue of necessity." - -After three years Lackington resolved to go to London in the hope of -meeting with better work and pay. It was indeed dire necessity that -drove him to take this step. Incessant suffering and semi-starvation -seemed inevitable if he remained in Bristol. His wife had been extremely -ill almost from the beginning of their residence in the city, probably -owing to the change from country air and active employment to the close -atmosphere and sedentary occupation to which she was now accustomed. Her -continued illness and his own hopeless state of poverty drove him to -make the venture. Accordingly, having given her all the money he could -spare, he set off for the metropolis, and arrived there in August, 1774, -with half a crown in his pocket. - -Once in London, the tide of his fortune turned. He soon found plenty of -work and got good wages. In a month his wife was sent for, and the two -worked so industriously and lived so economically, that before long -Nancy changed her cloth cloak for one of silk, and her worthy husband -indulged in the luxury of a _greatcoat_, the first he had ever worn. -When he had been in London about four months he received tidings of the -death of his grandfather, who had left ten pounds apiece to each of his -grandchildren. He was so ignorant of money matters that he had no -notion of obtaining the money except by going down to Somersetshire to -fetch it, and the sum was accounted so prodigious, that he at once set -off to claim his property; "so that," he says, "it cost me about half -the money in going down for it and in returning to town again." "With -the remainder of the money," he adds, "we purchased household goods; but -as we then had not sufficient to furnish a room, we worked hard and -lived hard, so that in a short time we had a room furnished with our own -goods; and I believe that Alexander the Great never reflected on his -immense acquisitions with half the heart-felt enjoyment which we -experienced on this capital attainment." Now and then he visited the old -bookshops and added a few books to his small library. One Christmas Eve -he went out with half a crown in his pocket to purchase the Christmas -dinner. Passing by an old bookshop, he could not resist the inducement -to turn in and look over the stock. He intended to spend only a few -pence on some book; but a copy of Young's "Night Thoughts," which he -very much coveted, was so tempting a prize, that, without hesitation, he -laid down his half-crown for the purchase of it. On returning home, he -had no slight difficulty to persuade his wife of "the superiority of -intellectual pleasures over sensual gratifications." "I think," said he -to his patient spouse, "that I have acted wisely; for had I bought _a -dinner_, we should have eaten it to-morrow, and the pleasure would have -been soon over; but should we live fifty years longer, we shall have the -'Night Thoughts' to feast upon." - -In June, 1775, one of his Wesleyan friends looked in on Lackington and -his wife as they sat at work making boots and shoes, and told them of a -"shop and parlor" which were then to let in Featherstone Street, where -it was suggested Lackington might obtain work as a master-shoemaker. He -at once fell in with the proposal, and added that "he would sell books -also." He does not seem to have formed any intention of bookselling -previous to this interview, but the prospect of having a shop of his own -led him to think how easy and pleasant it would be to combine the two -kinds of business. He says in his own _naïve_ manner: "When he proposed -my taking the shop, it instantly occurred to my mind that for several -months past I had observed a great increase in a certain old bookshop, -and that I was persuaded I knew as much of old books as the person who -kept it. I further observed that I loved books, and that if I could but -be a bookseller, I should then have plenty of books to read, which was -the greatest motive I could conceive to induce me to make the attempt." -His friend engaged to procure the shop, and Lackington bought "a bag -full of old books, chiefly divinity, for a guinea," which, together with -his own little library and some scraps of old leather, were worth five -pounds. With this stock he "opened shop on Midsummer Day, 1775, in -Featherstone Street, in the parish of St. Luke." - -He borrowed five pounds from a fund which Wesley's people had raised for -the purpose of lending out on a short term to men of good character who -were in need of help in business or domestic difficulties. No interest -appears to have been required, and he states that the money was of great -service to him. At this time they lived in the most economical and -sparing manner, "often dining on potatoes, and quenching their thirst -with water," for they could not forget the trials through which they had -passed, and, haunted by the dread of their recurrence, were determined, -if possible, to provide against them. - -After six months his stock had increased to £25. "This stock I deemed -too great to be buried in Featherstone Street; and a shop and parlor -being to let in Chiswell Street, No. 46, I took them." His business in -the sale of books proved so prosperous, that, in a few weeks after -removing to Chiswell Street, he disposed of his little stock of leather -and altogether abandoned the _gentle craft_. At this time his stock -consisted almost entirely of divinity, and for a year or two he -"conscientiously destroyed such books as fell into his hands as were -written by free-thinkers: he would neither read them himself, nor sell -them to others." He makes some curious and sagacious remarks on -bargain-hunters who frequented his shop at this time, while his stock -was low and poor, and who in their craze after "bargains" often paid him -double the price for dirty old books that he afterward charged when he -had a larger stock, and had adopted the principle of selling every book -at its lowest paying price. These people, he observed, forsook his shop -as soon as he began to introduce better order and to appear -"respectable!"[3] He had not been long in Chiswell Street, before both -his wife and himself were seized with fever. She died and was buried -without his having once seen her after her illness. The shop was left in -the care of a boy, his house was put in charge of nurses, who robbed him -of his linen and other articles, kept themselves drunk with gin, and -would have left him to perish. The timely presence of his sister saved -his life, and several Wesleyan friends saved him from ruin by locking up -his shop, which the nurses and boy together would soon have emptied. -Although he wrote the whole story in after-years in a vein of flippant -sarcasm and irreverence for religion, he was constrained to acknowledge -his great obligation to the friends whose religion prompted them thus to -act the good Samaritan to him in his dire extremity. "The above -gentlemen," he says, "not only took care of my shop, but also advanced -money to pay such expenses as occurred; and as my wife was dead, they -assisted in making my will in favor of my mother." "These worthy -gentlemen," he adds, "belong to Mr. Wesley's Society (and -notwithstanding they have imbibed many enthusiastic whims), yet would -they be an honor to any society, and are a credit to human nature." - - [3] "Bibliomaniacs" will be interested to learn the - price of certain books at this date, 1775. Lackington says: - "Martyn's 'Dictionary of Natural History' sold for £15 15s., - which then stood in my catalogue at £4 15s.; Pilkington's - 'Dictionary of Painters,' £7 7s., usually sold at three; - Francis's 'Horace,' £2 11s. At Sir George Colebrook's sale the - 8vo edition of the 'Tatler' sold for _two guineas and a half_. - At a sale a few weeks since, Rapin's History in folio, the two - first vols. only, sold for upward of £5." - -In 1776 he married Miss Dorcas Turton, a friend of his first wife. It -seems to have been her influence, to a large extent, that drew him away -from Wesleyanism and religion. She was a woman of considerable -education, and a great reader, kindly and affectionate in her -disposition, a dutiful daughter to her aged and dependent father, whom -she had supported after his failure in business by keeping a school. But -she seems to have had no thought of religious truth as a basis for -character and an impulse to right conduct, and her absolute indifference -to religion soon told on the mind of a sensitive and impulsive man like -Lackington. "I did not long remain in Mr. Wesley's Society," he writes, -referring to this same year 1776, "and, what is remarkable, I well -remember that, some years before, Mr. Wesley told his society in -Broadmead, Bristol, in my hearing, that he could never keep a bookseller -six months in his flock." - -Two years afterward Lackington entered into partnership for three years -with Mr. Denis, an _honest man_, as he is emphatically styled, who -brought a considerable sum of money into the business, by means of which -the stock was at once doubled, and the sales vastly increased. -Lackington now proposed the issue of a sale catalogue, to which his -partner reluctantly consented. Both partners were employed in writing -it, but the larger share fell to Lackington, whose name alone appeared -on the title-page. It was issued in 1779, and the first week after its -publication the partners took, what they regarded as the "large sum" of -twenty pounds. Denis, finding his money pay better in business than in -the Funds, invested a larger sum in stock, but when Lackington, who -according to the terms of the agreement was sole purchaser, began to -buy, as his partner thought, too largely, they had a dispute over the -matter and dissolved partnership on friendly terms a year before the -term of partnership had expired. Denis, to the end of his life, remained -friendly with Lackington, and used to call in every day on passing his -shop to inquire what purchases and sales he had effected, and now and -then the _honest man_ lent his old partner money to help in paying -bills. - -In 1780 he resolved to give _no credit_ to any one, and to sell all his -books at the lowest price bearing a working profit. The effect of this -new method of doing business was remarkable in many ways. Long credit -seems to have been common in the trade in those days, most bills were -not paid within six months, many not within a twelvemonth, and some not -within two years. "Indeed," he adds, "many tradesmen have accounts of -seven years' standing; and some bills are never paid"(!) After -recounting the disadvantages of the credit system, he says: "When I -communicated my ideas on this subject to some of my acquaintances, I was -much laughed at and ridiculed; and it was thought that I might as well -attempt to rebuild the Tower of Babel as to establish a large business -without giving credit." The offence given to some old customers was very -great, and for a time he lost them, but they soon returned on learning -how much lower his books were now marked than those of other -booksellers. As to others who would only deal on credit, he cared little -when he observed their anger, very wisely remarking that "some of them -would have been as much enraged when their bills were sent in had credit -been given them." The booksellers themselves were not a little annoyed -by the innovations of the dauntless trader, and appear to have said some -bitter things about him and his stock. Some of them were "mean enough to -assert that all my books were bound in _sheep_," and he adds, in -language that does him credit, "As every envious transaction was to me -an additional spur to exertion, I am therefore not a little indebted to -Messrs. Envy, Detraction & Co. for my present prosperity, though, I -assure you, this is the only debt I am determined not to pay." - -This adoption of the "no credit" system was the first decided step -toward Lackington's wonderful success in business. In five years his -catalogues contained the names of thirty thousand books, and these were -generally of a much better description. - -The most startling innovation he made in the trade of bookselling, and -the one which led to the largest amount of opposition on the part of his -fellow-tradesmen, was in regard to the way of dealing with what are -called "_remainders_." When a bookseller found a book did not sell well, -it was his custom to put what remained into a private sale, "where only -booksellers were admitted, and of them only such as were invited by -having a catalogue sent them." "When first invited to these -trade-sales," he says, "I was very much surprised to learn that it was -common for such as purchased remainders to destroy one half or three -fourths of such books, and to charge the full publication price, or -nearly that, for such as they kept on hand. For a short time I -cautiously complied with this custom." But he soon became convinced of -the folly of this practice, and resolved to keep the whole stock of -books and sell them off at low prices. By this means he disposed of -hundreds of thousands of volumes at a small profit, which amounted to a -larger sum in the end than if he had destroyed three out of four and -sold the rest at the original retail price. This course made him many -enemies in the trade, who tried to injure him, and even did their best -to keep him out of the sale-rooms. It was, however, of no avail: his -business increased enormously, his customers appreciating his method, -whether the booksellers did or not. He often bought enormously; "West -says he sat next to Lackington at a sale when he spent upward of £12,000 -in an afternoon."[4] It was no uncommon thing for him to buy several -thousand copies of one book, and at one time he had _ten thousand_ -copies of Watts' Psalms and the same number of his Hymns in stock. Of -course he found it necessary to sell out rapidly, or business would soon -have come to a dead-lock; for, as he justly observes, "no one that has -not a quick sale can possibly succeed with large numbers." "So that I -often look back," he remarks, "with astonishment at my courage (or -temerity, if you please) in purchasing, and my wonderful success in -taking money sufficient to pay the extensive demands that were -perpetually made upon me, as there is not another instance of success -so rapid and constant under such circumstances." It is interesting to -notice how trifling a circumstance it was which led him to adopt the -plan of selling every article at the lowest remunerative price. "Mrs. -Lackington had bought a piece of linen; when the linen-draper's man -brought it into my shop three ladies were present, and on seeing the -cloth opened asked Mrs. L. what it cost per yard. On being told the -price, they all said it was very cheap, and each lady went and purchased -the same quantity; those pieces were again displayed to their -acquaintance, so that the linen-draper got a deal of custom from that -circumstance; and I resolved to do likewise." He admits that he often -sold a "great number of articles much lower than he ought, even on his -own plan of selling cheap, yet that gave him no concern," "but if he -found out that he had sold any articles too dear," he declares that "it -gave him much uneasiness." He reflects in his own simple fashion: "If I -sell a book too dear, I perhaps lose that customer and his friends -forever, but if I sell articles considerably under their real value the -purchaser will come again and recommend my shop to his acquaintances, so -that from the principles of self-interest I would sell cheap." - - [4] "History of Booksellers," by H. Curwen, p. 73. - Chatto & Windus. - -The following observations of a shrewd observer are worth quoting as a -testimony to the change which had begun to come over the minds of the -people of this country in regard to reading, about a hundred years ago: -"I cannot help observing that the sale of books in general has increased -prodigiously within the last twenty years [1791]. According to the best -estimation I have been able to make, I suppose that more than four times -the number of books are sold now than were sold twenty years since. The -poorer sort of farmers, and even the poor country people in general, who -before that period spent their winter evenings in relating stories of -witches, ghosts, hobgoblins, etc., now shorten the nights by hearing -their sons and daughters read tales, romances, etc.; and on entering -their houses, you may see 'Tom Jones,' 'Roderick Random,' and other -entertaining books stuck up on their bacon-racks, etc.; and if John goes -to town with a load of hay, he is charged to be sure not to forget to -bring home 'Peregrine Pickle's Adventures;' and when Dolly is sent to -the market to sell her eggs she is commissioned to purchase 'The History -of Pamela Andrews.' In short, all ranks and degrees now READ. But the -most rapid increase of the sale of books has been since the termination -of the late war."[5] - - [5] Articles of Peace with the United States were - signed Nov. 30th, 1782; and the Peace of Versailles, between - France, Spain, and England, was made Jan. 20th, 1783. It is to - this, no doubt, that Lackington refers. - -He tells the story of his going to reside in the country and set up a -carriage, horses, and liveried servants in his own quaint and -self-complacent style. "My country _lodging_ by regular gradation was -transformed into a country _house_, and the inconveniences attending a -_stage-coach_ were remedied by a _chariot_." This house was taken at -Merton in Surrey. Referring to the captious remarks of his neighbors, he -says: "When by the advice of that eminent physician, Dr. Lettsom, I -purchased a horse and saved my life by the exercise it afforded me, the -old adage, '_Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the devil_,' -was deemed fully verified; they were very sorry to see people so young -in business run on at so great a rate!" The occasional relaxation -enjoyed in the country was censured as an abominable piece of pride; but -when the carriage and servants in livery appeared, "they would not be -the first to hurt a foolish tradesman's character, but if (as was but -too probable) the _docket_ was not already struck, the Gazette would -soon settle that point." It appears that some of these wiseacres -speculated as to the means by which the fortunate bookseller had made -his large fortune. Some spoke of a _lottery_ ticket, and others were -sure that he must have found a number of "banknotes in an old book to -the amount of many thousand pounds, and if they please can even tell you -the title of the old book that contained the treasure." "But," he -jocosely remarks, "you shall receive it from me, which you will deem -authority to the full as unexceptionable. I found the whole of what I am -possessed of, in--SMALL PROFITS, _bound_ by INDUSTRY, and _clasped_ by -ECONOMY." - -It is curious to notice the frank and simple manner in which he speaks -of his profits, and of the way in which he did his business. "The -profits of my business the present year [1791] will amount to four -thousand pounds," he writes, and goes on to say that "the cost and -selling price of every book was marked in it, whether the price is -sixpence or sixty pounds, is entered in a day-book as they are sold, -with the price it cost and the money it sold for; and each night the -profits of the day are cast up by one of my shopmen, as every one of -them understands my private marks. Every Saturday night the profits of -the week are declared before all my shopmen, etc., the week's profits, -and also the expenses of the week, then entered one opposite another; -the whole sum taken in the week is also set down, and the sum that has -been paid for books bought. These accounts are kept publicly in my shop, -and ever have been so, as I never saw any reason for concealing them." -He speaks in the same letter of selling more than one hundred thousand -volumes annually, and adds, in his own complacent manner, "I believe it -is universally allowed that no man ever promoted the sale of books in an -equal degree!" - -Lackington at length quitted Chiswell Street, and took the enormous -building at the corner of Finsbury Square, which was styled "The Temple -of the Muses," and to which the public were invited as the cheapest -bookshop in the world. He declared in his catalogue that he had half a -million of books constantly on sale, "and these were arranged in -galleries and rooms rising in tiers--the more expensive books at the -bottom, and the prices diminishing with every floor, but all numbered -according to a catalogue which Lackington compiled by himself."[6] His -profits on the first year's trade at "The Temple of the Muses" amounted -to £5000. He retired from business in 1798, having made a large fortune. - - [6] "History of Booksellers," see above, p. 74. - -His capacity for business was remarkable. Until he was nearly thirty -years of age he had no opportunity of exercising it. But once having -given up the gentle craft, in which he was no great proficient, he -proved himself one of the smartest and cleverest business men in London. -We can readily pardon the simple vanity of the self-made and self-taught -merchant prince who writes about his recently acquired _chariot_ in the -following strain: "And I assure you, sir, that reflecting on the means -by which the carriage was procured adds not a little to the pleasure of -riding in it. I believe I may, without being deemed censorious, assert -that there are some who ride in their carriages who cannot reflect on -the means by which they were acquired with an equal degree of -satisfaction." For several years, both before and after he retired from -business, he made a journey through different parts of England and -Scotland, calling at the chief towns, such as York, Leeds, Edinburgh, -Glasgow, Carlisle, Lancaster, Manchester, Bristol, and inspecting the -bookshops. His observations are of the most quaint and out-of-the-way -character. At Newcastle he found nothing more remarkable to record than -"the celebrated _crow's nest_ affixed above the weather-cock on the -upper extremity of the steeple in the market-place," and the famous -_brank_, an iron instrument, shown in the town-hall, and used in olden -time to punish notorious scolds. At Glasgow the most notable spectacle, -and one that calls forth a considerable amount of remark, is that of the -washerwomen, whose practice of getting into their tubs, placed by the -river-side, and dollying the linen with their bare feet, awoke his -profound astonishment. Of his visits to Bristol and the west of England, -the scene of his early life, he gives the following curious and -interesting account: "In Bristol, Exbridge, Bridgewater, Taunton, -Wellington, and other places, I amused myself in calling on some of my -masters, with whom I had, about twenty years before, worked as a -journeyman shoemaker. I addressed each with, '_Pray, sir, have you got -any occasion?_' which is the term made use of by journeymen in that -useful occupation when seeking employment. Most of those honest men had -quite forgot my person, as many of them had not seen me since I worked -for them, so that it is not easy for you to conceive with what surprise -and astonishment they gazed on me. For you must know that I had the -vanity (I call it _humor_) to do this in my chariot, attended by my -servants; and on telling them who I was, all appeared to be very happy -to see me. And I assure you, my friend, it afforded me much real -pleasure to see my old acquaintances alive and well." Coming to -Wellington, his birthplace and home during boyhood, he says: "The bells -rang merrily all the day of my arrival. I was also honored with the -attention of many of the most respectable people in and near Wellington -and other parts, some of whom were pleased to inform me that the reason -of their paying a particular attention to me was their having heard, and -now having themselves an opportunity of observing, that I did not so far -forget myself as many proud upstarts had done; and that the notice I -took of my poor relations and old acquaintance merited the respect and -approbation of every real gentleman." - -Lackington's kindness to his own relatives, and to the poor, was one of -his best qualities. In fact, he declares in 1791 that he would have -retired from business five years previously if it had not been for the -thought of his poor relations, many of whom were helpless, and whom he -felt bound to relieve and protect. Besides supporting his "good old -mother" for many years, he says, "I have two aged men and one aged -woman whom I support: and I have also four children to maintain and -educate; ... many others of my relations are in similar circumstances -and stand in need of my assistance." He also made provision for the -support of the very aged parents of his first wife, Nancy. - -On abandoning business he left his third cousin George Lackington at the -head of the firm, while he and his wife went to live at Thornbury in -Gloucestershire, in order to be in the neighborhood of the Turtons, his -wife's relations. He bought two estates in Alvestone, on one of which -was a genteel house, where he lived in good style for several years. -Here he employed his time in visiting the sick and poor, and sometimes -in _preaching_. For he had now returned to the faith of a Christian, and -threw himself with his accustomed ardor into all kinds of religious -work. His contrition for the severe and ungracious things he had said of -the Wesleyans in the first editions of his "Memoirs" was evidently very -deep. He acknowledges in plain terms that he owed to them all his early -advantages, and the moral and mental awakening which opened before him a -new path in life. He says, in the introduction to his last edition of -his book, "If I had never heard the Methodists preach, in all -probability I should have been at this time a poor, ragged, dirty -cobbler.... It was also through them that I got the shop in which I -first set up for a bookseller." - -He built a small chapel at Thornbury on his own estate, where the -Wesleyan ministers regularly officiated. In 1806 he removed to Taunton, -where he resided for about six years, built a chapel at a cost of £3000, -adding £150 a year for the minister. - -On the decline of his health in 1812, he went to live by the seaside at -Budleigh Sulterton, in Devonshire. Here also he erected a chapel which -cost £2000, and endowed it with a minister's stipend of £150 per annum. - -James Lackington died of paralysis in the seventieth year of his age, on -the 22d of November, 1815, and was buried in the Budleigh Churchyard. -None will deny the successful bookseller the right to the Latin motto -with which he has adorned the frontispiece to the first edition of -"Memoirs and Confessions," viz., _Sutor ultra crepidam feliciter -ausus_.[7] - - [7] "The shoemaker happily abandoned his last." It may - be interesting to note that the writer's copy of this curious - book once belonged to Henry Thomas Buckle, author of "The - History of Civilization." On the fly-leaf are memoranda of - Wesleyan and Jonsonian anecdotes which Buckle had evidently - made for his own use. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -[Illustration: REV. S. BRADBURN] - -Samuel Bradburn, - -THE SHOEMAKER WHO BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE. - -"I was a poor ignorant cobbler."--_Samuel Bradburn, Life of Samuel -Bradburn_, p. 227. - -"During forty years Samuel Bradburn was esteemed the Demosthenes of -Methodism."--_Abel Stevens, LL.D., quoted on title-page of Life of S. -B._ - -"I have never heard his equal; I can furnish you with no adequate idea -of his powers as an orator; we have not a man among us that will support -anything like a comparison with him.... I never knew one with so great a -command of language."--_Dr. Adam Clarke._ - -"The generous and noble-minded Samuel Bradburn, whose ability as a -public speaker was all but unrivalled."--_Rev. Thomas Jackson, President -of the Wesleyan Conference._ - - -SAMUEL BRADBURN. - -In the winter of 1740 the press-gang men were busy at their abominable -work in most of the maritime and inland towns of England, and, among -other places, Chester seems to have sent certain unwilling recruits to -make up the rank and file of the army, and replenish the navy of His -Majesty King George II. Many are the tales of cruelty which belong to -this miserable period in the history of our army and navy. Thousands of -able-bodied men were carried away by main force from their peaceful -occupations, from home and friends, and everything that was dear to -them, and compelled to do duty for their country in foreign climes. -Sons, husbands, fathers of families, steady, honest, industrious, -law-abiding citizens, or worthless waifs and strays, it mattered -not--all who might be of service, and could be easily caught, were -seized and hurried off to the nearest military or naval depot, and were -soon lost sight of by their distressed relations, and were, perhaps, -never heard of again until their names were reported in the list of -killed and wounded in battle. Now and then the life of enforced military -or naval service was tolerable and even pleasant from a soldier's or -sailor's point of view and ended happily enough with an honorable -discharge and pension. A wretched beginning had not always a wretched -course and a miserable ending, for the Briton of those days was a -much-enduring creature, and had strong notions about "serving his -country," and soon learned to tolerate and even enjoy a condition of -things which, to say the least, was unjustifiable and tyrannical. - -An incident connected with the life-story of the subject of this sketch -will illustrate some of the worst features of the system referred to, -and show the sort of hardship and injustice to which "the free and noble -sons" of Britain were exposed up to a time almost within the memory of -men still living. Two men sat drinking and chatting in a friendly manner -in an ale-house in Chester one night early in the year 1740. It does not -seem that either of them was the worse for liquor, or that anything -unpleasant had passed between them to spoil the pleasure of their -intercourse. In fact, the two men had known each other years before, -and both seemed glad to renew their acquaintance. The younger of the two -was only twenty-one years of age, and had been married but a few days -previously to a young woman of nineteen summers, to whom he was deeply -attached. After staying as long as he deemed expedient he rose to go -home, when to his amazement the pretended "friend" and old acquaintance -turned upon him with the words, "You shall not leave this room to-night; -you have now no master but the king, and you must serve him, as you have -taken his money." Guessing what was meant, the poor fellow felt in his -pocket and found that his companion had secretly slipped three guineas -into it as king's bounty. It was vain for the enraged and distracted -young man to throw the money on the floor, and declare he would none of -it nor the king's service, that he was but just married, and had no wish -to be a soldier, for armed men stood round the door and prevented -escape. It was vain also to appeal to the magistrates of that day, for -though they must have been perfectly well acquainted with the nefarious -tricks of pressmen and recruiting officers, they accepted the evidence -of the officer against the recruit, and adjudged him a legal soldier, -because, forsooth, he had received the king's bounty and so enlisted. -Such was the experience of Samuel Bradburn's father, and in two days -after the event just narrated he was hurried off to his regiment, -without a chance of saying good-by to his friends or making any further -efforts for his own release. Their grief, and the agony of mind endured -by the young bride, may be imagined. She had no choice but to part from -him, perhaps forever; or to get permission to attach herself to the -regiment, and follow her husband's fortunes as a soldier. No true woman -and worthy wife would hesitate long, and the noble-hearted Welsh girl[8] -soon resolved not to leave her husband. The regiment was ordered to -Flanders, and took part in several battles, in one of which Bradburn was -severely wounded, and on the conclusion of the war in 1748 ordered to -Gibraltar, where Samuel was born, 5th October, 1751, and where he spent -the first twelve years of his life. - - [8] Mrs. Bradburn was the daughter of Samuel Jones, of - Wrexham. - -The soldier's family numbered thirteen children, and as his pay was but -scanty, it may be supposed that the education of each of its members -could not have been a very important or costly affair. In short, we have -_another_ story to add to those already told of a life of singular -devotedness and usefulness which had no fair foundation of sound and -thorough education. Bradburn himself declares that he went to school for -only a fortnight during his twelve years' life at Gibraltar. The fee was -a penny a week, and on its being raised to three halfpence the boy was -removed, for the father's poor pittance would not allow of the extra -strain upon it of a halfpenny per week. And so, says the biographer, -almost with an air of triumph, "the education of one of the greatest -modern pulpit orators cost only _twopence_!" - -Bradburn's father appears to have been a remarkably thoughtful and -exemplary sort of man for a soldier, in those days. Though he never -united with the Methodists, he was much attached to them, and had -derived great profit from their preaching at the camp in Flanders. His -children were brought up in a strictly religious manner, always going to -service on Sunday, and being compelled to read a daily portion of -Scripture, and repeat a Scripture lesson from week to week. According to -his light, he did his best to bring his children up well; and one of -them, at all events, profited by his training, for Samuel became very -thoughtful and serious, and was accounted, by his neighbors, one of the -best boys in the town. - -On his discharge from the army Bradburn went to live in the old city -from which he had been so cruelly carried away about twenty-three years -before. Samuel was then nearly thirteen years of age, and a situation -was soon found for him as an out-door apprentice to a shoemaker, to whom -he was bound for eight years. Brought up under the influences of -Methodism, and accustomed to listen to a class of preachers who had done -more than any others to awaken and keep alive the flames of religious -revival and zeal, young Bradburn's mind was always more or less under -the influence of deep religious conviction. His history, as a youth, -presents the most astonishing contrasts of religious fervor and sinful -excess. Yet his worst moods did not last long, and, however far he went -in the way of transgression, his consciousness of the evil of sin never -left him, and he had always sufficient moral sensibility left to make -him profoundly miserable when he dared to reflect. Acts of daring -wickedness, and defiant or profane language, only served as a cover to a -troubled heart and a restless conscience. The story of his early life, -with its alternate seriousness and folly, anxiety about his soul's -welfare and mad recklessness, reads wonderfully like that of John -Bunyan. How like the records of the life of the Bedford tinker are -these entries in the diary of the Chester shoemaker: "One evening, being -exceedingly cast down, and finding an uncommon weight upon my spirits, I -went to preaching, and while Mr. Guilford was describing the happiness -of the righteous in glory, my heart melted like wax before the fire. In -a moment all that heaviness was removed, and the love of God was so -abundantly shed abroad in my heart, that I could scarcely refrain from -crying out in the preaching-house." ... "When preaching was over, I went -into a place near St. Martin's Churchyard, which adjoined the -preaching-house, and there I poured out my soul before the Lord in -prayer and praise, and continued rejoicing in God my Saviour most of the -night." He was then less than fourteen years of age; his companions at -the work-room were of a godless sort, and after a few months' enjoyment -of mental peace and joy, their injurious influence began to tell upon -him. By degrees he abandoned his prayerful habits, and surrendered -himself to the power of evil, until at length he "became acquainted with -the vilest of the vile," and imbibed their spirit and followed their -example. To what depths he sank the following sentences from his diary -will show: "It is impossible to express the feelings of my mind, on some -occasions during this apostasy from God; especially once, when one of -the greatest reprobates I ever knew was constrained to own that he was -shocked to hear me swear such oaths as I often did.[9] ... For a moment -I felt a degree of compunction, but gave away to despair and drowned the -conviction." The reproof which Bunyan received under similar -circumstances led him to drop the practice of swearing; but Bradburn -went on in his evil ways as resolutely as ever. For several years he -seems to have led a reckless life, joining in vicious company, indulging -a passion for "gaming," or gambling, to such an extent that he would -even go to bed and rise and dress again when the rest of the household -were asleep, in order to go out through the window and join his gambling -and betting companions. At last he became so enamoured of sinful follies -that he snatched the opportunity, which a few words of complaint from -his father afforded, to take offence and leave home, "in order to go and -lodge with some abandoned young men, in order to have his full swing -without being curbed by any one." His wages were but small, and as he -took half of them home he had but a small pittance to live upon: yet -such was his craze at this time for bad company and "gaming," that he -lived often for two days on a penny loaf, and went in rags rather than -confess his error to his parents and ask their aid. One good quality -kept him from utter ruin at this time, and it seems to have been the -only one that remained in a lively state. He speaks of "the affection he -had for his mother, whom he still loved as his own soul." He could not -endure her tears and tender reproofs, and left his home in order that he -might not have to suffer the constant reproach of her good character and -loving entreaties. To such lengths will a passion for sinful amusements -drive even a youth of sensitive nature and generous disposition. Nothing -can be more deplorable than the account he gives of his sinful -infatuation at this the worst period of his youthful career. "I spent -almost a twelvemonth in this truly pitiable way of life, and during that -time do not remember enjoying one satisfactory moment. My clothes were -now almost worn out, and my wages were not sufficient to supply me with -more; yet, such was my folly, I still persisted in the same way, -glorying even in my shame, till my life seemed nearly finished, and the -measure of my iniquity almost full; and, to all appearance, there was -but a step betwixt me and everlasting death." - - [9] This incident will remind readers of the following - account given by Bunyan of a similar incident in his early - life: "One day, as I was standing at my neighbor's shop-window, - and there cursing and swearing, after my wonted manner, there - sate within the woman of the house and heard me, who, though - she was a loose and ungodly wretch, protested that I cursed and - swore at such a rate that she trembled to hear me.... At this - reproof I was silenced and put to secret shame, and that too, - as I thought, before the God of heaven." - -At eighteen years of age this miserable course of sin came to an end. -Bradburn was led "by the hand of Providence to work in the house of a -Methodist." He had about this time, also, become so weak and ailing in -health, as the result of his pernicious habits, that he was compelled to -yield to his parents' entreaties to go and live at home. Good example, -kind words, and wise counsel, combined with the beneficial effects of -separation from his old companions, soon began to tell upon his -conscience. As might be expected, the sense of sin, when once it was -awakened in him, was most intense. It was no wonder that such a youth as -Samuel Bradburn should have "experiences" which men of a milder -temperament are strangers to, and cannot perhaps appreciate. After he -had mused for a time, and thought upon his ways, he became suddenly, -and, as it seemed then, most unaccountably convinced of sin, and led to -cherish the most anxious concern to find peace with God. "One evening," -he writes in his diary, "at the close of the year 1769, while I was -making a few cursory remarks on the season, and looking at some decayed -flowers in a garden adjoining the house I worked in, I was suddenly -carried, as it were, out of myself with the thought of death and -eternity.... My sins were set as in battle array before me, particularly -that of ingratitude to a good and gracious God. This caused my very -bones to tremble, and my soul to be horribly afraid. Hell from beneath -seemed moved to meet me.... The effects of those convictions were such -that I could scarcely reach home, though but a little way off. I went to -bed, but found no rest. I sunk under the weight of my distress, gave -myself up to despair, and for some time lost the use of my reason." For -several days the poor sin-stricken youth lay as if in a high fever, and -raved of judgment and perdition. It was three months ere he entered into -a state of quiet, firm, intelligent, Christian faith, bringing peace and -rest to his mind. His excellent and godly master helped him somewhat -during this long and terrible struggle in the "slough of despond." -Several "evangelists," in the character of gospel ministers, pointed out -the way of life to him, but they were not of so much service as might -have been expected. A "roll which he carried in his hand," on which was -written, "The Door of Salvation Opened by the Key of Regeneration," was -of great value in showing the way to the blessedness he sought. In fact, -it was during the reading of this little treatise on the life of faith -that his spirit first seemed to hear the divine words, "_Peace, be -still_." There could be no mistake about the young shoemaker's -conversion. Account for it as men might, the change was marvellous, and -infinitely beneficial, as we shall see, no less to his neighbors than to -himself; for Samuel Bradburn was intensely social, and bound to -influence his friends in one way or another, as well as to be influenced -by them. It was impossible for him to remain inactive when a great -impulse moved within him. The desire to go out and speak of the joy he -had found, and the means by which he had found it, soon became a ruling -passion. It is the desire which makes the philanthropist, the preacher, -the missionary. The language in which he attempts to describe that -indescribable joy of the renewed heart is but another reading of the old -gospel truth: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things -are passed away; behold, all things are become new."[10] Alluding to -the reading of the little book above mentioned, he says: "Such an -unspeakable power accompanied the words to my soul, that, being unable -to control myself, I rose from my seat and went into the garden, where I -had spent many a melancholy hour; but, oh, how changed now! Instead of -terror and despair I felt my heart overflowing with joy, and my eyes -with grateful tears. My soul was in such an ecstasy that my poor -emaciated body was as strong and active as I ever remember it, and not -at that time only, for the strength and activity remained. I had now no -fear of death, but rather longed to die, knowing that the blessed Jesus -was _my_ Saviour; that God was reconciled to _me_ through Him; that -nothing but the thread of life kept me from His glorious presence. Now -the whole creation wore a different aspect. The stars which shone -exceeding bright appeared more glorious than before. Such was my happy -frame that I imagined myself in the company of the holy angels, who, I -believed, were made more happy on my account, and doubtless those -ministering spirits did feel new degrees of joy on seeing so vile a -sinner, so wretched a prodigal, come home to the arms of his heavenly -Father.[11] O Thou eternal God!" he exclaims, "Thou transporting delight -of my soul! preserve and support, me through life, that I may at last -enjoy the heaven of love which I then felt overpowering my spirit." - - [10] 2 Cor. 5:17. - - [11] There was surely a Scriptural reason for this - feeling. See Luke 15:7, 10, and Heb. 1:15. - -Bradburn at once joined the Methodist Society at Chester. His master's -son, a boy of twelve, and many other young people, began to attend the -"class-meetings" about the same time. Among his work-fellows, also, -there were some who rejoiced in the light which now filled young -Bradburn's soul, and their conversation and hymn-singing while at work, -and their union in prayer before quitting the workroom at the close of -the day, made the new time a perpetual Sabbath, and the shoemaker's room -"a perfect paradise." In March, 1770, after the usual period of -probation, he was admitted to full membership, and received what the -Methodists call "his first ticket." He was not long in discovering, as -every one else has done in similar circumstances, that the change, -though genuine, was not complete. An outburst of passion, and a growing -desire after disputation on theological matters, in which he found -himself contending for mastery rather than truth, gave him to see that a -sound and secure religious character is a matter of growth and culture -and can only be maintained by watchfulness and prayer, and the careful -formation of habits of piety. And as Thomas à Kempis finely says, -"Custom is overcome by custom," so Bradburn found it, and in order to -put a bar between his spirit and possible temptations, changed his way -of _living_, his _companions_, and his _books_. One day, when John -Wesley was administering the Lord's Supper in the little chapel at -Chester, Bradburn was seized with the idea that he must become a -preacher. For a long time he strove hard to drive it from his mind. But -the more he did so the more it seemed to possess him. His sense of -unfitness for so great an office as that of the preacher, his exalted -notions of the sacredness and responsibility attaching to the office, -and his own deepening conviction, which nothing could resist, that it -was his duty before God to devote himself to the work, made him for a -time positively wretched. He tried the effect of change of residence -upon his feelings in the matter. He was now twenty years of age, and out -of his time. But on visiting his relations at Wrexham, he found that -they and their friends of the Wesleyan Society, to whom he was -introduced, had a common feeling that such a young man ought surely to -exercise his gifts as a speaker. In answer to their entreaties he spoke -several times in their meetings, and thus made his first start in public -speaking. Still the question of preaching was left unsettled, and -disturbed his mind night and day. It became a positive burden to -him--"the burden of the Lord," indeed, and no power of his own could -remove it. Six months after this brief visit to Wrexham, he obtained a -situation, and went to reside in Liverpool, where he fell in with people -much to his mind, who were exceedingly kind to him. They, however, no -sooner came to know him than their opinion was strongly expressed to the -same purport as that of his friends in Chester and Wrexham. In four -months he left Liverpool and returned home, the great life-question -still upon his mind. He dare not settle it, in one way or the other; all -he could do was to resolve to live as near to God as possible, commit -his way unto Him, and submissively wait for the direction of Divine -providence. In this condition of mind he passed the rest of the year -1772. At the beginning of the following year he found employment at -Wrexham, and there took up his abode in the congenial society of his -relations and religious friends. Soon after this the event occurred -which decided the severe and agonizing mental struggle to which he had -been subjected for the last twelve months, and determined the whole -course of his life, and the employment of his rare gifts as a preacher -of the Gospel. On Sunday, February 7th, 1773, the preacher for the day -failed to appear. Young Bradburn was invited by the leaders of the -congregation to take the service. Trembling from head to foot, almost -blind with fear and excitement, and casting himself on divine aid, he -mounts the pulpit stairs. The opening part of the service gives him -confidence, and when the time for preaching comes, he is able to speak -with much freedom and fervor to an appreciative and thankful audience. -In the evening he is once more asked to occupy the pulpit, and this time -he delivers a discourse which is not too long for the hearers, though it -lasts for more than two hours. The next week he preaches to the same -people three times; and now the question is settled, and settled, as he -and his friends are fain to believe, in a providential way: Samuel -Bradburn is _called to be a preacher_, and a preacher of no ordinary -power. He has not waited all these long months for nothing. He has not -run before he was sent. He has not tarried in the desert like Moses, -like Elijah, like Saul of Tarsus, to learn the truth and will of God, -with no beneficial results. He has been called of the Holy Spirit to the -work, and to the work of preaching he must now give himself and his very -best powers, or a woe will rest upon him. He and his Methodist friends -would not trouble themselves for one moment about the question of his -being a shoemaker, or _remaining_ a shoemaker, if he is to become a -preacher. One apostolic precedent was as good as twelve to them in a -matter of this kind, and Paul did not cease to be a tent-maker when the -Holy Ghost said to the church at Antioch, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul -to the work whereunto I have called them."[12] - - [12] Acts 13:2. - -Soon after the events just referred to, Bradburn resolved to go and see -the Rev. John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley in Shropshire, the friend of -Lady Huntingdon, and Benson, and John Wesley. Fletcher had a reputation -for piety and usefulness which few men in his day could equal and none -surpass. He was a great favorite with the followers of John Wesley, not -alone because of his friendship with their leader, but on account of his -saintly life, his evangelistic zeal, and his rare catholicity of spirit. -None worked more faithfully and diligently than he at the College of -Trevecca in Wales, of which he was for several years the president. Yet -he received no emolument for his labors. "Fletcher was no pluralist, for -he did his work at Trevecca without fee or reward, from the sole motive -of being useful."[13] It is said of his apostolic work at Madeley, that -"the parish, containing a degraded, ignorant, and vicious population -employed in mines and iron works, became, under his diligent Christian -culture, a thoroughly different place. His public discourses, his -pastoral conversations, his catechising of the young, his reproofs to -the wicked, his encouragements to the penitent, his accessibility at all -hours, his readiness to go out in the coldest night and the deepest snow -to see the sick or the sorrowing, his establishment of schools, and his -personal efforts in promoting their prosperity--in short, his almost -unrivalled efforts in all kinds of ministerial activity, have thrown -around Madeley beautiful associations not to be matched by the hills and -hanging woods which adorn that hive of industry."[14] Bradburn was -lovingly received at the Madeley vicarage, stayed for several days with -the family, and preached in one of the rooms of the house to a -congregation of villagers. If Fletcher could not ask his shoemaker -friend to officiate in the church, seeing that he had taken no holy -orders, the good vicar had no difficulty or scruple in regard to his -guest's preaching the Gospel in the house. On leaving, young Bradburn -carried away, as a precious treasure of the heart, a deep sense of -Fletcher's holy character, and never forgot the good man's -characteristic remark, "If you should live to preach the gospel forty -years, and be the instrument of saving only one soul, it will be worth -all your labor." Returning home, he went on with his work as a -shoemaker, preaching on Sundays in the chapels at Flint, Mold, Wrexham, -etc., until the beginning of the following year, when he went to reside -with friends at Liverpool. Here his preaching was so much enjoyed by the -congregations of the "circuit" that he was pressed to stay and minister -to them till July, when it was hoped that some arrangement might be made -by the Conference in London by which he would be permanently and -officially appointed to labor among them. Although he had become -somewhat popular by this time, and was warmly welcomed wherever he went -on account of his earnestness and rough eloquence, he was sometimes -regarded with distrust because of his youthful and unclerical appearance -and manner. One good man, who generally entertained the preacher on his -visits, was so annoyed at the sight of "a mere lad" "travelling the -circuit, that he sent young Bradburn to take his meals and sleep in the -garret with the apprentices." After the morning sermon, however, which -surprised and delighted all who heard it, "he was judged worthy to sit -in the preacher's chair" at the table of his host, and at night was -allowed to sleep in the "prophet's chamber." In September of that year -he was not a little surprised to find himself appointed by the -Conference as a regular "travelling preacher on the Liverpool circuit." -It was about this time he had his first interview with John Wesley. The -veteran evangelist's simple and kindly manner affected the young -preacher deeply, and his advice was wonderfully like him: "Beware," said -Wesley, holding young Bradburn by the hand, "beware of the fear of man; -and be sure you speak flat and plain in preaching." - - [13] See Benson's "Life of Fletcher." - - [14] "Religion in England under Queen Anne and the - Georges." By John Stoughton, D.D., vol. ii. pp. 158, 159. - Hodder & Stoughton. - -In these early days of Methodism, when the denomination was undergoing -the process of rapid growth, it was impossible to wait for men, to meet -the urgent need of the churches, who had gone through a regular process -of ministerial education and training. Such as had the requisite -character and the gift of speech were "called out" and placed over -churches in a manner that would not have been tolerated in later times, -when colleges had come to be established. Yet the work done by men of -Bradburn's stamp was genuinely apostolic, and served, under the divine -blessing, to lay broad and deep the foundations of that Wesleyan -denomination which, in the present day, yields to none of the so-called -"sects" in the culture and moral power of its ministry. It is not to be -supposed that the fluent young shoemaker was insensible to his need of -education. The first year's work in Lancashire taxed his mental -resources severely, and set him wondering many times whether he should -be able to go on preparing new sermons in order to preach repeatedly to -the same congregation. It was consequently an immense relief to him when -the year came to an end, and he found that the Conference at Leeds had -set him down for an entirely new field of labor, at Pembroke, in South -Wales.[15] - - [15] Bradburn's mother died during his first year's - ministry. In connection with this event he mentions a - circumstance which enabled him to be resigned to the - bereavement, and which many readers will regard with unusual - interest. "God spared her life, nearly _twelve years_, in - answer to a prayer which I offered up when she seemed to be - dying, in which I begged that she might live twelve years - exactly. I was then very young, and could not bear the thought - of losing her, but imagined I should be able to part with her - after those years." - -Bradburn felt his poverty in more ways than one. Wesleyan ministers were -then but poorly paid, and men of his generous character, who found it -easier to give to the needy than to economize and save, were often in -great straits for funds. On his way down to Pembroke he was reduced to -his last shilling, and, but for this meeting with Wesley at Brecon, -might have found it an awkward matter to reach his destination. "Apply -to me when you want help," said Wesley to his friend, and very soon -proved his sincerity by prompt assistance when the young pastor made -known his straitened circumstances. The following story is too good to -be omitted. In reply to Bradburn's appeal Wesley sent the following -short letter, inclosing several five-pound notes: - - "DEAR SAMMY: Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou - dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.--Yours - affectionately, JOHN WESLEY." - -To which Bradburn replied: - - "REV. AND DEAR SIR: I have often been struck with the beauty of - the passage of Scripture quoted in your letter, but I must - confess that I never saw such useful expository notes upon it - before.--I am, Rev. and dear Sir, your obedient and grateful - servant, S. BRADBURN." - -The year spent in South Wales was happy and prosperous, and the churches -at Pembroke, Haverfordwest, and Carmarthen were greatly increased and -well organized under the care of Bradburn and his colleague. By the -Conference in 1776 he was sent to Limerick, and from thence, in four -months, such was the severity of the strain upon his health, he was -removed to Dublin. Here he had met, on first landing in Ireland, with -the young lady who was afterward to become his wife. It was a case of -"mutual admiration" and "love at first sight." Bradburn was a passionate -lover, and could ill brook the delay of two years which had to pass away -before he took the beautiful Miss Nangle to his own home. In one of his -anxious moods, when sick of love and hope deferred, he rose from his -sleepless bed to pray for divine guidance and favor in regard to the -serious business of courtship. It was his custom to pray aloud, and -supposing his colleague, who occupied the same bed, to be fast asleep, -he did not balk his prayer in this instance, finishing a fervent appeal -for divine direction with the simple words, "But, Lord, let it be -Betsey." His bedfellow humorously responded, "Amen," and broke out into -a hearty laugh at poor Bradburn's expense. John Wesley, who favored the -match, and generously interceded in his friend's behalf, both with a -much-dreaded stepmother and the fair one herself, conducted the marriage -ceremony in the house of a friend. He had invited the bride and -bridegroom-elect, and Mrs. Karr the stepmother, "to breakfast with him -at Mrs. King's,[16] the morning after his arrival, being his birthday; -as soon as she (Mrs. Karr) entered he began the ceremony and married us -in the parlor. Pride would not let her affront Mr. Wesley, and she was -forced to appear satisfied." "Wesley," says Bradburn's biographer,[17] -"more than once took up cudgels for his preachers when in difficulties -of this kind, but not in such a summary manner." - - [16] Bradburn's lodgings. - - [17] "Life of Samuel Bradburn." By T. W. Blanshard. P. - 68. Elliot Stock, 1870. A most interesting biography of the - famous Wesleyan preacher. - -Relegated to the Cork and Bandon circuit, he had a very trying time of -it for about a year. One of his memoranda made at this time gives us a -glimpse of his acquirements from his own common-sense point of view, for -Bradburn was a thoroughly sensible and humble man, who never yielded to -ignorant flattery of his pulpit eloquence, nor gave way, as some -self-made men and popular preachers have done, to vanity and conceit. -Self-examination was with him a genuine business, conducted in a -reverent spirit and an honest and altogether healthy fashion. By this -means he came to know himself and act accordingly. Not many men in his -position would have written so sensibly as this: "_Cork, March 31st_ -(1779).--I have read and written much this month, but sadly feel the -want of a friend to direct my studies. All with whom I have any -intimacy, know nothing of my meaning when I speak of my ignorance. They -praise my sermons, and consider me a prodigy of learning; and yet what -do I know? a little Latin, a little philosophy, history, divinity, and a -little of many things, all of which serves to convince me of my own -ignorance!" At this time, and for many years after, he preached forty -sermons a month, and sometimes fifty. Even if they were _all_ old -sermons, which would not often be the case, how could a man so employed -find time or energy for close and continuous study? The next four years -are spent at Keighley, Bradford, and Leeds in Yorkshire. When at -Keighley he "travelled" for a time with Wesley, and had an opportunity -of observing the way in which that sainted man wholly devoted his gifts, -his time, and his money to the service of God and his fellow-men. -Wesley's stipend from the Society in London was £30 a year, but the sale -of books, the generosity of the friends at Bristol, and occasional -preaching fees and sundry legacies, brought his yearly income up to -£1000 or £1200; yet he rarely spent more for himself than his meagre -stipend, and regularly gave away _all the rest_. "Thus literally having -nothing, he possessed all things; and though poor, he made many -rich."[18] At Leeds, Bradburn was offered the pastorate of an -Independent Church with a greatly increased salary, but the loyal -Methodist refused the tempting offer. His next appointment was to -Bristol, where he had the misfortune to lose his darling Betsey, who -died of decline in her twenty-ninth year. His colleague had suffered a -similar bereavement, and the stern yet tender-hearted Wesley, then in -his eighty-third year, actually set off from London "in the driven snow" -to go down to Bristol and comfort the two sorrowing preachers. Bradburn -did not long remain a widower. At Gloucester he met Sophia Cooke, "the -pious and godly" Methodist to whom Robert Raikes of Sunday-school fame -had spoken about the poor children in the streets, and asked her, "What -can we do for them?" Miss Cooke replied, "Let us teach them, and take -them to church!" The hint was acted upon, and Raikes and Miss Cooke -"conducted the first company of Sunday scholars to the church, exposed -to the comments and laughter of the populace, as they passed along with -their ragged procession." A better wife for the earnest Methodist -preacher could not have been found than the woman who thus showed her -good sense, her piety, and her courage, in starting the Sunday-school -movement. In 1786 Wesley showed his appreciation of Bradburn's excellent -qualities by getting him appointed to the London Circuit in order to -have his assistance in superintending the affairs of the Connection. -Here he met with Charles Wesley, and, at the time of his death in 1788, -Bradburn stood by the dying man's bed offering up earnest prayer for -him, and calling to his mind the truths of that Gospel which he had done -so much to spread throughout the world by his unrivalled hymns. John -Wesley himself died three years afterward, 2d March, 1791, and Bradburn, -then at Manchester, published a pamphlet entitled, "A Sketch of Mr. -Wesley's Character," in which he gave a most interesting epitome of the -chief points in the history and labors of his father in the Gospel. -Bradburn, now looked upon as one of the foremost men in the Connection, -united with eight others in issuing a circular giving an outline of -policy for the guidance of the Conference at its next session. The -utmost care and wisdom were needed in order to keep the various elements -of Methodism together; and few men in those days were more conspicuous -and useful than Bradburn in guiding the counsels of the assembled -ministers. He was elected to preach before the Conference at its next -session in Manchester, and so moved his audience by his impassioned -appeal for unity and loyalty to the good cause that had now lost its -earthly leader, that all in the chapel rose to their feet in response to -his stimulating words. In 1796, when stationed at Bath, he was made -secretary of the Conference, and held the office three years in -succession. In 1799 his brethren showed their esteem for him by choosing -him as _President_, and thus giving him the highest honor which they had -it in their power to bestow. - - [18] Bradburn's Life, see above, pp. 85, 86. - -Among Methodists Bradburn is regarded as one of the most eloquent and -powerful preachers the denomination has produced. He had all the natural -gifts of a great orator, and these, combined with fervent piety and a -single and lofty purpose in preaching, invested his discourses with a -charm and an influence rarely wielded by public speakers. "Possessed of -a commanding figure, dignified carriage, graceful action, mellow voice, -ready utterance, correct ear, exuberant imagination, an astonishing -memory, and an extensive acquaintance with his mother tongue, he could -move an assembly as the summer breeze stirs the standing corn."[19] This -elocutionary power was not gained without much care and diligent labor. -He was a hard reader, and a most painstaking sermonizer, for though he -never used the manuscript in the pulpit but preached extempore, after -the fashion of the times, he nevertheless prepared his discourses with -great skill and labor. The following sentences from his biography will -sufficiently illustrate this point.[20] "His own bold, easy, and correct -English was such as no man acquires without perseverance in a right use -of means. His diligence may be inferred from one of his reported sayings -on leaving Manchester--that he had twelve hundred outlines of sermons -untouched (not used in preaching in the circuit) at the end of three -years' ministrations. The result of such endowments, improved, with such -assiduity, amid all the hindrances and discouragements of a laborious -and harassing vocation, was, that to be comprehensive and lucid in -arrangement; beautifully clear in statement or exposition; weighty, -nervous, and acute in argumentation; copious, various, and interesting -in illustration; overwhelming in pathos; to wield at will the ludicrous -or the tender, the animating, the sublime, or the terrible--seems to -have been habitually in his power." The Rev. Richard Watson, author of -the "Institutes," "walked twenty miles to hear the far-famed Mr. -Bradburn preach; and he never lost the impression which that -distinguished orator produced." Watson thus describes his impressions: -"I am not a very excitable subject, but Mr. Bradburn's preaching -affected my whole frame. I felt a thrill to the very extremity of my -fingers, and my hair actually seemed to stand on end." The biographer of -the Rev. Jabez Bunting says of Bradburn: "His career was brilliant and -useful; and perhaps more men longed, but durst not try, to preach like -him than like any other preacher of his time.... Bradburn was without -exception the most consummate orator we ever heard." And the author of -Bradburn's life concludes the citation of a number of testimonies with -the following strongly expressed opinion of his merits as a pulpit -orator: "Methodism has produced a host of preachers renowned for pulpit -eloquence. The names of Benson, Lessey, Watson, Newton, Beaumont, and -others, stand out in bold relief on the page of her history, but the -highest niche in her temple of fame belongs, most unquestionably, to -SAMUEL BRADBURN." - - [19] Bradburn's Life, pp. 177, 178. - - [20] Ibid., pp. 183, 184. - -Like most men of genius he had a strong sense of humor, enjoyed a joke -most heartily, was ready and pithy in repartee, and seldom at a loss for -spirit and tact in extricating himself from difficulties. Many a good -story might be told, did space allow, in illustration of this feature of -his character. One or two must suffice. Perhaps the smartest thing he -ever did in outwitting the early opponents of Methodism was done in a -certain small town, in one of his own circuits, where, in the early days -of the movement, the preacher and his friends had often "been driven off -the field by a mob, headed by the clergyman." Bradburn understood the -state of affairs thoroughly, and resolved to go down to the parish and -preach in the open air. Notice of his coming was duly forwarded, and -the clergyman ordered constables and others to be in attendance at the -time and place appointed for the service. Meanwhile Bradburn having -"provided himself with a new suit of clothes, borrowed a new wig of a -Methodist barber," and "went to the place, put his horse up at the inn, -attended the morning service at church, placed himself in a conspicuous -situation so as to attract the notice of the clergyman, and, when the -service was closed, he went up to him on his way out, accosted him as a -brother, and thanked him for his sermon. The clergyman, judging from his -appearance and address that he was a minister of some note, gave him an -invitation to his house. Bradburn respectfully declined, on the ground -that he had ordered dinner, and expressed a hope that the clergyman -would dine with him at the inn. He did so, and Bradburn having -entertained him until dinner was over with his extraordinary powers of -conversation, managed to refer to the open-air service which was to be -held, and the clergyman stated his intention to arrest the preacher and -disperse the congregation, and asked Bradburn to accompany him, which he -did. On arriving at the appointed place they found a large company -assembled; and as no preacher had made his appearance, the clergyman -concluded that fear had kept him away, and was about to order the people -to their homes when Bradburn remarked that it would "be highly improper -to neglect so favorable an opportunity of doing good, and urged him to -preach to them. He excused himself by saying that he had no sermon in -his pocket, and asked Bradburn to address them, which, of course, he -readily consented to do, and commenced the service by singing part of -the hymn beginning-- - - 'Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing - My great Redeemer's praise,' - -and, after praying, delivered an impressive discourse from Acts 5:38, -39, 'And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone; -for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but -if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to -fight against God.' This not only deeply affected the people, but so -delighted the clergyman, that although he knew, as the service -proceeded, that he had been duped, he heartily thanked Bradburn for the -deception he had practised on him, and ever afterward, to the day of his -death, showed a friendly disposition toward Methodism."[21] - - [21] Bradburn's Life, pp. 233-235. - -The same readiness of resource and good humor were shown in the -management of the affairs of the society in his capacity as a pastor. On -one occasion, when he resided in Manchester, two ladies, district -visitors, went to the house of an old woman, a member of the society, -who was a laundress, and finding her hard at work accosted her with the -remark: "Betty, you are busy." "Yes, mum," said Betty, "as busy as the -devil in a whirlwind!" Shocked by such an indecorous speech, the -visitors threatened to report it to Mr. Bradburn. Afraid of what she had -done, and the consequence, if it should come to the preacher's ears, -Betty, as soon as the ladies had gone away, set off by the quickest -route to see Mr. Bradburn and relate the whole affair, and thus -anticipate the report from the ladies themselves. She found Bradburn -"engaged in his vocation as cobbler for his family." "He listened to -Betty's simple story, and engaged to put the matter right, if she would -try to be more guarded in the future. She had scarcely got clear away -when the two ladies arrived with their melancholy story of Betty's -irreverence. They were asked into the room, and seeing him at his -somewhat unclerical employment, one of them observed quite unthinkingly, -'Mr. Bradburn, you are busy!' 'Yes,' returned Bradburn, with great -gravity, 'as busy as the devil in a whirlwind!' This remark from Betty -was sufficiently startling, but from Bradburn it was horrifying. Seeing -their consternation, he explained how busy the devil was in Job's days, -when he raised the whirlwind which 'smote the four corners of the -house,' where the patriarch's children were feasting, and slew them. It -is, perhaps, needless to add that the two ladies left without mentioning -the object of their visit."[22] - - [22] Bradburn's Life, pp. 228, 229. - -Hating the false pride which leads a man to forget his humble origin, -and the canting way in which some men talk of their sacrifices in -entering the ministry, he once severely rebuked two young men who made a -parade in company of having "given up _all_ for the ministry." "Yes, -dear brethren," said he, "some of you have had to sacrifice your all for -the itinerancy; but we old men have had our share of these trials. As -for myself, I made a double sacrifice, for I gave up for the ministry -two of the best _awls_ in the kingdom--a great sacrifice, truly, to -become an ambassador of God in the church, and a gentleman in society!" -His ready wit was sometimes displayed like that of Hugh Latimer, Dean -Swift, and Sydney Smith, in the selections of texts for sermons on -special occasions. Preaching at the opening of a chapel entirely built -with borrowed money, he took as a text the words of the young man to -Elisha the prophet:[23] "Alas, master, for it was borrowed." On a snowy -winter's day, when the congregation was very small, he selected the -words which describe the character of the virtuous woman,[24] "She is -not afraid of the snow." - - [23] 2 Kings 6:5. - - [24] Proverbs 31:21. - -That Samuel Bradburn was not perfect none will need to be told, yet it -will surprise and pain every one to read that so great and good a man, -honored and beloved of his brethren for many years, and useful beyond -computation as a preacher, should have been "overtaken in a fault," for -which the Conference, in the exercise of a rigorous discipline, saw fit -to suspend him for a year. After the lapse of this time he came back -again to his old position, penitent and humble, like David or Peter, and -like them fully restored to the Divine favor. This singular and -melancholy event appears to have been due as much to _mental_ as _moral_ -derangement, and in a short while, such was the sincerity of his sorrow -and the blameless character of his after-life, his brethren were -thankful to forget it, and to place him once more in positions of high -trust and honor in the Connection. The last ten years of his life were -spent in the important circuits of Bolton, Bath, Wakefield, Bristol, -Liverpool, and East London. He died in London, July 26th, 1816, in the -sixty-sixth year of his age. At the time of his decease the Conference -was sitting in London. As a token of esteem and affection all its -members joined in the funeral service at the New Chapel, City Road. He -was buried in Old Methodist graveyard, City Road, by the side of his -friend John Wesley, in the last resting-place of many of the fathers and -founders of the Wesleyan Connection. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -William Gifford, - -FROM THE SHOEMAKER'S STOOL TO THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. - - "Not mine the soul that pants not after fame-- - Ambitious of a poet's envied name, - I haunt the sacred fount, athirst to prove - The grateful influence of the stream I love." - - --_The Baviad; William Gifford._ - -"It is on all hands conceded, that the success which attended the -'Quarterly' from the outset was due, in no small degree, to the ability -and tact with which Gifford discharged his editorial -duties."--_Encyclopædia Britannica._ - -"I am not more certain of many conjectures than I am that he never -propagated a dishonest opinion, nor did a dishonest act."--_Writer in -the Literary Gazette._ - - -WILLIAM GIFFORD. - -The field of literature seems always to have had a special charm for -shoemakers. If the reader will glance for a moment at the list of names -given at the end of this book, this fact will be at once apparent. Half, -or more than half, the names given in that list are in some way or other -connected with literature. The connection is but slight in many -instances, perhaps, and the reputation it conferred only local and -temporary. Few of our shoemakers, even though we have thought well to -style them "illustrious," can be said to have made a great and lasting -name in the world of letters; and none of them it must be confessed have -attained to first rank as prose or poetical writers. But there are -worthies in our list, associated alike with the humble craft of -shoemaking and the higher walks of literature, whose names the world -will not willingly let die, and we venture to think that the subject of -this sketch is one of the number. - -William Gifford was the first editor of the _London Quarterly Review_. -The high and influential position held by this journal was mainly due in -the first instance to Gifford's talent and excellent management. The -_London Quarterly_ was started in opposition to the famous _Edinburgh -Quarterly_; George Canning, the celebrated statesman, and Sir Walter -Scott, the great novelist, being the prime movers and early patrons of -the enterprise, for the _Edinburgh_, under the clever management of -Jeffrey, and supported by such writers as Sydney Smith and Brougham, was -then too liberal in its tone to suit the taste of the brilliant Foreign -Secretary and his Tory friends. It was no slight testimony to the -abilities of the man who was chosen as the first editor of the new -_Quarterly_ that his election should have been cordially approved by the -first of Scottish novelists, and one of the most influential of English -statesmen. - -Gifford was the author of two satirical poems, the "Baviad" and -"Maeviad," directed against the tawdry and sentimental rhymesters of a -certain school which flourished in his day.[25] His scathing satire -succeeded in putting an end to their trash. Gifford published also a -translation of the Latin poets, Juvenal and Persius. To the latter he -prefixed the story of his own early life as a poor cobbler's apprentice. -From this interesting autobiography the materials for the following -sketch have been chiefly selected. William Gifford's best title to fame -was, no doubt, his edition of the "Early English Dramatists"--Ford, -Massinger, Shirley, and Ben Jonson. His generous and able vindication of -Jonson reflects credit both upon the critic and the poet. It should be -added that Gifford's editorship of the _Quarterly_ extended over fifteen -years, and that during the whole of this period he was the writer of a -large number of its most able articles. - - [25] The "Della Cruscan school." See below. - -Having taken a glimpse of the work accomplished by William Gifford as a -critic, a scholar, and an editor in the latter years of his life, let us -turn to look at his circumstances in boyhood and youth, when, as a -miserable cobbler's apprentice, he began to yearn after knowledge and to -cherish ambitious dreams. The contrast between the first and last scenes -in the drama of life could hardly be more wonderful than that which is -presented in the history of the man who passed from the cobbler's stool -to the editor's chair. - -William Gifford was born at the small town of Ashburton, in South Devon, -in 1757. His father, who was a man of spendthrift and profligate habits, -died of the effects of his evil conduct before he had attained the age -of forty. In twelve months afterward Gifford's mother died, leaving -William, and a little brother two years old, orphans, and, it would -seem, penniless. As no home could be found for the infant, he was sent -to the workhouse. William, then thirteen years of age, fell into the -hands of a man named Carlisle, who had stood as his godfather, a -worthless fellow, who had appropriated the few things left by the -mother, on pretence of claiming them for debt. This man put William to -school, where he began to show signs of ability; but he was allowed no -chance of making progress; for, at the end of three months, grudging the -slight cost of his tuition, Carlisle took the boy from his books and -playmates, and put him to the plough. It was soon found that he was too -weak for such heavy work. His guardian now tried to get the boy out of -hand altogether, by sending him off to Newfoundland as an errand-boy in -a grocery store. This unkind project, however, being doomed to failure, -it was resolved that the troublesome charge should be got rid of by -making him a sailor. - -We give the account of what happened at this period in his own words: -"My godfather had now humbler views for me, and I had no heart to resist -anything. He proposed to send me on board one of the Torbay -fishing-boats. I ventured, however, to remonstrate against this, and the -matter was compromised by my consenting to go on board a coaster. A -coaster was speedily found for me at Brixham, and thither I went when -little more than thirteen years of age. It will easily be conceived that -my life was a life of hardship. I was not only a ship-boy on the high -and giddy mast, but also in the cabin, where every menial office fell to -my lot. Yet if I was restless and discontented it was not so much on -account of this as of my being prevented reading, as my master did not -possess a single book of any description, excepting a Coasting Pilot." - -Gifford was on board this vessel for about twelve months, a time of -untold suffering and degradation. In fact, his position was so -deplorable that some women from Ashburton, who went down to Brixham to -buy fish, shocked to see the boy running about the beach in ragged -clothes, spoke so plainly on their return home about the hardship of his -lot, that his godfather was compelled for very shame to send for him -home again. He was once more put to school, and now made such rapid -strides in arithmetic that on an emergency he was invited to assist the -school-master. He goes on in his own narrative to say that these -encouragements led him to entertain the idea that he might be able to -get his own living by teaching, and as his first master "was now grown -old and infirm, it seemed unlikely that he should hold out above three -or four years, and I fondly flattered myself," he adds, "that -notwithstanding my youth I might possibly be appointed to succeed him." -It is worth while to notice that he was but a boy in his teens when he -first began to feel the noble spirit of ambition stir within him, and to -cherish the laudable desire to rely upon his own efforts for his -maintenance. It was this lofty and self-reliant spirit which carried him -past all his difficulties; and, truth to tell, no one has ever done -anything remarkable in the world without it. The youth who is altogether -destitute of ambition, and is ever on the look-out for the help of -friends, lacks the first elements of success in life. But Gifford's -bravery and persistence of mind had to be severely tested before meeting -with their due reward. - -Proceeding with his pathetic story, he says: "I was about fifteen years -of age when I built these castles in the air. A storm, however, was -collecting, which unexpectedly burst upon me and swept them all away. On -mentioning my plan to my guardian, he treated it with the utmost -contempt, and told me he had been negotiating with his cousin, a -shoemaker of some respectability, who had liberally consented to take -me, without fee, as an apprentice. I was so shocked at this intelligence -that I did not venture to remonstrate, but went in sullenness and -silence to my new master, to whom I was bound till I should attain the -age of twenty-one. At this period I had read nothing but a romance -called 'Parismus,' a few loose magazines--the Bible, indeed, I was well -acquainted with; these, with the 'Imitation of Thomas à Kempis,' which I -used to read to my mother on her death-bed, constituted the whole of my -literary acquisitions." - -The account which follows has few things to equal it in the records of -struggling genius. It will serve to show how abject and apparently -hopeless was his condition as a student at this time of his life, and -will show also, what it may be hoped no youth who reads these pages will -fail to learn, how marvellous is the power of energy and perseverance to -triumph over apparently insuperable obstacles. - -"I possessed," Gifford writes, "at this time but one book in-the world; -it was a treatise on algebra given to me by a young woman who had found -it in a lodging-house. I considered it a treasure; but it was a treasure -locked up, for it supposed the reader to be acquainted with simple -equations, and I knew nothing of the matter." He then speaks of meeting -with a book called Fenning's "Introduction" belonging to his master's -son, who, by the way, was discovered afterward to have been all through -this time a secret rival for the head-mastership. This "Introduction" -gave Gifford just the information required to carry him forward into the -study of algebra. But he was compelled to study it by stealth, lest it -should be taken from him, and he goes on to say: "I sat up for the -greater part of several nights successively and completely mastered it. -I could now enter upon my own, and that carried me pretty far into the -science. This was not done without difficulty. I had not a farthing on -earth, nor a friend to give me one; pen, ink, and paper, therefore, were -for the most part as completely out of my reach as a crown and sceptre. -There was, indeed, a resource, but the utmost caution and secrecy were -necessary in applying to it. I beat out pieces of leather as smooth as -possible and wrought my problems on them with a blunted awl; for the -rest my memory was tenacious, and I could multiply and divide by it to a -great extent." - -Strange to say, although he displayed so much ability and zeal in the -study of mathematics, he was not destined to achieve distinction in that -department of study. A very trifling incident led to the exercise of new -gifts, and turned the tide of his evil fortune. A shopmate had made a -few verses on the blunder of a painter in the village who was engaged to -paint a lion for a sign-board, and had produced a dog instead. Gifford -thought he could beat the verses of his shopmate, and accordingly tried -his hand at rhyme. His associates all agreed in pronouncing young -Gifford's verses the better of the two. This encouraged him to try -again, and in the course of a short time he had composed about a dozen -pieces. He says: "They were talked of in my little circle, and I was -sometimes invited to repeat them out of it. I never committed a line to -paper--first, because I had no paper; and, second, because I was afraid, -for my master had already threatened me for inadvertently hitching the -name of one of his customers into a rhyme." The rest of this account of -his poetical adventures would be amusing if it were not for the pathos -which underlies it, and the fact that it is the prelude to one of the -most painful incidents in the sad story of Gifford's early life. -Referring to these recitals of his poetical pieces he says: "These -repetitions were always attended by applause, and sometimes by favors -more substantial; little collections were now and then made, and I have -received sixpence in an evening(!). To one who had long lived in the -absolute want of money such a resource seemed a Peruvian mine. I -furnished myself by degrees with paper, etc., and, what was of more -importance, with books of geometry and of the higher branches of -algebra, which I cautiously concealed. Poetry even at this time was no -amusement of mine. I only had recourse to it when I wanted money for my -mathematical pursuits. But the clouds were gathering fast. My master's -anger was raised to a terrible pitch by my indifference to his concerns, -and still more by my presumptuous attempts at versification. I was -required to give up my papers, and when I refused, was searched, my -little hoard of books discovered and removed, and all future repetitions -prohibited in the strictest manner. This was a severe stroke, I felt it -most sensibly, and it was followed by another, severer still, a stroke -which crushed the hopes I had so long and fondly cherished, and -resigned me at once to despair. Mr. Hugh, Smerdon, the master of the -school on whose succession I had calculated, died and was succeeded by a -person not much older than myself, and certainly not so well qualified -for the situation." - -Poor Gifford! hard, indeed, was thy lot; an orphan without friends, -helpers, or sympathizers, having no proper leisure or means for study or -recreation, and even the little pleasure and profit wrung from a few -ciphering books and doggerel verses snatched away by cruel hands; -trodden down like a worm in the mire, and every particle of talent and -ambition threatened with extinction! For six long years this misery -lasted in one form or another, while he strove to hope on against hope, -and found himself compelled to labor at a trade which he declares he -hated from the first with a perfect hatred, and never, consequently, -made any progress in. What could be more miserable and disheartening? -But to the industrious and patient, as "to the upright, _there ariseth -light in the darkness_." No darker hour occurred in all Gifford's -miserable boyhood and youth than that which is described in the -sentences just quoted. And now the light is about to appear. A friend -comes upon the scene, to whose generous interference the unhappy cobbler -owed the educational advantages he afterward enjoyed. His obligations to -this benefactor were always most readily and warmly expressed; for -whatever faults Gifford might have, he was never charged with the -meanness of forgetting his lowly origin, and the generous friend by whom -he had been rescued from a wretched condition and introduced to a -happier state of life. He speaks of his benefactor as bearing "a name -never to be pronounced by him without veneration." This gentleman, Mr. -Cooksley, was a surgeon in the neighborhood. He had accidentally heard -of the young cobbler's poetry, and sought an interview with him. Gifford -went down to the surgeon's house, and, encouraged by the kindness he -received, told the story of his attempts at self-culture, and of the -hardships he had undergone. Deeply moved by the touching story, and -convinced of the young man's natural abilities and desert of -encouragement, Mr. Cooksley resolved, there and then, on liberating the -youth from the thraldom of his situation. The first thing was to free -him from the bonds of his apprenticeship, and the next to give him the -advantages of regular instruction. He was then twenty years of age, and -he says, "My handwriting was bad, and my language very incorrect." -Accordingly, a subscription was started to furnish funds for this -twofold purpose. It read as follows: "A subscription for purchasing the -remainder of the time of William Gifford, and for enabling him to -improve himself in writing and English grammar." The kindness of -Cooksley and a few other friends, whose sympathies were enlisted by his -generous zeal for the youth, enabled him to receive two years' -instruction from a clergyman, the Rev. Thomas Smerdon, who resided in -the locality. Such was the progress made by Gifford, that at the end of -that time his instructor pronounced him quite prepared for the -university. Again Mr. Cooksley proved a friend. By his efforts and -promises of support Gifford was entered at Exeter College, Oxford. -Unfortunately his noble patron died before Gifford could take his -degree. But he was not suffered to leave Oxford on account of Mr. -Cooksley's death. He found a second patron in Lord Grosvenor, by whose -aid the grateful undergraduate was enabled to finish his term. The -culture which he received in the university must have been very thorough -and complete, evincing itself in refinement of manner as well as -scholarship of no ordinary degree, for in the course of a few years -after leaving Ashburton, we learn that the late shoemaker was taken into -the family of Lord Grosvenor as private tutor and travelling companion -to his son Lord Belgrave. The circumstance which led to Lord Grosvenor's -patronage of Gifford was remarkable, and deserves to be recorded as an -illustration of the fact that an accident may lead to the most important -events in our history. But we must premise, first of all, as a safeguard -against a false inference or false hopes, that _such_ accidents are sure -to come in the way of _industrious, clever_ and _deserving_ men. If they -occur to men of a different stamp they are of no avail. If William -Gifford had not been a hard-working student, such a circumstance as the -accidental perusal of one of his letters by a person for whom it was not -intended could not have helped his fortunes in the least. It appears -that he had been in the habit of corresponding with a friend in London -on literary matters. His letters to this friend were sent under covers, -and in order to save postage were left at Lord Grosvenor's. One day the -address of the literary friend was omitted, and his lordship, supposing -the letter to be for himself, opened and read it. The contents excited -his admiration, and awakened his curiosity to know who the author could -be. He was sent for, and after an interview, in which, for the second -time in his life, he told the story of his early struggles to willing -and sympathizing ears, he was invited by Lord Grosvenor to come and -reside with him. - -It is deeply gratifying to record instances of disinterested generosity -of this kind, and to read the glowing language in which the thankful -young student refers to the kindness of his noble patron. Referring to -the invitation to live with Lord Grosvenor, and his promise of honorable -maintenance, Gifford says, "These were not words of course, they were -more than fulfilled in every point. I did go and reside with him, and I -experienced a warm and cordial reception, and a kind and affectionate -esteem that has known neither diminution nor interruption, from that -hour to this, a period of twenty years." - -In 1794, his "Baviad" was published, in imitation of the satires of -Persius, and in the following year the "Mæviad," after the style of -Horace. These names were taken from the third Eclogue of Virgil-- - - "He may with foxes plough and milk he-goats, - Who praises _Bavius_ or on _Mævius_ dotes." - -These terribly virulent satires, like those of Boileau and Pope, were -aimed at contemporary poets of an inferior order, and like them, too, -were most crushing in their effect. The _Della Cruscan School_[26] never -smiled, or rather smirked, again after the issue of the Baviad and -Mæviad. But it is a rare thing to meet with a critic or a satirist who -escapes the danger of committing a fault in condemning one. Gifford did -not escape this danger. His lines certainly did not answer to the -epigram-- - - "Satire should, like a polished razor keen, - Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen." - - [26] The name Cruscan was taken from the Florentine - Academy, by Robert Merry, the founder of this school of mawkish - and affected poetasters. - -His unhappy victims were hacked and hewed in pieces in a merciless and -barbarous manner; while the spectators enjoyed the savage sport, and -accorded the cruel executioner a wreath of laurel for the vigor and -talent displayed in his unenviable task. These satires first made -Gifford's name in the world of letters. But his fame as a scholar was -established chiefly on his translations of Persius and Juvenal, and his -excellent editions, with valuable notes, of the early "English -Dramatists." Speaking of Gifford's edition of Ben Jonson's dramatic and -other works, John Kemble, the most accomplished actor of his day, says, -"It is the best edition, by the ablest of modern commentators, through -whose learned and generous labors old Ben's forgotten works and injured -character are restored to the merited admiration and esteem of the -world." - -The celebrity thus obtained, along with the friendship of the leading -Tory politicians of the day, secured for Gifford the position of editor -of the _London Quarterly_. It ought to be stated that when Mr. Channing -started the _Anti-Jacobin_ in 1797, Gifford was entrusted with the -conduct of that journal, and had thus acquired a little experience of -journalism. His connection with this paper, which came out weekly, -lasted only for a year. But he managed the _Quarterly_, as we have said, -for fifteen years, that is, from 1809, the date of its commencement, to -1824, when ill-health compelled him to lay his pen aside. - -The plan of this new journal had originated with John Murray, the famous -publisher, and had received the hearty support of Walter Scott, Egbert -Southey, Canning, Rose, Disraeli, and Hookham Frere. The first number, -containing three articles by Walter Scott, was published on the 1st -February, 1809, and was immediately sold out, a second edition being -called for. Canning wrote for the second number, and Southey became a -constant and most prolific contributor. "For the first hundred and -twenty-six numbers he wrote ninety-four articles, many of them of great -permanent value."[27] At John Murray's "drawing-rooms," where the -leading literary men of the day were wont to assemble at four o'clock, -Gifford met with a brilliant assemblage of poets, novelists, historians, -artists, and others. Murray the publisher delighted "to gather together -such men as Byron, Scott, Moore, Campbell, Southey, Gifford, Hallam, -Lockhart, Washington Irving, and Mrs. Somerville; and, more than this, -he invited such artists as Lawrence, Wilkie, Phillips, Newton, and -Pickersgill, to meet them and paint them, that they might hang forever -on his walls."[28] It was in reference to one of Murray's "publishers' -dinners" Byron wrote the lines in which occurs the following allusion to -Gifford: - - "A party dines with me to-day, - All clever men who make their way; - Crabbe, Malcolm, Hamilton, and Chantrey - Are all partakers of my pantry. - - My room's so full--we've Gifford here, - Reading MS. with Hookham Frere, - Pronouncing on the nouns and particles - Of some of our forthcoming articles." - - [27] "History of Booksellers." H. Curwen. Chatto & - Windus. P. 175. - - [28] Ibid., pp. 180, 181. - -A writer in the _Literary Gazette_,[29] who had the pleasure of -Gifford's personal acquaintance, has made the following interesting -notes upon his private character, and his conduct as an editor. "He -never stipulated for any salary as editor; at first he received £200, -and at last £900 per annum, but never engaged for a particular sum. He -several times returned money to Murray, saying 'he had been too -liberal.' Perhaps he was the only man on this side the Tweed who thought -so! He was perfectly indifferent about wealth, I do not know a better -proof of this than the fact that he was richer, by a very considerable -sum, at the time of his death than he was at all aware of. In unison -with his contempt of money was his disregard of any external -distinction; he had a strong natural aversion to anything like pomp or -parade. Yet he was by no means insensible to an honorable distinction, -and when the University of Oxford, about two years before his death, -offered to give him a doctor's degree, he observed, 'Twenty years ago it -would have been gratifying, but now it would only be written on my -coffin.' - - [29] Quoted in "The Lives of Eminent Englishmen." - Fullarton _&_ Co., Glasgow, 1838. Vol. viii. pp. 317, 318. - -"His disregard for external show was the more remarkable, as a contrary -feeling is generally observable in persons who have risen from penury to -wealth. But Gifford was a gentleman in feeling and in conduct, and you -were never led to suspect he was sprung from an obscure origin except -when he reminded you of it by an anecdote relative to it. And this -recalls one of the stories he used to tell with irresistible drollery, -the merit of which entirely depended on his manner. It was simply this: -At the cobblers' board, of which Gifford had been a member, there was -but one candle allowed for the whole coterie of operatives; it was, of -course, a matter of importance that this candle should give as much -light as possible. This was only to be done by repeated snuffings; but -snuffers being a piece of fantastic coxcombry they were not pampered -with: the members of the board took it in turn to perform the office of -the forbidden luxury with their finger and thumb. The candle was handed, -therefore, to each in succession, with the word '_sneaf_' (Anglice, -snuff) bellowed in his ears. Gifford used to pronounce this word in the -legitimate broad Devonshire dialect, and accompanied his story with -expressive gestures. Now on paper this is absolutely nothing, but in -Gifford's mouth it was exquisitely humorous. I should not, however, have -mentioned it, were it not that it appears to me one of the best -instances I could give of his humility in recurring to his former -condition.... He was a man of very deep and warm affections. If I were -desired to point out the distinguishing excellence of his private -character, I should refer to his fervent sincerity of heart. He was -particularly kind to children and fond of their society. My sister, when -young, used sometimes to spend a month with him, on which occasions he -would hire a pianoforte, and once he actually had a juvenile ball at his -house for her amusement." - -Speaking of the spirit he displayed as editor of the _Quarterly_, the -same writer says: "He disliked incurring an obligation which might in -any degree shackle the expression of his free opinion. Agreeably to -this, he laid down a rule, from which he never departed, that every -writer in the _Quarterly_ would receive at least so much per sheet. On -one occasion, a gentleman holding office under Government sent him an -article, which, after undergoing some serious mutilations at his hands -preparatory to being ushered into the world, was accepted. But the usual -sum being sent to the author, he rejected it with disdain, conceiving it -a high dishonor to be paid for anything--the independent placeman! -Gifford, in answer, informed him of the invariable rule of the _Review_ -adding, that he could send the money to any charitable institution, or -dispose of it in any manner he should direct, but that the money must be -paid. The doughty official, convinced that the virtue of his article -would force it into the _Review_ at all events, stood firm in his -refusal; greatly to his dismay the article was returned. He revenged -himself by never sending another." - -Speaking of his relation to the Tory Government of the day, the writer -says: "It is true his independence of opinion might seem to be -interfered with by the situations he held, but they were bestowed on him -unsolicited, and from motives of personal regard. I am sure every one -acquainted with him will admit that he would have rejected with scorn -any kindness which could be considered as fettering the freedom of his -conduct in the smallest degree. I am not more certain of many -conjectures than I am that he never propagated a dishonest opinion nor -did a dishonest act.... If the united influence of the _Anti-Jacobin_ -and the _Quarterly_ be considered, we may probably be justified in -assigning to Gifford's literary support of Government a rank second only -to Burke." - -William Gifford died worth a considerable fortune, which he left, as a -token of undying gratitude, to Mr. William Cooksley, the son of his -first generous patron and benefactor. - -We append a few selections from Gifford's poetical works, as samples of -his style and quality as a writer. The first is from the "Baviad," and -represents him in the character of a satirist exposing the vanities of -the "Delia Cruscan" school of poets; and the second, taken from the -"Mæviad," exhibits him in the more genial light of a faithful friend, -commemorating his early intercourse with his companion and -fellow-student, Dr. Ireland, Dean of Westminster: - - "For I was born - To brand obtrusive ignorance with scorn; - On bloated pedantry to pour my rage, - And hiss preposterous fustian from the stage. - Lo, Delia Crusca! In his closet pent, - He toils to give the crude conception vent. - Abortive thoughts that right and wrong confound, - Truth sacrificed to letters, sense to sound, - False glare, incongruous images combine; - And noise and nonsense clatter through the line, - 'Tis done. Her house the generous Piozzi lends, - And thither summons her blue-stocking friends; - The summons her blue-stocking friends obey, - Lured by the love of poetry--and tea. - The bard steps forth in birthday splendor drest, - His right hand graceful waving o' er his breast, - His left extending, so that all may see - A roll inscribed, 'The Wreath of Liberty.' - So forth he steps, and with complacent air, - Bows round the circle, and assumes the chair; - With lemonade he gargles first his throat, - Then sweetly preludes to the liquid note: - And now 'tis silence all. 'Genius or muse'-- - Thus while the flowery subject he pursues, - A wild delirium round th' assembly flies; - Unusual lustre shoots from Emma's eyes; - Luxurious Arno drivels as he stands; - And Anna frisks, and Laura claps her hands. - - * * * * * - - Hear now our guests:--'The critics, sir, they cry, - Merit like yours the critics may defy;' - But this indeed they say, 'Your varied rhymes, - At once the boast and envy of the times, - In every page, song, sonnet, what you will, - Show boundless genius and unrivalled skill.' - - * * * * * - - Thus fooled, the moon-struck tribe, whose best essays - Sunk in acrostics and in roundelays, - To loftier labors now pretend a call, - And bustle in heroics one and all. - E'en Bertie burns of gods and chiefs to sing-- - Bertie who lately twittered to the string - His namby pamby madrigals of love, - In the dark dingles of a glittering grove, - Where airy lays, wove by the hand of morn, - Were hung to dry upon a cobweb thorn! - Happy the soil where bards like mushrooms rise, - And ask no culture but what Byshe supplies! - Happier the bards who, write whate'er they will, - Find gentle readers to admire them still! - - * * * * * - - Oh for the good old times! when all was new, - And every hour brought prodigies to view, - Our sires in unaffected language told - Of streams of amber, and of rocks of gold; - Full of their theme, they spurned all idle art; - And the plain tale was trusted to the heart. - Now all is changed! We fume and fret, poor elves; - Less to display our subject than ourselves: - Whate'er we paint--a grot, a flower, a bird, - Heavens! how we sweat, laboriously absurd! - Words of gigantic bulk, and uncouth sound, - In rattling triads the long sentence bound; - While points with points, with periods periods jar, - And the whole work seems one continued war!" - -Not less poetical, and certainly much more pleasant in its tone, is this -reminiscence of his early friendship with Dr. Ireland: - - 'Chief thou, my friend! who from my earliest years - Hast shared my joys, and more than shared my cares, - Sure, if our fates hang on some hidden power, - And take their color from the natal hour, - Then, Ireland, the same planet on us rose, - Such the strong sympathies our lives disclose! - Thou knowest how soon we felt this influence bland, - And sought the brook and coppice, hand in hand, - And shaped rude bows, and uncouth whistles blew, - And paper kites--a last great effort--flew: - And when the day was done, retired to rest, - Sleep on our eyes, and sunshine in our breast. - In riper years, again together thrown, - Our studies, as our sports before, were one. - Together we explored the stoic page - Of the Ligurian, stern though bearless sage! - Or traced the Aquinian through the Latine road, - And trembled at the lashes he bestowed. - Together, too, when Greece unlocked her stores, - We roved in thought o'er Troy's devoted shores, - Or followed, while he sought his native soil, - 'That old man eloquent' from toil to toil; - Lingering, with good Alcinous o'er the tale, - Till the east reddened and the stars grew pale." - -The tenderness of his nature is also shown in the lines he wrote for the -tombstone of his faithful servant Ann Davies: - - "Though here unknown, dear Ann, thy ashes rest, - Still lives thy memory in one grateful breast, - That traced thy course through many a painful year, - And marked thy humble hope, thy pious fear. - Oh! when this frame which yet while life remained, - Thy duteous love with trembling hand sustained, - Dissolves--as soon it must--may that blest Power - Who beamed on thine, illume my parting hour! - So shall I greet thee where no ills annoy, - And what was sown in grief is reaped in joy; - Where worth, obscured below, bursts into day, - And those are paid whom earth could never pay." - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -[Illustration: ROBERT BLOOMFIELD] - -Robert Bloomfield, - -THE SHOEMAKER WHO WROTE "THE FARMER'S BOY." - - "Crispin's sons - Have from uncounted time, with ale and buns, - Cherished the gift of song, which sorrow quells; - And, working single in their low-built cells, - Oft cheat the tedium of a winter's night - With anthems." - - --CHARLES LAMB: _Album Verses_, 1830, p. 57. - -"I have received many honorable testimonies of esteem from strangers; -letters without a name, but filled with the most cordial advice, and -almost parental anxiety for my safety under so great a share of public -applause. I beg to refer such friends to the great teacher, Time; and -hope that he will hereafter give me my deserts, and no more."--_Robert -Bloomfield, Preface to "Rural Tales_," Sept. 29, 1801. - - "No pompous learning--no parade - Of pedantry and cumbrous lore, - On thy elastic bosom weigh'd; - Instead, were thine, a mazy store - Of feelings delicately wrought, - And treasures gleaned by silent thought. - - "Obscurity, and low-born care, - Labor, and want--all adverse things, - Combined to bow thee to despair; - And of her young untutor'd wings - To rob thy Genius.--'Twas in vain: - With one proud soar she burst her chain!" - - --_Blackwood's Magazine, Sept. 1823._ - - -ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. - -We have now to speak of a shoemaker-poet. The name of Robert Bloomfield, -the author of the "Farmer's Boy," is known and held in honor wherever -the English language is spoken. All classes of readers admire his -poetry, although it is not of the highest order of merit. It has, -however, a genuine quality which no one possessed of poetical taste can -fail to recognize. Its chief features are delightful rustic simplicity -and naturalness, faithful reflection of the beauties of nature, and the -charms which belong to rural occupations. The romantic side of the life -of a _farmer's boy_ is given in the poem bearing that name, as we have -it nowhere else in all our poetic or prose literature. - -Bloomfield, though surrounded by the most unfavorable conditions, as a -writer of poetry seems to have experienced no difficulty in executing -his task. His was indeed a case in which the adage is well -illustrated--_poeta nascitur non fit_--a poet is born, not made. He was -born with the gift of song. It would have been difficult for him to -restrain its exercise. He made poetry, as the song-birds sing, by -instinct and irresistible impulse. For him the words are quite as true -as they are of the greater poet who wrote them,[30] - - "I do but sing because I must, - And pipe but as the linnets sing." - - [30] Tennyson, "In Memoriam," stanza xxi. - -Robert Bloomfield was born and brought up in the lovely neighborhood of -Honington, Ixworth and Sapiston, in the northern part of the county of -Suffolk. An idea of the quiet beauty of the woodland scenery of Suffolk -may be obtained from the paintings of Gainsborough, another notable man -whom this county has produced. Gainsborough, as a boy full of yearnings -after art, loved to spend his time in the woods and pastures round -Sudbury, sketching trees, brooks, meadow-landscapes, cattle, shepherds, -or ploughmen at their work in the fields. He was at the height of his -fame as a painter when Bloomfield was a farmer's boy at Sapiston, on the -Grafton estate. It is interesting to know that these two Suffolk men -were contemporary, "the first truly original English painter," who took -his lessons direct from nature, and the first genuine poet of the -English farm and field. - -Bloomfield's father was a tailor at Honington, near Bury St. Edmund's. -Robert was born in 1766. His father died at the end of the following -year, leaving Robert and five other children to the care of their -mother. She was a worthy, estimable woman, who managed by her own -unaided efforts not only to maintain her little family, but to give each -of her children the rudiments of an education. This she accomplished by -opening a school, and teaching her own children along with the rest. -With the exception of a few months' instruction in writing from a -schoolmaster at Ixworth, the future poet learned from his mother all he -knew when he left his home to earn his own living. This he did at the -age of eleven, his mother, who had married again, being no longer able -to keep him at home, or put him to a good school. His maternal uncle, a -Mr. Austin of Sapiston, agreed to take him as a boy about the farm, and -allow him to live in the house with the rest of the family. He appears -to have received no wages, his "board" being the only allowance made for -the work he did as a farmer's boy; and this could hardly be much at such -an age. He remained in this situation four years, until he was fifteen. -It was during these four years of boyhood he picked up the knowledge of -farm-life, and made the observations on the varied phases of nature and -the seasons which are delightfully interwoven in the four books of his -well-known poem, "The Farmer's Boy." How observant he must have been, -how eagerly he must have entered into the pleasures of rural life, how -keen must have been his boyish sense of the beautiful and romantic, may -be imagined by those who consider the circumstances in the midst of -which, in after-years, he composed that charming poem. - -His mother had undertaken to provide him with clothing while with his -uncle at the farm; but this small expense was found to be too much for -her scanty means. Robert at that time had two brothers, George and -Nathaniel, living in London, and working, the one as a journeyman -shoemaker, and the other as a tailor. To them the anxious mother applied -for help in her difficulties, stating in her letter that Mr. Austin had -said Robert was so small and weakly, it was to be feared he would never -be able to obtain his living by hard out-door labor. The brothers at -once agreed to take him under their care, find him in food and clothing, -and teach him the craft of shoemaking until he should be able to obtain -his own livelihood. Full of solicitude for his safety and well-being, -the good woman took him up to London herself, and handed him over to the -guardianship of her two eldest sons, begging them, "as they valued a -mother's blessing, to watch over him, to set good examples for him, and -never to forget that he had lost his father." - -George Bloomfield and his brother were then living at No. 7 Pitcher's -Court, Bell Alley, Coleman Street, in a garret which served both as -workshop and bedroom. The place was dingy and gloomy, and presented to -the bright, thoughtful Suffolk lad a mournful contrast to the pleasant -surroundings in the old farm-house at Sapiston. Nor could it have been a -very healthy abode, for _five_ workmen occupied the room during the day, -"clubbing together," after the fashion of such workmen in those days, to -lighten the burden of rent. - -At first the new-comer was chiefly employed by the older men as their -errand-boy, being rewarded for his trouble by receiving lessons from the -workmen in the art of shoemaking. These men, like so many of their -craft, were of a thoughtful turn of mind, and very eager for the news of -the day. It had been their custom to have the yesterday's paper brought -in with their dinner by the pot-boy from a neighboring public-house. -Until Robert came they had been in the habit of reading it by turns, but -now, as his time was less valuable than theirs, the office of reader was -permanently handed over to him. This duty was of much service to him, -for the information he gained by reading disciplined his young mind to -close and continuous thought, and enlarged his knowledge of his own -language. The simple account, given by his brother George, of these -social readings in the cobblers' workroom, and other means of -instruction of which Robert availed himself, is full of interest. George -Bloomfield says: "He frequently met with words that he was unacquainted -with; of this he often complained. I one day happened at a book-stall to -see a small dictionary which had been very ill-used. I bought it for him -for fourpence. By the help of this he in a little time could read and -comprehend the long and beautiful speeches of Burke, Fox, or North." And -again: "One Sunday, after a whole day's stroll in the country, we by -accident went into a Dissenting meeting-house in the Old Jewry, where a -gentleman was lecturing. This man filled Robert with astonishment. The -house was amazingly crowded with the most genteel people; and though we -were forced to stand in the aisle, and were much pressed, yet Robert -always quickened his steps to get into the town on a Sunday evening soon -enough to attend this lecture. The preacher's name was Fawcet. His -language was just such as the 'Rambler' is written in.... Of him Robert -learned to accent what he called hard words, and otherwise to improve -himself, and gained the most enlarged notions of Providence." - -Bloomfield's reading was not very extensive nor diversified during these -early years of his London life, yet it was sufficient to whet his -appetite for mental improvement, and give him no small degree of -literary taste and skill. The brothers took, in sixpenny numbers, such -works as a "History of England," "The British Traveller," and a -"Treatise on Geography." These were read aloud to the little company of -busy listeners, several hours of the day being occupied with the task. -His first poetic impulse was awakened by the perusal of the _London -Magazine_, which found its way at this time into the cobblers' garret. -Robert always read it with zest, carefully scanning the reviews of -books, and never failing to look into the "Poets' Corner." One day he -surprised his brother by repeating a song which he had composed after -the manner of Burns and so many other graceful songsters, "to an old -tune." George was as much delighted as surprised at his young brother's -smooth and easy verses, and encouraged him to try the experiment of -sending them to the editor. This he did with many fears and hopes, and -nervously awaited the issue of the next number. To his intense delight, -and the pardonable pride of the whole company, the verses appeared in -print. As a specimen of his first literary attempt, every youth will -deem them worth recording, and will read them with pleasure. They bear -the modest title "A Village Girl," and are signed with the letters R. B. - - "Hail May! lovely May! how replenished my pails, - The young dawn o'erspreads the broad east streaked with gold! - My glad heart beats time to the laugh of the vales, - And Colin's voice rings through the wood from the fold, - - The wood to the mountain submissively bends, - Whose blue misty summit first glows with the sun; - See! thence a gay train by the wild rill descends - To join the mixed sports:--Hark! the tumult's begun. - - Be cloudless, ye skies! and be Colin but there; - Not dew-spangled bents on the wide level dale, - Nor morning's first smile can more lovely appear, - Than his looks,--since my wishes I cannot conceal. - - Swift down the mad dance, whilst blest health prompts to move, - We'll count joys to come, and exchange vows of truth; - And haply, when age cools the transports of love, - Decry, like good folks, the vain follies of youth." - -Another piece called "The Sailor's Return" found a place in the "Poets' -Corner." These efforts were enough to prove his taste and gifts as a -versifier. The poetic power was latent in his mind, and only needed -sufficient stimulus to bring it into full exercise. This stimulus came, -as was natural, from the reading of poetry itself. A copy of Thomson's -"Seasons" and Milton's "Paradise Lost" fell into his hands when he was -about seventeen years of age. They belonged to a Scotchman who lived and -worked at a house in Bell Alley, to which the shoemakers removed about -this time. The eager youth read them with the passion of a born poet; -and, as he read, the fire burned within. His imagination was now fairly -awakened, and it was plain to all who watched him intelligently at this -time, that melodies were being awakened in his heart that sooner or -later must find their expression in song. The "Seasons" was his favorite -poem. He read and re-read its glowing descriptions of nature, committed -favorite portions to memory, and never tired of recounting its beauties -in the hearing of his sympathetic friends. The "Seasons" struck the -key-note of the "Farmer's Boy," though Bloomfield was no imitator of -Thomson, nor of any one else, in either matter or manner. The thought -and style of these two poets of nature are as unlike as their kindred -subjects would allow them to be. Thomson's music is that of a majestic -and stately oratorio, while Bloomfield sings a sweet and simple pastoral -symphony. - -But the young poet was not yet to enter on his great task. Fourteen -years passed away before his first and best published poem, the -"Farmer's Boy," saw the light. During this time several important events -in his history occurred. In his eighteenth year, in consequence of -certain disputes in the shoe-makers' trade about the legality of -employing boys who had not been bound as apprentices, he went back again -to Suffolk for a short time, and was taken into the home of his uncle -and former master, Mr. Austin of Sapiston. Here for two months of happy -leisure he roamed the fields where he spent so much of his time as a -boy, reviving old impressions, and deepening in his mind that keen sense -of the beautiful which city life and the imprisonment of a shoemaker's -occupation had not been sufficient to destroy. His companion at this -time was still the favorite "Seasons," from which, in the presence of -the very charms which Thomson describes, the ardent youth derived new -pleasure and inspiration. - -The trade difficulty was got over by his becoming an apprentice for the -remaining three years of his minority to a Mr. Duddridge, brother to -George's former landlord. At the age of twenty he was left alone in -London, George having removed to Bury St. Edmund's in his own county, -and Nathaniel having married and gone into housekeeping. Robert now took -to the study of music, and became an expert player on the violin. At the -age of twenty-four he married the daughter of a boat-builder at Woolwich -named Church. "I have sold my fiddle and got a wife," he humorously -writes to his brother. At first his home was in furnished lodgings, but -by dint of hard work and strict economy he managed in a short time to -furnish _one_ room on the first floor of a house in Bell Alley, Coleman -Street, the old quarters to which he had come fresh from the country on -his first becoming a shoemaker. His landlord kindly allowed him the free -use of a garret to work in during the day. "In this garret," says his -brother, "amid six or seven other workmen, his active mind employed -itself in composing the 'Farmer's Boy.'" How long his mind was occupied -in this task we cannot tell. One could hardly wonder if the process of -composition was slow in the midst of such distracting and unfavorable -circumstances. The marvel is that it should have been composed at all -under such uncongenial and difficult conditions. So hard pressed for -time was the poor poet-shoemaker, and so unable to find the proper -materials for writing, that he is said to have made up and kept in his -mind no less than 600 lines, that is, about the _half_ of his poem, -before he could manage to write it down. And when he did this, he was -glad to lay hold of any odd scrap of paper for the purpose; the back of -a letter or a printed bill, the margin of newspapers, pieces of -pattern-paper, were seized as they came to hand and covered with -writing, and then hidden away in cupboards, and occasionally even in -some chink in the wall, until they could be collected and arranged for a -fair copy, suitable to go into the hands of the printer. It was indeed a -wonderful exhibition of mental abstraction and retentive memory. Few, -even among poets, could have wrought to any purpose amid the din and -conversation of a shoemakers' workroom, and still fewer, even if the -excitement of poetic thought had enabled them to compose, could have -treasured up their productions in the memory until they amounted to 600 -lines. A friend of Bloomfield named Swan, writing to Mr. Capel Lofft, -says, "Bloomfield, either from the contracted state of his pecuniary -resources to purchase paper, or for other reasons, composed the latter -part of 'Autumn' and the whole of 'Winter' in his head, without -committing one line to paper! This cannot fail to surprise the literary -world, who are well acquainted with the treacherousness of memory, and -how soon the most happy ideas, for want of sufficient quickness in -writing down, are lost in the rapidity of thought. But this is not -all--he went a step further; he not only composed and committed that -part of his work to his faithful and retentive memory; but he -_corrected_ it all in his head!!!--and, as he said, when it was thus -prepared, 'I had nothing to do but to write it down.' By this new and -wonderful mode of composition, he studied and completed his 'Farmer's -Boy,' in a garret, among six or seven of his fellow-workmen, without -their ever once suspecting or knowing anything of the matter!"[31] - - [31] "Lives of Eminent Englishmen." Fullarton & Co., - 1838. Vol. viii. p. 245. See also "Views Illustrative of Works - of Robert Bloomfield," by E. W. Brayley. London: 1806, p. 17. - -Bloomfield was thirty-two years of age when his poem was complete and -attempts were being made to find a printer and publisher. These attempts -were for a time fruitless. One after another the publishers rejected the -"copy" of the unknown writer. At length, it was sent by George -Bloomfield, who always had full confidence in Robert's powers, to a -gentleman of literary tastes living at Troston Hall, near Bury, in -Suffolk--Mr. Capel Lofft. This gentleman had the good sense at once to -perceive the genuine merits of the poem submitted to his judgment, and -to recommend its publication. By his kind influence and aid a publisher -was soon found. Messrs. Vernon & Hood paid the poet £50 for his copy, -and afterward, when the poem proved a success, honorably advanced an -additional £200, besides giving the author an interest in his copyright. - -The success of the poem was immediate and complete. It was warmly -received by the public, and praised in all quarters as a masterpiece of -natural poetic simplicity and beauty. Twenty-six thousand copies were -sold in the first three years of its issue, seven editions having been -called for. The position secured by the "Farmer's Boy" on its first -publication has been held until the present day. All lovers of poetry -read it with delight. It is natural and graceful as the song of a bird -"warbling his native woodnotes wild." When the English song-bird sings -in captivity there seems to be a touch of pathos in his note; and one -can hardly resist the same impression in reading these sweet rustic -melodies in verse which came from the lips of the shoemaker-poet -imprisoned in a London garret. Yet there is something much more -stimulating in Bloomfield's lines than this. They are sweet and joyous, -and full of that glowing enthusiasm for beauty which all fine natures -feel. Besides the editions sent forth in this country, the "Farmer's -Boy" was printed at Leipsic, and was translated into French, Italian, -and Latin. - -Bloomfield now had many friends as well as admirers. The Duke of -Grafton, on whose estate he had been employed as a boy, settled upon him -a small annuity, and used his influence to obtain for him a post at the -seal-office at 1s. per day. In addition to this, Bloomfield received -frequent presents from the nobility, and even from members of the royal -family. To the poor shoemaker, accustomed to the utmost obscurity, all -this success, and popularity, and patronage "appeared," to use his own -language, "like a dream." - -In after-years he issued a number of small volumes of poetry, in which -are found several shorter pieces of great merit, such as the two -descriptive or ballad pieces "Richard and Kate," "The Fakenham Ghost," -or the exquisitely simple piece called "The Soldier's Return." The first -of these is one of the best modern ballads in the language, as it is -certainly among the most, if it be not the most, spirited and original -of his compositions. Of the last of the three just mentioned, Professor -Wilson says: "The topic is trite, but in Mr. Bloomfield's hands it -almost assumes a character of novelty. Burns' 'Soldier's Return' is not, -to our taste, one whit superior." - -The titles of the volumes that followed that by which his fame was -established are "Rural Tales," published in 1801; "The Banks of the -Wye," 1811; "Wild Flowers," and "May Day with the Muses," 1822. -"Hazelwood Hall, a Village Drama, in Three Acts," was published 1823, -the year of his death. All these poems have since been issued in one -volume, to which is attached a short sketch of the poet's life, and the -circumstances which attended the publication of "The Farmer's Boy." This -account, given by Mr. Capel Lofft, Bloomfield's kind friend and patron, -is full of interest. It serves to show the value of a judicious friend -to a young aspirant for literary fame, whose talents deserve -recognition, but whose position in life prevents him taking the -necessary steps to become known to the world. - -The last twenty years of Bloomfield's life were embittered by affliction -and misfortunes in business. He did not long retain his position at the -Seal Office, being obliged to abandon it through continual ill-health. -After resuming the trade of a shoemaker for a short time, he was induced -to open a shop as a bookseller, but this speculation brought him only -disappointment and loss. His son, who was a printer, states that about -this time the poets Rogers and Southey took a deep interest in the -welfare of their poor suffering brother poet. Rogers, it seems, tried to -obtain him a government pension, but without success. At length he -removed from London to try the effect of the fresh air and quietude of -country life. His last years were spent as a shoemaker at -Shefford-cum-Campton, Bed's. Toward the close of his life he was in -great want and distress, having reaped little permanent gain from his -numerous and popular poems. So intense was the strain of mind he endured -from overwork, ill-health, and anxiety, that his friends entertained -grave fears of his becoming insane. Death was preferable to such a life -the death which is for men of Christian faith and character, like -Bloomfield, the gate to a higher and happier life. Providentially for -him, that gate was opened when life here had become a burden too -grievous to be borne. He died at Shefford, in the fifty-seventh year of -his age, August 19th, 1823, and was buried in the Campton churchyard. - -Bloomfield's character, unlike that of many of the more celebrated poets -of his own day, exhibited a fair and lovely type of moral excellence. He -was genuinely modest, affectionate, industrious, and pious. None -regarded him with more respect and love than those who knew him most -intimately. This fact speaks strongly for his real worth. His own -brothers held him in the greatest esteem, and felt the most generous and -hearty pleasure in his literary success. His generosity to his needy -relatives, who were very numerous, often crippled his resources, and, -indeed, left him at times as poor as those he had befriended. We have -noticed how much he owed in early life to the loving care and good sense -of an excellent mother. Bloomfield never lost sight of this fact. Like -all good men, men whose lives are worth study and imitation, he was -deeply attached to his mother; and it is well deserving of record that, -like Buckle, the eminent philosophical writer, the young poet felt a -more exquisite pleasure in placing his first published work in the hands -of his mother than in the anticipation of any fame or advantage it might -secure for himself as the author. When the first edition was issued a -copy of it was sent to his mother, accompanied by these simple lines, -which faithfully reflect at once the character of the true mother and -the devoted son: - - "' To peace and virtue still be true,' - An anxious mother ever cries, - Who needs no _present_ to renew - Parental love--which never dies." - -Many tributes of esteem, both in prose and verse, were paid to -Bloomfield during his life and after his death. None of these was of -more value than the brief sentence written by his constant friend and -first literary patron, Mr. Capel Lofft, who says, "It is much to be a -poet, such as he will be found: it is much more to be such a man." The -lines which appeared in _Blackwood's Magazine_, the month after -Bloomfield's death, exactly describe the chief features of the poet's -life and work: - - "No pompous learning--no parade - Of pedantry, and cumbrous lore, - On thy elastic bosom weighed; - Instead, were thine a mazy store - Of feelings delicately wrought, - And treasures gleaned by silent thought. - - Obscurity, and low born care, - Labor, and want--all adverse things, - Combined to bow thee to despair; - And of her young untutored wings - To rob thy genius. 'Twas in vain: - With one proud soar she burst her chain! - - The beauties of the building spring; - The glories of the summer's reign; - The russet autumn triumphing - In ripened fruits and golden grain; - Winter with storms around his shrine, - Each, in their turn, were themes of thine. - - And lowly life, the peasant's lot, - Its humble hopes and simple joys; - By mountain-stream the shepherd's cot, - And what the rustic hour employs; - White flocks on Nature's carpet spread; - Birds blithely carolling o'erhead; - - These were thy themes, and thou wert blessed-- - Yes, blessed beyond the wealth of kings. - Calm joy is seated in the breast - Of the rapt poet as he sings, - And all that Truth or Hope can bring - Of Beauty, gilds the muse's wing. - - And, Bloomfield, thine were blissful days, - (If flowers of bliss may thrive on earth); - Thine were the glory and the praise - Of genius linked with modest worth; - To wisdom wed, remote from strife, - Calmly passed o'er thy stormless life." - -During the lifetime of Bloomfield, another young and obscure poet, Henry -Kirke White of Nottingham, was indebted to Bloomfield's patrons, Mr. -Lofft and Robert Southey, for his introduction to the public. After -reading "The Farmer's Boy" and "Rural Tales," White wrote the following -clever epigram, the sentiment of which all admirers of the -shoemaker-poet will heartily indorse: - - "Bloomfield, thy happy omened name - Ensures continuance to thy fame; - Both sense and truth this verdict give, - While fields shall bloom, thy name shall live." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -[Illustration: SAMUEL DREW, M.A.] - -Samuel Drew, - -THE METAPHYSICAL SHOEMAKER. - -"Secure to yourself a livelihood independent of literary success, and -put into this lottery only the overplus of time. Woe to him who depends -wholly on his pen! Nothing is more casual. The man who makes shoes is -sure of his wages: the man who writes a book is never sure of -anything.--_Marmontel_. - -"Hereafter, I believe, some metaphysical Columbus will arise, traverse -vast oceans of thought, and explore regions now undiscovered, to which -our little minds and weak ideas do not enable us to soar."--_Samuel -Drew._ - - -SAMUEL DREW. - -The life of Samuel Drew, the author of a once famous book, "The -Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul," is in some respects as -remarkable as that of William Gifford,[32] and in others even more so. -For Drew, unlike Gifford, received no collegiate training, nor was he -ever favored with the rudiments of education in an ordinary boys' -school. In his childhood he was sent to a school along with his -brothers, but his childish indifference to learning and his removal -before he was eight years of age prevented his making any progress worth -speaking of. His life, published by his son, speaks of him, with perfect -truth, as the "Self-Taught Cornishman." - - [32] See Chapter IV., _William Gifford_. - -His reply to Paine's "Age of Reason," and his book on the "Immortality -of the Soul," both of which were written and issued from the press -during his life as a shoemaker, brought him into notoriety, and obtained -for him a name as an acute thinker and able controversialist. He -afterward published several theological works of great merit, edited and -wrote the chief portion of a history of Cornwall, and finally became an -editor on the staff of the Caxton press in Liverpool and London. His -contributions to the literature of his own religious denomination, the -Wesleyan Methodists, were very numerous; and for many years he was a -constant writer in the _Eclectic Review_. From the beginning to the -close of his public life he was held in high esteem as a preacher in the -"circuits" of Cornwall, Liverpool, and London. The two universities of -Aberdeen and London paid him a valuable compliment; the one conferring -on him the degree of A.M., and the other, through certain members of the -council, requesting him to be put in competition for the Chair of _Moral -Philosophy_. - -But before all these things he was an earnest, high-souled, useful -Christian man, who found his principal delight in diffusing around him -the influence of a good example and a benevolent Christ-like spirit. His -best memorials were inscribed on the hearts of the people among whom he -spent his valuable life. His writings may now be but little read, and -his name but little known outside the Christian community to which he -was attached, yet he made a record as a faithful servant of God that -will never perish, and obtained a memorial for his name that is safe -against all the influence of time and change. - -The subject of this sketch was born at St. Anstell, in Cornwall, on the -3d March, 1765. His parents were both members of families long resident -in Cornwall. They were in but poor circumstances, the father being -employed chiefly as a farm-laborer. Now and then he worked in connection -with the tin mines of the neighborhood. Hard work, scant fare, and great -economy were necessary to enable the parents to bring up their young -family respectably. We may judge of their circumstances by the fact that -the father found it not at all an easy thing to carry out a worthy -determination he had formed to send his three children to school, where -the fee for each scholar was only one penny per week. Little Sammy's -progress hardly compensated for this small outlay, for he was dull and -careless and shockingly fond of playing truant. However, his school life -did not last long. He was removed at the age of eight, as already -stated, and put to work as a _buddle-boy_. The pits in which the tin-ore -is washed after being broken up are called _buddles_, and it was the -business of the buddle-boy to stir up the sediment of ore and metal at -the bottom of the pit, in order that the stream of water which passed -through it might carry off the sandy particles and leave the mineral -behind. For this work Samuel was to receive three halfpence a week. But -the poor little fellow was early taught the meaning of the terms "bad -debt" and "failure in business." His master kept the wages back, -intending to pay them, as was customary, to the father. At the end of -eight weeks the employer failed, and Samuel never received his first -instalment of wages. When another man took the business, shortly after, -the boys were paid twopence per week, and for the two years in which he -continued at this work, the little buddle-boy never received more than -this miserable pittance. It must be confessed that Samuel was a wilful, -headstrong fellow. The circumstances which led to his removal from home -were hardly to his credit. His own mother died when he was nine years -old. She was a good woman, and took great pains to save her boy from the -bad influence of low company at the tin-works. Samuel, though young and -reckless, cherished a deep regard for his mother. About a year and a -half after her death the father married again, and Samuel, not liking -the idea of having a "new mother," made himself as obnoxious to her as -he could. This improper conduct could not be permitted, and it was -especially wrong in this instance, as the "new mother" was very -attentive and kind to the children. - -"At the age of ten and a half," says his biographer, Samuel "was -apprenticed for nine years to a shoemaker, living in a sequestered -hamlet about three miles from St. Austell. His father and family at this -time were not far distant, but removing soon after to Polpea, in -Tywardreath, the poor lad's intercourse with his relatives was, in a -great measure, suspended, and he felt the loneliness of his situation." - -Drew's apprenticeship life was well-nigh as miserable and unprofitable -as it could be. In an account of the hardships he endured at this time -he himself says: "My new abode at St. Blazey and new engagements were -far from being agreeable. To any of the comforts and conveniences of -life I was an entire stranger, and by every member of the family was -viewed as an underling, come thither to subserve their wishes, or obey -their mandates. To his trade of shoemaker my master added that of -farmer. He had a few acres of ground under his care, and was a sober, -industrious man; but, unfortunately for me, nearly one half of my time -was taken up in agricultural pursuits. On this account I made no -proficiency in my business, and felt no solicitude to rise above the -farmers' boys with whom I daily associated. While in this place I -suffered many hardships. When, after having been in the fields all day, -I came home with cold feet, and damp and dirty stockings, I was -permitted, if the oven had been heated during the day, to throw them -into it, that they might dry against the following morning; but -frequently have I had to put them on in precisely the same state in -which I had left them the preceding evening. To mend my stockings I had -no one, and frequently have I wept at the holes which I could not -conceal; though, when fortunate enough to procure a needle and some -worsted, I have drawn the outlines of the holes together, and made, what -I thought, a tolerable job." - -"During my apprenticeship," he continues, "many bickerings and -unpleasant occurrences took place. Some of these preyed so much on my -mind, that several times I had determined to run away and enlist on -board a privateer or man-of-war." He seems to have had little -inclination for reading during these unhappy days; and if he had been -disposed for study there were but few books within his reach. Accident -put into his hands a few odd numbers of a publication circulated in -the West of England called _The Weekly Entertainer_. He read and -re-read the histories of "Paul Jones," "The Serapis," and "Bon Homme -Richard," until his imagination was inflamed with the thought of -joining a pirate, and leading the jolly abandoned life of a sea-rover. -Such reading as this did very little good for him. The only other book -he seems to have met with during these days of servitude was "an odd -number of the 'History of England' about the time of the -Commonwealth." But this spell of reading lasted only a short time. The -odd volume of history, which charmed him at first, soon grew -monotonous and wearisome, and was thrown aside. "With this," he says, -"I lost not only a _disposition_ for reading, but almost the _ability_ -to read. The clamor of my companions and others engrossed nearly the -whole of my attention, and, so far as my slender means would allow, -carried me onward toward the vortex of dissipation." - -Much of his time was occupied with wild companions, among whom he was -foremost in daring and mischief. Bird-nesting, orchard-robbing, and even -poaching and smuggling were resorted to for amusement and profit. On one -occasion he nearly lost his life by following sea-birds to their haunt -on the edge of a lofty cliff overhanging the sea. At another time, in -the dead of the night, when he and a number of men and boys were out on -a poaching expedition, he and his companions were nearly scared out of -their wits by some apparition, which confronted them with large fiery -eyes, and suddenly disappeared. - -Spite of these doubtful amusements his life at St. Blazey was becoming -intolerable. He compares his position to that of "a toad under a -harrow;" and declares that his master and mistress seemed bent on -degrading him. At last, when he could brook his degradation no longer, -he resolved to abscond, and accordingly, at the age of seventeen, after -enduring six and a half years of bondage and cruelty, he ran off, -intending to go to sea. But his plans were happily frustrated. On his -way from St. Blazey to Plymouth he called at his old home, and as his -father was absent his stepmother refused to give him money to assist him -in his mad project. He then made off for Plymouth with only a few pence -in his pocket. Passing through Liskeard he chanced to meet with a -good-natured shoemaker, and entered into an engagement as a journeyman. -In a short time he was discovered in his retreat, and persuaded to -return to his father's roof. He agreed on condition that he should not -be sent back to his old master. This being arranged, a situation was -found for Drew at Millbrook and afterward at Kingsand and Crafthole. - -It was during his stay at the last place that the event occurred which -led to the most important change in his life. He had often engaged in -smuggling expeditions during the time of his apprenticeship, these -unlawful practices not being regarded as disgraceful in out-of-the-way -places on the coast a century ago. The rough villagers were rather -disposed to make a boast of their success in evading the law; and few, -if any, of their neighbors offered any opposition or remonstrance. One -dark night in December, 1784, when Samuel Drew was about nineteen years -of age, a vessel laden with contraband goods made signals to have her -cargo fetched on shore; and the daring youth agreed to form one of the -boat's crew for this purpose. The night was so stormy and dark that the -captain of the vessel had been obliged to stand off a considerable -distance from the shore. The smugglers were two miles out at sea when -one of their number, in attempting to catch his hat, upset the boat. -Three men were immediately drowned; Drew, who was a first-rate swimmer, -managed by dint of the most violent effort to reach the rocks, and was -picked up by some of his companions 'more dead than alive,' and carried -to a farm-house, whose occupants were compelled, much against their -will, to allow the half-drowned youth to be brought in and laid before -the kitchen fire. A keg of brandy from the vessel was opened, and a -bowlful of its contents placed to his lips. He had sense enough not to -drink much, though recklessly urged to swallow it _all_! After lying by -the fire until circulation was pretty well restored, he was able, with -the help of friendly arms, to crawl to his lodgings, a distance of two -miles, the ground being covered with snow. - -It was a mad adventure, and nearly cost him his life, but proved, -instead, the occasion of opening the way to a new life, brighter and -better and happier than the one he had spent in thoughtless and sinful -amusement. "Alas! what will be the end of my poor unhappy boy?" said his -father, on hearing of Samuel's narrow escape. Very wisely it was -resolved to have him removed from his sinful companions at Crafthole, -and a good situation was found for him under a steady master at St. -Austell. - -This little town was one of the numerous places in Cornwall that had -derived much benefit from the ministry of John and Charles Wesley; a -"society" had been formed and a chapel built. Drew began to attend the -services in this chapel soon after going to live at St. Austell. Here he -heard the popular young preacher, a mere stripling, Adam Clarke, -afterward well known to the world as the learned commentator, Dr. Adam -Clarke. The fervid discourses of this young man, combined with the -effect produced by the death of a gifted and pious brother, which -happened at this time, brought about that change in Samuel Drew which -the Saviour speaks of as the new birth, without which, He tells us, no -one "can enter into the kingdom of heaven." The change in Samuel Drew -was complete. Body, mind, and spirit shared and rejoiced in it. The -latent faculties of a great mind and noble heart were awakened and -developed by the heavenly light and heat which now fell upon them. He -felt at once a strong passion for self-culture, and the devotion of his -gifts to useful purposes. The first thing was to pick up again his -almost lost knowledge of the arts of reading and writing; for describing -his accomplishments in this way at the time of his conversion he says, -"I was scarcely able to read and almost totally unable to write. -Literature was a term to which I could annex no idea. Grammar I knew not -the meaning of. I was expert at trifles, acute at follies, and ingenious -about nonsense." As for his writing, a friend compared it to the traces -of a spider dipped in ink, and set to crawl on paper. In this respect, -sooth to say, it was neither better nor worse than the writing of many -men whose education is not supposed to have been neglected. This -description of Samuel Drew's accomplishments, or rather want of them, -refers to the beginning of the year 1785, when he was in his twentieth -year. It is well to note this fact, as it will show how much of his time -was wasted in youth, and how great must have been his industry in the -work of self-culture after this date. Practically his education did not -begin until he stood on the threshold of manhood, and even then it was -not carried on in any thorough and systematic fashion. He had to help -himself in the matter as best he could. At first he had no counsellors, -no store of books, and no well-arranged course of reading. All depended -on his good fortune in borrowing; and, what proved in his case as in so -many others the best thing in the world, all depended on his following -his own bent and satisfying his own taste in the choice of subjects for -study. This in the majority of cases proves to be the secret of success -in life. For our _taste_ for a subject is the result of our having a -special aptitude for it. We like to do what comes easiest to us. The -born artist, as he is termed, likes to draw and sketch because he can -draw and sketch better than he can do anything else; the arithmetician -enjoys working out problems in figures; the poet loves to indulge his -fancy and clothe his imaginations in the guise of poetry; and the -metaphysician is happiest when employed in the task of definition and -reasoning. - -Drew's capacity, and therefore his taste, lay in the direction of -metaphysics, and it is curious to notice how the future logician and -theologian manages to make his most ungenial and untoward circumstances -as a shoemaker in an obscure country town serve his purpose and help him -forward to the accomplishment of his life-destiny. All this was partly -the result of natural gifts and partly the fruit of strenuous -application and toil. Men who have done notable things in the world have -been spoken of as belonging to two classes. There is the man who "seems -to have what is best in him as a possession;" and the man who "seems to -show that what is regarded as an inspiration may come as the result of -labor."[33] This is but another method of stating the old distinction -between "genius and talent." If Samuel Drew must be classified at all, -we should certainly place him in the former category. What was _best_ in -him was indeed a possession, not an acquirement. Yet, like all men of -mark, he owed much to close study and hard work. Without these his fine -natural gifts would have been useless. - - [33] _Athenæum_, No. 2770, Nov. 27, 1880, p. 719. - -Drew's master at St. Austell combined the three somewhat kindred -businesses of saddler, shoemaker, and bookbinder. His shop was also a -regular meeting-place for the gossipers of the town; and as St. Austell -was then in a ferment of religious excitement, most of the talk ran on -religious topics. The Calvinist and Arminian divided the field between -them, and in their contests, sometimes as arbiters, and sometimes as the -champion of a party, Drew was often called in to contribute to the -discussion. Here he found the first arena for the exhibition of his -natural powers as a debater, and gained for himself no small renown. - -About this time also a book came in his way, which seems to have made a -revolution in his mind. This was Locke's famous "Essay on the Human -Understanding," a copy of which was brought to Drew's master's to be -bound. The young shoemaker had read nothing of the kind. It opened to -his mind a world of thought that was new to his experience, yet one that -seemed familiar on account of his natural aptitude for such studies. He -read the luminous pages of the great philosopher with the utmost -avidity. Henceforth reading became with him an intense appetite. Nothing -came much amiss, but such books as led him into the ample domains of -philosophy and religion afforded the greatest delight. He says, "This -book (Locke's Essay) set all my soul to think.... It gave the first -metaphysical turn to my mind, and I cultivated the little knowledge of -writing which I had acquired in order to put down my reflections. It -awakened me from my stupor, and induced me to form a resolution to -abandon the grovelling views which I had been accustomed to entertain." - -For two years after the change we have noticed Drew continued working -industriously at his trade, and filling up all his spare moments by -reading such books as came to the shop to be bound, or any others he -could borrow from friends. Attracted by one science after another, and -finding, as most eager minds do, a charm in each, he finally settled to -metaphysics, because, as he sometimes shrewdly observed, among other -recommendations it has this, that it requires fewer books than other -branches of study, and may be followed at the least expense. "It -appeared to be a thorny path; but I determined nevertheless to enter and -begin to tread it," he remarks; and adds, "To metaphysics I then applied -myself, and became what the world and Dr. Clarke call a METAPHYSICIAN." - -By the advice and help of friends he resolved, in January, 1787, to -commence business on his own account. His savings at this time amounted -to only fourteen shillings. He was therefore compelled to borrow -capital, or remain a journeyman. It was not difficult, however, to find -a man in St. Austell who was willing to trust the now steady and -hard-working shoemaker. A miller advanced him £5 on the security of his -good character, saying, "And more if that's not enough, and I'll promise -not to demand it till you can conveniently pay me." Fortunately for him, -at this time Dr. Franklin's "Way to Wealth" came into his hands, and -impressed him deeply with its sage maxims and sound principles of -business and thrift. On one maxim, though severe, he often at this time -acted literally, "It is better to go supperless to bed than to rise in -debt." The account which he gives of the hard work and rigid economy, -and the good fruits they bore, during his first year's experience of -business, is highly creditable to him, and will be best told in his own -words: "Eighteen hours out of the twenty-four did I regularly work, and -sometimes longer, for my friends gave me plenty of employment, and until -the bills became due I had no means of paying wages to a journeyman. I -was indefatigable, and at the year's end I had the satisfaction of -paying the five pounds which had been so kindly lent me, and finding -myself, with a tolerable stock of leather, clear of the world." This -wise resolve to pay his way and to live within his means, so vigorously -carried out from the very beginning, was of the utmost service to him -all through life, and saved him from the worry and discredit by which so -many men of genius and literary gifts have been hampered and thwarted in -their work. When once the resolute shoemaker had made a fair start and -conquered the difficulties of early business-life, he was always at -liberty to devote his mind to his favorite pursuits. He was poor enough, -it is true; but he was comparatively independent, for he was free from -debt. Nor did he forget others in their need. Many stories are told of -his generosity. He was never rash and prodigal in his giving, but acted -on the best rules of common sense and high principle. He would not give -while he was himself in debt, sticking closely to the rule, "Be just -before you are generous," yet never making that wise adage a cloak, as -some do, for stinginess. Nothing could be more characteristic of his -wisdom and kindliness than the story told by his sister of his coming -home after being invited to dinner with a friend, and saying, "The -people at the place where I have been very kindly invited me to dinner; -I can now honestly give away my own. Bring out what meat you have left; -cut from it as much as you think I should have eaten, and carry it to -Alice H." At another time he observed a poor woman, "with an empty -basket on one arm and a child on the other, looking wistfully at the -butchers' stalls;" and adds, "I guessed from her manner that she had no -money, and was ashamed to ask credit: so as I passed her I put half a -crown into her hand. The good woman was so affected that she burst into -tears, and I could not help crying for company." Having been enabled to -start in business by a loan of money, he showed his gratitude by helping -others in the same position, and, strange to say, a change of fortune -having overtaken his old friend, the miller, Drew had the satisfaction -of helping him in his time of need. - -An incident which happened about this time will show to what dangers his -social disposition and fondness for debate exposed him, and how slight -an incident saved him from the snare. He had become enamoured of -political matters, and discussed them very vigorously with his customers -and others who made his work-room a meeting-place where they might hear -and debate the latest news. Sometimes these discussions drew him from -home into the house of a neighbor, and so absorbed his time that he -found himself at the end of the day far behind in his work, and obliged -to sit up till midnight in order to finish it. One night, however, he -received a severe rebuke from some anonymous counsellor, which -effectually put a stop to this bad habit. As he sat at work after most -of the neighbors were in bed, he heard footsteps at the door, and -presently a boy's shrill voice accosted him through the keyhole with -this sage remark: "Shoemaker, shoemaker, work by night, and run about by -day!" "And did you," inquired a friend to whom Drew told the story, -"pursue the boy and chastise him for his insolence?" "No, no," replied -Drew, who had the wisdom to see that there was more fault in himself -than the boy, and had also the moral courage and firmness of character -to turn the annoyance to profitable account--"No, no. Had a pistol been -fired off at my ear I could not have been more dismayed or confounded. I -dropped my work, saying to myself, 'True, true, but you shall never have -that to say of me again!'" Right well did he keep to his resolve, and -with what results we shall see. - -In 1791, at the age of twenty-seven, he married Honor Halls of St. -Austell, and now, fairly settled in his domestic affairs, he devoted his -attention and leisure time, such as he could snatch from intervals of -work, to careful reading and thought on philosophical and religious -subjects. His first literary productions were, according to rule in such -cases, in the shape of _poetry_. "An Ode to Christmas," dated 1791, and -"Reflections on St. Austell Churchyard," dated 1792, appear to have been -his earliest attempts. Though he had fine poetic feeling and -considerable readiness in expression, he was not destined to shine in -this field of literature. His first venture in print was entitled -"Remarks on Paine's 'Age of Reason.'" This infidel work by the notorious -Tom Paine had many readers and great influence among the working class -at the close of the last century. It appears that a young surgeon who -had been in the habit of visiting the thoughtful and well-read -shoemaker, had procured a copy of the "Age of Reason," and had read and -endorsed its atheistic doctrines. He strongly urged Drew to read the -book, in order that they might discuss its contents together. The two -disputants met night after night, the shoemaker attacking and the -surgeon defending the principles of the famous infidel book. At length -the discussion came to an end by the surgeon giving up his faith in -Voltaire, Rousseau, Gibbon, Hume, and Tom Paine, and accepting the -teaching and consolation of the religion of Jesus Christ. The young man -died soon after this occurrence, and confessed to the great service -which had been rendered him by Samuel Drew in removing doubt and laying -the basis for Christian faith. On showing his notes of this discussion -to two Wesleyan preachers then stationed at St. Austell, he was advised -to publish them, and did so in 1799. This pamphlet had a rapid sale. It -was, as we have said, Drew's introduction to the world of literature, -and it brought him no little fame and credit in the religious world of -his day. Great was the astonishment evinced when it was known that the -writer of what was deemed a masterly piece of argument in good, clear, -forcible English was a "cobbler" and an entirely self-taught man. The -flattering reception and notice given to this pamphlet emboldened him in -the following year to venture on the publication of an ode on the death, -by accident, of an influential townsman. A literary friend, who had -praised his first attempt very highly, spoke so plainly yet kindly of -this production that Drew very wisely abandoned the muse and stuck to -metaphysics and prose. In the same year also he wrote a pamphlet which, -in the locality of St. Austell, at all events, sustained his fame. This -was a reply to some aspersions cast on the Wesleyan Methodists by a -clergyman, the then vicar of Manaccan, Cornwall. So completely did the -worthy Methodist local preacher disprove the statements of the -clergyman, and withal in so temperate a spirit, that the latter -eventually not only confessed his defeat in a generous and manly spirit, -but very gracefully acknowledged his obligations to his humble -antagonist. Drew had now a greater task in hand which was drawing near -its completion. For several years he had occupied his mind with the -subject of the immortality of the soul, having read every book he could -procure on the subject. None of these books quite satisfied him. "He -imagined," as he says, that the immortality of the soul admitted of more -rational proof than he had ever seen. Accordingly in 1798 he resolved to -make notes of his thoughts on this vast theme. In 1801 these were fully -prepared for the press and submitted to the judgment of the judicious -friend referred to above--Rev. John Whittaker, of Ruan Lanyhorne, in -Cornwall. By his advice Drew committed the work to the press, with the -title, "The Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul." It was published -by subscription; "the best families" in the county giving their names as -subscribers. The first edition numbered 700 copies, of which -subscriptions were entered for 640. A few weeks after its publication, -Drew received a letter from a publisher in Bristol asking the author to -state his terms for the copyright. _Twenty pounds_ and thirty copies of -the new edition was all he asked, so little did he suspect the -popularity his work would attain, and so low did he rate his own -abilities as an author. A pleasing circumstance deserves mention here in -connection with the appearance of the first edition of this essay. A -highly favorable review of it appeared in the _Anti-Jacobin_, which Drew -afterward discovered to have been written by no other than Mr. Polwhele, -the clergyman whose pamphlet anent the Wesleyans Drew had so resolutely -and successfully attacked. Such an act of grace was infinitely -creditable to the critic as well as gratifying to the author. In regard -to the history of this essay, the following note, written by Samuel -Drew's son,[34] is full of interest: "After passing through five -editions in England and two in America, and being translated and printed -in France, the 'Essay on the Soul,' the copyright of which Mr. Drew had -disposed of on the terms just named, and which, before its first -appearance, a Cornish bookseller had refused at the price of _ten_ -pounds, became again his property at the end of twenty-eight years. He -gave it a final revision, added much important matter, and sold it a -second time for £250." - - [34] Samuel Drew, M.A., the self-taught Cornishman." - By his Eldest Son. P. 102. London: Ward & Co. - -The literary reputation of the metaphysical shoemaker was now -established. Journals and reviews spoke in terms of high praise. -Literary men, clergymen, and ministers of various denominations, wrote -in congratulatory terms, and proffered friendship and assistance. The -best libraries in the locality were placed at his service, and -invitations or visits came so thick upon him, that the modest shoemaker -was at times fairly bewildered by them. A little book, issued in 1803, -the year after Drew's essay appeared, brought his circumstances before -the public. It was entitled, "Literature and Literary Characters of -Cornwall," and was edited by the above-named Mr. Polwhele. To this book -Drew, by request of the editor, sent a short autobiographical sketch. -"His lowly origin," says his son, "and humble situation being thus made -public, the singular contrast which it presented to his growing literary -fame attracted much attention. St. Austell became noted as the -birthplace and residence of Mr. Drew, and strangers coming into the -county for the gratification of their curiosity did not consider that -object accomplished until they had seen 'the metaphysical shoemaker.'" -Referring to those flattering attentions, he once shrewdly observed: -"These gentlemen certainly honor me by their visits; but I do not forget -that many of them merely wish to say that they have seen the cobbler who -wrote a book." - -The following picture of the literary shoemaker during this period of -his life must not be omitted here, for it gives us a glimpse of his -method of working at this time when employed on his double task of -making _boots_ and _books_. It recalls the sketch given in the life of -Bloomfield, much of whose poetry was composed under similar conditions. -Indeed, it were hard to say who had the worst of it, the poet in the -crowded garret or the theologian in the noisy kitchen. The first -paragraph is written by Samuel Drew himself, and the second by his son. - -"During my literary pursuits I regularly and constantly attended on my -business, and I do not recollect that through these one customer was -ever disappointed by me. My mode of writing and study may have in them, -perhaps, something peculiar. Immersed in the common concerns of life, I -endeavor to lift my thoughts to objects more sublime than those with -which I am surrounded; and, while attending to my trade, I sometimes -catch the fibres of an argument which I endeavor to note, and keep a pen -and ink by me for that purpose. In this state what I can collect through -the day remains on any paper which I may have at hand till the business -of the day is despatched and my shop shut, when, in the midst of my -family, I endeavor to analyze such thoughts as had crossed my mind -during the day. I have no study, I have no retirement. I write amid the -cries and cradles of my children; and frequently when I review what I -have written, endeavor to cultivate 'the art to blot.' Such are the -methods which I have pursued, and such the disadvantages under which I -write." - -"His usual seat," adds his son, "after closing the business of the day, -was a low nursing-chair beside the kitchen-fire. Here, with the bellows -on his knees for a desk, and the usual culinary and domestic matters in -progress around him, his works, prior to 1805, were chiefly written." - -Samuel Drew's life as a shoemaker came to an end with the year 1805. It -will not be possible for us to give in detail the events which fill up -the remainder of his honorable career. Nor is it needful; the chief -interest of his history lies in that portion of it which shows us the -self-taught Cornishman plying his lowly craft while he lays the -foundation for his fame as a theologian. His preaching engagements were -very numerous from the time when he was first put on the Wesleyan -preachers' "plan," and they were never suspended until within a few -weeks of his death. His status as a local preacher was of the very best, -and frequently brought him into the company of the leading men of his -denomination. His friendship with Mr., now Dr., Adam Clarke, one of the -leading men among the Wesleyans, had been maintained from the time when -Clarke was on the St. Austell circuit. The good name acquired by Drew as -a literary man, and his high standing among his own religious society, -led to his appointment under Dr. Coke, the founder of the Wesleyan -Methodist Missions. The shoemaker now abandoned the awl and last for the -pen, and devoted himself, as a secretary and joint-editor, entirely to -literary work. He assisted Dr. Coke in preparing for the press his -"Commentary on the New Testament," "History of the Bible," and other -works. In 1806, through Dr. Adam Clarke's influence, Drew began to -contribute to the _Eclectic Review_. Before he had abandoned the -shoemaker's stall the materials for another theological work had been -collected and partly prepared for publication. Having treated the -question of the Immortality of the Soul, he had wished, and was strongly -urged by several clerical friends, to take up the subject of the -"Identity and Resurrection of the Human Body." A work bearing this title -appeared in 1809, having been submitted in manuscript to his old friends -the Revs. Mr. Whittaker and Mr. Gregor, and to Archdeacon Moore. It was -not a little remarkable that men of this class should have been the -foremost to patronize and aid the Methodist shoemaker in his literary -enterprises, and that one of them should call himself "friend and -admirer," while another spoke of feeling "a pride and pleasure in being -employed as the scourer of his armor." The most extensive work Drew -ventured to publish was entitled "A Treatise on the Being and Attributes -of God." This was undertaken at the earnest solicitation of Dr. Reid, -then Professor of Oriental Languages at the Marischal College, Aberdeen, -as a competition for a prize of £1500 offered for the best essay on that -subject. Though this work failed to gain the first place in the list, -it stood very high, and, certainly, it was no small testimony to its -worth that it should have been deemed worthy to rank as a close -competitor with the successful works of Dr. A. M. Brown, Principal of -Marischal College, and the Rev. J. B. Sumner, afterward Bishop of -Chester and Archbishop of Canterbury. Drew's treatise was not published -till 1820, when it came out in two octavo volumes. In 1813 he published -a controversial pamphlet on the Divinity of Christ, which had a large -sale, and for which, such was the value now set on his writings, his -publisher, Mr. Edwards, paid as much as he had previously given for the -Essay on the Soul. Under the direction of F. Hitchens, Esq., of St. -Ives, Drew now took up a laborious task which had been in that -gentleman's hands for several years, and brought it to completion. This -was the publication of a History of Cornwall. It appeared in 1815-17, -and consisted of 1500 quarto pages, all of which "was sent to the -printer in his," Drew's, "own manuscript." At the request of the -executors of Dr. Coke, Drew published a memoir of his friend, which -appeared in 1817. This task made a visit to London necessary. Here the -learned shoemaker met with the Rev. Legh Richmond, author of "The -Dairyman's Daughter," and with Dr. Mason of New York. He was, of course, -asked to preach in several London "circuits," where his fame as a writer -had preceded him. His "uncouth and unclerical appearance," for he wore -top-boots and light-colored breeches, excited no small curiosity; but -his excellent preaching and delightful simplicity and modesty of manner -awoke universal respect. The preacher was fifty years of age (1815) when -he paid this visit to the metropolis, and it was the first time he had -travelled more than a few miles from the locality where he was born. - -But a journey of more importance still was taken in 1819, when he went -down to Liverpool to negotiate for the editorship of a new magazine to -be issued from the Caxton Establishment, then in the hands of Mr. -Fisher. Drew was finally engaged as permanent editor on this -establishment, and the publication of which he had the management, -bearing the title, _The Imperial Magazine_, became a complete success. -Though sold at one shilling, it had a circulation of 7000 during the -first year. The destruction of the premises by fire compelled the -removal of the Caxton Establishment to London, where Drew remained at -the post of editor for the rest of his life. In 1824 the degree of A.M. -was conferred on him by the Marischal College, Aberdeen. We have alluded -to the request made by some members of the Council of the London -University, that he would allow himself to be nominated for the Chair of -Moral Philosophy. This request was made in 1830; but Samuel Drew, who -was now sixty-five years of age, was beginning to feel the effects of -his long life of hard work, and to sigh for rest. His chief wish was to -end his days in his native county, among the scenes of his boyhood and -youth, and amid the associations that clustered round the place where he -had first learned to think and write, and make for himself a name in the -world of letters. This wish was hardly fulfilled; for, holding on to his -daily routine of office work from year to year in the hope of retiring -with a competence for himself and his children, he was at length -compelled on 2d March, 1833, the last day of his sixty-eighth year, to -lay down his pen. His life-work was now over. Within a few days he left -London for the home of his daughter at Helston in Cornwall, where on the -29th of March he died. It was his comfort, during the last days of his -life, to be surrounded by a circle of deeply attached relatives, and on -several occasions, when his head was supported by one of his children, -he repeated the lines of his favorite poem, the "Elegy" by Gray: - - "On some fond breast the parting soul relies: - Some pious drops the closing eye requires." - -His faith in the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul, which he had -so ably advocated, afforded him profound consolation in his last hours. -On the day before his death he said, with all the eagerness of keen -anticipation, "Thank God, to-morrow I shall join the glorious company -above!" - -Monuments to his memory were erected over the grave in Helston -Churchyard, and in the Wesleyan chapel and parish church at St. Austell. -On each of these the inhabitants of his native town and county bore -strong testimony to the affection and regard felt by all who knew him -for the "self-taught Cornish metaphysician." - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM CAREY, D.D.] - -William Carey. - -THE SHOEMAKER WHO TRANSLATED THE BIBLE INTO BENGALI AND HINDOSTANI. - -"No, sir! only a cobbler."--_Dr. William Carey._ - -"I am indeed poor, and shall always be so until the Bible is published -in Bengali and Hindostani, and the people want no further -instruction."--_Dr. William Carey, Letter from India, 1794._ - - -WILLIAM CAREY. - -Between the years 1786 and 1789, when William Gifford, just liberated by -the generous interference of a friend from the yoke of apprenticeship to -a cruel master, was receiving instruction from the Rev. Thomas Smerdon, -when Robert Bloomfield, a journeyman shoemaker in London, was preparing -in his mind the materials for the "Farmer's Boy," and when Samuel Drew, -the young shoemaker of St. Austell, was reading "Locke on the -Understanding," and learning to think and reason as a metaphysician, -there lived at Moulton in Northamptonshire a poor shoemaker, -school-teacher, and village pastor, who was cherishing in his great -heart the project of forming a society for the purpose of sending out -Christian missionaries to the heathen world. This poor young man, in -spite of his obscure position, his meagre social influence, his limited -resources, and his lack of early educational advantages, became the -originator of the great foreign missionary enterprises which constitute -so remarkable a feature in the religious history of this country at the -close of the last and the beginning of the present century. He was the -first missionary chosen to be sent out by the committee of the society -he had been the means of establishing. His field of labor was India, -where for more than forty years, "without a visit to England or even a -voyage to sea to recruit his strength," and without losing a vestige of -his early enthusiasm for his Christian enterprise, he toiled on at the -work of preaching the gospel and translating the Sacred Scriptures. From -1801 to 1830, he was Professor of Oriental Languages in a college -founded at Fort William by the Marquis of Wellesley, Governor-General of -India. As an Oriental linguist he had few equals in his day, and few -have ever exceeded him in the extent and exactitude of his acquaintance -with the languages of India. He compiled grammars and dictionaries in -Mahratta, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Telugu, Bengali, and Bhotana. But his chief -work was the translation of the Scriptures into Bengali and other -languages. No less than twenty-four different translations of the Bible -were made and edited by him, and passed through the press at Serampore -under his supervision. One account speaks of "two hundred thousand -Bibles, or portions thereof, in about forty Oriental languages or -dialects, besides a great number of tracts and other religious works in -various languages;" and adds that "a great proportion of the actual -literary labor involved in these undertakings was performed" by this -prodigious worker. A truly noble life-work was this for any man. It may -be questioned if more work of a solid and useful character was ever -pressed into one human life. What monarch or ruler of a vast empire, -what statesman or judge, what scientific or literary worker, what man of -genius in business or the professions, has ever thrown more energy into -his life-work or achieved more worthy results for all his toil than this -humble shoemaker and village pastor from Northamptonshire, who first -gave to the various races of Northern India the Bible in their own -language? - -No one who is at all familiar with the work of the Christian Church in -the present century, will need to be told that we are speaking of the -famous pioneer missionary to Bengal, Dr. William Carey. And surely no -list of illustrious shoemakers would be complete that did not include -the name of this good man. His experience of the "gentle craft" was -somewhat extensive. He was bound apprentice to the trade, and afterward -worked as,a journeyman for more than twelve years. When he became known -to the world, he was often spoken of as "the learned shoemaker." Indeed, -he was not always honored with so respectful a title as this. More often -than not he was alluded to as "the cobbler," and his own strict honesty -and modesty of spirit led him to prefer the latter epithet. His humble -origin and occupation were sometimes the occasion of an empty sneer on -the part of men whose class feeling and religious prejudice prevented -their appreciation of his splendid mental gifts and high purpose in -life, and who consequently endeavored, but in vain, to bring his grand -and Christ-like undertaking into contempt. That famous wit, the Rev. -Sydney Smith, sometime prebendary of Bristol and canon of St. Paul's, -tried to set the world laughing at the "consecrated cobbler." It was a -sorry joke, and quite unworthy of a Christian minister, and must have -been sorely repented of in after-years. One would have thought that -Sydney Smith's undoubted piety, and natural kindliness of heart, let -along his strong bias in favor of all that was liberal in religion and -politics, would have saved him from such a cruel and flippant sneer. But -wit is a brilliant and dangerous weapon, and few men know how to use it -as much as Sydney Smith did without injury to their own reputation or -the feelings of other people. - -Carey, as we have said, did not object to being called a "cobbler," -although the term did not accurately describe his degree of proficiency -in the trade. It was reported in Northamptonshire that he was a poor -workman, the neighbors declaring that though he made boots, he "could -never make _a pair_."[35] In a letter to Dr. Ryland he contradicts this -report and says: "The childish story of my shortening a shoe to make it -longer is entitled to no credit. I was accounted a very good workman, -and recollect Mr. Old keeping a pair of shoes which I had made in his -shop as a model of good workmanship." He cautiously adds, "But the best -workmen sometimes, from various causes, put bad work out of their hands, -and I have no doubt but I did so too."[36] This is more than likely, for -he was subject to long fits of mental abstraction as he sat at the -stall: - - "His eyes - Were with his heart, and that was far away." - - [35] "Baptist Jubilee Memorial." London: Simpkin, - Marshall, 1842, p. 83. - - [36] "Memoir of Dr. Carey," by the Rev. Eustace Carey. - London: Jackson & Walford, 2d edition, 1837, p. 16. - -He pined for the field of missions and chafed against the cruel "bars of -circumstance" that kept him in his native land. While engaged in -shoemaking, he was so intent on learning Latin, Greek, and Hebrew that -he often forgot to fit the shoes to the last. No wonder if shoes were -not "a pair," and were sometimes returned; no wonder that while he -became one of the first linguists in the world in his day he was spoken -of by his neighbors as nothing more than "a cobbler!" With reference to -his poor abilities in the craft a good story is told of the way in which -he silenced an officious person whose "false pride in place and blood" -had betrayed him into some disparaging remarks about Carey as a -shoemaker. His biographer[37] says: "Some thirty years after this -period, dining one day with the Governor-General, Lord Hastings, at -Barrakpore, a general officer made an impertinent inquiry of one of the -aides-de-camp whether Dr. Carey had not once been a shoemaker. He -happened to overhear the conversation, and immediately stepped forward -and said, "No, sir; only a cobbler!" - - [37] J. C. Marshman, in "The Story of Carey, Marshman, - and Ward;" London, J. Heaton & Sons, 1864, p. 6. See also an - account of Carey's life and work in "The Missionary Keepsake - and Annual," by Rev. John Dyer; London, Fisher & Co., 1837; and - "The Life of Dr. Carey," by the Rev. Eustace Carey; London, - 1837. - -In the brief story we have to tell of the life of this remarkable man, -we shall, as seems most appropriate to our purpose, confine our remarks -almost entirely to the work he accomplished before he ceased to be a -shoemaker. His father and grandfather held the position of parish clerk -and schoolmaster at Pury, or Paulersbury, in Northamptonshire, where -William Carey was born, 17th August, 1761. His only education was -received in the village school, and this was very slight and -rudimentary; yet it was sufficient to give him a start in the work of -educating himself. As a boy he was always fond of reading, and chose -such books as referred to natural history. Botany and entomology were -favorite subjects. His bedroom was turned into a sort of museum, chiefly -remarkable for butterflies and beetles. Of books of travel and accounts -of voyages he never seems to have wearied; the history and geography of -any country also afforded him special delight. He was a bright, active, -good-looking, intelligent boy, by no means a recluse and bookworm, -caring nothing for out-door exercise and sports. He was as fond of games -as any boy in the village, and as clever at them, and so became a -general favorite. His quickness of intellect and perseverance with any -hobby he took up often led the neighbors to predict success for him in -future life. The perseverance and courage, which were such marked -features of his character as a man, were shown in his boyhood by a -curious incident. Attempting to climb a tree one day, he fell and broke -his leg, and was an invalid for six weeks. As soon as he could crawl to -the bottom of the garden, he made his way to the very tree from which he -had fallen, climbed to the top of it, and brought down one of the -highest branches, which he carried into the house, exclaiming, "There, I -knew I would do it!" - -At the age of twelve he showed the first signs of a taste and capacity -for the acquisition of languages. A copy of Dyche's Latin Grammar and -Vocabulary had come into his hands, and he at once set to work, of his -own free will and choice, to study the introductory portion, and to -commit all the Latin words, with their meanings, to memory. Such an -incident as this was quite enough to show that he was a boy of no common -mind, and that he would well repay any outlay that might be made in -giving him a classical training. But that was out of the question; the -village school could not afford such a training, and anything better, in -the shape of grammar-school or college, was not to be had, for his -friends were poor and had no patrons to assist them. What he might have -done in an university it is idle to suppose. Undoubtedly, he would have -distinguished himself, but it may be reasonably doubted whether he would -have been led into the path of Christian philanthropy and usefulness -which the stress of circumstances at Moulton led him to think and adopt. -It must have been painful for his parents, with their sense of the boy's -merits and ambition as a scholar, to see him languishing at home, unable -to find sufficient food for his hungry and capacious young mind, while -they also were unable to satisfy his passion for books, or send him to a -school adequate to his requirements. And doubly painful must it have -been for him as for them, when they felt that the time had come for him -to learn a trade, and the thought of further schooling must be given up. - -One can imagine his feelings when told that he must be apprenticed to a -shoemaker. Not that such an occupation was necessarily a bugbear to a -boy in his position, for thousands of village lads would not have -regarded it in that light; but it was so to _him_. His heart had been -set on a very different kind of occupation. He was eager for study, and -felt within him the movement of an impulse to do something great in the -world, and this apprenticeship was a bitter disappointment, saddening -his young heart, and quenching for a time all his bright hopes. But only -for a time did he lose heart. He was one of those who are no friends to -despair, who do not understand defeat, and whose spirit and -determination rise in the face of difficulties. It was not to be -expected in his circumstances that life could offer him any position of -greater honor or advantage than a cobbler's stool. He would not, -therefore, murmur at his necessary lot. He would rather take to it with -as good a grace as possible, and make the best of it. He would use every -means and chance of self-improvement, and if he could not have his -heart's desire in the way he had intended, he would have it in some -other way; anyhow he would have it. A broken purpose should no more -stand in the way of his climbing the "tree of knowledge" than a broken -leg had prevented his climbing to the top of the tree in his father's -garden. - -So he settled to his work with Charles Nickolls of Hackleton at the age -of fourteen, with no prospect but that of being bound to wield the awl -and bend over the last until he had come to be twenty-one years of age. -Soon after entering the shoemaker's room he found a copy of the New -Testament, in the notes to which occurred a number of Greek words. This -opened up another field of study, and he determined to enter upon it. -Copying out the words, he took them for explanation to a young man who -was a weaver in the village where his father lived. This weaver came -from Kidderminster, had seen better days, and had received a good -education. He assisted young Carey, then fifteen years of age, in -mastering the rudiments of Greek. With such a start he did not rest -until he had procured and could read the Greek New Testament. In the -second year of his apprenticeship his indentures were cancelled on -account of the death of his master, and Carey became a journeyman, of -course at very low wages, under Mr. Old. At this time there lived in the -neighborhood a clergyman who was one of the lights of a dark period in -the religious history of this country--the Rev. Thomas Scott, the -popular evangelical preacher, writer, and Bible commentator. His own -career was very remarkable. From the position of a laboring man he had -risen to occupy good rank as a clergyman, and with very meagre -advantages in early life he had become, or was rapidly becoming, one of -the best sacred classics in the country. The man who had laid aside the -shepherd's smock for the clergyman's surplice, and who on one occasion -doffed his clerical attire, donned the shepherd's clothes again, and -sheared eleven large sheep on an afternoon, was not likely to neglect or -overlook a youth of more than ordinary intelligence and application to -study because the youth happened to spend his days at the shoemaker's -stall. Mr. Scott on his visiting rounds now and then turned in at Mr. -Old's, and was struck with the boy's bright look and rapt attention to -any remarks that the visitor might make. Occasionally young Carey would -venture to ask a question. So appropriate and far-seeing were his -inquiries that Mr. Scott discerned his young friend's uncommon powers, -and often declared that he would prove to be "no ordinary character." In -later years, when William Carey was known throughout England as a -pioneer in mission work, as a great Oriental linguist, and the first -translator of the New Testament into Bengali, Mr. Scott, as he passed by -the old room where the thoughtful and studious young shoemaker had once -sat at work, would point to it and say, "That was Mr. Carey's college." - -But with all this mental activity and zest for knowledge there was no -moral purpose in his life, and as he grew older he became more and more -loose and careless in his habits, and, as he himself would have it, even -vicious, until he came to be about eighteen years of age. But there is -no proof of any evil conduct to justify the use of such a term as -"vicious" in describing his life at this time. He spoke of himself, no -doubt, after the religious fashion of the age, and judged his early -conduct by the severe moral standard adopted by his co-religionists. His -complete mental awakening, like that of Samuel Drew, seems to have come -as a result of the moral change wrought in him at the time of his -religious conversion. A variety of causes, as is the rule, led to this -crucial event in his life, "that vital change of heart which laid the -foundation of his Christian character." First of all he was indebted to -the good example of a fellow-workman, then to the earnest preaching of -the Rev. Thomas Scott. Mr. Marshman says, "It was chiefly to the -ministrations of Mr. Scott that Carey was indebted for the progress he -made in his religious career, and he never omitted through life to -acknowledge the deep obligation under which he had been laid by his -instructions." Brought up as a strict Churchman, he was confirmed at a -suitable age, and regularly attended the services at the parish church. -But at the time we are speaking of, when personal religion became the -chief subject of his thoughts, he sought light and help by every -available means. The little Baptist community, among whom he had many -friends, showed him much sympathy: he began to attend their meetings for -prayer, and eventually cast in his lot among them. They encouraged him -to become a preacher, and his first sermon, delivered at Hackleton when -he was nineteen years of age, was delivered in one of their assemblies. -For three and a half years he was on the preachers' plan, and regularly -"supplied the pulpits" in this village and Earl's Barton as a kind of -pastor. "It was during these ministerial engagements," says his -biographer, "that his views on the subject of baptism were altered, and -he embraced the opinion that baptism by immersion, after a confession of -faith, was in accordance with the injunctions of Divine Writ and the -practice of the apostolic age. He was accordingly baptized by Dr. John -Ryland, his future associate in the cause of missions, who subsequently -stated at a public meeting that, on the 7th of October, 1783, he -baptized a poor journeyman shoemaker in the river Nene, a little beyond -Dr. Doddridge's chapel in Northampton."[38] - - [38] "The Story of Carey, Marshman, and Ward," p. 4. - -During these years he was diligently prosecuting his studies, and read -the Scriptures in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Like many another poor -student, he was fain to borrow what he could not buy in the way of -books, and "laid the libraries of all the friends around him under -contribution." Notwithstanding his extraordinary abilities and -diligence, he does not seem to have displayed any marked qualities as a -preacher. It was with difficulty he got through his trial sermons before -the church of which he was now a member. The very decided "personal -influence" of the pastor, the Rev. John Suttcliffe, was required to -enable the modest young shoemaker to obtain the church's sanction to his -receiving "a call to the ministry." The church to which he ministered at -Earl's Barton was poor, and scarcely able to keep its pastor in -clothing, much less provide for his entire maintenance. For this he was -dependent on his trade, and as the times were now very bad he was -obliged to travel from village to village to dispose of his work and -obtain fresh orders. Nothing but the assistance of his relatives saved -him at this time from destitution. - -And here we are bound to pause and notice the greatest mistake Carey -made in all his life. We refer to his marriage at the age of twenty to -the sister of his former employer. "This imprudent union," it is said, -"proved a severe clog on his exertions for more than twenty-five years." -The match was about as unfortunate and unsuitable as a match could be. -Mrs. Carey was much older than her husband, ill-educated in mind and -temper, and quite incapable of sympathizing with her husband's studies -and projects. How he came to contract such a miserable union passes -comprehension, for he was remarkably sensible and business-like in -common affairs. But there are those who can cultivate another man's -vineyard while they neglect their own, wise for others and simple for -themselves; and in regard to this particular business, as Froude the -historian has well said, some men are apparently "destined to be -unfortunate in their relations with women." The judicious Hooker was -judicious in everything else but the choice of a wife, for he married a -jade who was wont to give him the baby to nurse and stand and scold him -into the bargain, as he sat writing the works that were destined to make -his name illustrious for all time. Molière, who exposed in the most -masterly manner in his plays the follies and foibles of the women of -Parisian society in his day, married, to his bitter regret, as weak and -vain a woman as any that figures in his own works. Milton's second wife -went home again within three months of their wedding-day; and John -Wesley's wife left him a short while after their marriage. But if these -good men made a mistake in their choice, they one and all acted with -good sense and feeling in their treatment of their ill-matched partners. -Nothing could be better than the common-sense of stern John Wesley in -his reply to a friend who asked him if he would not send for his truant -wife home again. He answered in Latin, but this is what his words mean, -"I did not send her away, and I will not fetch her back again." Carey -acted with much kindness and discretion toward his miserable partner; -but he found it harder to transform her into a sensible woman than to -transform his own Baptist Conference into a missionary society.[39] - - [39] It ought to be said that in 1808, about a year - after the death of his first wife, Carey married Miss Rhumohr, - a Danish lady of good family and education, who proved a most - congenial companion and helper in his work. He was three times - married: his third wife, who survived him, was an excellent - partner for a missionary. - -In 1786, he took the pastorate of a small church at Moulton; yet, even -here, he was obliged to eke out his poor living by shoemaking, and even -to add to his other labors the task of teaching a school. For this task -he was utterly unfit. However well he might teach himself, he could -never teach boys. He knew this, and was accustomed to say, "When I kept -school, it was the boys who kept me." His circumstances at this time -ought to be fully stated in order that the reader may form some idea of -the hardship Carey had to endure and the absorbing personal duties and -cares in the midst of which he began to cherish his great purpose "to -convey the gospel of Jesus Christ to some portion of the heathen world." -His ministerial stipend from all sources and the proceeds of his school -would not together put him in the position of Goldsmith's ideal village -pastor, who was "passing rich on forty pounds a year." So that he was -obliged, even at Moulton, to have recourse to shoemaking. A friend of -his at the time remarks, "Once a fortnight Carey might be seen walking -eight or ten miles to Northampton, with his wallet full of shoes on his -shoulder, and then returning home with a fresh supply of leather." - -The time spent at Moulton was, in spite of its many cares and hardships, -a time of great progress in study. It was during these years he adopted -the plan of allotting his time, a plan to which he rigidly adhered all -through his life, and by means of which he was able in after-years to -accomplish tasks which seemed to onlookers sufficient for the energies -of two or three ordinary men. Now began also the acquaintance with men -whose friendship was of the greatest service to a man like Carey, and -largely influenced and helped him in his life-work--Mr. Hall (the father -of the eminent pulpit orator Robert Hall), Dr. Ryland, John Suttcliffe, -and Andrew Fuller. All these lived within a few miles of each other, and -belonged to the same association of Baptist churches, called the -Northamptonshire Association. It was at one of the meetings of this -association that Fuller first met with Carey and heard him preach. So -delighted was Fuller with the devout thoughtfulness and Christian -catholicity of Carey's discourse, that he met the preacher as he came -down from the pulpit and thanked him in the warmest manner. In this -cordial meeting commenced a friendship and fellowship in Christian work -which lasted for twenty years until Fuller's death, and which proved a -source of untold blessings to the heathen world. - -Carey's first thought of missions came into his mind when reading -Captain Cook's account of his voyage round the world. He was in the -habit of blending study with his task as a shoemaker, or while sitting -among his boys at school. This book impressed his imagination, and -stirred his compassion to the utmost, as he contemplated the vast extent -of the world and the large proportion of its inhabitants who were living -in ignorance of the true God, and of the Saviour of mankind. In order to -realize the facts more vividly, he constructed a large map of the world, -and marked it in such a manner as to indicate the numerical relation of -the heathen to the Christian nations. This map was fixed on the wall in -front of his work-stool, so that he might raise his head occasionally -and look upon it as he sat at his daily toil. While he mused on the map -and the facts it represented, "the fire burned." It was the means of -inspiring in him the purpose never to tire nor rest until he and others -had gone out to convey the good news of the Gospel to his suffering -fellow-men in distant lands. It was to this circumstance that William -Wilberforce alluded, in a speech made in the House of Commons twenty -years after, when, urging Parliament to grant missionaries free access -to India, he said: "A sublimer thought cannot be conceived than when a -poor cobbler formed the resolution to give to the millions of Hindoos -the Bible in their own language." - -With this purpose in mind, Carey went to the meetings of his brethren, -longing for an opportunity of expressing his thoughts and calling forth -their sympathies. But he had to endure a terrible trial at the outset--a -trial which only Christian faith and love could endure. The older men, -who ruled in an almost supreme manner in these councils, sternly rebuked -his presumption, as they deemed it, and called him an "enthusiast"--a -term employed very recently by a noble duke in the House of Lords in the -same connection. No term could have described Carey more correctly. It -was a term of honor, though meant in reproach and condemnation. The word -means one inspired by God, and surely Carey's Christlike thought and -zeal for his fellow-men was an inspiration. He was an enthusiast of the -type of Robert Raikes of Gloucester, who only six or seven years -before[40] had begun the work of Sabbath-schools in that city; or John -Howard, whose great work, published within a year or two of this -time,[41] on the condition of the prisons in Europe, and especially in -England and Ireland, created a merciful revolution in the treatment of -our criminal class; or Thomas Charles of Bala, whose pity for the Welsh -girl who had no Bible of her own, and had been unable to walk six or -seven miles to a place where she could have access to one, led him to -take steps which resulted in the formation of the British and Foreign -Bible Society. The founder of the Baptist Missionary Society was a man -of this type, and such men are the greatest benefactors of their race, -no matter whether they be clergymen like Charles, or country gentlemen -like Howard, or cobblers and Nonconformist village pastors like Carey. - - [40] The first Sunday-school was opened in Gloucester - in 1780. - - [41] Viz., 1789. - -At the first meeting in which Carey ventured to submit the subject of -Christian missions, the senior minister present spoke in the following -oracular manner: "Brother Carey ought certainly to have known that -nothing could be done before another Pentecost, when an effusion of -miraculous gifts, including the gift of tongues, would give effect to -the commission of Christ, as at the first; and that he (Mr. Carey) was a -miserable enthusiast for asking such a question." And then, as if to -settle the whole question once for all, and shut the mouth of Mr. Carey -forever, the stern old man turned to the humble young pastor and said, -"What, sir! can you preach in Arabic, in Persic, in Hindostani, in -Bengali, that you think it your duty to preach the gospel to the -heathen?" Little did the speaker imagine that he was addressing the very -man who would subsequently hold the office of Professor of Oriental -Languages, at Fort William for twenty years, become one of the greatest -proficients the world has known in two of the very languages he had -named, and not only _preach_ in them but translate the Scriptures into -them, as a boon and legacy of love to the people of Hindostan. When on -another occasion Carey, nothing daunted by his first repulse, and -willing to forgive and forget his rebuff for the sake of the cause he -cherished, asked his brethren once more to consider the question of -missions, the same stern voice exclaimed, "Young man, sit down; when God -pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." - -But the old man was not a prophet. God did not choose to work without -the aid of William Carey, though the time was not yet. The undaunted -moral hero had other battles to fight before he stood on the field of -missions. - -In 1789 Carey became the pastor of a church in Leicester. For four years -he labored zealously at his ministerial duties, studied with great -diligence, availing himself of new and valuable friendships for this -purpose, and never failing to bring up his favorite theme for discussion -at the meetings of the Baptist ministers. Before he left Moulton, as we -have seen, he began to raise the question in the public assemblies. On -one occasion the debate ran on the question he had introduced, "Whether -it were not practicable, and our bounden duty, to attempt somewhat -toward spreading the gospel in the heathen world?" Not satisfied with -the result of such discussions, the village shoemaker and pastor sat -down to write a pamphlet on this subject, entitled "Thoughts on -Christian Missions." When he showed this pamphlet to his friends Fuller, -Suttcliffe, and Ryland, they were amazed at the amount of knowledge it -displayed, and deeply moved by Carey's zeal and persistence in the good -cause; but all they could do in the matter was to put him off for a time -by counselling him to _revise_ his production. It appears that at the -time this _brochure_ was penned the poor shoemaker with his family were -"in a state bordering on starvation, and passed many weeks without -animal food, and with but a scanty supply of bread." - -In the year 1791, at a meeting held at Clipstone in Northamptonshire, -Carey again read his pamphlet, and was requested to publish it. This was -a decided step in advance, and prepared the way for the events of the -following year, when the desire of his heart was accomplished in the -formation of a missionary society. In May, 1792, he preached the famous -sermon which is said to have done more than anything else to consummate -this missionary enterprise.[42] The two main propositions of this -discourse have passed into something like a proverb on the lips of -missionary advocates: "Expect great things from God; attempt great -things for God." Although the discourse made a deep impression, Carey -was distressed beyond all self-control when he found his friends were -about to separate without a distinct resolution to form a society. He -seized Andrew Fuller's hand "in an agony of distress," and tearfully -pleaded that some steps should at once be taken. Overcome at last by his -entreaties, they solemnly resolved on the holy enterprise. - - [42] The text of this discourse was Isaiah 54:2, 3: - "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the - curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords - and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the - right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the - Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." - -After this the history of the Society is a record of meetings, -committees, travels, and labors, of deputations to the churches, -difficulties and embarrassments, in the midst of which no one was more -devoted and useful in bringing the plans of the young Society into -working order than Carey's valuable friend, Andrew Fuller. The first -subscription list was made up at another meeting of the Association, -held at Kettering, in Carey's own county, in the autumn of the same -year. Its promises amounted to £13 2s. 6d. This little fund was the -precursor of the tens of thousands which have since flowed into the -treasuries of our modern Christian Missionary Societies. In twenty-nine -days after the fund was started at Kettering, Birmingham followed with -the noble gift of £70. - -The Society was now fairly started, with the resolution formally -recorded on its minute-books "to convey the message of salvation to some -portion of the heathen world." On the 9th of January, 1793, Carey and a -colleague were appointed by the Committee to proceed at once to India. -Carey's colleague was a man of extraordinary missionary zeal, who had -"lately returned from Bengal, and was endeavoring to establish a fund in -London for a mission to that country."[43] He was a Baptist, and on -hearing of the schemes of his brethren in England, he readily fell in -with their proposal that he should accompany Carey to India. But the -question of finding a berth on an English vessel was not easily settled. -No English captain dare take them out without a government license, and -to obtain a license as missionaries was not to be thought of. Having at -one time gone on board a vessel with all their baggage, they were -obliged by the captain, who felt that he was risking his commission in -taking them on board, to land again and return to London. They were -compelled at length to have recourse to a Danish vessel, the _Cron -Princessa Maria_, whose captain, an Englishman by birth, though -naturalized as a Dane, looked favorably on their enterprise. On the 13th -of June, 1793, Carey and his companion set sail from the shores of -England, their expedition as ambassadors for Christ as little heeded by -the world at large as that of the Cilician tentmaker and his little band -of preachers who set sail seventeen centuries before from the port of -Alexandria Troas for the shores of Europe. - - [43] _Quarterly Review_, Feb. 1809, p. 197. This - generous article on "The Periodical Accounts of the Baptist - Missionary Society" is known to have been written by Southey. - See below. Some idea of Thomas's passionate zeal may be formed - from certain expressions in the letters sent home after Carey - and he had arrived in India. He says, "Never did men see their - native land with more joy than we left it; but this is not of - nature, but from above," etc. See p. 223 of same article. - -The story of Carey's life and work in India cannot be followed in -detail. We have come to the close of that portion of his history which -properly belongs to these brief sketches of illustrious shoemakers. A -few sentences must suffice to give a picture of his labors as a -missionary and the result of those labors. For six or seven years Carey -and his friends had to endure much hardship, and their proceedings were -hampered by difficulties of various kinds. To begin with, they had no -legal standing in the country, and were forced at length to take up -their quarters under the Danish flag at Serampore. "Here they bought a -house, and organized themselves into a family society, resolving that -whatever was done by any member should be for the benefit of the -mission. They opened a school, in which the children of those natives -who chose to send them were instructed gratuitously."[44] The funds -supplied from home were but scanty, and they were compelled to resort to -trade for their livelihood and the means of carrying on their work. -"Thomas, who was a surgeon, intended to support himself by his -profession. Carey's plan was to take land and cultivate it for his -maintenance."[45] At one time, when funds were exhausted, Mr. Carey "was -indebted for an asylum to an opulent native;" at another time, driven to -distraction by want of money, by the apparent failure of his plans, and -the upbraidings of his unsympathetic partner, he removed with his -family to the Soonderbunds, and took a small grant of land, which he -proposed to cultivate for his own maintenance; and, later on, he -thankfully accepted, as a way out of his difficulties and a means of -furthering his missionary projects, the post of superintendent of an -indigo factory at Mudnabatty. This post he held for five or six years. -No sooner had he got into this position of comparative independence than -he wrote home and proposed that "the sum which might be considered his -salary should be devoted to the printing of the Bengali translation of -the New Testament." This generous proposal is a fair illustration of his -self-sacrificing spirit from the beginning to the end of his missionary -life. To the work of translating and circulating the Scriptures in the -languages of India he devoted not only all his time and his vast mental -powers, but whatever private funds might be at his command. As the work -proceeded, and he became known and employed by the government in various -professorships, these funds were often very considerable. In 1807, when -Carey held the Professorship of Oriental Languages at the Fort William -College, at a salary of £1200 a year, Mr. Ward, one of his colleagues, -wrote, in reply to some unfriendly remarks made in an English -publication, that Dr. Carey and Mr. Marshman "were contributing £2400 a -year," and receiving from the mission fund "only their food and a trifle -of pocket-money for apparel." - - [44] _Quarterly Review_, Feb. 1809, p. 197. - - [45] Ibid. - -In 1800 the missionary establishment, now strengthened by the two worthy -colleagues just named, was removed to Serampore, a Danish settlement -about fifteen miles from Calcutta. A printing press and type were -purchased, and the work of printing the Scriptures commenced. Carey had -been quietly but most diligently going on with the translation of the -Scriptures into Bengali during the previous years of anxiety and varied -missionary labor. Whatever cares weighed on brain and heart, the true -work of his life, to which he had devoted himself, was never -relinquished. - -On the 18th of March, 1800, the first sheets of the Bengali New -Testament were struck off, and on the 7th of February in the following -year, "Mr. Carey enjoyed the supreme gratification of receiving the last -sheet of the Bengali New Testament from the press, the fruition of the -'sublime thought' which he had conceived fifteen years before." It is -not surprising that we should read the following record of the manner in -which these humble missionaries expressed their devout gratitude to God -on the consummation of this part of their Christian labors: "As soon as -the first copy was bound, it was placed on the communion table in the -chapel, and a meeting was held of the whole of the mission family, and -of the converts recently baptized, to offer a tribute of gratitude to -God for this great blessing." In 1806 the New Testament was ready for -the press in _Sanskrit_, the sacred language of India, the language of -its most ancient and venerated writings, and the parent of nearly all -the languages of modern India. Simultaneously with this were being -issued proof-sheets of the New Testament in Mahratta, Orissa, Persian, -and Hindostani, besides dictionaries and grammars, and other -publications for the use of students. It is well-nigh impossible to form -a correct idea of the amount of religious zeal, mental energy, and -physical endurance involved in labors like those of Dr. Carey, extending -over forty years in the climate of Bengal. He is said to have regularly -tired out three pundits, or native interpreters, who came one after the -other each day to assist him in the correction and revision of his -translations. A letter written in 1807, when the degree of D.D. was -conferred on Mr. Carey by the Brown University, United States, gives a -graphic sketch of the ordinary day's work performed by him at this -period: "He rises a little before six, reads a chapter in the Hebrew -Bible, and spends the time till seven in private devotion. He then has -family prayer with the servants in Bengali, after which he reads Persian -with a moonshee who is in attendance. As soon as breakfast is over he -sits down to the translation of the Ramayun with his pundit till ten, -when he proceeds to the college and attends to its duties till two. -Returning home, he examines a proof-sheet of the Bengali translation, -and dines with his friend Mr. Rolt. After dinner he translates a chapter -of the Bible with the aid of the chief pundit of the college. At six he -sits down with the Telugu pundit to the study of that language, and then -preaches a sermon in English to a congregation of about fifty. The -service ended, he sits down to the translation of Ezekiel into Bengali, -having thrown aside his former version. At eleven the duties of the day -are closed, and after reading a chapter in the Greek Testament and -commending himself to God he retires to rest."[46] - - [46] "Carey, Marshman, and Ward," by J. C. Marshman. - London: J. Heaton & Son. 1864. - -Strangely enough, about this time a controversy was going on in certain -English journals as to the value of the work that Carey and his -coadjutors were doing in India. We have no wish to speak bitterly of the -satire and severity of the articles written by Sydney Smith in the -_Edinburgh Review_. They were not simply sallies of wit, but serious -essays, written in a spirit of deliberate hostility to this missionary -enterprise. What else can be thought of an article commencing with words -like these: "In rooting out a nest of consecrated cobblers, and in -bringing to light such a perilous heap of trash as we are obliged to -work through in our articles on Methodists and missionaries, we are -generally considered to have rendered a useful service to the cause of -rational religion." Such articles condemned themselves; and it is fair -to add that their author himself lived to regard them as a mistake, and -to express to Lord Macaulay his regret that he had ever written -them.[47] - - [47] "Carey, Marshman, and Ward," p. 137. - -But even in that day Carey and his heroic band of Christian -fellow-laborers had plenty of sympathizers and supporters both in the -Church of England and the Nonconformist denominations. Robert Southey -the poet came forward with generous enthusiasm in their defence, and -in a carefully-written article in the _Quarterly Review_[48] -vindicated their character and labors. Among other remarkable -statements in their behalf, he was able to say: "These 'low-born and -low-bred mechanics' have translated the whole Bible into Bengali, and -have by this time printed it. They are printing the New Testament in -the Sanskrit, the Orissa, the Mahratta, the Hindostani, the Guzerat, -and translating it into Persic, Teligna, Carnata, Chinese, the -language of the Sieks and the Burmans, and in four of these languages -they are going on with the Bible. Extraordinary as this is, it will -appear still more so when it is remembered that of these men one was -originally a shoemaker, another a printer at Hull, and the third the -master of a charity-school at Bristol. Only fourteen years have -elapsed since Thomas and Carey set foot in India, and in that time -these missionaries have acquired the gift of tongues. In fourteen -years these 'low-born, low-bred mechanics' have done more to spread -the knowledge of the Scriptures among the heathen than has been -accomplished or even attempted by all the world beside. A plain -statement of fact will be the best proof of their diligence and -success. The first convert was baptized in December, 1800,[49] and in -seven years after that time the number has amounted to 109, of whom -nine were afterward excluded or suspended, or had been lost sight of. -Carey and his son have been in Bengal fourteen years, the other -brethren only nine. They had all a difficult language to acquire -before they could speak to a native, and to preach and argue in it -required a thorough and familiar knowledge. Under these circumstances -the wonder is, not that they have done so little, but that they have -done so much; for it will be found that, even without this difficulty -to retard them, no religious opinions have spread more rapidly in the -same time, unless there was some remarkable folly or extravagance to -recommend them, or some powerful worldly inducement." This liberal -Tory an evangelical High Churchman goes on to say: "Other missionaries -from other societies have now entered India, and will soon become -efficient laborers in their station. From Government all that is asked -is toleration for themselves and protection for their converts. The -plan which they have laid for their own proceedings is perfectly -prudent and unexceptionable, and there is as little fear of their -provoking martyrdom as there would be of their shrinking from it if -the cause of God and man require the sacrifice." - - - [48] _Quarterly Review_, Feb. 1809, pp. 224, 225. - - [49] Viz., _Krishnu_, who was baptized at the same - time as Carey's son Felix. The ceremony was performed at the - Ghaut, or landing-stairs of the Mahanuddy, in the presence of - the Governor and a crowd of Hindoos and Mohammedans. - -Having lived to see his desire accomplished in the establishment of many -other missionary societies besides his own; having been the means of -translating the Sacred Scriptures in the languages spoken probably by -two hundred millions of people; this good man, working up to the close -of his life, died at Calcutta on the 9th of June, 1834. As he lay ill, -Lady Bentinck, the wife of the Governor-General, paid him frequent -visits, and good "Bishop Wilson came and besought his blessing." He -instructed his executors to place no memorial over his tomb but the -following simple inscription: - -WILLIAM CAREY, - -BORN AUGUST 1761; DIED JUNE 1834. - - "A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, - On Thy kind arms I fall." - -Mr. Marshman, who had the best means of knowing Carey and his work,[50] -says: "The basis of all his excellences was deep and unaffected piety. -So great was his love of integrity that he never gave his confidence -where he was not certain of the existence of moral worth. He was -conspicuous for constancy, both in the pursuits of life and the -associations of friendship. With great simplicity he united the -strongest decision of character. He never took credit for anything but -plodding, but it was the plodding of genius." In all his work, however -successful, however honored by his fellow-men, William Carey was modest -and simple-hearted as a child. His unparalleled labors as a translator -of the Scriptures were performed under the prompting of sublime faith in -Divine truth, warm unwavering love to souls, and an assured confidence -in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God. The shoemaker of -Northamptonshire will be remembered till the end of the world as the -Christian Apostle of Northern India. - - [50] John Clark Marshman was the son of Dr. Marshman, - Carey's colleague at Serampore. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -John Pounds, - -THE PHILANTHROPIC SHOEMAKER. - - "His virtues walked their narrow round, - Nor made a pause, nor left a void; - And sure the Eternal Master found - His single talent well employed." - - --_Dr. Samuel Johnson._ - -"A young lady once said to him, 'O Mr. Pounds, I wish you were rich, you -would do so much good!' The old man paused a few seconds and then -replied, 'Well, I don't know; if I had been rich I might, perhaps, have -been much the same as other rich people. This I know, there is not now a -happier man in England than John Pounds; and I think 'tis best as it -is.'"--_Memoir of John Pounds_, p. 12. - -"As unknown, and yet well known; ... as poor, yet making many -rich."--_The Apostle Paul._ 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10. - -"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the -least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."--_Our Lord Jesus -Christ._ Matt. xxv. 40. - - -JOHN POUNDS. - -In 1837 there lived at Landport and Portsmouth two notable shoemakers. -The Landport man combined with his daily task as a shoemaker the -delightful occupation of sketching and painting, and obtained a local -fame as an artist. The Portsmouth man found in the work of teaching poor -ragged children to read and write and cipher his greatest relaxation -from the drudgery of daily toil and his purest enjoyment, and has become -known, we may safely affirm, throughout the Christian world, as a -philanthropist, and one of the first men in this country who conceived -and carried out the idea of Ragged Schools. The shoemaker-artist had a -great admiration for the shoemaker-philanthropist and painted a picture -representing him in his humble workroom, engaged in his double -occupation as shoemaker and schoolmaster, with a last between his knees -and a number of children standing before him receiving instruction. The -artist's name was Sheaf, and his interesting picture represented John -Pounds occupied in his benevolent work as a gratuitous teacher of the -neglected children of his native town. Sheaf sold his picture to Edward -Carter, Esq., of Portsmouth, a warm admirer of John Pounds, and one of -his best friends and helpers in his work. This picture was afterward -engraved by Mr. Charpentier of Portsmouth, and it is to a copy of the -engraving the renowned Dr. Guthrie of Edinburgh refers in the following -story: - -"It is rather curious, at least it is interesting to me, that it was by -a picture that I was first led to take an interest in Ragged Schools--a -picture in an old, obscure, decayed burgh, that stands on the shore of -the Firth of Forth. I had gone thither with a companion on a pilgrimage; -not that there was any beauty about the place, for it had no beauty. It -has little trade. Its deserted harbor, silent streets, and old houses, -some of them nodding to their fall, give indications of decay. But one -circumstance has redeemed it from obscurity, and will preserve its name -to the latest ages. It was the birthplace of Thomas Chalmers. I went to -see this place. It is many years ago, and going into an inn for -refreshments, I found the room covered with pictures of shepherdesses -with their crooks, and tars in holiday attire, not very interesting. But -above the chimney-piece there stood a large print, more respectable than -its neighbors, which a skipper, the captain of one of the few ships that -trade between that town and England, had probably brought there. It -represented a cobbler's room. The cobbler was there himself, spectacles -on nose, an old shoe between his knees, the massive forehead and firm -mouth expressing great determination of character, and below his bushy -eyebrows benevolence gleamed out on a number of poor ragged boys and -girls who stood at their lessons around the busy cobbler. My curiosity -was excited, and on the inscription I read how this man, John Pounds, a -cobbler in Portsmouth, taking pity on the poor ragged children, left by -ministers and magistrates, and ladies and gentlemen, to run in the -streets, had, like a good shepherd, gathered in the wretched outcasts; -how he had brought them to God and the world; and how, while earning his -bread by the sweat of his brow, he had rescued from misery, and saved to -society, not less than five hundred of these children."[51] - - [51] "Anecdotes and Stories," by Rev. Thomas Guthrie, - D.D. London: Houlston & Wright, pp. 156, 157. - -The biography of some of the best and most useful men the world has -known may be written almost in a sentence. In the Old Testament there is -a biography of this kind in the words, "And Enoch walked with God: and -he was not; for God took him."[52] In the New Testament there is another -of a similar character in the brief sentence, "There was a certain man -in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian -_band_, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who -gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway."[53] The -life-story of John Pounds is told in the last sentence of Dr. Guthrie's -narrative; yet a few farther details of the life and work of this -noble-hearted man will be read with interest by all who venerate true -worth and take pleasure in contemplating acts of Christ-like charity and -mercy. - - [52] Gen. 5: 24. - - [53] Acts, 10: 1, 2. - -John Pounds was born at Portsmouth on the 17th of June, 1766. He was -only twelve years old when his father, a sawyer employed in the -government dockyard, had him bound apprentice as a shipwright in the -same yard. He was then a strong active boy, and worked with his father -in the yard until an accident maimed him for life, and made him -incapable of working as a shipwright. He fell into a dry-dock and broke -one of his thigh-bones, at the same time dislocating the joint. Whether -the fracture was neglected or not we do not know; but, from some cause -or other, poor Pounds went lame ever after. From the art of making ships -he was now fain to turn to that of making shoes, and finding an old man -in High Street, Portsmouth, who was willing to give the needful -instruction, John Pounds, at the age of fifteen, became a _shoemaker_. -Indeed, he would scarcely have claimed that title of dignity for -himself; for his chief thoughts were given to other affairs, so that he -was never an adept at his craft, and would in all probability have -preferred to be set down as "only a cobbler." It was not until 1804, -when Pounds was thirty-eight years of age, that "he ventured to become a -tenant on his own account of the small, weather-boarded tenement in St. -Mary's Street." It was in this humble abode that John Pounds lived and -worked and carried on his benevolent labors for thirty-five years. The -room appears to have been about the size and shape of an open -third-class railway carriage, and the entire tenement had more the -appearance of a shanty or hut than an ordinary dwelling-house. Yet it -was amply sufficient for the poor cobbler's purposes, and served as the -field of operations in all his benevolent enterprises. - -Pounds lived alone in his snug little home; and as his earnings, though -small, were more than enough to meet the requirements of a bachelor, he -felt it right to do something to assist his poor relatives. He had a -brother--a seafaring man--whose family was large and stood in need of -assistance. John accordingly proposed to take one of his brother's -children and clothe, board, and educate him as if he had been his own. -With characteristic generosity of spirit, he selected a poor little -fellow who was a cripple. The child's feet turned inward, and, as he -walked, he had to lift them one over another. The tender-hearted cobbler -could not endure to see the deformity, and soon devised the means of -remedy. A neighbor's child who suffered in the same way had been -provided by a surgeon with a set of irons which straightened his feet -and enabled him to walk properly. Unable to purchase irons for his own -little charge, Pounds set to work to construct something in lieu of them -to answer the same purpose. His apparatus, made out of old shoe soles, -answered admirably, and he soon had the gratification of seeing the -little fellow entirely cured of his defect. This boy grew up under his -uncle's care, was put apprentice to a fashionable shoemaker, and lived -with Pounds till the time of his death. - -When his nephew was old enough to begin to learn to read, John Pounds -resolved to do the work of a schoolmaster himself; and, thinking that -his little pupil would get on better if he had a companion, he began to -look round for some one to share the benefit of his instructions. He -selected a poor little urchin, "the son of a poor woman who went about -selling puddings, her homeless children, unable to accompany her, being -left in the open street amid frost and snow, with no other shelter than -the overhanging shade of a bay-window."[54] Other pupils were added in -course of time, and the shoemaker soon began to take great delight in -the work of teaching. It was not very difficult in Portsmouth to find -plenty of children whose education and training were entirely neglected -by their parents, and who were suffered to run about the streets in the -most ragged and destitute condition. The sight of these children moved -him to pity; and, once embarked on the enterprise of reforming and -teaching them, Pounds could not rest content with having half a dozen or -a dozen of them under his care, but went on gathering them into his room -until he had, in the later years of his life, an average of forty poor -children under his charge at a time. He loved his work all the more -because it was entirely gratuitous, and because he knew that if these -poor children were not thus taught they would never be taught at all, -but grow up in ignorance, misery, and vice. No amount of pains, -self-sacrifice, and anxiety was too much for this true disciple of -Christ to pay for the satisfaction of doing such children good, and -enriching and ennobling all their future lives. - - [54] "A Memoir of John Pounds." Foord, Stationer, - Landport; p. 9. The writer is indebted to this brief memoir for - most of the facts stated in this sketch. He is also indebted - for information to the courtesy of Rev. T. Timmins, Portsmouth, - pastor of the congregation of which John Pounds was a member. - -The editor of the "Memoir of John Pounds" thus describes the cobbler in -the midst of his scholars: "His humble workshop was about six feet wide -and about eighteen feet in depth, in the midst of which he would sit on -his stool, with his last or lapstone on his knee, and other implements -by his side, going on with his work and attending at the same time to -the pursuits of the whole assemblage--some of whom were reading by his -side, writing from his dictation, of showing up their sums; others -seated around on forms or boxes on the floor, or on the steps of a small -staircase in the rear. Although the master seemed to know where to look -for each and to maintain a due command over all, yet so small was the -room, and so deficient in the usual accommodation of a school, that the -scene appeared to the observer from without to be a mere crowd of -children's heads and faces."[55] - - [55] "Memoir of John Pounds," p. 10. - -The smallness of his room made selection necessary when the number of -candidates for instruction became unusually large. In this case he -always chose the worst and most desperate cases, preferring to take in -hand "the little blackguards," as he termed them, and turn them into -decent members of society. At other times, "he has been seen to follow -such to the town-quay, and hold out in his hand to them the bribe of a -roasted potato to induce them to come to school."[56] On fine warm days -the school "ran over" into the street, the children who behaved best -being allowed to sit near the door, or on a bench outside. - - [56] Ibid, p. 10. - -His method of teaching was of the simplest and most graphic character, -and seemed, although John Pounds, of course, knew nothing of such -things, to combine the features of the Pestalozzian and Kindergarten -systems. He would point to the different parts of the body, get the -pupil to tell their names, and then to spell them. Taking a child's -hand, he would say, "What is this? Spell it." Then slapping it he would -say, "What did I do? Spell that." - -With the older pupils he went as far as his knowledge would allow of, -teaching them to read by means of handbills, or making use of such old -school-books as he had been able to beg, or buy cheap. Slate and pencils -only were used for teaching writing, "yet a creditable degree of skill -was acquired, and in ciphering, the Rule of Three and Practice were -performed with accuracy." - -Pounds made efforts to clothe and feed as well as educate his destitute -pupils, many of whom were in a deplorable condition of rags and dirt. He -was anxious to take them with him on Sundays to the meeting-house which -he attended, and would have them decently clad and properly washed. "In -one corner of his room was a bag full of all sorts of garments for girls -and boys, which he had begged and mended, to be worn by his scholars on -Sundays, and when they went with him to the house of God. The garments -took the place of worse ones; for John took pride in the decent, clean -appearance of his pupils. Imagine him on a Sunday morning, with his -children round him, and his big bag open, and his handing the garments -round, with the soul of kindness in his eyes and the joy of God in his -heart!"[57] He might often have been seen on Saturday nights going round -to the bakehouses to buy bread for his poor children to eat on Sundays, -gathering it into his huge leathern apron, and, when his money was all -spent, standing still with a troubled look, searching in all his pockets -for a few more coppers in order to secure yet one more loaf to add to -his store. - - [57] Rev. T. Timmins, Portsmouth, in a letter to the - writer. - -When he was in need of books for his pupils, he did not hesitate to go -to the houses of well-to-do citizens and explain his case, and ask them -for aid. For the most part, he met with much kindness and sympathy, for -many of the inhabitants of Portsmouth and the neighboring towns knew the -benevolent cobbler of St. Mary's Street. But now and then he met with -rebuffs from those who did not know him, or from churlish souls who -could not feel for the sufferings of the poor. If he alone had suffered -from these rebuffs, the brave and sensible old man would have borne them -calmly enough; but a word spoken against his helpless little scholars -was enough at any time to rouse his warmest feelings. Once he called on -a gentleman of considerable means to ask the favor of a few old disused -books for the use of the pupils in reading. "Let them _buy_ books!" was -the only response he got to his generous appeal. "Poor little beggars!" -he exclaimed; "they can scarcely get bread, let alone books," and turned -away with ill-concealed disgust from the _gentleman's_ presence. - -Pounds taught his pupils many other things besides "the three R's." Many -of the boys received instruction in the useful arts of shoe-mending and -tailoring, so that when they grew up they found their little knowledge -of great practical utility. He even went so far as to teach the lads and -lasses how to cook their plain food, and make the best of everything. In -fact, nothing that children required to make them happy and comfortable, -and to fit them for the duties of after-years, did the good cobbler -overlook or neglect. He made their playthings--bats, balls, crossbows, -shuttlecocks, kites, what-not; went out with them on holiday and festive -gatherings; got them gifts of tea and cake, and had them assembled in a -neighboring schoolroom for public examination; saw that they were -included at the public dinners, such as the celebration of Her Majesty's -coronation in 1837; and from year to year had the satisfaction of seeing -them grow up and take honorable and useful positions in society. _This_, -in fact, was his reward--all he looked for, all he ever had, except the -approval of Him who said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the -least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." - -It was no uncommon thing during the last years of John Pounds' life for -some fine, manly fellow, soldier or sailor on furlough, or workman -passing through the town, to turn in at the old room, where the good -cobbler was still going on with his good work, in order to shake hands -with him, and thank him, while the big tears stood in the eyes of both -master and pupil, as the latter spoke of his rescue from starvation, -poverty, or crime, and of the fair start in life which he had received -at the hands of the worthy cobbler. And to this day there are men and -women by the score, in respectable and comfortable positions, who can -tell the same tale. "During the seven years I have been minister here," -writes the pastor of the chapel in the graveyard of which John Pounds -was buried, "I have seen paying a pilgrimage to his tomb a number of -those who were taught by him, and who, passing through the town, or -coming for a short time to Portsmouth (as they belonged to the army or -navy), thus showed their grateful feeling toward their venerated teacher -and friend. They have told me in touching language, and almost sobbing -the while, of the debt of gratitude they owed him." - -The useful life of this philanthropist came to an end on New Year's Day, -1839. A few days previously he went to the house of his friend Edward -Carter, Esq., who then lived in High Street, Portsmouth, to acknowledge -certain acts of kindness done in behalf of his little scholars. While -there, he saw the painting referred to at the beginning of this sketch, -which that gentleman had purchased of Mr. Sheaf, the shoemaker-artist. -The simple-minded man, whose love for dumb animals and domestic pets was -one of the most amiable features in his character, seemed to be more -pleased by finding his favorite _cat_ included in the picture than by -any other part of the painting. He then showed Mr. Carter the writing -and ciphering lessons of one of the pupils, and asked for aid in -procuring copy-books. A day or two after this John Pounds again called -on his friend, and while conversing with him on matters connected with -the school, fell down as if fainting. Medical aid was called in, but -John Pounds was dead before the doctor arrived. The body was conveyed to -the little room in St. Mary's Street, where about thirty children were -waiting for their teacher to come and commence the day's work, and -"wondering what had become of him." Terror and grief seized upon the -minds of the children when they saw the lifeless body of their kind -teacher borne into the room and laid upon the bed. On the following day -a group of children might have been seen standing at the door weeping -because they could not be admitted. Day after day "the younger ones -came, looked about the room, and not finding their friend, went away -disconsolate." - -Mr. Martell, the physician who had been called in when Pounds was dying, -asked the favor of being allowed to pay the expenses of the funeral. -John Pounds was buried in the graveyard of the chapel in High Street -where he had been a constant worshipper. A large number of people -gathered round the grave, among whom the most conspicuous and sincere -mourners were the children now bereaved of their teacher and best -earthly friend. - -A tablet was placed on the wall of the High Street Chapel bearing the -following inscription: - - ERECTED BY FRIENDS - AS A MEMORIAL OF THEIR ESTEEM AND RESPECT - - FOR - - JOHN POUNDS; - - WHO, WHILE EARNING HIS LIVELIHOOD - BY MENDING SHOES, GRATUITOUSLY EDUCATED - AND, IN PART, CLOTHED AND FED, - SOME HUNDREDS OF POOR CHILDREN. - HE DIED SUDDENLY - ON THE FIRST OF JANUARY 1839, - AGED 72 YEARS. - - "THOU SHALT BE BLESSED:--FOR THEY CANNOT - RECOMPENSE THEE." - -Over the _grave_ a monument was erected, the cost of which was defrayed, -as the inscription states, "By means of penny subscriptions, not only -from the Christian Brotherhood with whom John Pounds habitually -worshipped in the adjoining chapel, but from persons of widely differing -religious opinions throughout Great Britain, and from the most distant -parts of the world." Another memento took the form of a library for the -use of the poor people of the neighborhood in which the philanthropic -shoemaker lived and labored. A Ragged School has also been built which -bears his name, and in which the good work he inaugurated in Plymouth is -now carried on. In 1879 the "John Pounds Coffee Tavern" was opened. -Happy are they who can say with Lord Shaftesbury, in the closing words -of his speech at the opening of this institution-- - - "I AM A DISCIPLE OF JOHN POUNDS." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -[Illustration: THOMAS COOPER] - -Thomas Cooper, - -"THE SELF-EDUCATED SHOEMAKER" WHO "REARED HIS OWN MONUMENT."[58] - - "I consuming fire - Felt daily in my veins to see my race - Emerge from out the foul defiling mire - Of animal enjoyments that debase - Their nature, and well-nigh its lineaments efface. - - I burned to see my species proudly count - Themselves for more than brutes; and toiled to draw - Them on to drink at Virtue's living fount, - Whence purest pleasures flow.... - - Canst thou blame - My course? I tell thee, thirst for human laud - Impelled me not: 'twas my sole-thoughted aim - To render Man, my brother, worthy his high name!" - --_Empedocles, in "The Purgatory of Suicides," - Stanzas_ 35-37. - -"Few shrewder, kindlier men have fought the battle of life."--_London -Quarterly Review._ - -"He is a man of vast reading, and indomitable courage. His Autobiography -is a remarkable book, well worth reading."--_Editor of "Charles -Kingsley's Life and Letters_." - - [58] See closing sentences of preface to "Purgatory of - Suicides," by Thomas Cooper, early editions. - - -THOMAS COOPER. - -"The Lord's will be done! I don't think He intends thee to spend thy -life at shoemaking. I have kept thee at school, and worked hard to get -thee bread, and to let thee have thy own wish in learning, and never -imagined that thou wast to be a shoemaker. But the Lord's will be done! -He'll bring it all right in time." Such were the words with which the -worthy and excellent mother of Thomas Cooper gave her consent to her -boy's proposal that he should go and learn "the art, craft, and mystery -of shoemaking." He had no particular love for the craft, but he was -anxious to do something for a livelihood, and desirous of helping his -widowed mother; and, above all, he was ashamed of being pointed at by -his neighbors as "an idle good-for-nothing." That never was true of -Thomas Cooper either in school or out, at work or recreation; and now -that he had left school and was turned of fifteen years of age, he could -not brook the insinuation that he was unwilling to work; so, good -scholar as he was, and zealous for learning, and not without ambition, -he resolved on doing _something_, however humble, to earn his bread, in -order to shut the mouths of tattling neighbors. His mother had tried to -get him apprenticed as a painter or a merchant's clerk, and failed for -want of a premium; and he had made a brief experiment at sailoring down -at Hull, and had come home again utterly loathing the cruelty and abuse -to which a sailor-boy of those days was subjected; so there was nothing -for him now but to take the first chance of learning any trade that came -in his way. He was an only child, and his mother had been a widow eleven -years, getting her living as a dyer, in which occupation she had -assisted her husband during his lifetime. In the pursuit of his trade as -a dyer he had moved about from town to town, and had met with his wife -at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Not long after their marriage Mr. and -Mrs. Cooper removed to Leicester, and took a house in Soar Lane, -conveniently situated by the river Soar. Here Thomas, their only child, -was born on the 20th of March, 1805. Twelve months afterward they went -to live at Exeter, where the father died when his little boy was but -four years old. After this his mother at once went back to old -Gainsborough, where she would be near her relatives. Here she remained -for the rest of her life, and here the first twenty-nine years of Thomas -Cooper's life were spent. - -The signs her boy had given of mental powers above the average were -quite enough to warrant Mrs. Cooper's pathetic speech when he sought -permission to become a shoemaker. His memory was remarkably retentive, -and dated from a period which must be regarded as exceptionally early. -On the day that he was two years old he fell into a stream that ran in -front of his father's house, and was nearly drowned. He declares that he -distinctly remembers being led by his father's hand over St. Thomas's -Bridge on the afternoon of that same day, and how the neighbors "chucked -him under the chin, and said, How did you like it? How did you fall in? -Where have you been to?" Writing in 1871 he says, "The circumstances are -as vivid to my mind as if they only occurred yesterday." Reading came to -him almost by instinct, and at three years of age his schoolmistress set -him on a stool to teach a boy more than twice his own age the letters of -the alphabet. At the same age he could repeat several of Æsop's fables. -On their removal to Gainsborough he was seized with small-pox, which -fearful complaint marred his visage for life. This was followed by other -complaints which kept him an invalid for a year. On his recovery he had -to bear the annoyance, so bitterly painful to a child, of being either -scouted or pitied for his altered looks. But the kindness he failed to -find out-of-doors was more than doubled at home. The heart of a true -mother and a right noble woman warmed toward the child in his weakness -and sad disfigurement. Never had needy child a more devoted parent. It -was hard work for the solitary woman to make a living and pay her way, -yet she bore up bravely and did the best she could for her child. The -picture which is given by Thomas Cooper in his Autobiography of his home -at this time, and of his own and his mother's position, has a -pre-Raphaelite simplicity about it, and well deserves a moment's -attention. "Within doors there was no longer a handsome room, the -cheerful look of my father, and his little songs and stories. We had now -but one chamber and one lower room, and the last-named at once parlor, -kitchen, and dye-house: two large coppers were set in one part of it; -and my mother was at work amid steam and sweat all the day long for half -of the week, and on the other half she was fully employed in "framing," -ironing, and finishing her work. Yet for me she had ever words of -tenderness. My altered face had not unendeared me to her. In the midst -of her heavy toil, she could listen to my feeble repetitions of the -fables, or spare a look, at my entreaty, for the figures I was drawing -with chalk upon the hearthstone."[59] Returning to school again, he was, -at five years of age, his teacher's favorite pupil, for he could "read -the tenth chapter of Nehemiah, with all its hard names, like the parson -in the church, as she used to say, and spell wondrously." Wandering -through the woods with his mother, or going with her on her country -business rounds when the weather was fine; poring over Baskerville's -quarto Bible with its fine engravings from the old masters, when -compelled on wet Sundays to stop indoors, the sensitive mind of the -eager child received its first impressions of the beautiful in nature -and art. When he was eight years of age his mother succeeded in getting -him admitted to a new Free School, recently opened in the town, and -little Tom was placed upon the foundation as a "Bluecoat" scholar. The -course of instruction at this school was neither varied nor profound, -consisting entirely of Scripture reading, writing, and the first four -rules of arithmetic; but its frequent repetitions of spelling and -ciphering lessons were good as a beginning, and laid a fair basis for -future learning. Obliged to attend the parish church with the rest of -the "Bluecoats," he became enamoured with the stately service of the -Church of England, the superior singing, and the grand old organ; and -great was his delight when he was chosen, on account of his good voice -and musical ear, to sit with six other boys in the choir by the organ up -in the gallery of the church. During these three years, from the age of -eight to eleven, he began to read for pleasure or profit such books as -the immortal "Pilgrim's Progress," or Baines's "History of the War," -"Pamela," and the "Earl of Moreland," and to revel in such ballads as -"Chevy Chase," which were committed to memory and repeated when alone, -and served to stir up in his young heart the poetic or the warlike -spirit. But these were years of severe trial too, for the great wars -were then raging on the Continent; taxes pressed with terrible weight on -all classes, but especially on the poor; and, added to these troubles, -were the evils of bad harvests and winters unusually severe. It was hard -indeed for his mother to make a living in such times, and to provide -the barest subsistence for herself and child. "At one time," he says, -"wheaten flour rose to six shillings per stone, and we tried to live on -barley-cakes, which brought on a burning, gnawing pain at the stomach. -For two seasons the corn was spoiled in the fields with wet; and when -the winter came, we could scoop out the middle of the soft distasteful -loaf, and to eat it brought on sickness. Meat was so dear that my mother -could not buy it, and often our dinner consisted of potatoes alone." In -three years the little Bluecoat boy had grown weary of the monotonous -round of teaching at the Free School, and got his mother's consent to -attend a better class of school for boys, kept by a man who was known -among his pupils and the neighbors as "Daddy Briggs." Here there was -talk of such abstruse subjects as _mensuration_ and _algebra_; -"Enfield's Speaker" was used for reading, and the scholars went deeply -into the histories of Greece and Rome and England, led on by that -profound and original historian, Goldsmith! However, the school was an -immense advance on the one just left, and offered certain opportunities -of intercourse with boys of better position and culture than Tom had -known before. - - [59] "The Life of Thomas Cooper, Written by Himself." - Hodder & Stoughton, 1872; p. 7. - -The boy must have made good use of his time at the Free School, for, it -seems, he went to Daddy Briggs' academy as much in the character of a -teacher as that of a pupil; and he says of this good-natured but not -very accomplished master: "He took no school-fees of my mother, but -employed me as an assistant, for about an hour each day, in teaching the -younger children. He treated me less as a pupil than as a companion, and -I became much attached to him. Yet he was never really a teacher to me. -I made my way easily without help through Walkinghame, part of -Bonnycastle, and got a little way into algebra before I left school." By -this time he had acquired an intense thirst for reading, and eagerly -sought out every book within reach. Now he borrowed the school-books of -his companions and read them through, and now he resorted to the -"circulating library," at the shop of an old lady who supplied him with -writing materials, and, as a great favor, was allowed to read such books -as were not immediately required for circulation; or, again, he seized -upon the cheap issues of educational works which were beginning to make -their appearance about this time, and were sold at the doors of the good -Gainsborough folk by that important personage "the number man." At -twelve years of age he had thus made the acquaintance of the classic -English poets, had read "Cook's Voyages," the "Arabian Nights," the -"Old English Baron," besides "a heap of other romances and novels it -would require pages even to name." - -At thirteen years of age the poetry of Byron made a deep impression on -his mind. Nothing in poetry but "Chevy Chase" had ever moved his heart -before. Of "Childe Harold" and "Manfred" he says, "They seemed to create -almost a new sense within me." Poetry was henceforth a passion with him; -but few subjects came amiss: he read everything he could lay hold of. - -About this time, too, he showed tendencies in two directions, which were -strongly developed subsequently, and, in fact, formed the main features -of his character in after-years. The conversation of certain working-men -politicians in a neighboring brush manufactory, and the loan of "Hone's -Caricatures" and "The News," set him off in the direction of _politics_, -and made him, of course, a disciple of Radicalism. But the other change -in the current of his thoughts, which came a little later on, was more -important, if not more profound and lasting. Deeply emotional and -imaginative as a child, having also a strong sense of moral right and -wrong, he was easily moved by religious appeals. A band of Primitive -Methodists having come to the town, he was caught up by their enthusiasm -and zeal, and resolved to join them. After much religious emotion, -ending in no very settled state of mind, he left them and united with -the Wesleyan Methodists, whose services and preaching were more to his -mind. This brings us up to the time of his leaving school at the age of -fifteen, and his entrance on the sterner work of life as a shoemaker. -True, he had not done anything very marvellous at present, but he had -fine abilities, a warm emotional nature, a rare poetic taste, a thorough -craving for books, and no little perseverance and industry. Good Mrs. -Cooper, therefore, showed something more than a mother's fond fancy when -she said, "The Lord's will be done; I don't think He intends thee to -spend thy life at shoemaking." - -The society in John Clarke's garret, where young Cooper sat down to -learn his trade, was, like that of many similar places, rather literary. -This man Clarke, true to the reputation of the followers of St. Crispin, -was thoughtful and fond of reading. The conversation ran on the poetry -of Shakespeare and Byron, and the acting of Kemble and Young and Mrs. -Siddons--the stars of that day in the theatrical world. One of the -fruits of this new poetic impulse was Cooper's first poem, made one -spring morning in his fifteenth year, as he walked in the fields near -Gainsborough. Quoting this short piece in his Autobiography, he says: "I -give it here, be it remembered, as the first literary feat of a -self-educated boy of fifteen. I say self-educated, so far as I was -educated. Mine has been almost entirely self-education all the way -through life." Great merit or promise is not claimed for these lines, -yet they are worth quoting, if only for the sake of comparing them with -the first attempt of another young shoemaker, Bloomfield.[60] - - [60] See above, p. 96. - -A MORNING IN SPRING. - - "See with splendor Phoebus rise, - And with beauty tinge the skies. - See the clouds of darkness fly - Far beyond the Western sky; - While the lark upsoaring sings, - And the air with music rings; - While the blackbird, linnet, thrush, - Perched on yonder thorny bush, - All unite in tuneful choir, - And raise the happy music higher. - While the murmuring busy bee, - Pattern of wakeful industry, - Flies from flower to flower to drain - The choicest juice from sweetest vein; - While the lowly cottage youth, - His mind well stored with sacred truth, - Rises, devout, his thanks to pay, - And hails the welcome dawn of day. - Oh, that 'twere mine, the happy lot, - To dwell within the peaceful cot-- - There rise, each morn, my thanks to pay, - And hail the welcome dawn of day!" - -Cooper stayed with Clarke for a year and a half, and, after a brief -interval, went to work with a "first-rate hand," who was known in the -shoemaking fraternity as _Don_ Cundell. Here the youth, more expert at -his craft than many of his companions, learned before the age of -nineteen to make "a really good woman's shoe."[61] During this period he -seems to have settled in good earnest alike to his daily occupation and -the work of self-culture. Under the guidance of a friend named -Macdonald, who lent him books, he read such works as Robertson's -"Histories of Scotland," "America," and "Charles the Fifth," Neale's -"History of the Puritans," and a little theology. Like multitudes of -youths in a position similar to his, Thomas Cooper derived much benefit -from a Mutual Improvement Society which was started in Gainsborough -about this time by a friend of his, a draper's assistant named Joseph -Foulkes Winks. In this society papers were read and discussions held on -all imaginable subjects, literary, historical, and religious. "This -weekly essay-writing," he says, "was an employment which absorbed a good -deal of my thought, and was a good induction into the writing of prose, -and into a mode of expressing one's thoughts." On one occasion a prize -was offered for the best essay on "The Worst King of England." The tug -of war lay between Winks, who chose as his subject James II., and -Cooper, who eventually was adjudged the victor, and had taken William -the Conqueror as his ideal of a bad king. The friendship thus commenced -in amicable rivalry lasted, as we shall see, through life. Not content -with self-improvement, these youths, with Macdonald and Wood, banded -themselves together in a resolve to instruct others less favored than -themselves, and an "Adult School" was formed. This was one of the first -if not the first school of the kind in Lincolnshire, and must have -proved a great benefit to the illiterate poor of the town, for by the -end of the following year, when this branch was admitted into "The Adult -Schools Society," the numbers on the books were 324. Friendships with -two other young men brought such books in his way as Sibley's famous -illustrated work on astrology, over which he wasted much valuable time, -Volney's "Ruins of Empires" and Voltaire's "Philosophical Dictionary," -over which his time was worse than wasted. But the best piece of good -fortune in the way of reading came to him in the discovery that one -"Nathaniel Robinson, mercer," "had left his library for the use of the -inhabitants of the town." It seems that this boon had been neglected or -forgotten by the good folk of Gainsborough. Once known to the ardent -young shoemaker, it was not neglected nor forgotten, at all events as -far as he was concerned. He pounced upon it with the avidity and excited -joy of a naturalist who lights upon a new or rare specimen. We must let -him speak for himself in the matter, and describe this precious "find" -in his own words. He says: "I was in ecstasies to find the dusty, -cobwebbed shelves loaded with Hooker, and Bacon, and Cudworth, and -Stillingfleet, and Locke, and Jeremy Taylor, and Tillotson, and Bates, -and Bishop Hall, and Samuel Clarke, and Warburton, and Bull, and -Waterland, and Bentley, and Bayle, and Ray, and Derham, and a score of -other philosophers and divines, mingled with Stanley's 'History of -Philosophers,' and its large full-length portraits; Ogilvy's 'Embassies -to Japan and China,' with their large curious engravings; Speed's and -Rapin's folio Histories of England, Collier's 'Church History,' Fuller's -'Holy War,' Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs,' the first edition, in black -letter, with its odd rude plates, and countless other curiosities and -valuables." - - [61] This seems to be a test of proficiency in the - trade. Bloomfield's brother says, "Robert is a _ladies'_ - shoemaker;" and stories are told of his receiving, after he - became famous as a poet, many orders from the nobility for - ladies' boots. - -Cooper now settled to reading in desperate earnest, and with something -like a fixed purpose to become a scholar, and perhaps a writer, or a -great political or religious orator, or, more probable than all things -else--for the poetic fervor was very strong just now--a _poet_! Yet he -had no very definite notions of what he was to be. All he was certain -about was that he must and would study, and fit himself for some higher -walk in life when the time came to enter on it. Let the reader keep this -fact in mind while reading the story we have to tell of close -application to study, lofty aspirations, and great attainments as a -scholar. _Thomas Cooper during his shoemaker's life, in which he laid -the foundation of rare scholarship, never earned more than ten shillings -a week_--scarcely enough to buy food and clothes. He had not become an -apprentice, and therefore the laws of the trade prevented the best -masters employing him. One "Widow Hoyle, who sold her goods in the -market cheap," was his only employer, so long as he remained at the -trade. If he was not, in these days of lowly toil and lofty thoughts, - - "Checked by the scoff of Pride, by Envy's frown," - -he well knew what it was to feel the restraint of - - "Poverty's unconquerable bar." - -Yet he had _courage_, an indispensable quality in a youth so situated, -and it was the courage that "mounteth with the occasion," and all these -bars to self-culture only acted as a stimulus to more resolute toil. -Strange to say, one of his greatest incentives to study at this time was -an account of the life of Dr. Samuel Lee, Professor of Hebrew in the -University of Cambridge, which the young student had read in the -_Imperial Magazine_, then edited by another of our illustrious -shoemakers, Samuel Drew. Lee had been a carpenter, ignorant of English -grammar, had bought Ruddiman's Latin Rudiments, and having mastered the -book, had learned to read Cæsar and Virgil, and had taught himself -Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac by the time he was six-and-twenty years of -age! Cooper said within himself, "If one man can teach himself a -language, another can." So he went to work, following in Lee's steps so -far as to take Ruddiman's book and commit "the entire volume to -memory--notes and all!" Then came the study of _Hebrew_ with the help of -Lyon's small grammar, bought for a shilling at an old bookstall; and a -year after he was busy at _Greek_, and created for himself a pleasing -diversion by the comparatively easy task of mastering _French_. All this -time his general reading was not neglected. By the advice of a valued -friend, John Hough, he fortified his mind against the sceptical thoughts -which previous reading had awakened by going carefully through the chief -works on Christian evidences. Few divinity students at the end of their -course have read more carefully or extensively than this occupant of a -cobbler's stall had done by the time he was twenty-three years old. -Paley's "Horæ Paulinæ," "Natural Theology," and "Evidences," Bishop -Watson's "Apologies," Soame Jenyns' "Internal Evidences," Lord -Lyttleton's "Conversion of St. Paul," Sherlock's "Trial of the -Witnesses," besides profounder works like Butler's "Analogy," Bentley's -"Folly of Atheism," Dr. Samuel Clarke's "Being and Attributes of God," -Stillingfleet's "Origines Sacræ," and Warburton's "Divine Legation of -Moses," were as familiar to him as the "Paradise Lost" and most of the -plays of Shakespeare were to his companion Thomas Miller.[62] The labors -of this period, from 1824 to 1828, were tremendous, or, as one of Sir -Walter Scott's characters was wont to say, "prodigious." Cooper had left -Don Cundell's, and now worked at home, so that he could arrange his time -for study and work as he pleased. Like Drew, he had learned to do a fair -day's work and not to neglect the means of earning his daily bread for -the more fascinating occupations of reading and study. But if ordinary -work was not neglected, it must be confessed that the work of the -scholar was overdone. No one can live as Cooper lived from the age of -nineteen to twenty-three without incurring fearful risk to body and -mind. Rising at three, or four at the latest, he read history, or the -grammar of some language, or engaged in translation till seven, when he -sat down to his stall. At meal-times he attempted the double task of -taking in food for the body and the mind at the same time, cutting up -his food and eating it with a spoon that he might not have occasion to -take his eyes off the book he held in his hand; at work till eight or -nine, he was all the while committing to memory and reciting aloud -passages from the poets, or declensions and conjugations, or rules of -syntax; and when he rose from his stool, it was only to pace the room, -while he still went on with his studies, until at last he dropped into -bed utterly exhausted. This was his method in spring and summer, but -even in winter his hours were just as long, and study in the early -morning was not accompanied by the invigorating influence of walking -exercise and fresh air; for he says, "When in the coldness of winter we -could not afford to have a fire till my mother rose, I used to put a -lamp on a stool, which I placed on a little round table, and standing -before it wrapped up in my mother's old red cloak, I read on till seven, -or studied a grammar or my Euclid, and frequently kept my feet moving to -secure warmth or prevent myself from falling asleep."[63] In this way -Latin was so far mastered that Cæsar's "De Bello Gallico" could be read -"page after page with scarcely more than a glance at the dictionary," -and the "Eneid" of Virgil became an intellectual love that lasted for -life. We have no space to describe the vast amount of historical and -miscellaneous reading done at this time. It was surely no small feat for -a shoemaker, working hard for twelve or thirteen hours in the day, to go -in a few years through Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," Sale's "Preliminary -Discourse to his Translation of the Koran," Mosheim's "Church History," -all the principal English poets from Shakespeare to Scott and Keats; to -read the "Curiosities of Literature," "Calamities" and "Quarrels of -Authors," Wharton's "History of Poetry" and Johnson's "Lives of the -Poets," Boswell's "Life of Johnson" and Landor's "Imaginary -Conversations," Southey's "Book of the Church," and Lingard's -"Anglo-Saxon Antiquities," besides a host of books of travel, and -quarterly and monthly magazines innumerable. - - [62] Thomas Miller, afterward known as a poet and - novelist, and for his charming descriptions of rural scenery, - was an intimate friend of Cooper from childhood to old age. - - [63] "Life of Thomas Cooper," pp. 60, 61. - -We have said that Cooper _overdid_ the work of study. Like Kirke-White, -he was so completely absorbed with the passion for learning, that he set -all the laws of health at defiance, and had to pay the penalty. Having a -stronger constitution than the Nottingham youth, Cooper managed to -escape with his life, and, after a period of bodily and mental -prostration, with all his old vigor restored to him; but it was a narrow -escape. These excessive labors, coupled with the effects of scanty fare, -brought him to a state of extreme weakness. He says, "I not unfrequently -swooned away and fell all along the floor when I tried to take my cup of -oatmeal gruel at the end of my day's labor. Next morning, of course, I -was not able to rise at an early hour; and then very likely the next -day's study had to be stinted. I needed better food than we could afford -to buy, and often had to contend with the sense of faintness, while I -still plodded on with my double task of mind and body."[64] At length, -after many premonitory symptoms, came a crisis. One night he had to be -carried to bed in a dead faint, and for nine weeks he left his bed but -for a short time each day. The greatest fears were felt for his safety; -the doctor had little hope, and once he was so prostrate, that a friend -who was called in sadly told his mother that the pulse had ceased to -beat, and _he was dead_! This was at the end of 1827; by the spring of -the following year he had recovered sufficiently to begin to think of -going to work again. A brief spell at his old occupation was enough to -satisfy him that it would not suit him in his altered state of health; -and, after a short rest and more complete recovery, he took the welcome -advice of two friends and agreed to _open a school_. He had now done -forever with the trade of a shoemaker, after giving to it eight years of -the best part of his early life. These he confesses to have been, on the -whole, most happy years, and of the last four he says with enthusiasm, -"What glorious years were those years of self-denial and earnest mental -toil, from the age of nearly nineteen to nearly three-and-twenty, that I -sat and worked in that corner of my poor mother's lowly home!" He had -certainly made wondrous progress as a self-taught scholar, and now he -was prepared to enter the world and make his own way in it, with such a -stock of learning and culture as few young men in England, in his -position, could boast of. We scarcely dare venture to estimate his -acquirements at this time. The reader can easily judge from our account -of his studies how considerable they must have been. In English -literature, from Spenser and Shakespeare to the essayists and poets, -such as De Quincey, Hazlitt, and Charles Lamb, or Byron, Campbell, and -Moore, he was well versed. He had read extensively in history, -philosophy, theology, and Christian evidences. As to mathematics, he had -gone pretty deeply into algebra and geometry; and in the languages, -besides his "easy" French, he had done something in Hebrew, could read -his Greek Testament, and found delight in the Latin authors, such as -Cæsar, Virgil, Tacitus, and Lactantius. This is no mean story to tell of -the accomplishments of a self-taught shoemaker, who has never earned -more than ten shillings per week. - - [64] "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 67. - -School-teaching was a congenial employment for one so fond of study and -so apt to teach as Thomas Cooper. He threw his whole soul into the work, -and succeeded in establishing a first-rate school of its class; and -_that_ class of school was certainly a vast improvement on the Free -School of his own early days. Everybody in Gainsborough knew the -studious shoemaker who had learned four languages at the cobbler's -stall, read as much, or more, than any one in the town of his own age, -had a marvellous memory, and could repeat the whole of _Hamlet_ and the -first four books of the "Paradise Lost!" Besides all this, he was known -and esteemed for a steady young man, who, though he might incur a little -suspicion among the strictly religious folk by his neglect of public -worship, was guilty of no waste of time or money in vicious company and -riotous living. And so pupils flocked in; a hundred names were entered -on his books by the end of the first year, and the school prospered to -his heart's content. Nor was the confidence of parents misplaced; never, -surely, did a teacher give himself more completely to his work. He gave -even more than was bargained for, drilling all the boys in Latin -grammar, and carrying them on as far as possible in the higher branches -of arithmetic. Five years were thus spent most usefully and happily at -Gainsborough, after which he removed from the old town and settled in -the cathedral city of Lincoln. - -But before quitting Gainsborough a vital change had taken place in his -thoughts and mode of life. Brought face to face with death in his recent -illness, the most serious thoughts had been aroused within his mind, and -on his recovery he was not the man to abandon or drown such thoughts -because the immediate fear of death had passed away. The earnest -conversations he held with the young curate of the parish, "the pious -and laborious Charles Hensley," and his two former friends, Hough and -Kelvey, strengthened his resolve to seek for peace of mind in the belief -of gospel truth and entire devotion to a religious life. In January, -1829, he joined the Methodist Society. The perusal of Sigston's "Life of -William Bramwell" fired his soul with a passion for holiness, and such -was his intensity of religious fervor for a time, that he is constrained -to say in his Autobiography: "If throughout eternity in heaven I be as -happy as I often was for whole days during that short period of my -religious life, it will be heaven indeed. Often for several days -together I felt close to the Almighty--felt I was His own and His -entirely. I felt no wandering of the will and inclination to yield to -sin; and when temptation came, my whole soul wrestled for victory till -the temptation fled." Entered on the local preachers' plan, he turned -his rare gifts to good account in ministering to the congregations which -formed the Gainsborough "circuit," and developed that faculty of -eloquent speech which in later years has delighted the thousands who -gathered to hear his political orations as an advocate of the "People's -Charter" or his grand lectures on the evidences of the Christian -religion. Driven away from his old home by unhappy disturbances in the -Wesleyan Society, he went, as we have said, in November, 1833, to live -at Lincoln, where once more he occupied himself as a schoolmaster. - -Just before leaving Gainsborough he was constrained to gather a few -pieces of his poetry together and publish them by subscription in a -small volume, with the title, taken from the first piece, "The Wesleyan -Chiefs." The book fell flat on the market, and seems to have had very -little merit. Its publication was chiefly remarkable for bringing the -author into the company of James Montgomery, who kindly undertook to -read the proof sheets. Only one of these selections seems to have called -forth a word of commendation from the veteran poet. Against the lines -addressed to "Lincoln Cathedral" he wrote: "These are very noble lines, -and the versification is truly worthy of them."[65] Montgomery was then -over sixty years of age, and had published all the poems by which his -name is known to fame. - - [65] These lines stand first among the minor pieces in - "Cooper's Poetical Works." London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1877. - -Soon after going to reside in Lincoln, Cooper married Miss Jobson, -sister of Frederic James Jobson, afterward well known as Dr. Jobson -among the Wesleyan Methodists, and at one time their honored President -of the Conference. The religious troubles at Gainsborough followed the -local preacher to Lincoln, for the superintendent with whom he had -disagreed at the former place would not suffer him to rest in his new -home; and at length, soured and wearied by what he could not but deem -ill-usage, he threw up his appointment on the plan, and finally cut -himself off from the Methodist connection. Free to devote his energies -to other pursuits, he now flung himself very zealously into the new -Mechanics' Institute movement, took a class in Latin, sought to perfect -himself in French pronunciation, and to acquire a knowledge of Italian -under the tutorship of Signor D'Albrione, "a very noble-looking Italian -gentleman, a native of Turin, who had been a cavalry officer in the -armies of Napoleon, had endured the retreat from Moscow, was at the -defeat of Leipzig," etc., and had become "a refugee in England on -account of his participation in the conspiracy of the Carbonari." -German, also, was studied for a time; but very soon a new attraction -arose in the formation of a Choral Society, of which the zealous -schoolmaster became the secretary and chief manager, collecting its -funds, enlisting by his persuasive powers the best singers in the city, -and arranging for its meetings and public performances. His attendance -at the lectures of the Institute incidentally led to a new employment, -in which undoubtedly Thomas Cooper might have excelled and gained no -mean emolument and renown had he chosen to devote himself exclusively to -it. Having sent a paragraph report of one of the lectures on chemistry -to the _Lincoln_, _Rutland_, and _Stamford Mercury_, he was waited upon -by the editor, Richard Newcomb, and requested to supply intelligence -weekly of any affairs of importance in the city, and promised £20 a year -for his trouble. This was in 1834. In two years he gave up his -connection with the Choral Society, cultivated the newspaper -correspondent business to such an extent that he was advanced to £100 -per year, and so gave up his school. Having put his hand to the work of -newspaper correspondence, he did not do it by halves. He exposed the -abuses, as he deemed them, then rife in the city, wrote sketches of the -"Lincoln Preachers," and created such a stir by his lively and racy -articles on municipal and political matters, that the paper rapidly rose -in circulation, and he found himself for a time the most notorious man -in the city, feared by many, hated by not a few, and courted by those -who had favors to win or help to secure from the lively correspondent. - -In 1838, at the urgent request of Mr. Newcomb, he removed to Stamford, -under a verbal promise that when the editor retired, which he intimated -would be very soon, Cooper should have the sole management. After -remaining for a few months in the position of clerk to Mr. Newcomb, and -finding to his chagrin that the old editor gave no sign of keeping to -his agreement, he very rashly threw down his pen and gave notice to -leave. A little patience might have sufficed to gain his end, but his -mortification was extreme, and so a good situation, worth, in all, £300 -a year, was sacrificed. "On the 1st of June, 1839," he writes, "we got -on the stage-coach, with our boxes of books, at Stamford, and away I -went to make my first venture in London." - -The six years spent at Lincoln had been a time of literary activity in -more ways than that of newspaper correspondence. Many minor pieces, such -as are found at the end of the collected poems, were written, and the -title and plan of his best poetical work, "The Purgatory of Suicides," -was decided upon. But he had done more in the way of prose. The first -volume of a historical romance was finished ere he left Lincoln, and now -that he had come to London, he hoped to make his way with this as an -introduction to the publishers and the reading world. But he very soon -discovered, as thousands besides have done, that he had little to hope -from patrons, even though, like Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer, they might be -men to whom he had rendered some political service in days gone by, and -that his unlucky manuscript was a poor broken reed to lean upon. After -nine months' bitter experience of fruitless attempts to find employment, -and when all his stock of five hundred books, the dear companions of the -last ten years of earnest study, had been sold, and even his father's -old silver watch and articles of clothing had been carried to the -pawnshop, he was fortunate enough to make an engagement, at £3 per week, -as editor of the _Kentish Mercury_, _Gravesend Journal_, and _Greenwich -Gazette_, of which Mr. William Dougal Christie was the proprietor. He -had held this office but a short time when disagreement as to the -management of the paper led him to give notice of retirement from his -awkward position. Strangely enough, at this very juncture a letter -reached him from a friend in Lincoln enclosing another from the manager -of a paper in Leicester, asking to be informed of "the whereabouts of -Thomas Cooper, who wrote the articles entitled 'Lincoln Preachers' in -the _Stamford Mercury_." Dropping the letter, he exclaimed to his wife, -"The message has come at last--the message of Destiny! We are going to -live at Leicester," thus expressing a thought he had secretly cherished -for years, "that he had something to do of a stirring and important -nature at Leicester." And so it proved, but that "something" was very -different from what he had ever anticipated. Answering the inquiry in -person, he agreed with the manager of the _Leicestershire Mercury_ to -accept a reporter's place at a small remuneration, and in November, -1840, he went to reside in his native town and prepare himself for his -"destiny." In London he had met with his old friend Thomas Miller, who -was then writing "Lady Jane Grey;" and here at Leicester he discovered -another Gainsborough youth, Joseph Winks, who had been his companion and -rival in the Improvement Society, and was now "a printer and bookseller, -a busy politician, Baptist preacher, and editor of three or four small -religious periodicals."[66] - - [66] The _Children's Magazine_ (next to the _Teacher's - Offering_ the first magazine for children published in this - country), the _Christian Pioneer_, the _Child's Magazine_. He - was also editor of the _Baptist Reporter_ for many years. - -Sent one night by the manager of the _Mercury_ to attend and report a -Chartist lecture, he was introduced for the first time to those poor but -desperately earnest politicians who were at that time making their -pathetic and passionate voices heard throughout the Midland and Northern -Counties. From that night Thomas Cooper was a Chartist; and for the next -three years his best powers were devoted to the cause of the suffering -operatives and his life-interests bound up in the Chartist movement. -Nothing could be more pitiable than the condition of the Leicester -"stockingers" at this time. The average weekly wages of a man who worked -hard were four-and-sixpence! Ground down to the point of starvation by -"frame-rent," payment for "standing," for "giving-out," and for the -"seamer," and, worst of all, obliged to pay the full week's rent when -working on half-time, it is no wonder that his spirit was galled to -madness, and that he looked to something like a political revolution for -a redress of his wrongs. Lord Byron, in the only speech he ever -delivered in the House of Lords, had spoken eloquently and generously in -behalf of these suffering operatives of the Midland Counties. - -One cannot wonder that a man like Cooper, who had known the pinchings of -poverty, should have felt his soul stirred within him. His sympathies -and views soon drew him into writing and speaking for the Chartists. -This was an offence in the eyes of his employers of the _Mercury_, and -led to his severance from them. He now, at the request of the factory -hands of Leicester, became their political leader, and the editor of -their paper, the _Midland Counties Illuminator_, which fell into his own -hands after a few weeks, and was changed in style and title, and made a -new appearance as the _Chartist Rushlight_, and afterward as the -_Extinguisher_. In the midst of the dispute between Whigs and Tories, -Cooper was "nominated" by the Chartists as their candidate, not with any -hope of being carried at the poll, but rather as a means of spiting the -Whigs, against whom the working-men were intensely bitter, on account of -their unwillingness to support "The People's _Charter_." Endeavoring to -turn his leadership of the Chartists to some account apart from -politics, he added to the task of regular addresses in the open air the -conduct of a Sunday adult school and Sunday-evening meetings; and, when -the winter came on, gathered his friends together, and sought to lift -their thoughts above their daily care, and awaken in their minds a -desire for reading, by a course of lectures on literature and science. -But the bad times of 1842 put a stop to all this. The condition of the -stockingers grew worse and worse, and Cooper took to supplying bread on -sale or loan, to meet the wants of the poor starving creatures, and ran -into debt by so doing. The poorhouse, or _Bastile_, as the working-men -always called it, was crowded to excess, and riots broke out now and -again; but with these neither Cooper nor the Chartist Association had -anything to do. In August of the same year he was appointed by this body -as a delegate to the Chartists' Convention at Manchester. On the way -thither he lectured or spoke in the open air at Birmingham, Wednesbury, -Bilston, Wolverhampton, and at length came to Hanley, where he addressed -a vast crowd of men at "the _Crown Bank_." His subject was the sixth -commandment, "Thou shalt do no murder," in which he spoke of the -violations of this law by conquerors and legislators, and by masters who -oppressed the hireling in his wages. The men were now out on strike, and -the excitement produced by this and another address on the following -night was intense. He counselled perpetually "peace, law, and order," -and bade the men hold out in their strike until the People's Charter -became the law of the land. Riot and incendiarism broke out in a short -time, for which Cooper was in no way directly responsible, but had, on -the other hand, distinctly endeavored to dissuade them from. He was -taken prisoner on his return from Manchester, and having been tried for -the crime of arson, was acquitted, having pleaded his own case so -eloquently that the judge was evidently affected, and the ladies present -at the trial were even moved to tears. Tried again at the Spring Assizes -on the charge of sedition, he cross-examined the witnesses from Monday -to Saturday at noon, and then proceeded to sum up his defence in a -speech which altogether (Sunday intervening) lasted ten hours. "I do not -think," he remarks, "I ever spoke so powerfully in my life as during the -last hour of that defence. The peroration, the Stafford papers said, -would never be forgotten; and I remember as I sat down, panting for -breath and utterly exhausted, how Talfourd and Erskine and the jury sat -transfixed, gazing at me in silence, and the whole crowded place was -breathless, as it seemed, for a minute." The case being removed by a -"writ of _certiorari_" to the Court of Queen's Bench, was tried on the -5th of May, 1843. In his defence Thomas Cooper again delivered an -eloquent speech, five and a half hours long, and was again acquitted of -the charge of felony. Judge Erskine's notes of the trial had "_mistake_" -written alongside the evidence on that part of the charge. But the -eloquent Chartist orator was convicted on the charge of _sedition_ and -_conspiracy_, and sent to Stafford jail for two years. - -There are few chapters in the Autobiography so full of interest and so -graphically written as those which describe Thomas Cooper's prison -experience. Galled to the quick by the treatment he received--for he was -kept on low, miserable fare and denied "literary privileges"--he -determined to break down "the system of restraint in Stafford jail, and -win the privilege of reading and writing, or die in the attempt." After -many manoeuvres he managed to get pen, ink, and paper, and write a -petition to the House of Commons, which was handed in at the bar of the -House by Mr. Duncombe, M.P. for Finsbury. All that he could reasonably -expect was now granted in answer to his appeal, and the remainder of his -time was filled up with literary work. He revelled in the English poets -from Shakespeare to Shelley; read again the "Decline and Fall," -Prideaux's "Connexion," White's "Selborne," etc., etc.; fell -passionately in love with the study of Hebrew, and almost raved about -the glories of the sacred language of the Old Testament; and read two -thirds of the Hebrew Bible, copying out verbs and nouns as he went -along. One day he was visited by Lord Sandon, afterward Earl of -Harrowby, who fell into conversation with the learned prisoner about the -poetical books of the Bible in the old German edition which lay open -before him on the table. A short time before his release the chaplain -told him that the way was open for him to go to Cambridge if he would; -but the conditions were such as did not suit the independent mind of the -political martyr. Cooper had a shrewd suspicion that the visit of the -nobleman had some connection with this generous offer. - -Cooper's best work in Stafford jail was the composition of the -well-known poem, "The Purgatory of Suicides." This poem, he tells us, -was the working out of a thought which occurred to him ten years before, -when he was sitting as a reporter in the assize court at Lincoln. The -historical romance, the first part of which he had carried to London in -1839, was also completed during his imprisonment, and he wrote during -the same period a volume of tales, afterward published under the title, -"Wise Saws and Modern Instances." "These," he says, "I took out of -prison with me as my keys for unlocking the gates of fortune." - -On his liberation, May 4th, 1845, he went up to London, shedding tears -of gladness and gratitude on the way as he looked once more on the green -fields and hedgerows of the Midland Counties. His first care was to find -a publisher for his prison rhyme and tales. As soon as he was able he -sought out Mr. Duncombe, to thank him for his generous help in the -matter of the petition to the House of Commons, and to ask for counsel -in seeking a publisher. Duncombe sent him to Mr. D'Israeli, with the -following note: - - "MY DEAR D'ISRAELI,--I send you Mr. Cooper, a Chartist, red-hot - from Stafford jail. But don't be frightened; he won't bite you. - He has written a poem and a romance, and thinks he can cut out - 'Coningsby' and 'Sybil.' Help him if you can, and oblige yours, - T. S. DUNCOMBE." - -It is gratifying to read of the kindness with which the shrewd -statesman, then a Tory of the Tories, received the "red-hot radical." "I -wish I had seen you before I finished my last novel," said he; "my -heroine Sybil is a Chartist." With the kindly help of Douglas Jerrold -the "Purgatory" was at length published by Jeremiah How, Fleet Street, -who undertook to bear the cost and risk of printing. It came out in -September, 1845, and the five hundred copies of the first edition were -sold off before Christmas. Cooper now began to write for Douglas -Jerrold's "Shilling Magazine." The volume of tales called "Wise Saws," -etc., and a short poem, "The Baron's Yule Feast," were issued about the -same time. The "Purgatory of Suicides" had been dedicated, without leave -asked, to Thomas Carlyle, to whom the author sent a copy, and from whom -he received in acknowledgment a characteristic letter, in which, among -other kind and wise things, that greatest of all the literary men of his -age said, "I have looked into your poem, and find indisputable traces of -genius in it--a dark Titanic energy struggling there, for which we hope -there will be clearer daylight by and by;" and along with the letter -came a copy of "Past and Present," with Carlyle's autograph. In 1846 -Cooper was at work on Douglas Jerrold's weekly paper, visiting the -Midland and Northern Counties as a sort of commissioner, and writing -articles on the "Condition of the People of England." Passing through -the Lake District, he called on Wordsworth, and was most kindly received -by the "majestic old man." Great, however, was the Chartist's amazement -to hear the "Tory" Wordsworth say with reference to the Chartist -movement, "You were right; I have always said the people were right in -what they asked; but you went the wrong way to get it." On his return to -London, Cooper engaged to lecture on Sunday evenings at South Place, -Finsbury Square, and continued the work of public lecturer for the next -eight years. During this time he lectured through the winter for various -political and socialist societies in several large halls in London, such -as the John Street Institution and the "Hall of Science," City Road, and -filled up the time during the summer by lecturing tours throughout the -kingdom. He had now become a _sceptic_, _i.e._ _doubter_, and confined -himself in his lectures exclusively to secular topics, political or -literary. The misery he had witnessed in Leicester and the Potteries, -the failure of all his efforts to benefit the suffering poor, and the -long imprisonment he had endured as a disinterested champion of their -cause, had sorely shaken his faith in Divine Providence and driven him -to the verge of downright atheism, but only to the verge: he declares -that he was never an atheist, nor ever "proclaimed blank atheism in his -public teaching."[67] Yet it must be confessed he went far in this -direction. The worst period of his life in this respect was the winter -of 1848-49, when, having become a disciple of Strauss, he engaged to -give a series of lectures on Sunday evenings in the "Hall of Science" on -the teachings of the "Leben Jesu." He says: "There is no part of my -teaching as a public lecturer that I regret so deeply as this. It would -rejoice my heart indeed if I could obliterate those lectures from the -realm of fact."[68] But for the most part his addresses were on purely -literary or historical subjects, and marvellous indeed was the -versatility and extent of learning they displayed. The enumeration of -topics alone would occupy several pages. Every one of the chief English -poets and their poems, the history of every European country, the lives -of great reformers, statesmen, generals, inventors, discoverers, men of -science, musicians, ancient philosophers and modern philanthropists, -negro slavery, taxation, national debt, the age of chivalry, the Middle -Ages, wrongs of Poland, the Gypsies, ancient Egypt, astronomy, geology, -natural history, the vegetable kingdom--these and scores of other topics -were treated during these years of lecturing life in London and the -provinces. In addition to these duties he had other cares and toils. In -1848-49 he edited a weekly paper called the _Plain Speaker_, and in the -following year _Cooper's Journal_. His "Triumph of Perseverance" -appeared in 1849, "Alderman Ralph" and "The Family Feud," two novels, in -1853 and 1855 respectively. - - [67] "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 262, also pp. - 356-367. - - [68] "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 316. - -Returning from a lecturing tour at the end of 1855, he was conscious of -a great and vital change which had for some time been going on within -his mind, and when he attempted to recommence his work at the City Hall -in January, 1856, he found it impossible to go on along the old lines. -On a certain memorable night, when announced to speak on "Sweden and the -Swedes," he could not utter a word. He turned pale as death, and as the -audience sat gazing and wondering what could have come to the bold and -fluent speaker, whose tongue was ready on every theme, his pent-up -feelings at length found vent. He told the people he could lecture on -Sweden, but must relieve his conscience, for he could suppress -conviction no longer. He then declared that he had been insisting on the -duty of morality for years, but there had been this radical defect in -his teachings, that he had "neglected to teach the right foundation for -morals--the existence of a Divine moral Governor."[69] In the storm -which followed he challenged them to bring the best sceptics they could -muster in the metropolis, and he would meet them in debate on the being -of God and the argument for a future state. He kept his promise, and for -four nights maintained his ground against _Robert_ Cooper[70] and others -in the City Hall and the John Street Institute. - - [69] Ibid p. 335. - - [70] The charges of atheism and atheistic advocacy - made against _Thomas_ Cooper have often arisen from confounding - _Thomas_ Cooper the _sceptic_ with _Robert_ Cooper the - _infidel_. See "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 357. - -But though the battle was fought out bravely in public, he had yet -another conflict to wage and win ere his mind enjoyed rest and peace in -the faith of a true _Christian_. In this conflict he received valuable -aid from the Rev. Charles Kingsley,[71] and his old friend and relative, -Dr. Jobson. Through the kind interest of the Rev. F. D. Maurice, W. E. -Foster, M.P., and W. F. Cowper, President of the Board of Health, Cooper -obtained employment for two years under Government as a copyist of -letters. Returning to the City Hall, he now began a series of -Sunday-evening lectures on Theism, and advancing stage by stage, he took -up such themes as the Moral Government of God, Man's Moral Nature, the -Soul and a Future State, Evidences of Christianity, Atonement, Faith, -Repentance, etc. But his return to the truth of Christ and Christianity -was gradual, though sure. As he says, "I had been twelve years a -sceptic; and it was not until fully two years had been devoted to hard -reading and thinking that I could conscientiously and truly say, I am -again a Christian, even nominally." Saved in an extraordinary manner -from death by a railway accident as he was travelling to Bradford on the -10th May, 1858, he finally and fully resolved to dedicate his powers to -the service of God, saying within himself as he stood looking on the -mournful sight of the ruined train and the dead and wounded lying -around, "Oh, take my life, which Thou hast graciously kept, and let it -be devoted to Thee. I have again entered Thy service; let me never more -leave it, but live only to spread Thy truth!" - - [71] See letters to Thomas Cooper in "Kingsley's Life - and Letters." London: Henry King & Co., 1877, pp. 183 and 221, - etc. - -He began at once not only to lecture on the evidences of Christianity, -but to preach, and received many solicitations to join different -religious societies. Dr. Hook of Leeds generously offered him an -appointment as head of a band of Scripture-readers, with freedom to go -out on his own mission as a speaker when he pleased. This offer he -declined, with grateful thanks to the worthy vicar. In the spring of the -following year he decided to join the Baptist denomination, and writes, -"Reflection made me a Baptist in conviction, and on Whitsunday, 1859, my -old and dear friend, Joseph Foulkes Winks, immersed me in baptism in -Friar Lane Chapel, Leicester." - -From that time to the present--twenty-two years--Thomas Cooper has -devoted his great powers to the work of preaching and lecturing on the -evidences of the Christian religion. The energy and ability displayed in -this noble work by the veteran orator have been remarkable. For months -together he has been known to travel long distances by rail, and lecture -four or five times in the week, and preach three times on Sunday. After -a two hours' lecture he was wont, during the first few years of this -period, to recite the first two or three books of Milton's "Paradise -Lost." Few, if any, that ever heard his preaching can forget its rich -spirituality of tone and delightful purity and simplicity of style. The -lectures it is hard to describe without seeming to exaggerate their rare -merits. The best testimony to their worth has been given by the hundreds -of thousands who have come together to listen to them as delivered in -all the chief towns of England, Scotland, and Wales for more than twenty -years, and by their rapid and extensive sale when published. Crowded -with facts of history or science which are clearly arranged and pressed -into the service of logical argument, delivered extemporaneously in -language of the truest and homeliest Saxon type, and often marked by -passages of great eloquence, these lectures may be taken as ideals of -what popular lectures on religious evidences should be. Of his present -employment, Thomas Cooper, writing in 1872, says, in his own simple -fashion: "My work is indeed a happy work. Sunday is now a day of heaven -to me. I feel that to preach 'the unsearchable riches of Christ' is the -most exalted and ennobling work in which a human creature can be -engaged. And believing that I am performing the work of duty--_that I am -right_--my employment of lecturing on the 'Evidences of Natural and -Revealed Religion,' from week to week, fills me with the consoling -reflection that my life is not being spent in vain, much less spent in -evil." Happy close of a strangely eventful and checkered life! May the -stalwart old laborer of _seventy-five_ be spared to scatter many a -handful of the seeds of truth before he hears the summons which shall -end his labors. - -We have spoken, in the title of this chapter, of Thomas Cooper as "The -self-educated shoemaker who reared his own monument." This sketch cannot -be closed more appropriately than by giving the titles of the works -published during the last eight years--the stones which form the chief -part of that monument: - - The Bridge of History over the Gulf of Time (1872), twentieth - thousand. - - Plain Pulpit-Talk (1872), third edition. - - The Life of Thomas Cooper, written by Himself (1872), twelfth - thousand. - - The Paradise of Martyrs, or Faith Rhyme (1873). - - God, the Soul, and a Future State (1873), eight thousand. - - Old-Fashioned Stories (1874), third edition. - - The Verity of Christ's Resurrection from the Dead (1875), fifth - thousand. - - The Verity and Value of the Miracles of Christ (1876), fourth - thousand. - - The Poetical Works--Purgatory of Suicides, Paradise of Martyrs, - Minor Poems (1877), Evolution, the Stone Book, and the Mosaic - Record of Creation (1878), third thousand. - - The Atonement and other Discourses (1880). - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -A Constellation of Celebrated Cobblers. - - "This day is called the feast of Crispin: - - .. .. .. . - - And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, - From this day to the ending of the world, - But we in it shall be remembered: - We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." - - --_Shakespeare. King Henry Fifth's Address - to the Leaders of the English Army on - the Eve of the Battle of Agincourt. Act - v. Scene 3._ - - -Archbishop Whately once amused a clerical dinner-party by asking the -question, "Why do _white_ sheep eat more than _black_ sheep?" When none -of his friends could answer the question, the witty Archbishop dryly -remarked that _one_ reason undoubtedly was that "there were more of -them." The question is often asked, "How are we to account for the fact -that shoemakers outnumber any other handicraft in the ranks of -illustrious men?"[72] Perhaps this question may be answered in the same -way. At all events, the answer "there are more of them," will go a long -way toward a solution of this interesting social problem. The sons of -Crispin are certainly a very numerous class, and it is but natural that -they should figure largely in the lists of famous men. But inquirers on -this subject are not generally satisfied by an appeal to statistics. It -is felt that something more is required in order to account for the -remarkable proportion of shoemakers in the roll of men of mark. In -addition to this, it must be borne in mind that the reputation of -shoemakers does not depend entirely on their most illustrious -representatives. They have, _as a class_, a reputation which is quite -unique. The followers of "the gentle craft" have generally stood -foremost among artisans as regards intelligence and social influence. -Probably no class of workmen could, in these respects, compete with them -fifty or a hundred years ago, when education and reading were not so -common as they are now. Almost to a man they had some credit for -thoughtfulness, shrewdness, logical skill, and debating power; and their -knowledge derived from books was admitted to be beyond the average among -operatives. They were generally referred to by men of their own social -status for the settlement of disputed points in literature, science, -politics, or theology. Advocates of political, social, or religious -reform, local preachers, Methodist "class-leaders," and Sunday-school -teachers, were drafted in larger numbers from the fraternity of -shoemakers than from any other craft. - - [72] Among others, Coleridge observed that shoemakers - had given to the world a larger number of eminent men than any - handicraft. The philosopher was rather partial to shoemakers, - from the time when, as a boy at Christ's Hospital, he wished to - be apprenticed to the trade of shoemaking. - -How are we to account for such facts as these? Is there anything in the -_occupation_ of the shoemaker which is peculiarly favorable to habits of -thought and study? It would seem to be so; and yet it would be difficult -to show what it is that gives him an advantage over all other workmen. -The secret may lie in the fact that he _sits_ to his work, and, as a -rule, sits _alone_; that his occupation stimulates his mind without -wholly occupying and absorbing its powers; that it leaves him free to -break off, if he will, at intervals, and glance at the book or make -notes on the paper which lies beside him. Such facts as these have been -suggested, and not without reason, as helping us to account for the -reputation which the sons of Crispin enjoy as an uncommonly clever class -of men. - - - - -ANCIENT EXAMPLES IN ASIA AND AFRICA - - -THE COBBLER AND THE ARTIST APELLES. - -"Let the cobbler stick to his last." - -The reputation of the shoemaker class is not confined to our own country -or to modern times. It is pretty much the same in all countries, and -reaches back to very ancient times. The proverb, "_Ne Sutor ultra -crepidam_"--"Let the cobbler stick to his last"--is one of the oldest in -existence. Few proverbs are more universally and frequently quoted. It -is based on a story which comes down to us from the times of Alexander -the Great. Even if the story, as it is told in our Grecian histories, be -not authentic, it serves to show that even in times preceding the -Christian era cobblers were regarded as a shrewd and observant set of -men. But there is no reason that we know of to doubt the story, which is -well worth repeating. It is told of Apelles, one of the most celebrated -of the old Greek painters, who flourished about 300 B.C. He was the -friend of Alexander, and the only artist whom the great warrior would -allow to paint his portrait. Apelles, we are told, was not ashamed to -learn from the humblest critics. As Lord Bacon says, he did not object -to "light his torch at any man's candle." For this reason, knowing that -a good deal may sometimes be learned from the observations of -passers-by, he was in the habit of placing his pictures before they were -quite finished outside his house; and then, crouching down behind them, -he listened to the remarks of spectators. On one occasion a cobbler -noticed a fault in the painting of a shoe, and remarking upon it to a -person standing by, passed on. As soon as the man was out of sight -Apelles came from his hiding-place, examined the painting, found that -the cobbler's criticism was just, and at once corrected the error. Once -more the picture was exposed, while the artist lay behind it to hear -what further might be said. The cobbler came by again, and soon -discovered that the fault he had pointed out had been remedied; and, -emboldened by the success of his criticism, began to express his opinion -pretty freely about the painting of the _leg_! This was too much for the -patience of the artist, who rushed from his hiding-place, and told the -cobbler _to stick to his shoes_. Hence the proverb, which for more than -two thousand years[73] has expressed the common feeling, that critics -would do well not to venture beyond their legitimate province. - - [73] It is used by Pliny, who died A.D. 79. - - -TWO SHOEMAKER-BISHOPS--ANNIANUS OF ALEXANDRIA, AND ALEXANDER OF COMANA. - -If the shoemaker has found a place in classic history, it must not be -forgotten that he has a place in ecclesiastical history also. In two -instances a shoemaker is said to have been taken direct from the stall -and elevated to the episcopal chair. No doubt many shoemakers have been -endowed with sufficient piety and learning for this sacred and dignified -office, and probably not a few have deemed themselves fit, whether they -were so or not, to discharge its high functions; but the instances here -given are, we believe, quite unique. The first is that of Anianus or -Annianus (A.D. 62-86), who is said to have been appointed by St. Mark to -assist him in the government of the Church at Alexandria. On the -outbreak of persecution under Nero, Mark fled from the city; and, as -Eusebius says, "Nero was now in his eighth year, when Annianus succeeded -the Apostle and Evangelist Mark in the administration of the Church at -Alexandria." The historian adds, "He (Annianus) was a man distinguished -for piety, and admirable in every respect."[74] He died in the fourth -year of Domitian, 86 A.D. He was the first Bishop of Alexandria, and -filled the office twenty-two years.[75] To these simple statements of -the historian are added the stories which found a ready acceptance in -later times. To the fact that the worthy Alexandrian was a _shoemaker_ -tradition added the account of the miracle wrought upon him by St. Mark. -One account tells us that the Evangelist, on passing along the street, -burst his shoe and turned in to get it repaired, and so became -acquainted with Annianus. Another version of the story declares that -the cobbler, having hurt his hand with an awl, uttered a not very pious -exclamation, which Mark overheard as he passed by, and going in to -inquire the cause, took the opportunity not only to heal the wound, but -to speak to the impatient workman of the true and living God whose name -he had taken in vain. Annianus is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology -with St. Mark on the 25th April.[76] - - [74] Eccles. Hist., Book ii. cap. xxiv. - - [75] Ibid., Book iii. cap. xiv. - - [76] Annianus is regarded in some countries as the - patron saint of shoemakers. Campion's "Delightful History of ye - Gentle Craft." Northampton: Taylor & Son, 2d ed., 1876, p. 25. - -The other appointment of a shoemaker to the episcopate was due to the -piety and wisdom of Gregory Thaumaturgus, the pupil and friend of Origen -(220-270 A.D.). Gregory was then Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Asia Minor, -and when a vacancy occurred in the bishopric of Comana in Cappadocia, he -defied all conventionalism and prejudice, and appointed "a poor -shoemaker named _Alexander_, despised by the world, but great in the -sight of God, who did honor to so exalted a station in the Church."[77] -He was chosen in preference to scholars and men of good social status on -account of his extraordinary piety. This Alexander justified the choice -thus made by reason of his excellent discourse, his holy living, and a -martyr's death. He is honored in the Roman Calendar on August 11th.[78] - - [77] Pressense's "Early Years of Christianity." - London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1879, vol. ii. p. 355. - - [78] Dr. Smith's "Dict. Christian Biog.," art. - "Gregory Thaumaturgus." In this article Gregory is called a - charcoal-burner. Probably, like many other shoemakers, he - followed more than one vocation. - - -THE PIOUS COBBLER OF ALEXANDRIA. - -Quite as good a man, no doubt, if not as fit to fill the episcopal -chair, was _the pious cobbler of Alexandria_, of whom we read that St. -Anthony paid him a visit in consequence of a voice from Heaven which -said to him, "Antony, thou art not so perfect as a cobbler that dwelleth -at Alexandria." The pious anchorite was in the habit of hearing such -voices and obeying them. All the leading events of his life were -accompanied by a similar message from heaven, as he deemed it. -Accordingly he took his staff, and leaving his secluded retreat in the -desert, came down to the great city in search of the pious cobbler. -Arriving before his door, where the good man sat at work, Antony asked -him for an account of himself and his mode of living. "Sir," answered -the cobbler, "as for me, good works I have none. My life is but simple, -seeing I am but a poor cobbler. In the morning when I rise, I pray for -the whole city wherein I dwell, especially for all such neighbors and -poor friends as I have; after that I sit me down to my labor, where I -spend the whole day in getting my living; and I keep me from all -falsehood, for I hate nothing so much as I do deceitfulness; wherefore -when I make any man a promise, I keep it and perform it truly; and thus -I spend my time poorly with my wife and children, whom I teach and -instruct, so far as my wit will serve me, to fear and dread God; and -this is the sum of my simple life." - - -RABBI JOCHANAN THE SHOEMAKER. - -Speaking of Alexandria reminds us of another worthy of that city, the -famous Jewish Rabbi Jochanan _Sandalarius_, or the shoemaker. Learned -Rabbins were common enough in Alexandria from the time of its foundation -by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C., down to its capture by the Arabs in -the seventh century A.D. And as it was the custom with even the most -learned Rabbins to learn a trade, it can be no matter of surprise that -many of the most eminent leaders of thought among the Jews were employed -in what are now regarded as very humble occupations. The Delegate Chief -Rabbi of Great Britain, in an interesting article in the _Nineteenth -Century_,[79] tells us that "in the grand basilica synagogue of -Alexandria, separate portions of the building were assigned to the -silversmiths, weavers, and other trades.... The Rabbins, the authorized -expounders of the law, deemed it derogatory to receive any reward for -the exercise of their spiritual, doctrinal, or judicial functions, and -maintained themselves by the labor of their hands. And thus in the -Talmud we meet, in curious juxtaposition, the Rabbi and his trade in -such phrases as these: "It was taught by Rabbi Jochanan the shoemaker." -This illustrious Rabbi came from Alexandria to Palestine, attracted by -the great name of Akiba Ben Joseph, the famous Rabbi, who was the chief -teacher of the rabbinical school at Jaffa at the close of the first -century and the beginning of the second. In this school there were said -to be no less than 24,000 pupils. Akiba sided with Bar Cocheba in his -revolt against Rome, 132 A.D., acknowledged him as the Messiah, and -became his armor-bearer. On the death of Bar Cocheba and the destruction -of his army, Akiba was taken prisoner, and remained in the hands of the -Romans for a long time, until his cruel death under Severus. During his -imprisonment Jochanan managed to get access to his cell, and receive -instructions from him on questions which had not been settled. Through -Jochanan and Meir, Akiba greatly influenced the teachers of the next -generation. Jochanan was certainly one of his most illustrious pupils, -taking a leading part in the theological discussions of the Tanaim, the -authors of the Mishna and Gamara, where his opinions are frequently -quoted. In the Mishna Aboth[80] "Rabbi Jochanan the shoemaker" is -reported to have made the following sensible remark, which reminds one -of the counsel of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem:[81] "An -association established for a praiseworthy object must ultimately -succeed; but an association established without such an object cannot -succeed." - - [79] December, 1881. - - [80] 4:11. - - [81] Acts 5:38, 39. - - - - -EUROPEAN EXAMPLES. - -FRANCE. - - -SS. CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS, THE PATRON SAINTS OF SHOEMAKERS. - -Undoubtedly the first shoemakers who obtained anything like a general -reputation were the famous brothers Crispin and Crispianus, who are said -to have lived in the third century of our era. These saints have been -regarded almost ever since that early time as the tutelary or patron -saints of shoemakers, who are, to tell the truth, not a little proud of -their romantic title, "the sons of Crispin." We must be careful how we -speak of these saints, for it seems to be an open question whether the -story of their holy self-denying lives and martyr-deaths be true or -false. If the main features of the story be true, they have been greatly -distorted by fable. We give the story as it is generally reported. - -_SS. Crispin and Crispianus_ were born in Rome. Having become converts -to Christianity, they set out with St. Denis from that city to become -preachers of the Gospel, travelled on foot through Italy, and finally -settled down at a little town, now called Soissons, in the modern -department of Aisne, about fifty or sixty miles to the north-east of -Paris. Here they are said to have devoted their time during the day to -preaching, and to have maintained themselves by working during most of -the night as shoemakers. This they did on the apostolic model of Paul, -who, while he carried on his mission as a preacher, maintained himself -by his trade as a tent-maker, that he might be "chargeable to no man." -Very little more can be told of the life of these saintly shoemakers -than this; but this, surely, is a great deal. The story goes that they -suffered martyrdom by the order of Rictus Varus, governor or consul in -Belgic Gaul, during the persecution under Diocletian and Maximinus, on -the 25th of October, 287. The 25th of October is still kept in honor of -these saints in some parts of England and Wales, and in other European -countries. The shoemakers of the district turn out in large numbers and -parade the streets, headed by bands of music, and accompanied by banners -on which are emblazoned the emblems of the craft. - -It is difficult, as already intimated, to tell how much of pure legend -has been imported into the history of the saints of Soissons. One -tradition declares them to have been of noble birth, and to have adopted -their humble trade entirely for Christian and charitable purposes. -Another story relates how they furnished the poor with shoes at a very -low price, and that, in order to replenish their stock, and as a mark of -divine favor, an angel came to them by night with supplies of leather; -while yet another fable, not very creditable to their morals, avows that -_Saint_ Crispin _stole_ the leather, so that he might be able to _give_ -shoes to the poor. Hence the term _Crispinades_ to denote charities done -at the expense of other people. To crown all, it is averred on one -authority that after suffering a horrible death by the sword, their -bodies were thrown into the sea, and were cast ashore at Romney -Marsh.[82] Such tales are worthless, except as indicating the wide -extent of popularity the shoemakers of Soissons secured by virtue of -their piety and benevolence.[83] - - [82] On the beach at Lidde, near Stonend, "there is - yet to be seene," says Weever, in his "Funeral Monuments," "an - heap of great stones which the neighbour inhabitants call St. - Crispin's and St. Crispinian's tomb, whom they report to have - been cast upon this shore by ship-wracke, and from hence called - into the glorious company of the saints. Look _Jacobus de - Voraigne_, in the legend of their lives, and you may believe - perhaps as much as is spoken. They were shoemakers, and - suffered martyrdom the tenth of the kalends of November (25th - October), which day is kept holy to this day by all our - shoemakers in London and elsewhere."--Quoted in "Crispin - Anecdotes," Sheffield, 1827, p. 18. - - [83] For the legends of these saints, and much curious - information respecting the craft and its guilds in early times, - the reader may consult Lacroix, "Manners, Customs, and Dress in - the Middle Ages;" "Histoire de la Chaussure," etc. That quaint - old book, "The Delightful, Princely, and Entertaining History - of the Gentle Craft," by T. Deloney, 1678, gives the story of - the _princely_ and _saintly_ brothers in its English dress, and - it is one of the strangest tales even in legendary lore. This - story, Deloney tells us, accounts for the term "gentle craft" - as applied to shoemaking, and explains the saying "a - shoemaker's son is a prince born." The _Princes_ Crispin and - Crispinian becoming shoemakers sufficiently accounts for the - former term, for - - "The gentle craft is fittest then - For poor distressed gentlemen;" - - and the marriage of Crispine to Ursula, the daughter of the - Emperor Maximinus, and the birth of a son to the Prince, will - explain the latter. See the stories and ballads thereanent in - Campion's "Delightful History of the Gentle Craft," - Northampton, Taylor & Son, 2d ed., 1876, pp. 25-35. A most - interesting and valuable little book on shoes and shoemakers in - ancient and modern times. - -Mrs. Jameson, in her interesting work on "Legendary Art,"[84] says, "The -devotional figures which are common in old French prints represent these -saints standing together, holding the palm in one hand, and in the other -the awl or shoemaker's knife. They are very often met with in old -stained glass working at their trade, or making shoes for the poor--the -usual subjects in shoemakers' guilds all over France and Germany. -Italian pictures of these saints are rare. There is, however, one by -Guido, which presents the throned Madonna, and St. Crispin presenting to -her his brother, St. Crispianus, while angels from above scatter flowers -on the group. Looking over the old French prints of St. Crispin and St. -Crispinian, which are in general either grotesque or commonplace, I met -with one not easily to be forgotten. It represents these two famous -saints proceeding on their mission to preach the gospel in France. They -are careering over the sea in a bark drawn by sea-horses and attended by -tritons, and are attired in the full court-dress of the time of Louis -XV., with laced coats and cocked hats and rapiers!" - - [84] Vol. ii. pp. 305, 306. London, Longmans, 1848. - -Probably many of these curious prints may still be seen in the library -of the cathedral at Soissons, famous for its rare MSS. and books. But a -better memorial of these patron saints than any of the absurd -representations of legendary art was the church erected in their honor -in the sixth century, and the religious house which stood on the -traditionary site of their prison. This house was afterward transformed -into a monastery dedicated to St. Crispin, and in the year 1142 received -the sanction of Pope Innocent II.[85] - - [85] Another memorial of the saints, of a very - different character, was the semi-sacred play entitled "The - Mystery of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian," which used to be - performed on St. Crispin's Day by the Guilds or Brotherhoods of - Shoemakers in Paris and elsewhere. - - -THE LEARNED BAUDOUIN. - -The eminent French antiquary, _Benoit Baudouin_, is by far the most -learned man who has risen from the ranks of the shoemaker class in -France. A native of Amiens, he was born somewhere about the middle of -the sixteenth century. His father, who was also a _cordonnier_ in that -city, taught him the art and mystery of the craft; but the clever youth -soon rose above his lowly circumstances, and became first a theological -student, and afterward the principal of the college in the old town of -Troyes. Here the ancient and extensive library delighted him, and his -studies as a historian and antiquary were determined to some extent by -his former occupation as a shoemaker; for, besides a translation of -certain ancient tragedies,[86] he is not known to have written any -original work excepting his "Chaussures des Anciens," or "The Shoes of -the Ancients." Baudouin never blushed to own his former vocation,[87] -and in writing this remarkable work he was evidently moved by a desire -to do it honor.[88] A strange book indeed it must be, full of the most -curious and out-of-the-way learning and singular notions; for, not -content with describing the various kinds of shoes worn by Roman and -Greek and other ancient peoples who have flourished within the historic -period, the enthusiastic and daring scholar pushes his inquiry back to -the days "when Adam delved and Eve span," until, at length, he discovers -the origin of the foot-covering in the communication of the secret by -the Almighty Himself to "the first man, Adam!" Spite of its preposterous -speculations, the work of the ex-shoemaker of Amiens is learned and -valuable, contains a vast amount of curious lore in regard to a not -unimportant subject, and helps to confirm his claim to the ambitious -title of "the learned Baudouin." The first edition of this work seems to -have been published in Paris, 1615.[89] It was afterward issued at -Amsterdam, 1667, and at Leyden, 1711, and Leipsic, 1733, in Latin. A -writer in the _Biographie Universelle_ says that Baudouin held at one -time the office of director of the _Hotel Dieu_ at Troyes. This -illustrious French shoemaker died and was buried in that town in 1632. - - [86] "Biographie Universelle." Paris, 1811. - - [87] Ibid. - - [88] "Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique," tom. ii. - - [89] "Nouvelle Biographie Generale." Paris, 1853, tom. - iv. p. 786. - - -HENRY MICHAEL BUCH--"GOOD HENRY." - -Whether the story of the shoemaker-saints of Soissons be regarded as -apocryphal or not, it has undoubtedly had considerable influence for -good, either directly or indirectly, over the minds of those who call -themselves sons of Crispin. Much of this has been due to the character -and work of a man who was evidently inspired by the story of St. -Crispin. Through the agency of this man a very important movement was -begun in the middle of the seventeenth century, which ultimately issued -in a widespread religious and social reform among the shoemakers and -other operatives of Western Europe. We allude to the foundation of a -society called "The Pious Confraternity of Brother Shoemakers," having -as their patrons and models the saints Crispin and Crispianus. The -founder of this society was Henry Michael Buch, who was known throughout -Paris, in his day and long after, as _Good Henry_. - -Henry Michael Buch came from the Duchy of Luxemburg, where he had been -born, and where his parents, who were day-laborers, had brought him up -in a very simple manner. As a child, Buch was remarkably gifted and very -pious. He was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, and was accustomed to -spend his Sundays and holidays in public worship or private devotion. -During his apprenticeship he began the work of reform among the members -of his own craft, for his young heart was grieved to see them living in -ignorance and vice. Enlisting the help of the more serious among them in -his good work, he endeavored to instruct the apprentices of the town in -the doctrines of religion, to draw them away from ale-houses and vicious -company, and to persuade them to spend their time in a sensible and -profitable manner. Taking the patron saints of the trade for a model, he -cultivated habits of self-denial and beneficence, went always meanly -clad, abandoned luxuries in food and clothing, and frequently gave away -his own garments in order to clothe some poor brother shoemaker. While -at Luxemburg and Messen, he lived chiefly on bread and water, so that he -might be able to feed the hungry and destitute. - -Having removed to Paris, his good deeds soon attracted the attention of -Gaston John Baptist, Baron of Renti, who was so much impressed by the -shoemaker's simplicity of manner, intelligence, and missionary zeal, -that he persuaded Buch to establish in that city a confraternity among -the members of his own humble craft for the purpose of instructing them -in the principles and practices of a holy life. With a view to -strengthen his hands for such a task, the freedom of the city was -purchased for him, and means were supplied him for starting in business -as a master shoemaker, "so that he might take apprentices and journeymen -who were willing to follow the rules that were prescribed them."[90] - - [90] Butler's "Lives of the Primitive Fathers, - Martyrs, and Saints," 1799, p. 532. - -Seven men and youths having joined him on these terms, the foundation of -his Confraternity was laid in 1645, Good Henry being appointed the first -superior.[91] - - [91] This society flourished until the outbreak of the - French Revolution, 1789, when it was suppressed. - -Two years after this, the _tailors_ of the city, who had noticed the -conduct of the shoemakers, and had been delighted with the goodly -spectacle presented in their happy and useful lives, resolved to follow -the example. They borrowed a copy of the rules, and started a similar -society in 1647. - -These brotherhoods, but notably those of the shoemakers, were spread -through France and Italy, and were the means of doing an immense amount -of good among the members of the two crafts. - -The rules of the fraternity founded by Buch were assimilated to certain -monastic orders. They enjoined rising at five o'clock and meeting for -united prayer before engaging in work, prayers offered by the superior -as often as the clock strikes, at certain hours the singing of hymns -while at work, at other times silence and meditation; meditation before -dinner, the reading of some devotional work by one of the number during -meals; a _retreat_ for a few days in every year; assisting on Sundays -and holy days at sermons and "the divine office;" the visitation of the -poor and sick, of hospitals and prisons; self-examination, followed by -prayer together at night and retiring to rest at nine o'clock. - -Henry Michael Buch, the founder of this remarkable society with its -offshoots all over Western Europe, succeeded in making the title _Sons -of Crispin_ something more than a name in the case of thousands of his -brother workmen. Bearing in mind his humble birth and training, his -scanty means, his social position, the unpromising materials he had to -work with, it will be allowed that the moral reform he inaugurated among -working-men deserves to be classed among the best things of the kind of -which we read in history. Buch died at Paris on the 9th June, 1666, and -was buried in the churchyard of St. Gervaise.[92] - - [92] If this were a history of the craft and trade of - shoemaking, attention might be called to the genuinely - illustrious _shoemaker_, Nicholas Lestage of Bordeaux. This - clever artisan having made a remarkably fine pair of boots, - presented them to the king, Louis XIV., on his visit to - Bordeaux, shortly before his marriage to the Infanta of Spain. - The fortunate son of Crispin was made shoemaker to his Majesty, - and rose rapidly to wealth and favor at court. In 1663 he - presented to his royal patron the famous boot "without a seam," - which was spoken of as a "miracle of art," and of which it was - declared that "the name of a boot would fill the world." About - a dozen years after Lestage succeeded in making this wonderful - seamless boot, a small book of poems was written to commemorate - the extraordinary achievement. Among other extravagant things - said about "cette admirable chaussure," it was affirmed that - "neither antiquity nor the sun had ever seen its equal," "that - man was not its inventor," and its structure was truly - _divine_!" etc. - - - - -GERMANY. - - -HANS SACHS, THE NIGHTINGALE OF THE REFORMATION. - -Before Good Henry's day two famous shoemakers had appeared in Germany, -whose names are now much better known than his: _Hans Sachs_, the -shoemaker-poet of the Reformation, and _Jacob Boehmen_, the mystic. - -_Hans Sachs_ was the son of a tailor at Nuremberg, and was born November -5th, 1494. At the age of fifteen he was put apprentice in his native -town. His schooling had been but slight, but he managed after -school-days were passed to retain and add to the little he had learned. -His studies as an apprentice soon lifted him considerably above the -level of his class. All his spare time was given to poetry and music, in -which arts he was greatly assisted by a clever fellow named Nunnenbeck, -a weaver in the city. On attaining his majority, Sachs, after the -fashion of the time, travelled as a workman from town to town throughout -Germany, in order to learn his trade perfectly and see what he could of -the wide world around him. In this expedition he seems to have thought -as much of poetry as of shoemaking, for he never omitted, wherever he -went, visiting the little poetical and musical societies which then -existed in nearly every town in Germany. These societies were formed by -the various trades guilds, and their members were called -_meistersingers_. - -On his return from this tour, Sachs settled down to work in Nuremberg, -and proved himself both an expert shoemaker and a first-rate -meistersinger. In fact, he outshone all his compeers of the guild to -which he belonged, and it was not long before he earned the reputation -of being the first German poet of his day. The Reformation movement, led -by Martin Luther, was then in full vigor, and found a hearty sympathizer -and vigorous supporter in this "unlettered cobbler but richly gifted -poet," who was counted among the friends and admirers of the great -Reformer. Luther had few more valuable supporters in his work than the -shoemaker of Nuremberg, whose simple, spirit-stirring songs were rapidly -learned and readily sung by the humbler sorts of people all over the -country. - -Sachs' writings were very numerous, both in prose and verse. Few poets, -indeed, have ventured to write and publish so much. He averaged more -than a volume a year for over thirty years. On an inventory being made -of his literary stock in the year 1546, when he was about fifty-two -years of age, it was found that he had written 34 volumes, containing -4275 songs, 208 comedies and tragedies, about 1700 merry tales, and -secular and religious dialogues, and 73 other pieces. - -His best writings are said to be the "Schwanke" or merry tales, the -humor of which is sometimes unsurpassable. His collected works were -published by Willer, 1570-79, in five folio volumes. - -Exactly two hundred years after Hans Sachs' death, Goethe, who was a -warm admirer of the shoemaker-poet, published a poem entitled _Hans -Sachs Erklärung eines alten Holzschnitts, vorstellend Hans Sachs' -poetische Sendung_ (Explanation of an old woodcut representing Hans -Sachs' poetical mission). This tribute from the pen of Germany's -greatest poet brought the shoemaker of Nuremberg again into notice, and -put him in the right place in the temple of fame. Since the date of -Goethe's poem, Sachs' works have been published in various forms, and -are now as much read and as warmly appreciated as when they were first -published. Nuremberg, his native town, is proud of her humble yet -illustrious poet, and treasures up in her museum every relic connected -with his name, MS. copies of his writings, poetical fly-sheets issued -during his lifetime, or early editions of his works. In the libraries -of Zwickau, Dresden, and Leipsic similar relics of the poet may be seen. - -No testimony to his merit could be higher than that of Goethe, the -prince of German critics in literature. It may be of value, however, in -addition to this, to give the opinion of two very different men -respecting Sachs. Dr. Hagenbach in his "History of the Reformation" -says: "A happy union of wholesome humor and moral purity meets us in -Hans Sachs of Nuremberg;" and Thomas Carlyle, in his own style, which -happily is "inimitable," speaks of him as a "gay, childlike, devout, -solid character--a man neither to be despised nor patronized, but left -standing on his own basis as a singular product, and legible symbol, and -clear mirror of the time and country where he lived." - -He died on the 25th of January, 1576, at the age of eighty-two, in full -mental vigor. He was busy writing verses and tales almost to the last -days of his life. His grave is still shown in the churchyard of St. -John's, Nuremberg. - - -JACOB BOEHMEN, THE MYSTIC. - -Jacob Boehmen, or Boehme, was born at the village of Altseidenberg, near -Gorlitz, in Prussian Silesia, about a year before the death of Hans -Sachs. A shoemaker for the greater part of his life, Boehmen devoted the -powers of a remarkable mind to philosophical and religious speculation, -and produced works which, notwithstanding their mystical and well-nigh -unintelligible character, are declared by some of the best authorities -in Germany and England to have laid the foundation of metaphysics and -philosophy. It is impossible to give a true idea of the writings of this -extraordinary man except by a complete review of his philosophy and its -influence on German philosophical writers. The most contradictory -opinions have been expressed in regard to the value of his productions. -By some critics he is set down as a rhapsodist who wrote nothing but -mystical jargon, and by others as a profound philosopher whose thoughts -and dreams are full of inspiration. Mosheim, _e.g._, says: "It is -impossible to find greater obscurity than there is in these pitiable -writings, which exhibit an incongruous mixture of chemical terms, -mystical jargon, and absurd visions." On the other hand, it is curious -to read the opinions expressed by our own King Charles I., who of all -the Stuarts, not excepting his own father, James I., that "so learned -and judicious a prince," was most capable of being a judge in such -matters. Charles is reported to have said of the writings of the -shoemaker of Gorlitz: "Had they been the productions of a scholar and a -man of learning, they would have been truly wonderful; but if, as he -heard, they were the productions of a poor shoemaker, they furnished a -proof that the Holy Ghost had still a habitation in the souls of men." - -Sir Isaac Newton was a student of Boehmen, whose dissertation on "The -Three Principles" is said to have furnished hints to the philosopher -which put him on the track of some of his great discoveries; and Blake, -the half-mad, half-inspired poet, painter, and engraver, frequently -spoke of him as a divinely inspired man. Before Blake's day the writings -of Boehmen had been translated by William Law, author of "The Serious -Call," and published by Ward & Co. in two quarto volumes (1762-84). -Law's writings had immense influence over the minds of John and Charles -Wesley, and their followers, the Methodists. Law, who was no mean judge -of the worth of Boehmen's writings, held them in high esteem. - -But of more value than these opinions is the estimate formed by -philosophers themselves as to the works of this great mystic. Spinoza -frequently studied them, and acknowledged their influence on his own -mind. Schelling, the idealist philosopher, bears testimony to Boehmen's -great merits as a thinker. Hegel speaks of him as the "Teutonic -philosopher," and adds, "In reality, through him, for the first time, -did philosophy in Germany come forward with a characteristic stamp." S. -T. Coleridge in his "Literary Remains"[93] says: "I have often thought -of writing a book to be entitled 'A Vindication of Great Men Unjustly -Branded,' and at such times the names prominent to my mind's eye have -been Giordano Bruno, Jacob Boehmen, Benedict Spinoza, and Emanuel -Swedenborg." In the library of Manchester New College, London, is a copy -of the works of Spinoza with marginal notes written by Coleridge,[94] -and among them is the following note to Epistle xxxvi.: "The truth is, -Spinoza, in common with all metaphysicians before him (Boehme perhaps -excepted), began at the wrong end," etc., etc. Coleridge frequently -spoke of Boehmen in the warmest terms of admiration. - - [93] Vol. iv. p. 423. - - [94] This book once belonged to Henry Crabb Robinson: - see H. C. R.'s Diary, etc., vol. i. pp. 400, 401, for the above - quotation. - -At a very early age Jacob Boehmen showed a disposition to pious -meditation and fancied himself inspired. He was poorly educated as a -youth, and nearly all his knowledge was self-acquired. His first work -was published when he was thirty-seven years of age, and was entitled -"Aurora," or _the morning dawn_. He was severely attacked by the -religious leaders of his day, but the court at Dresden patronized and -protected him. His death took place November 27th, 1624. His works have -been frequently published in Germany, Holland, and England, where they -are much more warmly appreciated now than they were in his own lifetime. - - - - -ITALY. - - -GABRIEL CAPPELLINI, IL CALIGARINO, OR THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER. - -If it be characteristic of Germany that one of her illustrious -shoemakers should be a _poet_ and another a _philosopher_, it is no less -characteristic of Italy and Holland that several followers of the gentle -craft in these countries should have distinguished themselves as -_painters_. We take three examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries. - -Gabriel Cappellini of Ferrara in Italy was more generally known by the -appellation _Il Caligarino_, or the _little shoemaker_, a name derived -from his original occupation. He is said to have been led to throw down -the awl and take to the brush in consequence of a compliment paid to him -one day by one of the great family of painters called Dossi, who told -the shoemaker that a pair of shoes he had just made were so elegant that -they looked as if they had been painted. He became a scholar of Dossi, -and made a fair name as an artist in the sixteenth century. He is -praised by Barotti for "the boldness of his design and the sobriety of -his color." Several of his paintings may now be seen in the city of -Ferrara, the best of which is in the Church of St. Giovannino. This is -an altar-piece representing the Virgin and Child with infant saints -attending upon them. In the Church of St. Francesco is a painting of -SS. John and James. There is also an altar-piece ascribed to him in the -Church of St. Alesandro at Bergamo, representing the Last Supper. A -small painting of the same subject is in the possession of Count -Carrara.[95] - - [95] Lanzi's "History of Painting." London: Bohn, vol. - iii. p. 200; and Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London: - Bohn, p. 138. - - -FRANCESCO BRIZZIO, THE ARTIST. - -Francesco Brizzio (or Briccio) was the most eminent of the three -painters we have to name who began life as shoemakers. He was born at -Bologna in 1574. Up to the age of twenty he worked as a shoemaker, and -then, being free to follow his bent, became at first a pupil of -Passerotti, who taught him design, afterward of Agostini, who initiated -him in the engraver's art, and finally of Lodovico Caracci, under whom -he became so proficient that "by some he has been pronounced the most -eminent disciple of Caracci;" and it has been affirmed of this son of -Crispin that of all Caracci's pupils except Domenichino he was gifted -with the most universal genius. In perspective, landscape, architecture, -and figures, a competent critic, Andrea Sacchi, the famous Roman artist, -says, "Brizzio surpassed all his rivals." Guido speaks highly of the -beauty of his cherubs. His extant paintings are an altar-piece entitled -"The Coronation of the Virgin," which is very rich in coloring, and the -"Table of Cebes," a grand painting executed for the Angellili family. -Numerous engravings of his are known to connoisseurs, and highly prized -as the work of an artist "who often approaches Guido." "His pictures -were not only admired for the truth of the perspective and the beauty of -his coloring, but also for the grandeur of his ideas, the majestic style -of the architecture, the elegance of the ornaments, and the noble taste -of the landscapes which he introduced to set off his buildings." Brizzio -died in 1623 at the age of forty-nine.[96] - - [96] Lanzi's "History of Painting." London: Bohn, vol. - iii. p. 126; Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London: Bohn, p. - 114; and Pilkington's "Dictionary of Painters," p. 95 (1770 - ed.). - - - - -HOLLAND. - - -LUDOLPH DE JONG, THE DUTCH PORTRAIT-PAINTER. - -Ludolph de Jong, was the son of a shoemaker at Oberschic, a village near -Rotterdam, and was born in the year 1616. His father intended to bring -his son up to his own humble trade, but having been treated with great -severity, Ludolph ran away from home and bade good-by to the cobbler's -stall, and became soon afterward a pupil of Sacht Coen. After two years -spent with this master, he also studied under Palamedes at Delft and -Baylaert at Utrecht. Seven years of his life were spent in France, where -he gained renown as a portrait-painter, in which branch of art he showed -his best hand. From France he returned to Holland and settled at -Rotterdam, where his skill and fame gained him much patronage and a -handsome fortune. His best work is at Rotterdam in the _Salle des -Princes_, and consists of portraits of officers belonging to the Company -of Burghers. - -De Jong the younger, the clever etcher of battle-scenes, who signs -himself IMDI (Jan Martss de Jong), is generally thought to be the son of -the well-known painter.[97] - - [97] Sons of shoemakers have often become famous. See - the list given below, which might be greatly extended. - - -SONS OF SHOEMAKERS. - -Before leaving the continent of Europe to come to Great Britain for -examples, we may here mention one or two instances in which boys who -have been brought up amid the humble surroundings of the shoemaker's -home have become illustrious in the field of literature, or science, or -theology. - -_Pope John XXII._ (1316-1334), whose popedom was distinguished by the -existence of an _anti-pope_, was the son of a shoemaker living at Cahors -in France. - -_Jean Baptiste Rousseau_ (1670-1741), the French poet, author of "Le -Cafè," "Jason," "Adonais," "Le Flatteur," etc., was the son of a -well-to-do shoemaker in Paris. The poet was always rather ashamed of his -origin, and on one occasion treated his father in the most heartless -manner because he stepped forward at the conclusion of the first -performance of a play to offer his warm congratulations to his clever -and popular son. "I know you not," said the proud poet, waving his -father off. The poor fellow retired in bitter grief and uncontrollable -anger. - -_Johan Joachim Wincklemann_, the eminent art-critic and writer, was the -son of a humble member of the craft, who lived at Stendal in Prussia. -His father gave him as good an education as lay within his reach, and -was rewarded by the progress his son made in the study of languages. -From the position of teacher of languages in the College of Seehausen he -passed on to that of librarian to Count Bunan, and finally to the -curatorship of the Vatican Museum at Rome, where he published his famous -works, "Ancient Statues," "Taste of the Greek Artists," "History of -Art," and "Antique Monuments." He died by the hand of an assassin at -Trieste, 1768, aged fifty-two. - -_Hans Christian Andersen_ was born in 1805, at Adense in Denmark, where -his father worked as a shoemaker. While a mere boy he went to Copenhagen -in the hope of getting his living as a singer and writer of plays, and -eventually became known as the writer of incomparable fairy tales, the -joy and wonder of children, young and old, all over the world. - -The name of Dr. Isaac Watts, the hymnist, has sometimes been set down in -this category, on the authority of a line in Dr. Johnson's "Lives of the -Poets." But Johnson speaks only of "common report," making the father of -Isaac Watts a shoemaker. Johnson says he "kept a boarding-school for -young gentlemen." He may have done so and followed the gentle craft as -well; there is no knowing to what occupation the shoemaker may aspire! - -If we go far enough back, we may find a very striking example of ability -displayed by a shoemaker's son in military affairs. _Iphicrates_ (4th -cent. B.C.), one of the most capable and trusted Athenian generals, rose -from this humble position to the highest offices of command and trust in -the armies of Greece. His reforms in the arms, dress, and tactics of the -soldiers, formed an "epoch in the Grecian art of war." He distinguished -himself in battles fought against the Thracians and Spartans, and in the -service of the King of Persia in his Egyptian campaign. - - - - -GREAT BRITAIN. - - -"YE COCKE OF WESTMINSTER." - -Coming now to Great Britain, we are able to select from the records of -history and biography illustrations for our purpose which represent -pretty nearly all the varieties of English life. Practical philanthropy -all men will allow to be one of the most prominent and honorable -features of the national character, and to this shoemakers have -contributed a good share. Our readers will remember the good work done -by Drs. Carey and Morrison, the pioneer missionaries to India and China, -and noble old John Pounds, one of the founders of ragged schools in this -country. Two examples, in a different field, may be given here. One can -easily understand how shoemaking would pay better before the invention -of machinery than it does now, yet it appears strange to us to read of -men making anything like a fortune by so humble a craft. So it was, -however, after a certain modest fashion; and shoemakers, like men whose -fortune has been made on a larger scale, have shown themselves veritable -philanthropists in the use they have made of their money. The two -instances we refer to are wide apart as to time, but closely related as -regards the benevolent spirit they exhibit. Holinshed has very properly -thought it worth his while to chronicle the good deed of a benevolent -old shoemaker who lived in Westminster in the reign of Edward VI. This -true son and follower of Crispin bore the name of _Richard Castell_, but -was still better known, in his own day, by the sobriquet, _Ye Cocke of -Westminster_, not only "because he was so famous with the faculty of his -hands," but on account of his early rising; for every morning, all the -year round, saw him sitting down to his work "at four of the clock." His -skill and diligence in the craft brought him in a considerable sum of -money, which he invested in lands and tenements in the neighborhood of -Westminster, yielding a yearly rental of £42--not at all a poor living -for a retired shoemaker three hundred years ago. It appears that Castell -greatly admired the generosity of his monarch, Edward VI., who had -recently endowed Christ's Hospital, and the shoemaker having no family -to whom he could bequeath his property, and being blessed, moreover, -with a wife as generously disposed as himself, resolved to leave his -property to the endowment fund of this public charity. It is much more -than probable that the fame of the kingly founder of the hospital has -totally eclipsed that of his humble subject, and for this reason it -seems right for us to find a place in our list of illustrious shoemakers -for a worthy man whose industry and benevolence are bearing good fruit -to this day, and who once, it may be, was not a little proud of the -honorable nickname of _Ye Cocke of Westminster_.[98] - - [98] For this and one or two other examples of noted - shoemakers the writer is indebted to a series of most - interesting articles entitled "Concerning Shoes and - Shoemakers," in the _Leisure Hour_, 1876. - - -TIMOTHY BENNETT, THE HERO OF HAMPTON-WICK. - -It would be hard to find a name more worthy of being enrolled in our -list than that of the public-spirited and courageous shoemaker of -Hampton-Wick in Surrey named _Timothy Bennett_,[99] who, early in the -last century, undertook, at his own cost, to rescue a right of road -from loss to the public. This road ran from Hampton-Wick to -Kingston-upon-Thames through the well-known Bushy Park, belonging to the -Crown. Bennett was grieved to see the right of way infringed by the -Crown authorities, and to observe the consequent inconvenience to -thousands of his neighbors. He determined, therefore, to go to law about -the matter, and, if possible, put a stop to the high-handed and unjust -proceedings of the "Ranger of the Park." He went to a lawyer and -inquired as to the probable chances of success in his project, and as to -the cost, saying, "I have _seven hundred pounds_ which I would be -willing to bestow upon this attempt. It is all I have, and has been -saved through a long course of honest industry." Satisfied on both -points, he resolved to carry out his plan. Lord Halifax was then Ranger -of Bushy Park, and having heard of Bennett's intentions, sent for him. -"Who are you, sir," demanded my lord, "that have the assurance to meddle -in this affair?" "My name, my lord, is Timothy Bennett, shoemaker, of -Hampton-Wick. I remember, an't please your Lordship, when I was a young -man, of seeing, while sitting at my work, the people cheerfully pass by -to Kensington market; but now, my lord, they are forced to go round -about, through a hot sandy road, ready to faint beneath their burdens, -and I am unwilling" (using a phrase he was very fond of) "to leave the -world worse than I found it. This, my lord, I humbly represent, is the -reason of my conduct." "Be gone! You are an impertinent fellow!" said -the Ranger of Bushy Park. After thinking the matter over in a calmer -mood, Lord Halifax saw the equity of the shoemaker's claim, and the -certainty of his own failure to justify his conduct, and gave up his -opposition. The road was opened, and remains open to this day, and is -used not only by those who pass on business between Hampton and -Kingston, but by thousands of pleasure-seekers from the busy and -smoke-laden metropolis, who run down by rail in the spring and summer to -enjoy the sight of one of the finest avenues of chestnut-trees in the -world, or to breathe the sweet country air, and rest beneath the -refreshing shade of the trees of the park. The good people who make -constant use of the road, which the worthy shoemaker has secured to them -and their descendants forever, can hardly be ignorant of the story of -LORD HALIFAX THE NOBLEMAN nonsuited by TIMOTHY BENNETT THE SHOEMAKER; -yet the stranger who goes down to the Park in May to see - - "The chestnuts with their milky cones," - -will probably never have heard of this - - "Village Hampden, that with dauntless breast - The little tyrant of his fields withstood." - -Bennett died an old man in 1756, having had his wish, at least, to leave -the world no worse than he found it. Assuredly many who have more fame -have done less to merit it. - - [99] Born 1676; died 1756. Bennett is placed out of - his chronological order because it seems most fitting that he - should follow the benevolent Castell. - - - - - -MILITARY AND NAVAL HEROES. - - -"THE SOUTERS OP SELKIRK." - -The old Border song, sung at public dinners "when Selkirk folks began to -be merry"-- - - "Up wi' the souters of Selkirk, - And down wi' the Earl of Home; - And up wi' a' the braw lads - That sew the single shoon. - - "Fye upon yellow and yellow, - And fye upon yellow and green, - And up wi' the true blue and scarlet, - And up wi' the single-soled sheen. - - "Up wi' the souters o' Selkirk, - For they are baith trusty and leal; - And up wi' the men o' the Forest,[100] - And down wi' the Merse[101] to the deil," - -has made the "Souters of Selkirk" famous throughout Scotland. The origin -of the song seems to be lost. Whether it has reference, as the common -tradition in Selkirk goes, to the part which a gallant band of Selkirk -men played at the battle of Flodden Field, 1513, "when the flower of the -Scottish nobility fell around their sovereign, James IV.," which Sir -Walter Scott and Mr. Plummer assert,[102] or to "a bet between the -Philiphaugh and Home families" on a match of football "between the -souters (or shoemakers) of Selkirk against the men of Home," as Mr. -Robertson in his "Essay on Scottish Song" declares, it is not easy to -determine. At any rate, whether the song points to the historical event -or not, the event itself is beyond dispute. Selkirk did "certainly send -a brave band of eighty or a hundred men to Flodden Field to support the -cause of James. No doubt a large proportion of these men were veritable -_souters_, for the chief trade of the town in the sixteenth century was -the making of "a sort of brogues with a single thin sole." This local -manufacture seems to have given a name to the inhabitants of the burgh, -who were called _souters_, pretty much as natives of Sheffield might be -called _blades_, or Birmingham folk _buttons_. The people of Selkirk are -not ashamed of the designation, but rather glory in perpetuating the -name and the tradition on which it rests. "A singular custom," we are -told, is observed at conferring the freedom of the burgh. Four or five -bristles, such as are used by shoemakers, are attached to the seal of -the burgess ticket. These the new-made burgess must dip in his wine and -pass through his mouth, in token of respect for the Souters of Selkirk. -This ceremony is on no account dispensed with.[103] - - [100] Selkirkshire, otherwise called Ettrick Forest. - - [101] Berwickshire, otherwise, called the Merse. - - [102] See "Border Minstrelsy." - - [103] Scott's "Border Minstrelsy," foot-note. - - -WATT TINLINN. - -That the souters of that time knew how to fight and win renown by their -valor and skill may be gathered from the story which the author of "The -Lay of the Last Minstrel" tells us anent the reference to Watt of -Liddelside in the fourth canto of the "Lay": - - "Now loud the heedful gateward cried, - 'Prepare ye all for blows and blood! - Watt Tinlinn from the Liddelside - Comes wading through the flood. - Full oft the Tynedale snatchers knock - At his lone gate and prove the lock; - It was but last St. Barnabright - They sieged him a whole summer night, - But fled at morning; well they knew - In vain he never twanged the yew.'" - -This Watt was a shoemaker and a soldier, and if he had no large field -for the display of his skill and valor in the Border skirmishes of his -time, he nevertheless deserves a place among his more illustrious -brethren of the craft, if only for the sake of the following note -respecting him. "This person was in my younger days," says Sir Walter -Scott,[104] "the theme of many a fireside tale. He was a retainer of the -Buccleuch family, and held for his Border service a small tower on the -frontiers of Liddesdale. Watt was by profession a sutor, but by -inclination and practice an archer and warrior. Upon one occasion, the -captain of Bewcastle, military governor of that wild district of -Cumberland, is said to have made an incursion into Scotland, in which he -was defeated and forced to fly. Watt Tinlinn pursued him closely through -a dangerous morass; the captain, however, gained the firm ground, and -seeing Tinlinn dismounted and floundering in the bog, used these words -of insult, "Sutor Watt, ye cannot sew your boots; the heels risp and the -seams rive."[105] "If I cannot sew," retorted Tinlinn, discharging a -shaft which nailed the captain's thigh to his saddle--"if I cannot sew I -can yerk."[106] - - [104] Note IV. to Canto IV., "Lay of the Last - Minstrel." - - [105] Risp and rive, creak and tear. - - [106] To twitch the thread as shoemakers do in - securing the stitches. - - -COLONEL HEWSON, THE "CERDON" OF "HUDIBRAS." - -In the turbulent days of the Stuarts and the Commonwealth, when the -lofty were laid low and the lowly were set in high places, it can hardly -be matter of surprise that the shoemaker should have had his share of -the favors of fortune. The circumstances of the time had led to the -adoption of the rational rule of granting promotion by merit. In an army -commanded by Cromwell it is not likely that any other rule would be -adopted. His two chief requirements were military capacity and moral -character. With men of this class he made up his invincible _Ironsides_. -One of his colonels was John Hewson. "This man," Grainger says,[107] -"once wore a leather apron, and from a mender of old shoes became a -reformer of government and religion. He was, allowing for his education, -a very extraordinary person. His behavior in the army soon raised him to -the rank of a colonel; and Cromwell had so great an opinion of him as to -intrust him with the government of the city of Dublin, whence he was -called to be a member of Barebones'[108] parliament. He was a frequent -speaker in that and the other parliament of which he was a member, and -was at length thought a fit person to be a lord of the upper house. He -was one of the committee of safety, and was, with several of his -brethren, very intent upon a new model of the republic at the eve of the -Restoration." Rugge, in his "Diurnal," 5th December, 1659, says that -Hewson "was a very stout man, and a very good commander;" and adds, "But -in regard of his former employment, they (the city apprentices) threw at -him old shoes and slippers, and turnip-tops and brickbats, stones and -tiles." He was the object of no end of lampooning on the part of the -Royalists. Pepys, in his "Diary," 25th January, 1659-60, has an -interesting memorandum in regard to the notoriety of the -cobbler-colonel: "Coming home, heard that in Cheapside there had been -but a little before a gibbet set up, and a picture of Huson (Hewson) -hung upon it, in the middle of the street."[109] One of these squibs -bore the title, "Colonel Hewson's Confession; or, a Parley with Pluto," -and referred to his removal of the gates of Temple Bar. Lord Braybrooke -informs us that Hewson "had but one eye, which did not escape the notice -of his enemies." Nor did the burly cobbler-colonel escape the notice of -Dr. Butler, who makes him a conspicuous figure in the first part of -"Hudibras"[110] under the nickname of _Cerdon_: - - "The upright Cerdon next advanc'd, - Of all his race the valiant'st: - Cerdon the Great, renowned in song, - Like Herc'les, for repair of wrong. - - He rais'd the low, and fortify'd - The weak against the strongest side: - Ill has he read that never hit - On him in Muses deathless writ. - He had a weapon keen and fierce, - That through a bull-hide shield would pierce, - And out it in a thousand pieces, - Though tougher than the Knight of Greece his, - With whom his black-thumb'd ancestor - Was comrade in the ten years' war. - - * * * * * - - Fast friend he was to reformation, - Until 'twas worn quite out of fashion; - Next rectifier of every law, - And would make three to cure one flaw. - Learned he was, and could take note, - Transcribe, collect, translate, and quote."[111] - - [107] "Biographical History of England," vol. iii. - - [108] The author of "Crispin Anecdotes," p. 127, says, - "Praise-God Barebones was a shoemaker, but from all the writer - can learn he was a leather-seller; and Bloomfield is reported - as saying that Secretary Craggs was a chip of leather. On what - authority it is hard to say. His father, the - postmaster-general, is more likely to have been in such a - position; but _his_ trade was that of a country - barber."--Grainger, Noble's continuation, vol. iii. - - [109] Pepys' Diary, note, January 25th, 1659-60. - - [110] Part I. Canto II., 409-430, etc. - - [111] Part I. Canto II., 409-430, etc. - -Later on,[112] Hudibras describes the scene at the bear-gardens when -Hewson and the Puritan party endeavor to put a stop to the savage sport -of bear-baiting. The mob turn on the Puritans, but as for the fat -colonel-- - - "Quarter he scorns, he is so stout, - And therefore cannot long hold out." - - [112] Part I. Canto III, 118, 119. - -One of the squibs alluded to above was entitled "A Hymn to the Gentle -Craft; or, Hewson's Lamentation."[113] The reader will observe that -Hewson's _one eye_ "does not escape the notice of his enemies." This -piece was sung as a ballad in the streets: - - "Listen awhile to what I shall say, - Of a blind cobbler that's gone astray - Out of the Parliament's highway. - Good people, pity the blind! - - "His name you wot well is Sir John Howson, - Whom I intend to set my muse on, - As great a warrior as Sir Miles Lewson. - Good people, pity the blind! - - "He'd now give all the shoes in his shop - The Parliament's fury for to stop, - Whip cobbler like any town-top. - Good people, pity the blind! - - "Oliver made him a famous Lord, - That he forgot his cutting-board, - But now his thread's twisted to a cord. - Good people, pity the blind! - - "Sing hi, ho, Hewson!--the state ne'er went upright, - Since cobblers could pray, preach, govern, and fight; - We shall see what they'll do now you're out of sight. - Good people, pity the blind!" - - [113] Quoted in Chambers's "Book of Days," August - 15th. W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh. - -Having been one of the men who sat in judgment on King Charles I., the -Colonel was with other regicides condemned to be hung October 14th, -1660;[114] but he is said to have escaped hanging by flight, and to have -died at Amsterdam "in his original obscurity," 1662.[115] - - [114] Evelyn's "Diary" of this date. - - [115] Pepys, see above. - - -SIR CHRISTOPHER MYNGS, ADMIRAL OF THE ENGLISH FLEET. - -Christopher Myngs (or Minns), "the son of an honest shoemaker in London, -from whom he inherited nothing but a good constitution,"[116] is said to -have worn the leathern apron for a short time before he went to sea. -Speaking of the men of humble origin who, toward the end of the -seventeenth century, made their way to high office by their skill and -bravery, Lord Macaulay says: "One of the most eminent of these officers -was Sir Christopher Mings, who entered the service as a cabin-boy, who -fell fighting bravely against the Dutch, and whom his crew, weeping and -vowing vengeance, carried to the grave. From him sprang, by a singular -kind of descent, a line of valiant and expert sailors. His cabin-boy was -Sir John Narborough, and the cabin-boy of Sir John Narborough was Sir -Cloudesley Shovel. To the strong natural sense and dauntless courage of -this class of men England owes a debt never to be forgotten."[117] Myngs -knew how to be familiar and friendly with his men, and yet to keep his -position and authority. Seamen learn to love bravery, and of this they -saw enough in their gallant Admiral. They had additional reason for -their devotion in the care he always took to see them well paid and fed, -and the justice he did them in the distribution of prizes. It was in the -great four days' fight off the English coast, June 1st-4th, 1666, -between the English and Dutch fleets, that this brave man met with his -death. The English fleet was commanded by the Duke of Albemarle and -Prince Rupert, and the Dutch by De Ruyter and Van Tromp the younger. The -battle was one of the most memorable on record, both for its length and -the valor displayed on both sides. "On the fourth day of the famous -battle that began on the 1st of June, he received a shot in the neck; -after which, though he was in exquisite pain, he continued in his -command, holding his wound with both his hands for above an hour. At -length another shot pierced his throat and laid him forever at -rest."[118] - - [116] Grainger's "Biographical History of England," - vol. iii. - - [117] "History of England," vol. i. p. 316 (People's - Edition). - - [118] Grainger's "Biographical History of England," - vol. iii. Grainger has an interesting note concerning Myngs, - which we cannot forbear copying: "I am credibly informed that - when he had taken a Spanish man-of-war and gotten the commander - on board his ship, he committed the care of him to a - lieutenant, who was directed to observe his behavior. Shortly - after word was brought to Myngs that the Spaniard was deploring - his captivity and wondering what great captain it could be who - had made Don----, with a long and tedious string of names and - titles, his prisoner. The lieutenant was ordered to return to - his charge, and if the Don persisted in his curiosity, to tell - him that 'Kit Minns' had taken him. This diminutive name - utterly confounded the _titulado_, threw him into an agony of - grief, and gave him more acute pangs than all the rest of his - misfortunes." - -The portrait of Sir Christopher Myngs is now in the Painted Hall of -Greenwich Hospital. It is a half-length by Sir Peter Lely, and came from -Windsor Castle, having been presented by George IV. in 1824.[119] - - [119] See the "Descriptive Catalogue of the Portraits - of Naval Commanders," etc., in the "Painted Hall, Greenwich - Hospital," Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1881, p. - 10. The editor of the catalogue states that "this portrait and - those numbered 7, 8, 47-49, 102, 105, 107, 110-112 form the - series of valuable pictures mentioned in Pepys' 'Diary,' as - follows:--'To Mr. Lilly's the painter's, and there saw the - heads--some finished and all begun--of the flagg-men in the - late great fight with the Duke of York against the Dutch. The - Duke of York hath them done to hang in his chamber, and very - finely they are done indeed. Here are the Prince's (Rupert), - Sir George Askue's, Sir Thomas Teddiman's, Sir Christopher - Myngs', Sir Joseph Jordan's, Sir William Berkeley's, Sir Thomas - Allen's, and Captain Harman's, as also the Duke of Albemarle's; - and will be my Lord Sandwich's, Sir W. Penn's, and Sir Jeremy - Smith's.'" - - - - -ASTROLOGERS AND OTHERS. - - -DR. PARTRIDGE, ASTROLOGER, PHYSICIAN TO HIS MAJESTY, ETC. - -In the same age lived another noteworthy man, whose connection with the -gentle craft was much more intimate, and, indeed, of almost life-long -duration. This man was an astrologer, and blended with his study of the -subtle influences of the stars over human affairs the study of medicine. -What relation there is between these two things it were hard to tell; -but certain it is, that for many years men who were not otherwise fools -and knaves believed in this relation; and, combining the two -"professions," found very often that success in the one gave them a -certain prestige in the other. A lucky hit in "casting the nativity" of -a notable person, brought the "astrologer and physician" endless -patients and no small fortune. Probably an appointment as physician to -the king was due to no better cause; and, with such an appointment, of -course the practitioner's position was secure for life. This seems to -have been pretty much the case with _John Partridge_, who is spoken of -as a shoemaker in Covent Garden in 1680, and in 1682 is styled -_physician to His Majesty Charles II._ Here is a case, then, of a -cobbler who ventured _ultra crepidam_ to some purpose, and who might -very well have taken James Lackington's motto for his own.[120] -Partridge, it must be allowed, was a scholar of no mean attainments, -whatever he may have been as a physician, and his scholarship was -self-acquired. During his apprenticeship to a shoemaker he began the -study of Latin with a copy of Lilye's Grammar, Gouldman's Dictionary, -Ovid's Metamorphoses, and a Latin Bible. Having got a sufficient -knowledge of Latin to read astrological works, he betook himself to the -study of Greek and Hebrew. Then came _physic_, with the grand result of -royal patronage. Partridge was a considerable author or editor, and the -list of his works shows the strong bent of his mind toward the occult -science. He published a "Hebrew Calendar" for 1678; "Vade Mecum," 1679; -"Ecclesilegia, an Almanac," 1679; the same for 1680; "The King of -France's Nativity;" "A Discourse of Two Moons;" "Mercurius Coelestis," -being an almanac for 1681; "Prodomus, a Discourse on the Conjunction of -Saturn and Mars;" "The Black Life of John Gadbury," in which a brother -astrologer is roundly abused; and shown to be, as a matter of course, a -rogue and impostor; and a "Translation of Hadrianus a Mynsicht's -Treasury of Physic," 1682. - - [120] Sutor ultra crepidam feliciter ausus. See - Lackington's Life, p. 45. - -The inscription over Partridge's tomb is in Latin, as becomes the -memorial of so learned a man and so eminent a physician! The visitor to -the churchyard of Mortlake in Surrey may still learn--if the great -destroyer has dealt gently with the record--how - - JOHANNES PARTRIDGE, ASTROLOGUS - ET MEDICINÆ DOCTOR, - -was born at East Sheen, in Surrey, on the 18th January, 1644, and died -in London, 24th June, 1715; how he made medicine for two kings and one -queen, _Carolo scilicet Secundo, Willielmo Tertio, Reginæque Mariæ_; and -how the Dutch University of Leyden conferred on him the diploma -_Medicinæ Doctor_. - -Partridge seems to have given his MS. of the "Conjunction of Saturn and -Mars" to Elias Ashmole, who presented it in 1682, with other -curiosities, to the University of Oxford, where it may still be seen in -the Ashmolean Museum.[121] - - [121] Elias Ashmole appears to have been given to - astrology and alchemy; see his "Way to Bliss," a work on the - Philosopher's stone, published 1658. - -Partridge is alluded to in Pope's "Rape of the Lock," where the poet -speaks of Belinda's "wavy curl," which has been stolen and placed among -the stars-- - - "This Partridge soon shall view in cloudless skies, - When next he looks through Galileo's eyes; - And hence the egregious wizard shall foredoom - The fate of Louis and the fall of Rome." - -"What sacrifices," says the author of "The Book of Days," "would many a -sage or poet have made to be connected through all time with Pope and -the charming Belinda! Yet here, in this case, we find the almanac-making -shoemaker enjoying a companionship and a celebrity for qualities which, -morally, have no virtue or endurance in them, but quite the reverse." -Swift, whose satire stung many an abuse to death, made endless fun of -Partridge and his absurd prophecies based on astrology. In 1708 Swift -published a burlesque almanac containing "predictions for the year," -etc., etc., the first of which was about Partridge himself. Fancy the -astrologer's feelings when he read the following awful announcement:--"I -have consulted the star of his nativity by my own rules, and find he -will infallibly die on the 29th of March next of a raging fever; -therefore I advise him to consider it and settle his affairs in time!" - -After the 29th of March was past, Partridge positively took the trouble -to inform the public that he was _not_ dead! This he did in his almanac -for 1709. Whereupon the cruel Dean took the matter up again and tried to -show Partridge his error. He was dead, argues Swift, if he did but know -it; but then there is no accounting for some men's ignorance! He says, -"I have in another place and in a paper by itself sufficiently convinced -this man that he is dead; and if he has any shame, I don't doubt but -that by this time he owns it to all his acquaintance."[122] Not content -with this, Swift wrote an "Elegy on the supposed Death of Partridge, the -Almanac-maker," and wound up the _painful_ business by writing his -epitaph too. - - [122] _The Tatler_, April 11, 1709. Steele and Congreve - assisted in the joke. Congreve pretended to take the side of - Partridge by defending him against the charge of "sneaking - about without paying his funeral expenses!" See Timb's - "Anecdote Biog." vol. i. pp. 24 and 154. - -THE EPITAPH. - - "Here, five foot deep, lies, on his back, - A cobbler, starmonger, and quack, - Who to the stars, in pure good-will, - Does to his best look upward still. - Weep, all ye customers, that use - His pills, or almanacs, or shoes; - And you that did your fortunes seek, - Step to his grave but once a week. - This earth, which bears his body's print, - You'll find has so much virtue in't, - That I durst pawn my ear 'twill tell - Whate'er concerns you full as well, - In physic, stolen goods, or love, - As he himself could when above." - - -THE BROTHERS SIBLY.--EBENEZER SIBLY, M.D., F.R.C.P., ASTROLOGER, ETC. - -Here also may be mentioned the once famous _Dr. Ebenezer Sibly_, the -physician and astrologer, and his brother Manoah, who by turns was -shoemaker, shorthand reporter, and preacher of the "heavenly doctrines" -of the New Jerusalem Church. However great a figure these men may have -made in their day, they have managed to drop so completely out of notice -that no encyclopædia, biographical dictionary, or magazine[123] the -writer has met with contains any account of them. They are said to have -been born in Bristol, and to have been brought up to the gentle -craft.[124] The first edition of Ebenezer Sibly's "Astrological -Astronomy" was published in 1789, in three vols. 8vo, and was entitled -"Astronomy and Elementary Philosophy," being a translation of Placidus -de Titus. The various editions of this work contain a collection of -remarkable nativities, and among them Sibly includes that of Thomas -Chatterton, "the marvellous boy" of Bristol.[125] Of course the -astrologer sees in the horoscope of Chatterton sure signs of remarkable -genius. Sibly was frequently consulted both for astrological and medical -purposes, the two professions, astrology and medicine, being regarded as -having a certain necessary relation. At all events, it answered the -purposes of men like Sibly and Partridge to associate them in their -practice. Human credulity dies hard, the race of fools seems to be -endowed with wondrous vitality; even as late as 1826 Sibly's "Celestial -Science of Astrology," in two bulky 4to vols., was published in a -twelfth edition, and at that time there must have been many readers of -his costly works[126] on the "Occult Sciences, comprehending the Art of -Foretelling Future Events and Contingencies by the Aspect and Influences -of the Heavenly Bodies." This work was accompanied by a key to physic -and the occult sciences. "Many of my readers," says the author of -"Crispin Anecdotes," "otherwise indebted to Dr. Sibly, may remember his -solar and lunar tinctures, and may probably have experienced their -efficacy in transmuting gold coin into AURUM POTABILE!" In his -astrological works and his edition of "Culpepper's Herbal," Sibly signs -himself "M.D.," "Fellow of the Royal Harmonic Philosophical Society at -Paris," "Member of the Royal College of Physicians in Aberdeen," etc., -etc. The "Herbal" is dated in the year of Masonry 5798, and is written -from No. 1 Upper Tichfield Street, Cavendish Square, London. We have no -record of the death of this illustrious son of Crispin, who, perhaps, -had better have stuck to his last. He is called "_the late_ E. Sibly, -M.D.," in the 1817 edition of his "Celestial Science." - - [123] In regard to Manoah Sibly, see below. - - [124] "Crispin Anecdotes," p. 85. The plates in E. - Sibly's works are by Ames, a Bristol name a century ago. His - portrait in the 1790 edition is by Roberts. - - [125] His birth is set down as occurring 20th - November, p.m., 1752. - - [126] They were published at _two guineas_. - - -MANOAH SIBLY, SHORTHAND WRITER, ETC. - -Manoah Sibly appears to have been a man of more varied and certainly of -much more useful gifts than his brother "the doctor;" but it may well be -doubted if he made as much capital out of them. He was born August 20th, -1757.[127] If the writer above quoted be correct in saying that Manoah -was a shoemaker, he must have made good use of his spare time, and even -of his working hours, for at the age of nineteen he is said to have been -teaching Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac. During the greater part of -his life he was a prominent preacher in connection with the New -Jerusalem or Swedenborgian community. For fifty-three years, from the -time of his ordination in 1790, he held the pastorate of the -congregation for which the Friars Street Chapel, London, was built in -1803. This congregation is now represented by the well-known Argyle -Square Church, King's Cross, where a tablet to his memory has been -erected. Manoah Sibly does not seem at any time to have been wholly -occupied with the work of preaching, although he delivered two sermons a -week for forty-three years, and one a week for the remaining ten of his -ministry. "Whether he dabbled in the muddy waters of astrology or no, it -is rather hard to tell; probably he left the task of reading the stars, -for the most part, to his more astute brother, Ebenezer. At any rate, a -translation of Placidus de Titus is set down in certain lists as having -been published in his name in 1789;[128] and when he opened a shop as a -bookseller, he dealt chiefly in works on occult philosophy. In 1795 he -is styled shorthand writer to the City of London on the title-page of -the published reports from his own notes of the trial of Gillman and of -Thomas Hardy, the political shoemaker, whose trial and acquittal created -so great an excitement throughout the country. Two years after this he -obtained a situation in the Bank of England, which he held for no less -than forty-three years. In addition to all this multifarious work, he -found time for writing and slight editorial duties. In 1796 a volume of -sermons preached in the New Jerusalem Temple appeared in his name, and -in 1802 he edited a liturgy for his own church, and wrote a hymn-book. -If in no other way, his memory will be perpetuated among his -coreligionists by the hymns that bear his name. His first published work -was a critical essay on Jeremiah 38:16, issued in 1777; and his last, a -discourse on "Jesus Christ, the only Divine object of Praise," delivered -on the forty-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the "heavenly -doctrines," appeared fifty-six years after, viz., in 1833. Manoah -Sibly's long life of fourscore and three years came to an end December -16th, 1840. - - [127] The Secretary of the Swedenborg Society, Mr. - James Speirs, has obligingly supplied the writer with most of - the facts given above, which are taken from an obituary of M.S. - in the _Intellectual Repository_, a Swedenborg magazine for - 1841. Mr. Speirs says that Manoah Sibly was "presumably" born - in London, but see above. - - [128] The exact correspondence in _title_ and _date_ - between this book and the first edition of E. Sibly's similar - work creates a suspicion of error in the name. - - -MACKEY, THE LEARNED SHOEMAKER OF NORWICH, AND TWO OTHER LEARNED -SHOEMAKERS. - -In this connection we may mention a curious instance of learning in -lowly life, mentioned in one of a series of interesting articles in the -_Leisure Hour_, already alluded to. The writer says: "In that most -entertaining miscellany _Notes and Queries_ (No. 215) we find an -interesting account of a very poor Norwich shoemaker named _Mackey_, -whose mind appears to have been a marvellous receptacle of varied -learning. He died in Doughty's Hospital, in Norwich, an asylum for aged -persons there. The writer of the paper found him surrounded by the tools -of his former trade and a variety of astronomical instruments and -apparatus, and he instantly was ready for conversation upon the -mysteries of astronomical and mythological lore, the "Asiatic Researches -of Captain Wilford," and the mythological speculations of Jacob Bryant -and Maurice, quoting Latin and Greek to his auditor. He was called "the -learned shoemaker." His learning was probably greatly undigested and -ungeneralized, but it was none the less another singular instance of the -pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, as is shown by his published -works on mythological astronomy and on "The Age of Mental Emancipation." -To this notice of Mackey the writer in the _Leisure Hour_ adds an -amusing story, which is too good to be omitted, of a brother of the -gentle craft (a cobbler) who, in order to eclipse a rival who lived -opposite to him, put over his door on his stall the well-known motto, -"_Mens conscia recti_" (a mind conscious of rectitude). But his -adversary, determined not to be outdone, showed himself also a cobbler -in classics as well as in shoes, by placing over his door the -astonishingly comprehensive defiance, "Men's and Women's _conscia -recti_." - - -ANTHONY PURVER, THE SHOEMAKER WHO REVISED THE BIBLE. - -Another curious instance of extensive reading and remarkable linguistic -talent, somewhat similar to that of Dr. Partridge and the learned -shoemaker of Norwich, is that of _Anthony Purver_. He was born at Up -Hurstbourne in Hampshire in 1702. His parents were poor, and put their -boy apprentice to the art and mystery of making and mending boots and -shoes. When his "time was out," he betook himself to the leisurely and -healthy employment of keeping sheep, and began to study. His special -line in after-life was decided by his meeting with a tract which pointed -out some errors of translation in the authorized version of the Bible. -This led him to resolve that he would read the Scriptures in the -original Hebrew and Greek. Taking lessons from a Jew, Purver soon -learned to read Hebrew. After this he took up Greek and Latin, until he -could read with ease in either language. "On settling as a schoolmaster -at Andover," we are told,[129] "he undertook the extraordinary labor of -translating the Bible into English, which work he actually accomplished, -and it was printed at the expense of Dr. Fothergill in two vols. folio. -This learned shoemaker, shepherd, and schoolmaster deeply felt the need -of the great work which has been accomplished in our own day by the -united scholarship of England and America. In his own way he completed -the Herculean task single-handed; and if his translation was not of any -general and practical utility, it none the less deserves mention as a -monument of self-acquired learning and honorable industry. Purver died -in 1777, at the age of seventy-five. - - [129] "Maunder's Biographical Treasury." London: - Longmans. - - - - -POETS OF THE COBBLER'S STALL. - - -In coming to speak of the _poets_ of the cobbler's stall, the task of -selection is found to be by no means an easy one. It is hard enough to -tell where to begin; it is harder still to know where to leave off. -"This brooding fraternity" of shoemakers, it is said, "has produced more -rhymers than any other of the handicrafts."[130] - - "Crispin's sons - Have from uncounted time with ale and buns - Cherish'd the gift of song, which sorrow quells; - And working single in their low-built cells, - Oft cheat the tedium of a winter's night - With anthems."[131] - - [130] _Quarterly Review_, January, 1831, p. 76. - - [131] Charles Lamb, "Album Verses," 1830, p. 57. - -In the days of the revival of learning and the reformation of religion -in England, shoemakers had their share in the mental and moral -awakening. Many of them turned poets, and essayed to write ballads and -songs, of which we have a sample in Deloney's "Delightful, Princely, and -Entertaining History of the Gentle Craft."[132] Such a spirited songster -as Richard Rigby, "a brother of the craft," who undertook to show in his -"Song of Praise to the Gentle Craft" how "royal princes, sons of kings, -lords, and great commanders have been shoemakers of old, to the honor of -the ancient trade," also deserves to be mentioned. This song, beginning - - "I sing in praise of shoemakers, - Whose honor no person can stain,"[133] - -is no mean performance; its historic allusions may not be unimpeachable, -but its poetic ring is genuine. Scores of pieces of a similar character -have issued from the cobbler's room, and either perished, like many -another ballad and song of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or -found their way into odd corners of our literature, where they are -buried almost beyond hope of resurrection. - - [132] London, 1675 and 1725. - - [133] See Campion's "Delightful History," p. 51. - -Speaking of men who have aspired to be poets and have published their -productions, one is fain to begin with a name which, if it could be -proved to belong to the gentle craft, would certainly have to stand at -the head of the long list of poetical shoemakers--the Elizabethan -dramatist _Thomas Dekker_, who wrote "one of the most light-hearted of -merry comedies," _The Shoomaker's Holyday_. One of the most prominent -characters in the play is Sir Simon Eyre, the reputed builder of -Leadenhall Market, London, and Lord Mayor of the city.[134] Of this -worthy, who lived in the time of Henry VI., Rigby, in his "Song in -Praise of the Gentle Craft," says-- - - "Sir Simon, Lord Mayor of fair London, - He was a shoemaker by trade." - - [134] The author of "Crispin Anecdotes" mentions - another shoemaker who was made Lord Mayor of London, viz., Sir - Thomas Tichbourne, who was Mayor in 1656, during the - Protectorate.--"Crispin Anecdotes," p. 127. - -It is hard to think that the writer of _The Shoomaker's Holyday_, in -which the ways of shoemakers and the details of the craft are described -with all the ease and exactitude of familiarity, was not a brother of -the craft.[135] When the famous quarrel arose between the quondam -friends and coworkers, Ben Jonson and Dekker, Jonson in his _Poetaster_ -satirized the author of _The Shoomaker's Holyday_ under the name of -_Crispinus_. This epithet may be simply an allusion to the subject of -Dekker's well-known comedy; but may it not also be regarded as a -veritable "cut at a cobbler?" - - [135] One is ready to ask who but a shoemaker could - have gone so heartily into the rollicking fun of the - shoemaker's room, or asked such a question as the - following:--"Have you all your tools; a good rubbing pin, a - good stopper, a good dresser, your four sorts of awls, and your - two balls of wax, your paring knife, your hand and thumb - leathers, and good St. Hugh's bones to smooth your work?" It - may be remarked here that St. Hugh is another patron saint of - the craft. Hugh, son of the king of Powis, was in love with - Winifred, daughter of Donvallo, king of Flintshire. Both were - martyrs under Diocletian. St. Hugh's bones were stolen by the - shoemakers, and worked up into tools to avoid discovery. Hence - the cobbler's phrase, "St. Hugh's bones." See Deloney's - "Entertaining History." - - -JAMES WOODHOUSE, THE FRIEND OF SHENSTONE. - -James Woodhouse stands first on our list in point of time, but not in -regard to ability. He evidently owed his little brief popularity to the -friendship of William Shenstone, author of "The Schoolmistress." -Shenstone lived at Leasowes, seven miles from Birmingham, in a charming -country-house surrounded by gardens, artistically laid out and -cultivated with the utmost care by the eccentric, fantastic poet. -Woodhouse, who was born about 1733, was a village shoemaker and eke a -schoolmaster at Rowley, two miles off. Shenstone had been obliged to -exclude the public from his gardens and grounds at Leasowes on account -of the wanton damage done to flowers and shrubs. Whereupon the village -shoemaker addressed the poet in poetical terms asking to be "excluded -from the prohibition." In reply Shenstone admitted him not only to -wander through his grounds, but to make a free use of his library. -"Shenstone found," says Southey, "that the poor applicant used to work -with a pen and ink at his side while the last was in his lap--the head -at one employ, the hands at another; and when he had composed a couplet -or a stanza, he wrote it on his knee." Woodhouse was then about -twenty-six years of age. His lot must have been rather hard at that -time, for, speaking of his wife's work and his own, he says in one of -his poems-- - - "Nor mourn I much my task austere, - Which endless wants impose; - But oh! it wounds my soul to hear - My Daphne's melting woes! - - "For oft she sighs and oft she weeps - And hangs her pensive head, - _While blood her farrowed finger steeps_ - _And stains the passing thread._ - - "When orient hills the sun behold, - Our labors are begun; - And when he streaks the west with gold, - The task is still undone." - -Five years after his introduction to Shenstone, a collection of his -poems was published, entitled "Poems on Several Occasions." About forty -years afterward he issued another edition with additional pieces, such -as "Woodstock, an Elegy," "St. Crispin," etc. In the later years of his -life he was living near Norbury Park, and had found a generous patron in -Mr. Lock, who superintended the publication of his poetry, and in Lord -Lyttleton of Hagley. - - -JOHN BENNET OF WOODSTOCK, PARISH CLERK AND POET. - -The name of Bennet occurs once more in our list, and in this instance, -if classed at all, it should be classed with the poets, although it must -be confessed that the claim of John Bennet to that honorable title -would hardly be allowed in some quarters. This little local celebrity -inherited the office of parish clerk from his father, and with it some -degree of musical taste, for his father's psalm-singing is said to have -charmed the ear of Thomas Warton, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and -sometime curate of Woodstock. John Bennet, junior, succeeded to the -clerkship in Warton's time, and thus came under the notice of the kindly -clergyman, who was a generous patron of men of this class. When Bennet -took to writing poetry and thought of publishing, Warton gave him every -assistance in his power. A poor uneducated poet could scarcely have -fallen into better hands, for the young curate was geniality itself, if -we may judge from the estimate of him formed by Southey, who speaks of -his "thorough good nature and the boyish hilarity which he retained -through life," and furthermore adds, "The Woodstock shoemaker was -chiefly indebted for the patronage which he received to Thomas Warton's -good-nature, for my predecessor was the best-natured man that ever wore -a great wig."[136] The shoemaker's poetry was "published by -subscription" in 1774, and the long list of notable names speaks well -for the industry and influence of the patron to whose efforts the -splendid array of subscribers must be attributed. Bennet's poetry, which -was not of a very high order of merit, consisted chiefly of simple -rhymes on rustic themes, in which he does not forget to sing the praises -of the _gentleman-like craft_ to which he belongs; nor does he hesitate -frankly to declare that his reason for publishing his rhymes is "to -enable the author to rear an infant offspring, and to drive away all -anxious solicitude from the breast of a most amiable wife." Later in -life he published another volume, having for its chief piece a poem -entitled "Redemption;" and, as a set-off, a kindly preface by Dr. Mavor, -Rector of Woodstock. This honest parish clerk of poetical fame died and -was buried at Woodstock on the 8th of August, 1803. - - [136] See Southey's preface to "Attempts in Verse, by - John Jones," London, 1830; and article thereon in _Quarterly - Review_, January, 1831, p. 81. - - -RICHARD SAVAGE, THE FRIEND OF POPE. - -A far better poet but a far less worthy man than Bennet of Woodstock or -Woodhouse of Rowley was _Richard Savage_, the friend of Pope. From -beginning to end the story of his life, as told by Dr. Johnson in his -"Lives of the Poets," is one of the most romantic and melancholy -biographies in existence. It only concerns us here to say that Richard -Savage, the reputed[137] son of Earl Rivers and the Countess of -Macclesfield, was, on leaving school, apprenticed to a shoemaker, and -remained in this humble position "longer than he was willing to confess; -nor was it, perhaps, any great advantage to him that an unexpected -discovery determined him to quit his occupation." Dr. Johnson thus -speaks of this discovery and its immediate results: "About this time his -nurse, who had always treated him as her own son, died; and it was -natural for him to take care of those effects which, by her death, were, -as he imagined, become his own. He therefore went to her house, opened -her boxes, and examined her papers, among which he found some letters -written to her by the Lady Mason, which informed him of his birth and -the reason for which it was concealed. Dissatisfied with his employment, -but unable to obtain either pity or help from his mother, to whom he -made many tender appeals, he resolved to devote himself to literature. -His first attempt in this line was a short poem called 'The Battle of -the Pamphlets,' written anent the Bangorian Controversy; and his second -a comedy under the title 'Woman's Riddle.' Two years after appeared -another comedy, 'Love in a Veil.' In 1723 he wrote a drama, having for -its subject certain events in the life of Sir Thomas Overbury. Previous -to the publication of a small volume entitled 'A Miscellany of Poems,' -Savage wrote the story of his life in a political paper called _The -Plain Dealer_. His best poem, 'The Wanderer,' in which are some pathetic -passages referring to himself, was published in 1729." For the story of -the life of this unhappy man the reader must be referred to Johnson's -"Lives." Savage died in the debtors' prison, Bristol, August 1st, 1743. - - [137] For an able discussion of the question, "Was - Richard Savage an Impostor?" to which the writer, Mr. Moy - Thomas, says, "Yes," see _Notes and Queries_, 2d Series, vol. - vi. - - -THOMAS OLIVERS, HYMN-WRITER, FRIEND AND COWORKER WITH JOHN WESLEY. - -It is a relief to turn from the thought of Savage to _Thomas Olivers_, -one of John Wesley's most intimate friends and zealous coworkers. We -have seen already how prominent a part another shoemaker played in the -Methodist revival;[138] but Olivers is perhaps better known to the -general public than Samuel Bradburn, for the latter has left no mark on -our literature, while the former has made a name among hymn-writers as -the author of several excellent hymns, and of one, in particular, which -holds a place of first rank in Christian hymnology. Olivers' fame -outside Methodism rests chiefly on the fine hymn beginning-- - - "The God of Abram praise, - Who reigns enthroned above, - Ancient of everlasting days, - And God of love. - Jehovah great, I Am, - By earth and heaven confest; - I bow and bless the sacred name, - Forever blest." - - [138] See Life of Samuel Bradburn, President of the - Wesleyan Conference. - -One hymn may seem to be a very narrow basis on which to build a -reputation, yet the name of Olivers will as surely be handed down to -future generations, on account of this fine sacred lyric, as it would -have been if he had written a whole volume of hymns of merely average -merit. A dozen instances might be cited in which a single brief poem of -rare excellence has won an undying fame for the writer. Gray's "Elegy -Written in a Country Churchyard," and Michael Bruce's "Elegy Written in -Spring," Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore," and Blanco White's single -sonnet, "Night and Death," and, in an inferior degree, poor Herbert -Knowles' "Lines Written in the Churchyard of Richmond, Yorkshire," are -cases in point. - -Thomas Olivers in his autobiography[139] tells us that he was born at -Tregonon in Montgomeryshire in 1725. After the death of his father and -uncle, Thomas was left in charge of another relative named Tudor, who -sent him to school and afterward bound him apprentice to a shoemaker. He -was, by his own account, idle, dissolute, and profane--"the worst boy -seen in those parts for the last twenty or thirty years." His evil -conduct compelled him to fly from the scene of his early dissipation as -soon as he could; and, after living a wild life at Shrewsbury and -Wrexham, he came to Bristol. This city was his spiritual birthplace; -for, under a sermon by George Whitfield, the sinful, reckless young -Welshman was converted, and became as noted for piety and earnest -Christian work as he had once been for blasphemy and opposition to all -religion. Shortly after his conversion he removed to Bradford in Wilts, -where he joined the Methodists. On recovering from a terrible attack of -small-pox he went back to visit the scenes of his early life. In this -expedition he had a double object--to obtain a sum of money left him by -his uncle, and then to go round to all his creditors and pay his debts. -This most Christian conduct won him golden opinions and formed a capital -introduction to the preaching of the Gospel; for Olivers had now begun -to exercise his rare gifts in that direction. Returning to Bradford, he -was soon appointed by John Wesley as a travelling preacher. After -preaching in many parts of England and enduring the usual amount of -hardship and risk to life and limb incident to the field-preacher's work -in those days, he finally settled in London as John Wesley's _editor_, -having charge of the _Arminian Magazine_, and other publications, for -which Wesley was responsible. This office he held for twelve years; but -he was never quite fit for it, and his chief was reluctantly compelled -at last to put a more scholarly man in his place. - - [139] See a book of unusual interest, "Lives of the - Early Methodist Preachers," ed. by Rev. I. Jackson. Wesleyan - Book-Room, London, 3 vols. 1865. - -In the controversy between Wesley and Toplady on Predestination, etc., a -controversy marked by the worst features of the time, the fiery Welshman -was put forward to take the leading part on the Arminian side. Nothing -could exceed the severity of Toplady's remarks and the fierceness of his -attacks, both on the character and teaching of the veteran preacher, -John Wesley, whom all the world now agrees to honor as one of the most -devout, unselfish, and useful men who have adorned the Christian Church -in any age. Right manfully did the "Welsh Cobbler," as Olivers was -contemptuously styled, stand up for the doctrine of free grace. In his -hands Wesley was quite content to leave the work of reply to Toplady's -_Zanchius_, quietly remarking, "I can only make a few strictures, and -leave the young man Toplady to be further corrected by one that is fully -his match, Thomas Olivers." - -Tyerman[140] speaks of Olivers as a man of high intellectual power; but -"laments that the fiery Welshman undertook to meet the furious -Predestinarian with the not too respectable weapons of his own -choosing." What this means may be imagined by the following sample of -Toplady's personalities in this strife of tongues. He says, "Mr. Wesley -skulks for shelter under a cobbler's apron;" and again, "Has Tom the -Cobbler more learning and integrity than John the Priest?" It must be -confessed that Cobbler Tom hit hard in reply. But an end has now come to -the discreditable and useless strife; and, happily, it is in no danger -of revival; while the hymns written by the pious Calvinist[141] and the -zealous Arminian are both alike sung with devout emotion wherever the -Saviour's name is known and adored. - - [140] "Life of Wesley," vol. iii. p. 108. London: - Hodder & Stoughton, 1870. - - [141] Toplady wrote the fine hymn "Rock of Ages," - etc. - -Besides several controversial tracts, Olivers wrote a number of hymns, -and is known as the composer of a number of Psalm-tunes.[142] He -continued his ministry in London till March, 1799, when he died at the -age of seventy-four. He was buried in John Wesley's tomb, in the City -Road Chapel Yard, London, as a token of the esteem in which he was held -by Wesley and his friends. - - [142] "_Helmsley_" has been set down to Olivers; but - Mr. Benham says it was composed by Martin Madan, Cowper's - uncle, author of "_Thelyphthora_." See Cowper's "Poems," Globe - Ed., Intro., p. 34. - - -THOMAS HOLCROFT, DRAMATIST, NOVELIST, ETC.[143] - - [143] "Memoirs of the late Thomas Holcroft, written by - Himself, and Continued to the Time of his Death from his - Diary," by W. Hazlitt. The Traveller's Library, vol. xvii. - 1856. - -Thomas Holcroft was a much more noteworthy man. At the time of the State -Trials he had made a considerable name as a writer of political novels. -In his "Anna St. Ives" and "Hugh Trevor" he had exposed the follies and -vices of society around him, and had set forth his own political views -in a manner well calculated to captivate the fancy of young and ardent -reformers. When the trial of Hardy began, Holcroft surrendered himself -in court, deeming it base and unmanly to refuse to share the fate of -those whose political views he had warmly espoused. Both friends and -foes honored him for his chivalrous conduct in the affair. On the -acquittal of his friends he was discharged without a trial. - -The life of Holcroft is as full of romance as any of those depicted in -his novels. He was born in London in 1745. During the first six years -of the boy's life, his father was a shoemaker. Giving up this occupation -in 1751, Holcroft, senior, "took to the road" as a hawker and peddler, -and his poor child led a vagrant, gypsy-like life, and passed through -privations which he could never afterward think of without shame and -sorrow. And yet he managed to turn this worst period of his life to some -account. The first-hand knowledge it afforded him of nature and human -affairs gave freshness and power to the comedies and dramas written in -later years. During these early years his father taught him to read out -of the Bible, and such was his progress, that in a little while the -daily task consisted of eleven chapters. These, he tells us, he could -often have missed by telling a falsehood, which his conscience never -would allow; and, besides this, he had no wish to evade the task, for -the stories of the Old Testament were so full of interest to his boyish -mind, that he was eager to go on to the end. While his father and mother -were engaged as hawkers, young Holcroft was sent out to beg. In this -miserable employment he became quite an expert; and, like many another -unfortunate beggar, he was led to draw on his imagination for tales to -answer his purpose. On returning home he would recount his adventures, -and repeat the marvellous stories he had invented, until his father, who -at first admired the lad's gift as a romancer, came to be ashamed of -allowing him to lead such an idle and mischievous life, and put a stop -to his escapades. - -After this he was employed as a stable-boy and jockey at Newmarket. The -change in his circumstances thus brought about was a very happy one, for -he had now good fare, a comfortable bed to sleep on, decent or rather -_smart_ clothes, of which he was not a little proud; and, added to all -this, a certain position in respectable society! His father had a friend -at Newmarket who had a taste for reading, and followed the "profession" -of feeder and trainer of gamecocks for the pit. This man was struck with -Thomas Holcroft's natural ability, and lent him books to read, such as -the "Spectator" and "Gulliver's Travels." While at Newmarket he was one -day passing a church, and stopped to listen to the music of the choir, -then engaged in practice. He ventured to enter the church, and feeling a -strong desire to learn to sing, spoke to the leader. Mr. Langham, who, -finding the stable-boy had a good voice, admitted him into the choir. He -threw himself so heartily into this new and fascinating study, that it -was not long before he could read music and sing in good style. - -At the age of sixteen, he again went to live with his father, who had -once more returned to the shoemaker's stall, and lived in London. Here -he learned enough of the trade to earn a livelihood, but he involved -himself in premature cares by an imprudent marriage when only twenty -years of age. - -And now the passion for a roving life got the better of him, and -quitting the monotony of a cobbler's room, he betook himself to the -stage. For seven years he led the life of a strolling player, "and -sounded all the depths and shoals" of misery incident to such a -precarious existence. - -It was not till after his thirtieth year that he began to acquire -settled habits of study, to learn the languages--French, German, and -Italian--in which he afterward became a ready translator, and to set -about any kind of literary work. The first products of his pen appeared -in the _Whitehall Evening Post_. He was in his thirty-fifth year when -his first novel, "Alwyn, or the Gentleman Comedian," appeared. The year -after this saw the issue of his earliest comedy, _Duplicity_, which was -put on the stage at Covent Garden Theatre, and had a good run of -success. This was followed by some thirty dramatic pieces of one kind or -other, in poetry or prose, comedies and comic operas, dramas and -melodramas, which last he had the credit of introducing into England. -The _Road to Ruin_ is accounted, by some judges of note, the best of his -dramas. Holcroft was a man of versatile powers and great industry. His -natural gifts were remarkable, and his extensive knowledge was almost -entirely self-acquired. As already indicated, he was a very prolific -author. Besides the three novels and the plays referred to above, he -issued translations from the _French_ of Toucher d'Obsonville and Pierre -de Long; from the _German_, Goethe's "Herman and Dorothea;" and from the -Italian. He spent much of his time in Germany and France, and his -interesting work, "Travels into France," is one of his most valued -productions. Thomas Holcroft died 23d March, 1809, at the age of -sixty-four, having crowded as much work into his eventful life as most -of the leading men of his time. - - -JOSEPH BLACKET, POET, "THE SON OF SORROW." - -At the beginning of this century there were two young shoemakers in -London who were spending their leisure time in hard reading and attempts -at musical composition. One of them, Robert Bloomfield, a sketch of -whom has already been given,[144] is known as widely as the English -language itself. The other, _Joseph Blacket_, made but little stir in -the world, and is now well-nigh forgotten. He took to writing poetry at -a much earlier age than Bloomfield, who wrote nothing before his -sixteenth year, while Blacket, if we may trust the notes in his -"Specimens" and "Remains," began, very characteristically, with "The -Sigh," written at _ten_ years of age. His unhappy life was brought to a -close when he was but twenty-four years old. At this age Bloomfield had -written very little poetry, and "The Farmer's Boy" was not begun. But if -his genius ripened slowly, it produced fruits far more valuable than -those presented to the world by the precocity of poor Blacket. There is -nothing of Blacket's to compare with "The Farmer's Boy," or "Richard and -Kate," or "The Fakenham Ghost." It is interesting to know that the two -poetical sons of Crispin were acquainted, and cherished a high regard -for each other. They seem to have met at the house of Mr. Pratt, -Blacket's patron and editor, and afterward to have exchanged copies of -each other's works, accompanied by friendly letters. What Bloomfield -thought of his young friend may be gathered from the following portion -of a letter: "The instant I received your volume I resolved to shake -hands with you, by letter at least, and to thank you for a pleasure of -no common sort. The 'Conflagration' is so truly full of fire that it -almost burns one's fingers to read it. 'Saragossa' is a noble poem. -Choose your own themes, and let the master-tints of your mind have full -play." - - [144] It may be thought by some readers that - Bloomfield's brothers, George and Nathaniel, ought to have a - place in our list of illustrious shoemakers. _George_, in his - correspondence with Mr. Capel Lofft, Robert's patron, showed - himself a man of good sense and a fair writer. See preface to - Bloomfield's Poems. But _Nathaniel_, the author of a little - volume of poems, edited by Capel Lofft, 1803, entitled, "An - Essay on War," in blank verse, and "Honington Green, a Ballad," - was _not_ a shoemaker. He was a _tailor_, though not a few - writers have made Byron's mistake of classing him with "ye - tuneful cobblers." - -[Illustration: JOSEPH BLACKET] - -In a letter to his friend Mr. Pratt, Blacket says that he was born in -1786 at Tunstill, five miles from Richmond, in Yorkshire. His father was -a day-laborer, who had eight children to provide for at the time Joseph -was old enough for school.[145] It was therefore fortunate for him that -the village schoolmistress took a fancy for him, and taught him for -nothing. He stayed with her until he was seven, and then went to a -school taught by a master. At the age of eleven he was removed to -London, his brother John having engaged to provide a home for him and -teach him his trade during the next seven years. In this respect his -position was very similar to that of Bloomfield, whose brother George -became the guardian of the shy Suffolk lad when he first went up to -London.[146] John Blacket was so anxious that his ward should not forget -his little learning that he often kept the lad at home to write on -Sunday. There were such books in John's library as "Josephus," -"Eusebius' Church History," "Fox's Martyrs," all of which were read -through by the time Joseph was fifteen years of age. "At that time," he -says, "the drama was totally unknown to me; a play I had neither seen -nor read." One evening a companion called on him and begged him to go -and see Kemble play _Richard the Third_ at Drury Lane. His brother John -refused consent at first, but yielded at last to the clever strategy of -an appeal made in a few impromptu verses, which so greatly pleased and -surprised the fond brother, that he at once "gave him leave to go, -together with a couple of shillings to defray his expenses." From this -time forth he devoted himself to the study of the poets Milton, Pope, -Young, Otway, Rowe, Beattie, Thompson, but especially, and for a time -almost exclusively, to Shakespeare. As a young poet it is said of him -that "His anxiety to produce something that should be thought worthy of -the public in the form of a drama appears to have surpassed all his -other cares.... Something of the dramatic kind pervades the whole mass -of his papers. I have traced it on bills, receipts, backs of letters, -shoe patterns, slips of paper hangings, grocery wrappers, magazine -covers, battalion orders for the volunteer corps of St. Pancras, in -which he served, and on various other scraps on which his ink could -scarcely be made to retain the impression of his thoughts; yet most of -them crowded on both sides and much interlined."[147] - - [145] Blacket's "Remains," preface, vol. i. pp. 62, - 63. London, 1811. - - [146] Blacket's "Remains," preface, vol. i. pp. 2-7. - - [147] Editor of Blacket's "Remains," Letters, pp. 9, - 10. - -Like most ardent young students in poor circumstances, Blacket was -reckless of his health. His hard work by day and loss of nightly sleep -sowed the seeds of the disease to which he eventually fell a victim. He -married very young, and had the misfortune to lose his wife when he was -only twenty-one years of age. A sister who came to nurse her was taken -ill of brain fever, and nearly lost her life. "Judge of my situation," -he says to his friend Mr. Pratt, "a dear wife stretched on the bed of -death; a sister senseless, whose dissolution I expected every hour; an -infant piteously looking round for its mother; creditors clamorous, -friends cold or absent. I found, like the melancholy Jaques, that 'when -the deer was stricken the herd would shun him.'" In this wretched -position he was obliged to sell everything to pay his debts. No wonder -that he became a "son of sorrow," and that most of the poetry written -after this date bears the marks of gloom and distraction of mind. Yet it -must be confessed that when the young poet sought to enter on his -literary career by the publication of his poems, he had no cause to -complain of want of friends. Mr. Marchant, a printer, took kindly to -him, and published his first copies of "Specimens" free of expense. It -was he who introduced the young aspirant for poetical fame to Mr. Pratt, -the editor of the "Remains," who seems, from the letters published, to -have been a man of considerable means, but not of the best judgment in -literary affairs. This friend had the most exalted notions of the -"genius" of his _protégé_, showed him the utmost kindness till the day -of his death, and took charge of the funds raised by the publication of -his "Remains," investing them in behalf of the poet's orphan child. In -August, 1809, Blacket removed to Seaham, Durham, to the house of a -brother-in-law, gamekeeper to Sir Ralph Milbanke of Castle Eden. The -baronet and his family were very kind to him; a horse was lent him; -dainty food was sent down for him from the castle; doctors were procured -who attended him gratis; Lady Milbanke and Miss Milbanke, afterward Lady -Byron, visited him constantly, and interested others in his behalf; -among them the Duchess of Leeds, who procured a large number of -subscribers to his volume of "Specimens."[148] No effort was spared by -either doctors or friends to save his life and to ensure his reputation -as a poet; but to no purpose, as it seemed, in either case. He died of -consumption on the 23d of September, 1810, at the house of his -brother-in-law, and was buried in Seaham churchyard by his friend Mr. -Wallis, rector of the parish, who had been a Christian counsellor and -comforter to the young poet during his long illness. At his own request, -Miss Milbanke selected the spot for his grave, and caused a suitable -monument to be placed over it, on which were inscribed the lines, taken -from his own poem, "Reflections at Midnight"-- - - "Shut from the light, 'mid awful gloom, - Let clay-cold honor rest in state; - And, from the decorated tomb, - Receive the tributes of the great. - - "Let me, when bade with life to part - And in my narrow mansion sleep, - Receive a tribute from the heart, - Nor bribe one sordid eye to weep." - - [148] That these generous friends labored to some - purpose may be judged from the fact that after Blacket's little - legacies and funeral expenses were paid, £97 10s remained over - for the benefit of his child. "Remains," p. 101. - - -DAVID SERVICE, AND OTHER SONGSTERS OF THE COBBLER'S STALL. - -David Service of Yarmouth represents a pretty numerous class of -songsters of the cobbler's stall, worthy men in their way, but writers -of inferior merit, of whom much cannot be said. Such writers were _John -Foster_ of Winteringham, Lincolnshire, who owed the publication of his -"Serious Poems," in 1793, to the kindness of the vicar of the parish; -_J. Johnstone_, a Scotchman, who published a small volume of poems in -1823; the Rev. _James Nichol_ of Traquair, Selkirkshire, who in his -shoemaking days "published two or three volumes of poetry."[149] _Gavin -Wilson_, of Edinburgh, who, in 1788, published "A Collection of Masonic -Songs," of whom Campbell says: "I knew Gavin Wilson; he was an honest, -merry fellow, and a good boot, leather-leg, arm, and hand maker, but as -sorry a poetaster as ever tried a couplet."[150] _James Devlin_, a man -of versatile gifts and most irregular habits, who by turns wrote poetry, -corresponded for the _Daily News_, and contributed to the _Spectator_, -_Builder_, and _Notes and Queries_, and died about twenty years ago in -poverty and obscurity.[151] These men, as regards their literary merit -and fame, excepting perhaps the last, are well represented by the -herdboy from the banks of the Clyde, who, after serving his time as a -_sutor_ at Greenock, journeyed south in search of work, and settled at -Yarmouth, Norfolk, and there, at the age of twenty-seven, published a -"Rural Poem," called "The Caledonian Herdboy," in 1802. Two years after -he was encouraged by his friends to issue "The Wild Harp's Murmurs" and -"St. Crispin, or the Apprentice Boy," the former being dedicated to that -friend of unknown young poets, Capel Lofft, the friend of the -Bloomfields and Kirke White. His last adventure in this line bore the -romantic title "A Voyage and Travels in the Region of the Brain." This -verse occurs in one of his publications-- - - "'Apollo, why,' a matron cried, - 'Are poets all so poor?' - 'They write for fame,' Apollo cried, - 'And seldom ask for more.'" - -But this _poet_, it is to be feared, obtained neither wealth nor fame. - -He became an inmate of the Yarmouth Workhouse, and died there on the -13th of March, 1825. And his "memorial," like that of many another local -celebrity, has well-nigh perished with him. - - [149] "Crispin Anecdotes," pp. 87, 88. - - [150] Ibid. - - [151] "Campion's Delightful History," p. 81. - - -JOHN STRUTHERS, POET, EDITOR, ETC. - -John Struthers, a Scottish poet, the friend of Sir Walter Scott and -Joanna Baillie, followed the trade of a shoemaker for many years after -he had begun to gain a literary reputation. He was born at Kilbride in -Lanarkshire in 1776, and learned his trade in his own home, for his -father was a member of the same craft. Struthers is best known in -Scotland as the author of "The Poor Man's Sabbath," a simple, -unpretentious poem, which appeared in 1804, and rapidly passed through -several editions.[152] His success in this first venture led to the -publication of "The Peasant's Death," in 1806; "The Winter's Day," in -1811; "The Plough," in 1816; "The Dechmont," in 1836. He was the editor -of a Scottish anthology, called "The Harp of Caledonia," in three -volumes, to which his friends Sir Walter Scott and Joanna Baillie "sent -voluntary contributions." He wrote a history of Scotland from the Union, -1707 to 1827, by which his reputation was greatly enhanced. - - [152] Of "The Sabbath," a writer in the _Quarterly - Review_, January, 1831 (p. 77), says it is "a poem of which - unaffected piety is not the only inspiration, and which but for - its unfortunate coincidence of subject with the nearly - contemporary one of the late amiable James Grahame, would - probably have attracted a considerable share of favor, even in - these hypercritical days." - -A considerable number of the biographies in Chambers's "Lives of -Illustrious Scotchmen" are from his pen. For several years he held the -position of press-corrector for Khull, Blackie & Co., of Glasgow. In -1832 he was made librarian in Stirling's Library, which office he held -until within a few years of his death in 1853. His poetical works were -collected and published by himself in 1850. He is spoken of as an -excellent specimen of a shrewd, intelligent, strong-minded -Scotchman.[153] - - [153] "Imperial Dictionary of Biography." Glasgow: - Blackie & Co. - - -JOHN O'NEILL, THE POET OF TEMPERANCE. - -The name of John O'Neill is intimately associated with that of George -Cruickshank in the work of temperance reform; for not only did -Cruickshank prove himself a friend to the poor shoemaker and poet by -illustrating his little poem entitled "The Blessings of Temperance," but -it is with good reason declared that these illustrations and the scenes -depicted in the poem itself suggested to the artist the leading ideas -worked out in his series of plates entitled "The Bottle." Some of these -sketches, as, for example, "The Upas Tree" and "The Raving Maniac and -the Drivelling Fool," derive their titles from O'Neill's language in the -poem itself. So closely, indeed, do the graphic sketches of the artist -and the poet correspond, that O'Neill in the later editions of his -little work surnamed it "A Companion to Cruickshank's 'Bottle.'"[154] On -its first appearance the poem was entitled "The Drunkard," and received -favorable notice in the pages of the _Athenæum_ and the _Spectator_, -besides other journals and papers of less literary merit. "The Drunkard" -was not his first work, but it was his best, and the one by which his -name became known and honored among teetotallers. As early as 1821 he -had published a drama entitled "Alva." "The Sorrows of Memory" and a -number of Irish melodies belonging to different periods in his life were -issued a little later. His friend the Rev. Isaac Doxsey, in a sketch -prefixed to "The Blessings of Temperance," speaks of O'Neill as the -author of seven dramatic pieces, a collection of poems, and a novel -called "Mary of Avonmore, or the Foundling of the Beach," and of -numerous contributions to various periodicals. - - [154] "The Blessings of Temperance, Illustrated in the - Life and Reformation of the Drunkard: a Poem by John O'Neill, - etc., forming a Companion to Cruickshank's 'Bottle,' with - etchings from his pencil." London: W. Tweedie. 1851. Fourth - edition. - -John O'Neill was an Irishman, born at Waterford on the 8th of January, -1777. His mother was in wretched circumstances at the time of his birth, -having been deserted by a worthless husband, who left her and her little -family to the care of fortune. As a boy he was very slow to learn, and -gave no indication of the gifts he afterward displayed. He and his -brother, much his senior, were apprenticed to a relative who acted as a -sort of guardian to the boys. O'Neill's mind was first awakened to a -love for poetry by a drama in rhyme entitled "The Battle of Aughrim," by -a shoemaker named Ansell, which he committed to memory. On leaving the -service of his first master he became an apprentice to his brother, but -soon quarrelled and the indentures were thrown into the fire. During the -Rebellion of 1798 and 1799, when food was at famine prices, he lived in -great poverty at Dublin and Carrick-on-Suir; and in the latter place, -notwithstanding the miserable state of his affairs, he found some one -with love and courage sufficient to enable her to become his wife. It -was at this time also that he began to read in earnest, chiefly poetry, -though nothing came amiss, and, as a matter of course, every book was -borrowed. The first-fruits of his poetic genius, if the term be -permissible, were presented to the world in a little satirical poem -written at Carrick, "The Clothier's Looking-Glass." This was designed to -expose what was regarded as the cruelty and heartlessness of the -master-clothiers in uniting to reduce the wages of the men. O'Neill was -induced to contribute to this trade dispute by a man named Stacey, a -printer, under whose guidance the shoemaker acquired some knowledge of -the art of printing, and set up a press. The press was a capital adjunct -to the pen, which the active young shoemaker and amateur printer was now -using pretty freely. - -At this time he became a strong political partisan, and used both his -pen and press in an election contest in favor of General Matthew, -brother of the Earl of Llandaff. It was the Earl's promise of patronage -that induced O'Neill to leave Ireland and settle in London, some time in -1812 or 1813. This promise was never redeemed, for the Earl about this -time became a resident in Naples. Disheartened by his disappointment, -the poor shoemaker dropped for a time all reading and literary toil and -aspiration, and stuck doggedly and sullenly to his last. - -For seven years he seems to have neither read nor written anything. At -length a long period of "enforced leisure," occasioned by an accident -which made work with the awl impossible, compelled him to betake -himself to reading, and thus his mind was roused from its torpor. An -English translation of a volume of Spanish novels fell in his way, and -its perusal suggested the subject for the drama _Alva_, which, as we -have said, he published in 1821. His other works are named above. None -of these seem to have brought him much profit, neither were his attempts -at "business for himself," once as a master-shoemaker and again as a -huckster, at all successful. On several occasions he was assisted by -grants from the Literary Fund, and was thankful for the kindly aid -afforded him by his friends the teetotalers. - -In spite of all his hard work as a shoemaker, and his many little -literary adventures (perhaps because of _them_), he was in his old age a -very poor man. Mr. Doxsey says in 1851, "John O'Neill and his aged -partner dwell in a miserable garret in St. Giles's." In his poor earthly -estate he had one comfort, at all events--he did not "suffer as an -evil-doer," and he could feel pretty sure that he had done not a little -by his graphic pen and rude eloquence to turn many a sinner from a life -of misery and shame. His death occurred on the 3d of February, 1858. - - -JOHN YOUNGER, SHOEMAKER, FLY-FISHER, AND POET. - -In 1860 a charming little book on "River Angling for Salmon and -Trout"[155] was added to our extensive angling literature by a devout -follower of Isaac Walton. The preface showed that it was the work of a -Lowland Scotchman, who was accustomed to divide his time between the two -"gentle" occupations of shoemaking and fishing, and that this man, _John -Younger_, had an enthusiasm for other things besides making -fishing-boots and fishing-rods and lines, and the sport of the -river-side. He was a zealous and, we had almost said, a desperate -politician. He made corn-law rhymes, which came into the hands and drew -forth praise from the pen of Ebenezer Elliott, who sent the best copy of -his works as a present to the poetical shoemaker. In 1834 Younger tried -the public with a volume of verse under the quaint title, "Thoughts as -they Rise."[156] But the public, like the shy fish of some of his own -Scottish rivers, would not "rise" to his bait, for the work fell -uncommonly flat. He was much more successful with his "River Angling," -which appeared first in 1840, and again, with a sketch of his life, in -1860. In 1847 John Younger won the second prize for an essay on "The -Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath to the Working-Classes," and it was a -proud day for him and his neighbors at St. Boswell's when he set off to -go up to London to receive his reward of £15 at the hands of Lord -Shaftesbury in the big meeting at Exeter Hall. Younger, who was all his -life a brother of the craft, was born at Longnewton, in the parish of -Ancrum, 5th July, 1785. He died and was buried at St. Boswell's in June, -1860. As we are writing we observe that his autobiography[157] has just -been published, concerning which a writer in the _Athenæum_ -remarks,[158] "John Younger, shoemaker, fly-fisher, and poet, has left a -Life which is certainly worth reading;" and adds, "There is something -more in him than a vein of talent sufficient to earn a local celebrity." -With this opinion agree the remarks of the _Scotsman_ and the -_Sunderland Times_, which said of him at the time of his death, "One of -the most remarkable men of the population of the South of Scotland, -whether as a genial writer of prose or verse or a man of high -conversational powers and clear common-sense, the shoemaker of St. -Boswell's had few or no rivals in the South;" and "Nature made him a -poet, a philosopher, and a nobleman; society made him a cobbler of -shoes." He was certainly a most original character, and his originality -and genius appear in every chapter of his Autobiography. - - [155] Kelso: Rutherford. Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons. - - [156] Glasgow, 1834. - - [157] "Autobiography of John Younger, Shoemaker, of - St. Boswell's." Kelso: J. & J. H. Rutherford, 1881. - - [158] 6th May, 1882, p. 564. - - -CHARLES CROCKER, "THE POOR COBBLER OF CHICHESTER". - -Charles Crocker, who was born in Chichester, 22d June, 1797, was the son -of poor parents, who could not afford to send him to school after he was -seven years of age, but they were assisted by friends who procured him -admission to the Chichester "Greycoat School." He was sent before the -age of twelve to work as a shoemaker's apprentice. "This arrangement," -he says in the brief sketch of his life which is given in the preface -to his poems,[159] "was perhaps rather favorable than otherwise to the -improvement of my mind, for the sedentary labor necessary in this kind -of employment, while it keeps the hands fully engaged, gives little or -no exercise to the mental faculties, consequently the mind of a person -so employed may, without any hindrance to his work, find occupation or -amusement in intellectual or imaginative pursuits." His youthful days -were spent in hard work and study. Spite of his schooling, grammar -presented a great difficulty when he began to apply himself seriously to -literary work. He even went so far as to commit an entire book to memory -in his efforts to master the art. He mentions a lecture on Milton by -Thelwall as having given him much help in trying to understand the -structure of English verse. Besides Milton, Cowper, Collins, and -Goldsmith became favorites, and he committed large portions of their -writings to memory, and so learned to frame a style. The first volume of -his poems was published in 1830, and the third in 1841. He also wrote "A -Visit to Chichester Cathedral," which passed through several editions. -Crocker died in 1861.[160] - - [159] "The Vale of Obscurity, and Other Poems," by - Charles Crocker, 3d edition. Chichester: W. H. Mason, 1841. - - [160] It is perhaps best, on the whole, not to speak - of living men in such a work as this. An exception has, - however, been made to such a rule in the rare instances of the - famous politician, poet, and preacher Thomas Cooper, and the - American poet Whittier. If the writer did not feel the - necessity of adhering, in the main, to this rule, it would be - easy enough for him to cite many instances in proof of the - statement that the literary reputation of shoemakers is being - well sustained in the present day by writers in prose and - poetry, who either have been or still are working at the stall. - Most Scottish _sutors_, one would think, have heard of the - author of "Homely Words and Songs" and "Lays and Lectures for - Scotia's Daughters of Industry" (Edinburgh, 1853 and 1856). - London craftsmen know and honor the names of J. B. Rowe, a - political writer and poet, and John B. Leno, the editor of "St. - Crispin," and author of the "Drury Lane Lyrics," "Tracts for - Rich and Poor," and "King Labor's Song-Book" (London, 1867-68; - see also "Kimburton, and Other Poems," London, 1875-76); and - the shoemaker of Wellinborough, John Askham, by his "Sonnets of - the Months," "Descriptive Poems," and "Judith" (Northampton: - Taylor & Son, 1863, 1866, 1868, and 1875), has made a - reputation which is not entirely confined to his own locality, - nor to the members of the craft to which he belongs. - - - - -PREACHERS. - - -GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. - -The name of George Fox belongs to the list of practical philanthropists; -for Fox may be said to have given himself body and soul to the good of -his fellow-men, and to have lived the life of a martyr to the cause to -which he felt called to consecrate himself. He was born in 1624, the -year in which Jacob Boehmen died. We are the more inclined to notice -this coincidence because the character and work of George Fox suggest a -comparison between the two men. Both men were pietists and mystics; but -in this alone are they alike. When we look at their life-work, we are at -once reminded of their nationality. The German is speculative, the -Englishman is practical; the one turns his dreams and visions into -books, and the other into acts.[161] - - [161] All the writings of George Fox were published - after his death. See below. - -George Fox's early life was spent near his native place, Drayton, in -Leicestershire, with a man who combined the occupations of shoemaker and -dealer in wool and cattle. After eight years' service with this master, -the young shoemaker, then at the age of nineteen, clad in a leathern -doublet of his own making, went forth into the world as a preacher and -reformer. He was led to adopt this life by what he regarded as a voice -from heaven. He had been to a fair, and was grieved by the intemperance -of two of his youthful friends whom he saw there. In his "Journal" he -speaks of the effect this sight produced upon his mind, and the resolve -to which it led him. "I went away," he says, "and when I had done my -business, returned home; but I did not go to bed that night, nor could I -sleep, but sometimes walked up and down, and sometimes prayed and cried -to the Lord, who said unto me, 'Thou seest how many young people go -together into vanity, and old people into the earth; thou must forsake -all, young and old, keep out of all, and be a stranger to all.'" After -living the life of a wandering preacher for a few years, he was induced -to return home for a short time, but the voice from heaven forbade his -resisting, and summoned him again into the Lord's vineyard. In 1648, -when only twenty-four years of age, he began to preach in Manchester, -and to gather round him a number of adherents. From Manchester he went -on a tour through the northern counties of England. Two years after this -his followers began to be known by the name of Quakers. This term was -first used by Justice Bennet of Derby, before whom Fox was cited for -disturbing the peace. In 1655 he was summoned to appear before Cromwell, -who dismissed the Leicestershire shoemaker as a harmless enthusiast, -whose attempts at moral and religious reform could not do anything but -good among the people. In fact, Cromwell, a sturdy Puritan and a -religious enthusiast himself, was deeply moved by the spiritual fervor -of the simple-hearted preacher; for Fox, who never feared the face of -any man, did not fail to speak his mind to Cromwell on religious -matters. As the preacher left the room, the Protector said to him, "Come -again to my house, for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, -we should be nearer one to the other." - -In the reign of Charles II., when the anti-puritan reaction set in, Fox -fared far worse than before. Time after time he was thrown into prison -for speaking in the "steeple-houses" (churches) and disturbing public -worship. It was not at all an uncommon thing for the rough preacher, -clad in his leathern doublet, to stand up in church while service was -going on, and rebuke the lukewarmness of the minister and the formalism -of the worshippers. This he conceived to be part of the mission to which -the spirit-voice had called him. Nor did he expect to be allowed to -discharge it without bringing down the hand of the civil authorities -upon his own head. But he had counted the cost, and was prepared to -suffer. A large part of his time was spent in jail, where he underwent -terrible hardships from want of food and clothing. Nothing, however, -could daunt his ardor, or make him "disobedient unto the heavenly -vision." He was no sooner at large than he began again to deliver his -message, calling on men to listen to the voice of Christ within, and to -reform their lives. Surely nothing could have been more pure, more -simple, and more unselfish than the life of this devout and eccentric -preacher of the gospel of love, peace, and truth; yet he was hounded -from jail to jail by the bigots of his day as if he had been a common -vagrant or thief. The sufferings he endured at the hands of furious mobs -are often recorded in his journal. These he bore with the utmost -meekness, as a firm believer in the doctrine of non-resistance to evil. -Once when he had been half killed, and the mob stood round him as he lay -upon the floor, he says, "I lay still a little while, and the power of -the Lord sprang through me, and eternal refreshings revived me, so that -I stood up again in the strengthening power of the eternal God, and -stretching out my arms among them, I said, 'Strike again! here are my -arms, my head, my cheeks!' Then they began to fall out among -themselves." The distinctive principles of the Society of Friends, of -which George Fox was the founder, are too well known to need description -here. In 1669 Fox married the widow of Judge Fell. After visiting -Ireland, America, Holland, Denmark, and Prussia, this apostle of the -seventeenth century returned to England, and died in London, January -13th, 1691, at the age of sixty-seven. - -Spite of all his so-called _vagaries_, his want of education and culture -and grasp of intellect, the Leicestershire shoemaker, by dint of moral -earnestness and undaunted courage, succeeded in laying the foundation of -a religious society, which in proportion to its numbers has exerted a -greater moral influence than any other denomination of Christians. His -"Journal," which is one of the most singular records of mental -experience and missionary adventure ever written, was first published in -1694. His "Epistles" were printed in 1698, and his "Doctrinal Pieces" in -1706. - - -THOMAS SHILLITOE, THE SHOEMAKER WHO STOOD BEFORE KINGS. - -The term "calling," as applied to the trade or occupation a man follows, -is, or rather was, originally supposed to indicate a belief that he is -called and appointed of God to follow it. This belief underlies the -teaching of the Church Catechism.[162] How far it prevails nowadays it -would be hard to tell. The term seems to have survived the belief which -gave rise to it; for one does not often meet with instances outside the -Christian ministry in which men regard their daily avocation as a -veritable "calling." This, however, was the case with _Thomas -Shillitoe_, who was evidently as well satisfied of his "call" to be a -shoemaker as of his Divine commission to stand before kings and rulers -as a witness for the truth of God. This devout man would have had no -hesitation, we apprehend, in the simplicity and strength of his -conviction about the matter, to speak of himself as "called to be" a -shoemaker. He was a member of the Society of Friends, a follower, and -indeed a very close follower, in the spirit and method of his life-work, -of the apostolic George Fox. Shillitoe's "Journal" will often remind the -reader of the records and experiences of the shoemaker of -Leicestershire. - - [162] See answer to the question, "What is thy duty - toward thy neighbor?" - -Thomas Shillitoe was born in Holborn, London, in 1754. His father, who -had been librarian to the Society of Gray's Inn, became the landlord of -the "Three Tuns" public house, Islington, when Thomas was about twelve -years of age. "Merry Islington" was then a village, and a favorite -resort of idlers from the great city. Sundays were the busiest days of -the week, and were chiefly spent by the boy in waiting on his father's -customers. At the age of sixteen he became an apprentice to a grocer, -whose failure very soon compelled Thomas to return home. About this time -he began to attend the meetings of the Society of Friends. This led to -serious thought and prayer, and the resolve to lead a Christian life and -unite himself with these earnest Christian people. "His father, finding -he was thus minded, was greatly displeased, and told him he would rather -have followed him to the grave than he should have gone among the -Quakers, and he was determined he should at once quit his house." But -the youth was prepared for such a severe trial as this by that strong -faith in Divine Providence which formed the most marked feature of his -character throughout the rest of his life. Nor was his faith unrewarded, -for, on the very day on which he bade good-by to his father's roof, a -situation was offered him in a banking-house in Lombard Street. Here he -remained until he was twenty-four years of age. - -He was at this time very anxious to become a preacher, but dreaded the -danger of "running before he was sent," and therefore he waited for the -Divine voice bidding him "Go forth." But before he could be made fit for -this great work he must learn to humble himself and take up the cross. -The banking-house and its surroundings must be forsaken; he must go -forth like Moses into the land of Midian, like Paul into Arabia, and be -prepared by simpler ways of life for the stern duties of the ministry of -God's word. And so it came to pass, he tells us, that one Sunday while -in earnest prayer that the Lord would be pleased to direct him, "He in -mercy, I believe, heard my cries, and answered my supplications, -pointing out to me the business I was to be willing to take to for a -future livelihood as intelligibly to my inward ear as ever words were -expressed clearly and intelligibly to my outward ear--that I must be -willing to humble myself and learn the trade of a shoemaker. This caused -me much distress of mind, as my salary had been small, and having been -obliged to make a respectable appearance, I had but little means to pay -for instruction in a new line of business. Yet believing I was to keep -close to my good Guide and He would not fail me, I entered on the work, -though for the first twelve months my earnings only provided me at best -with bread, cheese, and water, and sometimes only bread, and sitting -constantly on the seat made it hard for me, yet both I and my instructor -soon became reconciled to it." His diligence and thrift enabled him in a -short time to open a shop of his own in Tottenham, and to employ -workmen. It was not long after this that he received his first call to -go forth from his home and preach. It was no easy matter to obey such a -call at this time. His young wife knew nothing of business, and the -foreman was not very trustworthy. Still the good man went out on a sort -of missionary tour in Norfolk, and returned home to find, as he avers he -always did find on returning from such a mission, that the words of -Divine promise spoken to his inward ear were verified: "I will be more -than bolts and bars to thy outward habitation, more than a master to thy -servants, for I can restrain their wandering minds; more than a husband -to thy wife, and a parent to thy infant children." - -After continuing at the craft as a master-shoemaker for about -twenty-seven years, Shillitoe in 1805 found that he had saved enough to -put him in a position to relinquish business, and to devote himself more -fully to the Christian and philanthropic work to which he believed he -had been called of God. He paid several visits to Ireland, visiting the -"drinking-houses" in every town to which he went, and endeavoring to -reform the shocking abuses he met with in such places. First of all he -would speak with the "keepers" of these houses, and plead with them to -abolish the evils he saw around him; and then, turning his attention to -the company of drinkers, revellers, and dancers, he would speak to them -in such tender loving tones, that they were constrained to cease their -rioting and listen to the faithful servant of Christ. He and his -companion were rarely molested while engaged on these errands of mercy. -In some instances crowds followed them to listen to their message, and -where the company began by jeering and insulting the visitors, they soon -settled down into a quiet and respectful demeanor. When at Clonmel in -1810, Shillitoe writes in his journal: "My companion used often to say -it seemed as if the Good Master went into the houses before us to -prepare the way." Not content with visiting the "drinking-houses," we -read, "it was his practice to visit either the magistrates or the -bishops and priests, and sometimes he did not feel clear until he had -spoken faithfully to all."[163] To the bishops, Roman Catholic or -Protestant, he spoke in the most uncompromising manner about their -responsibility for the influence of their teaching and conduct upon the -people. Six hundred visits of mercy were paid to the drinking-houses of -Dublin alone in the year 1811. The year after this his "Journal" records -a remarkable visit which he and a fellow-worker paid to "an organized -company of desperate characters, who for nearly fifty years had infested -the neighborhood of Kingswood, who lived by plundering, robbing, -horse-stealing," and were a terror to the locality. Even these men -listened patiently to correction and instruction from the lips of Thomas -Shillitoe, and thanked him and his friend for their good counsel. - - [163] "Select Miscellanies." London: Charles Gilpin. - 1854, vol. iv. p. 135. - -From the lowest and humblest members of society he sometimes turned his -attention to the highest and most influential. He could not think of -kings and emperors without remembering their grave responsibility before -God for the good government of their people, and feeling that it was his -duty to speak to them upon the subject. In 1794 he and a friend named -Stacey went to Windsor intent on seeing and speaking with King George -III. It was early morning, when the King was in the habit of visiting -his stables. Shillitoe was about to follow the King into one of the -stables, when he was stopped by an attendant. George III., hearing their -remarks, came out; when Stacey said, "This friend of mine has something -to communicate to the King." On which his Majesty raised his hat, and -his attendants ranging on his left and right, Thomas Shillitoe advanced -in front, saying, "Hear, O King," and, in a discourse of about twenty -minutes' duration, pressed upon the monarch the importance of true -religion in persons of exalted station, and the influence and -responsibility attached to power. The King listened with respect and -emotion, "tears trickling down his cheeks."[164] It was certainly a more -difficult thing to pay such a visit to the Prince Regent; but even this -the prophet-like Quaker accomplished at Brighton in 1813, and again at -Windsor in 1823, when the gay Prince had become King George IV. The -missionary zeal of Shillitoe carried him into Europe and America, where -he never flinched from delivering his message to men in any position, -high or low. - - [164] "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," vol. i. p. 21. - -In Denmark he obtained an audience of the King, and spoke to him some -plain words regarding the desecration of the Sabbath, and the evils -attendant on Government-licensed lotteries. In Prussia he ventured to -speak to the King in the garden of the Palace of Berlin, and was -graciously received, the monarch promising to profit by the admonition -he received. In Russia he saw the Czar Alexander in 1825, and spoke to -him "of the abuses and oppressions that existed under his government." -Alexander, who had great respect for the Friends, received his visitor -very kindly, and conversed with him for a long time on religious -subjects in the most frank and familiar manner. - -After fifty years' faithful ministry, of the most singularly pure and -disinterested character, this good man died at the age of eighty-two, -12th June, 1836. - - -JOHN THORP, FOUNDER OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH AT MASBRO'. - -The conversion and ministry of John Thorp, a shoemaker at Masbrough, -Yorkshire, may be set down among the most extraordinary incidents -connected with the eighteenth century religious revival. Thorp's -conversion was an indirect result of the preaching of the Methodists, -and occurred in such a singular manner as to make the story worth -telling, even if it had led to no other results; but in Thorp's case the -results of conversion were very noteworthy. Southey in his "Life of -Wesley"[165] gives the following account: "A party of men were amusing -themselves one day in an ale-house at Rotherham,[166] by mimicking the -Methodists. It was disputed who succeeded best, and this led to a wager. -There were four performers, and the rest of the company were to decide -after a fair specimen from each. A Bible was produced, and three of the -rivals, each in turn, mounted the table and held forth in a style of -irreverent buffoonery, wherein the Scriptures were not spared. John -Thorp, who was the last exhibitor, got upon the table in high spirits, -exclaiming, 'I shall beat you all!' He opened the book for a text, and -his eyes rested on these words, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise -perish!' These words at such a moment and in such a place struck him to -the heart. He became serious, he preached in earnest, and he afterward -affirmed that his own hair stood erect at the feelings which then came -upon him, and the awful denunciations which he uttered. His companions -heard him with the deepest silence. When he came down not a word was -said concerning the wager; he left the room immediately without speaking -to any one, went home in a state of great agitation, and resigned -himself to the impulse which had thus strangely been produced. In -consequence he joined the Methodists, and became an itinerant preacher; -but he would often say, when he related this story, that if ever he -preached by the assistance of the Spirit of God, it was at that time." -In the theological controversies which sprang up in the society at -Rotherham, Thorp took the Calvinistic side. This roused the ire of the -Arminian Wesley, who sent off the Calvinistic cobbler to labor in a -circuit a hundred miles away. But though Wesley had the power to drive -Thorp from Rotherham, the autocrat had no power to drive the cobbler -away from his Calvinism. Wesley then dismissed Thorp from the -Connection, and he returned to the scenes of his conversion and first -Christian work, to take charge of a body of people who left the -Methodists and formed an Independent Church, 1757-60.[167] This little -society rapidly grew in numbers and influence, and is at the present -time a large and flourishing church at Masbro'. One of its first -members, Mr. Walker, an iron-founder, was a leading patron of the -school, which afterward developed into Rotherham College under the -presidency of the learned Dr. E. Williams.[168] "Thus to the pious zeal -of an obscure shoemaker the Dissenters are indirectly indebted for their -valuable academical institution."[169] - - [165] "Bonn's Standard Library," p. 305. - - [166] Rotherham and Masbro' are one town, only - separated by the River Rother. - - [167] "Masbro' Chapel Manual" for 1881, whence many of - these particulars are taken. See also Miall's - "Congregationalism in Yorkshire." - - [168] Dr. Edward Williams became president in 1795. He - edited the works of Jonathan Edwards, and was the author of a - once famous controversial treatise on "Divine Equity and - Sovereignty." - - [169] "Crispin Anecdotes," p. 18. - -Thorp was regularly ordained to the pastorate, and a chapel was built -for his ministry, where he preached till his death, at the age of -fifty-two, 8th November, 1776. He was a friend of the pious and -eccentric John Berridge,[170] Vicar of Everton, who gave his watch to -Thorp as a token of esteem. John Thorp's son, William, was a far more -famous preacher than his father, and held a conspicuous place at the -beginning of this century as pastor of the Castle Green Church, Bristol. -Representatives of the family belonging to a _third_ and _fourth_ -generation of preachers still hold an honorable position as Established -or Free Church ministers. - - [170] "Crispin Anecdotes," p. 18. - - -WILLIAM HUNTINGDON, S.S., CALVINISTIC METHODIST PREACHER. - -One of the most eloquent and famous preachers in London at the close of -the last century and the beginning of the present, when eloquent and -famous preachers were by no means rare, was _William Huntingdon_, whose -portrait may be seen in the National Portrait Gallery, South Kensington, -London. Huntingdon's father was a farm laborer in Kent named Hunt. How -the name Hunt grew into the more dignified Huntingdon (or Huntington) we -cannot tell; probably through some whim of his own, for this eccentric -man took liberties with his name, as the reader will see presently. He -seems to have combined shoemaking with his other avocations, for one -notice speaks of him as by turns hostler, gardener, cobbler, and -coal-heaver.[171] - -He was not favored with any early education, but by careful self-culture -of his first-rate natural gifts acquired the rare art of speaking with -an ease and elegance and force that pleased all sorts of hearers. Long -after he had begun to attract crowds by his eloquence he worked for his -daily bread as a cobbler. Many a sermon was made with his work on his -lap and a Bible on the chair beside him. A chapel was built for his -ministry in Tichfield Street, London, and when it proved too small, the -congregation moved to a larger building erected in Gray's Inn Road. - - [171] "Imperial Dictionary of Biography," vol. iv. - Edinburgh: Blackie & Son. - -In his diary, 22d October, 1812, H. C. Robinson[172] says, "Heard W. -Huntingdon preach, the man who puts _S.S._ (sinner saved) after his -name. He has an admirable exterior; his voice is clear and melodious; -his manner singularly easy, and even graceful. There was no violence, no -bluster; yet there was no want of earnestness or strength. His language -was very figurative, the images being taken from the ordinary business -of life, and especially from the army and navy. He is very colloquial, -and has a wonderful Biblical memory; indeed, he is said to know the -whole Bible by heart. I noticed that though he was frequent in his -citations, and always added chapter and verse, he never opened the -little book he had in his hand. He is said to resemble Robert Robinson -of Cambridge."[173] - - [172] Vol. i. p. 402. - - [173] The eminent Baptist minister of St. Andrew's - Chapel, 1761-1790, predecessor of Robert Hall. - -In regard to the S.S. which he persisted in writing after his name. -Huntingdon says, "M.A. is out of my reach for want of learning; D.D. I -cannot attain for want of cash; but S.S. I adopt, by which I mean -'_sinner saved_.'" He married as his second wife the wealthy widow of -Alderman Sir J. Saunderson, once Lord Mayor of London. His death -occurred in 1813, at Tunbridge Wells.[174] One of his best known works -is entitled "The Bank of Faith," an extraordinary record of his own -personal experience in illustration of the doctrine of special -providence. His sermons, etc., were published in no less than twenty -volumes. - - [174] Huntingdon wrote his own epitaph, part of which - reads--"Beloved of his God but abhorred by men. The Omniscient - Judge at the Great Assize shall ratify and confirm this, to the - confusion of many thousands; for England and its metropolis - shall know that there hath been a prophet among them." - - -REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D., CHINESE SCHOLAR AND MISSIONARY. - -A maker of wooden clogs and shoe-lasts is hardly a shoemaker, in the -commonly understood sense of the term, yet he stands in a very close -relation to the gentle craft, and for this reason we may not unfairly -claim _Robert Morrison_ of Newcastle as a member of the illustrious -brotherhood of the sons of St. Crispin. Dr. Morrison was the pioneer of -modern missions to China, and did for the people and language of that -country what another shoemaker did for the people of Bengal. The -youthful Northumbrian had only a plain elementary education, and after -he became an apprentice, spent all his spare time in reading religious -books. At the age of nineteen he gave up his humble trade and began to -study under a minister, who passed him on in two years to the academy at -Hoxton, where he made such progress, that in a short time he was sent to -London to study Chinese under Sam Tok, a native teacher, with a view to -his becoming a missionary to China, in connection with the London -Missionary Society. In 1807, he sailed for that country, and his rare -gifts as a linguist were shown in the publication of a Chinese version -of the Acts of the Apostles, after only three years' labor, in 1810. The -Gospel of Luke appeared in 1812, and the entire New Testament in 1814. -With the help of William Milne he issued the Old Testament shortly after -the last date. His labors were not confined to the translation of the -Sacred Scriptures. His greatest work was a "Dictionary of the Chinese -Language," published in 1818 by the Hon. East India Company at a cost of -£15,000. He also edited a Chinese grammar. The degree of Doctor of -Divinity was conferred on him by the University of Glasgow. - -In 1817, Dr. Morrison accompanied Lord Amherst in his embassy to Pekin, -and afterward, as the last great work of a noble life, founded an -Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, to whose funds he left the bulk of his -property. On his return to England in 1823 for rest and change, his -great gifts and labors as a linguist and a missionary were cordially -recognized in many quarters. The Royal Society made him a member, and -King George IV. honored himself, as well as his distinguished subject, -by seeking an interview with him. In 1826 he returned to the field of -his missionary labors. On his death at Canton in 1834, England lost her -best Chinese scholar, and one of the most devoted, self-sacrificing, and -useful missionaries who ever left her shores. - - -THE REV. JOHN BURNET, PREACHER AND PHILANTHROPIST. - -The eloquent and popular minister of Camberwell Green Congregational -Church, the _Rev. John Burnet_, who divided his time and energies -between preaching and philanthropic labors, is claimed by the craft as -one of the most gifted and useful men who have sprung from their -ranks.[175] He was of Highland descent, and was born in Perth, 13th -April, 1789. His early education at the High School of Perth must have -given him great advantage over most youths of the _souter_ fraternity. -How long he plied the awl we cannot say. Soon after his union with a -Christian Church in Perth his friends discovered his gifts as a speaker, -and encouraged his adoption of the ministry as a profession. To this end -they supplied him with funds, and for a time he studied with much -advantage under the Rev. William Orme of Perth. In 1815 Mr. Burnet -removed from Perth to Dublin, and soon afterward became an agent of the -Irish Evangelical Society. His labors at Cork proving acceptable to the -Independent Church there, he was invited to become their pastor, and for -fifteen years was well known by all the Protestants of the district as -an eloquent and faithful preacher. The growth of his congregation led to -the building of a handsome new chapel for his ministry in George Street. -But his labors were not confined to these localities (Cork and Mallow). -His biographer states that "he continually visited the other towns and -places in the South of Ireland, preaching in the court-houses, -market-places, and frequently in the halls of the resident nobility and -gentry--all the Protestants gladly giving him the requisite facilities. -On these journeys he had usually a free pass by the mails and coaches, -but he travelled a good deal on horseback."[176] - - [175] See Campion's "Delightful History," p. 83. - - [176] "Congregational Year-Book" for 1863, pp. 214-216. - To the obituary notice given in the Year-Book I owe the facts - given in this sketch. - -It would have been an easy matter for Mr. Burnet to enter Parliament, if -he could have been persuaded to quit the ministry and devote himself -entirely to political life; for he was popular with the Liberals of his -day, had rare gifts as a speaker, and was thoroughly acquainted with -politics. But the best efforts of his friend Joseph Sturge, and the -offer of ample means to maintain the position of a member of Parliament, -failed to induce him to accept the flattering offer. He was constantly -employed as a platform speaker, and never refused his aid to any cause -"affecting the rights of the people or the progress of humanity." - -For many years he was on the Committee of the Bible Society, the London -Missionary Society, the Irish Evangelical and the British and Foreign -Sailors' Societies. Yet with all this public work he never neglected the -duties of the pastorate, but occupied his pulpit efficiently from Sunday -to Sunday, and held several meetings during the week for the -instruction of his people. In 1845 his brethren of the Independent -Connection showed their esteem by electing him to fill the chair of the -Congregational Union. - -In 1825 Mr. Burnet was summoned to give evidence before a committee of -the House of Lords on the state of the Catholic population in Ireland. -At first he declined to attend, saying that he could not leave his work, -for he had no one to supply his place in his absence. But a second -summons made it clear that he was bound to obey orders, and he -accordingly went up to London and gave the committee the benefit of his -extensive acquaintance with the religious condition of the South of -Ireland. His visit to London brought him again into the company of his -old friend Mr. Orme, who introduced him to the congregation, of which -Mr. Orme was the pastor, at the Mansion House Chapel. On his death in -1830, Mr. Burnet was invited to succeed his friend as the pastor of the -church. This pastorate he held for thirty-two years, till the day of his -death. In 1852 the new and costly building opposite Camberwell Green was -built, the congregation removing thither from the old "Mansion House." - -Mr. Burnet was best known for his philanthropic labors, chiefly in -connection with the anti-slavery cause. In this work he labored side by -side, and on intimate terms of friendship, with Wilberforce, Brougham, -Zachary Macaulay, Lord Macaulay, Sir T. F. Buxton, and other advocates -of freedom for the slave. "His labors," it is said, "in committee were -continuous and valuable, and his good sense and sound judgment were not -seldom needed in the conduct of this great movement. He went frequently -on deputations to the Government, and was obliged to spend much time at -the House of Commons to be near the anti-slavery leaders in all times of -difficulty, and by this means became acquainted with the leading public -men of the day, who admired his straightforward character, readiness, -and humor." He died at the age of seventy-three, June 10th, 1862. - - -JOHN KITTO, D.D., THE BIBLICAL SCHOLAR. - -Very few illustrious men have been so heavily handicapped in the race of -life and the pursuit of knowledge as the eminent Biblical scholar, _John -Kitto_, who was born at Plymouth, 4th December, 1804.[177] Added to -poverty, the want of proper food and clothing, he had to endure in early -life the deprivation of natural guardians and friends, terrible cruelty -from a master under whose care he was placed, and, worst of all, the -entire loss of the sense of hearing, so that from the age of twelve to -the day of his death he never could hear a sound of any description. -Deeply pathetic is the story of his early life as told by himself in his -journal and letters. His father was a working mason at Plymouth, who had -lost a good business by intemperate habits. When John was only four -years old, his grandmother, who could not endure the sight of his misery -at home, engaged to bring him up. This good woman was the guardian angel -of Kitto's childhood, and did more, perhaps, than any one else to mould -his character. It was a sad day for him when she was compelled by -poverty and illness to break up her home and go with her little ward to -live with his parents. He had already become fond of reading, and had -even tried his hand at writing tales for the amusement of his childish -companions and the more serious purpose of earning a few pence to buy -books. One day, when working with his father, he fell from the top of a -house thirty-five feet high, and was carried home in a state of -unconsciousness. After lying in this state for a fortnight, he awoke to -discover to his dismay that he was absolutely deaf. He had asked for a -book which a neighbor had lent him just before the accident, and when -his friends found that he could not hear their reply, one of them took -up a slate and _wrote_ upon it. "Why do you not speak?" he cried. "Why -do you _write_ to me? Why not speak? Speak, speak!" "Then," he tells us, -"those who stood around the bed exchanged significant looks of concern, -and the writer soon displayed upon his slate the awful words, 'YOU ARE -DEAF!' Did not this utterly crush me? By no means. In my then weakened -condition nothing like this could affect me. Besides, I was a child; and -to a child the full extent of such a calamity could not be at once -apparent. However, I knew not the future--it was well I did not; and -there was nothing to show me that I suffered under more than a temporary -deafness, which in a few days might pass away. It was left for time to -show me the sad realities of the condition to which I was reduced." - - [177] "Memoirs of John Kitto, D.D.," by R. E. Ryland, - M.A. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Sons, 1856. - -At the age of fifteen he was sent to the workhouse, scarcely -understanding what was being done with him. On realizing his true -position in this place, "his anguish was indescribable." Yet in Kitto's -time this place was hardly like an ordinary modern workhouse. It had -long borne the name of _The Hospital of the Poor's Portion_, was founded -in 1630 by Gayer, Colmer, and Fowell, and endowed in 1674 by Lanyon with -£2000, and in 1708 was converted into a poorhouse by Act of Parliament. -It had apartments for boys, who were admitted on Hele's and Lanyon's -charities. Young Kitto was kindly treated by the guardians, even being -allowed to go out every day, and for a long time to sleep at home. His -occupation was the making of _list shoes_, in which he became so -proficient that he was sent out as an apprentice to a shoemaker in the -town, who treated him so savagely that the humane guardians quashed the -agreement and took him again under their care. But even in this wretched -situation, where he was often compelled to work sixteen or eighteen -hours a day, the poor deaf boy managed to go on with his studies; and in -his interesting work called "The Lost Senses," published twenty years -afterward, he remarks, "Now that I look back upon this time, the amount -of study which I did, under these circumstances, contrive to get -through, amazes and confounds me." - -About a year after his return to the poorhouse, certain gentlemen in -Plymouth, who had come to hear of his superior abilities and passion for -reading, drew up a circular asking for funds to enable him to devote his -time entirely to study. This appeal was so successful that the poor -workhouse boy was placed under the care of a good friend, named Mr. -Barnard, to board and lodge, and allowed to go to the public library for -the purpose of reading and study. His course as a student was now fairly -open. In a few years he published his first book, "Essays and Letters," -with a short memoir of the author. In 1825 his friend Mr. Groves of -Exeter was the means of sending him to the Church Missionary -Institution, London, where for a time he was employed as a printer. For -two years he resided at Malta in the service of this Society. After -this, an arrangement was made with his friend Mr. Groves which proved of -the utmost possible service to the diligent student, whose mind had long -been set on travelling as a means of increasing his knowledge. Mr. -Groves asked Kitto to accompany him to the East. Five years were spent -in a journey through Russia, Persia, and Asiatic Turkey, during which -"the deaf traveller" obtained the vast stores of information of which he -made such good use in the various works written on his return to -England. In 1833 he was engaged by Mr. Charles Knight, the well-known -publisher, to write for the _Penny Magazine_, and wrote for that journal -a number of articles entitled "The Deaf Traveller." He contributed many -articles also to the _Penny Cyclopædia_. His best known works are "The -Pictorial Bible," "The Pictorial Sunday Book," "Cyclopædia of Biblical -Literature," "The Lost Senses," "Journal of Sacred Literature," and -"Daily Bible Illustrations," a work of great value, in eight volumes. In -1844 the University of Giessen conferred on him the diploma of D.D., and -in the following year he was elected a Fellow of the Society of -Antiquaries. Notwithstanding his immense labors and the great value of -his writings, he was, toward the close of his life, considerably -embarrassed by pecuniary difficulties, which were alleviated, but not -entirely removed, by a Government pension of £100 per year. John Kitto -died and was buried at Cannstatt, in Germany, 25th November, 1854, at -the age of forty-nine. - - - - -SCIENCE. - - -WILLIAM STURGEON, THE ELECTRICIAN. - -The name of _William Sturgeon_, so honorably connected with the science -of electricity and magnetism, has a fair claim to be entered on this -list. Sturgeon was a Lancashire man, born at Wittington in that county -in 1783. All his youth was spent at the shoemaker's stall. On arriving -at manhood he abandoned this quiet, peaceful occupation for the life of -a soldier. After two years' service in the militia he enlisted in the -Royal Artillery. Like William Cobbett, he found it possible to read in -the midst of the distractions of the barrack-room. His chief attention -was given to the study of electricity and magnetism, which at that time -were attracting a great deal of attention on the part of men of -science.[178] The first proof Sturgeon gave of special and extensive -knowledge on the subject was in the papers which he contributed to the -_Philosophical Magazine_ in 1823-24. In 1825 he published an account of -certain magneto-electric appliances, for which the Society of Arts -awarded him their silver medal and a purse containing £30. About this -time, that is, soon after leaving the army, he was appointed to the -chair of experimental philosophy in the East India Company's Military -Academy at Addiscombe. His pamphlet, published in 1830, on "Experimental -Researches in Electro-Magnetism and Galvanism," described his own -experiments, which issued in an improved method of preparing plates for -the galvanic battery; a method still found, in many respects, to be the -best. He invented the electro-magnetic-coil machine, now used very -frequently by medical men in giving a succession of shocks to the -patient, and still preferred by the faculty to other instruments for -this purpose. This industrious and original investigator was also the -inventor of a method of driving machinery by electro-magnetism; but he -little dreamt, it may be, of the extent to which electricity would be -employed in these days as a motive power and for lighting purposes. He -edited the "Annals of Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry," and -published his own works in one volume a few years before his death. Like -many inventors, he never made a fortune, but died poor. A Government -pension of £50 per annum came to relieve him of his cares only the year -before his death, which occurred in 1850. - - [178] Magneto-electricity was discovered by Oersted in - 1820. - - - - -POLITICIANS. - - -THOMAS HARDY, OF "THE STATE TRIALS." - -The "_gentle_ craft." has been as prolific of fiery politicians as of -peaceful poets. We have to speak now of two men who were connected -respectively with the political agitations of the eighteenth and -nineteenth centuries. - -In the year 1794, when the events of the French Revolution had convulsed -the whole of Europe, society in England was stirred to its depths, and -grave fears were entertained by the King and his Parliament lest the -spirit of revolution should break loose in this country. Such fears were -not altogether unfounded. Societies sprang up whose object was reform, -by legitimate means if possible, but if not, by violence and bloodshed. -One of the strongest of these societies existed in London, and had -carried its proceedings to such a pitch that four of its leading -members were brought to trial on a charge of treason and sedition. It is -a remarkable fact that of these four men--Hardy, Horne-Tooke, Thelwall, -and Holcroft--the first and last belonged to the class of -shoemakers.[179] - - [179] A story is told of Sir Robert Peel which is - worth repeating here. A deputation of working-men once waited - on Sir Robert to lay the wants of the trades' societies before - him. The two speakers selected by the deputation were - shoemakers. On learning this interesting fact, the statesman - turned to the sons of Crispin and said, half in earnest and - half in jest, "How is it that you shoemakers are foremost in - every movement? If there is a plot or conspiracy or - insurrection or political movement, I always find that there is - a shoemaker in the fray!" - - It is a singular fact that the shorthand notes of Hardy's trial - were taken down by another illustrious shoemaker--Manoah Sibly - (see above). There is a printed copy of these notes in the - British Museum, published 1795. - -_Thomas Hardy_ was the secretary of the Association, and had to bear the -brunt of the trial, in which he was defended by the Honorable Thomas -Erskine. Speaking of these famous state trials, Henry Crabb Robinson, -who was then living at Colchester, says, "I felt an intense interest in -them. During the first trial I was in a state of agitation that rendered -me unfit for business. I used to beset the post-office early, and one -morning at six I obtained the London paper with NOT GUILTY printed in -letters an inch in height, recording the issue of Hardy's trial. I ran -about the town knocking at people's doors and screaming out the joyful -words. Thomas Hardy, who was a shoemaker, made a sort of circuit, and -obtained, of course, many an order in the way of his trade.... Hardy was -a good-hearted, simple, and honest man. He had neither the talents nor -the vices which might be supposed to belong to an acquitted traitor. He -lived to an advanced age and died universally respected."[180] Hardy -died in the year 1831, in his eighty-second year, having been born in -1751. At the close of his life he was connected with the Wesleyan -Methodists. His monument may still be seen in the Bunhill Fields Burying -Ground, opposite the City Road Chapel, London. - - [180] H. C. Robinson's Diary, vol. i. pp. 26, 27. - - -GEORGE ODGER, POLITICAL ORATOR. - -It has been remarked above, that shoemakers, whether "illustrious" or -not, have played a prominent part in connection with religious and -political reform. In proof of this we have only to ask the reader to -recall what has been said of Henry Michael Buch, Hans Sachs, George Fox, -Drs. Carey and Morrison, and John Pounds, among moral and religious -reformers; and such men as Hardy, Holcroft, and Thomas Cooper, in the -sphere of politics. The name of _George Odger_ deserves a place also in -this list of reformers and improvers of the world, for although his -field of labor was a very humble one, it was sufficient for the display -of fine qualities of mind and heart. Odger was one of the best specimens -this country has produced of a powerful class in modern society, called -"working-men politicians." His influence as a working-man among the -working-men of London was unrivalled in his day, and was always of a -wholesome and ennobling character. Professor Fawcett said "he was as -good and true a man as ever lived," paid a warm tribute to his "rare -intelligence and power and eloquence," and added, moreover, that if the -poor shoemaker "had been born in circumstances in which he could have -had the advantages of education, there would have been for him a career -as distinguished as any Englishman had achieved." John Stuart Mill also -held similar opinions in regard to Odger's excellent character and -remarkable abilities. Other members of Parliament have done honor to -Odger's worth, and recognized his unselfishness and patriotism as a -leader of the people. He was no vulgar demagogue, pandering to popular -passion, and seeking fame and power at any cost. His appeals were always -made to the intelligence of his hearers, and his demands for reform were -based on what he conscientiously regarded as principles of justice. -Throughout the American war, 1861-65, he sought to direct public opinion -against the slave-holding interest. - -George Odger was born at Rogborough, near Plymouth, in 1813. His father -was a Cornish miner, and so poor that he was obliged to send his boy out -to earn his living at shoemaking as soon as he was able to work. It goes -without saying that under such circumstances he had no advantages of -education, and that he was indebted to his own efforts for any measure -of culture displayed in later life. In his youthful days he made -diligent use of every moment of leisure for the purpose of study, and -acquired an amount of general information which was of immense service -to him as a public speaker. His first attempts at speaking were made in -connection with the Reform movement. He rapidly acquired influence among -the working class, and was well known and respected both in London and -the provinces as a safe leader and counsellor of the people, so that in -the Liverpool and Kendal strikes he was accepted by both masters and men -as a mediator. In 1868 he stood for a time as a candidate for the newly -made borough of Chelsea, and in the following year he was accepted by a -large party as a candidate for Stafford, but in each case he retired -from the contest lest his candidature should damage the interests of his -party. In 1870 and 1874 he contested Southwark as a working-man's -candidate, but was not successful. In the former of these contests he -polled only 300 fewer votes than the elected candidate. - -George Odger never followed any other trade than that of a shoemaker, -and was always in very humble circumstances. Shortly before his death a -subscription was raised by the Trade Union Congress at Newcastle to -supply the wants of his declining years, and in consequence of the -esteem in which he was held, "the result was liberal and prompt."[181] -After a long illness he died at his residence, Bloomsbury, London, 3d -March, 1877. - - [181] "The Oracle," vol. vi. pp. 154, 237. London: 155 - Fleet Street. - -The honor done him at his funeral was such as many a nobleman might -envy. The _Times'_ report of the funeral says: "The remains of Mr. Odger -were borne to the grave at Brompton Cemetery with all the honors of a -public funeral. The crowd around the house of the deceased was immense." -The Shoemakers' Society, to which Odger belonged, held the foremost -place in the long procession which accompanied the remains of this -illustrious shoemaker to the grave. Members of the House of Commons, and -other men of position and influence in the great city, stood side by -side with the working-men of Clerkenwell, Southwark, and Bloomsbury, to -pay their last tribute of esteem to the memory of this truly estimable -man. - -[Illustration: J. G. WHITTIER] - - - - -AMERICA. - - -NOAH WORCESTER, D.D., "THE APOSTLE OF PEACE." - -America has her share of illustrious shoemakers. The United States can -boast of men worthy to stand on a level with the best examples of merit -the gentle craft can produce in the Old World. We select four -"representative men" from the long list that might be named, to whom we -shall chiefly devote our remaining space. These men show in their -character and life-work the best features of the New England type of the -American citizen. They are men of sterling moral and religious worth, -intense haters of tyranny and slavery, and war and intemperance, "sound -as gospel" in their political principles, "clear as Wenham ice" in their -transparency of character. - -We are fain to believe that every intelligent person in the United -States knows the name of _Noah Worcester_, the "Apostle of Peace," as he -has been very justly styled. Every intelligent person also on the -British side of the Atlantic ought to know something of this good man. -He was one of the world's reformers, and commenced a movement which is -destined to deepen and widen in its influence until it becomes -universal, and changes for the better the entire condition of mankind. -We allude to the establishment of the Peace Society of -Massachusetts--the parent of numberless similar societies in America and -Europe. "I well recollect," says Dr. Channing,[182] "the day of its -formation in yonder house, then the parsonage of this parish; and if -there was a happy man that day on earth it was the founder of this -institution. This Society gave birth to all the kindred ones in this -country, and its influence was felt abroad. Dr. Worcester assumed the -charge of its periodical, and devoted himself for years to this cause, -with unabating faith and zeal; and it may be doubted whether any man -who ever lived contributed more than he to spread just sentiment on the -subject of war, and to hasten the era of universal peace. He began his -efforts in the darkest day, when the whole civilized world was shaken by -conflict and threatened with military despotism. He lived to see more -than twenty years of general peace, and to see through these years the -multiplication of national ties, an extension of commercial -communications, an establishment of new connections between Christians -and learned men throughout the world, and a growing reciprocity of -friendly and beneficent influence among different States, all giving aid -to the principles of peace, and encouraging hopes which a century ago -would have been deemed insane." - - [182] Sermon entitled "The Philanthropist, a Tribute - to the Memory of the Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D." Channing's - Works, People's Edition, vol. ii. p. 251, etc. Belfast: Simms & - M'Intyre, 1843. - -Noah Worcester, born at Hollis, New Hampshire, November 25th, 1758, was -the son of a farmer, and until the age of twenty-one worked on the farm. -His father's means were limited, and the education of the family was -stinted in consequence. When hostilities commenced between the American -Colonies and Great Britain, young Worcester, then only about eighteen -years of age, became a soldier and fought at the battle of Bunker's -Hill. It is said that his disgust with the vices of soldier life, and -horror at the awful sights of the battle-field, drove him from the army -and made him forever afterward a hater of war and an advocate of peace. -Returning to farm life, he divided his time between outdoor labor and -shoemaking, which occupation he followed when the darkness of night time -or the cold of winter prevented his working in the fields. He also -betook himself earnestly to the work of self-education. Like many -another shoemaker, he made his work-room his study. The materials for -the improvement of his mind lay all round his bench--books, pens, ink, -paper, etc. An early marriage increased the difficulties of his -situation as a poor student, yet he managed by dint of extraordinary -application to improve himself and become fit for the ministry before he -had reached the age of thirty. His first church was small, and his -salary amounted to only two hundred dollars (£45.) Many of the members -were poor, and the conscientious pastor could not allow them to pay -their share to his support. On this account he often gave up as much as -a quarter of his salary in the year, getting through as best he could by -a little farming and a good deal of shoemaking. When times were bad he -turned his "study" into a day-school and taught the children of his -parishioners for nothing. "His first book was a series of letters to a -Baptist minister, and in this he gave promise of the direction the -efforts of his life were to assume." Its aim was to promote unity among -men of different denominations. Later on he published a remarkable book, -which made no small stir in its day, entitled "Bible News Relating to -the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;" and a second on the same subject, -under the title "Letters to Trinitarians." "These works," says Channing, -"obtained such favor, that he was solicited to leave the obscure town in -which he ministered, and to take charge in this place (Brighton, Mass.) -of a periodical at first called the _Christian Disciple_, and now better -known as the _Christian Examiner_."[183] - - [183] Written in 1837. - -At length he issued, in 1814, the famous pamphlet by which his name -became known and honored among Christian men and lovers of peace -throughout the world. It bore the title "A Solemn Review of the Custom -of War." No more effective tract was ever printed. It was translated -into several of the languages of Europe. The impression it produced in -America led to the formation of the "Peace Society of Massachusetts." -Worcester's views on war were identical with those of the Society of -Friends. "He interpreted literally the precept, 'Resist not evil,' and -believed that nations as well as individuals would find safety as well -as fulfil righteousness in yielding it literal obedience.... He believed -that no mightier man ever trod the earth than William Penn when entering -the wilderness unarmed, and stretching out to the savage a hand which -refused all earthly weapons in token of peace and brotherhood." So -absorbed was he in this great theme, that he declared, eight years after -his famous pamphlet was issued, that "its subject had not been out of -his mind when awake an hour at a time during the whole period." He died -at Brighton, Mass., in his eightieth year, 31st October, 1838. It was -his wish to have written on his tombstone the words, "He wrote the -'Friend of Peace.'" Dr. Channing's testimony to Dr. Worcester's -character is the highest one man can bear to another. He says, "Two -views of him particularly impressed me. The first was the unity, the -harmony of his character. He had no jarring elements. His whole nature -had been blended and melted into one strong, serene love. His mission -was to preach peace, and he preached it, not on set occasions or by -separate efforts, but in his whole life.... My acquaintance with him -gave me clearer comprehension of the spirit of Christ and the dignity of -man." - -Worcester received his degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, -and his diploma of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard. - - -ROGER SHERMAN, ONE OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. - -Another famous American citizen, contemporary during the early part of -his life with Noah Worcester, was Roger Sherman, who was born at Newton, -Massachusetts, 19th April, 1721. Until the age of twenty-two he was a -shoemaker, and from the age of twenty supported his widowed mother and -the younger members of the family, and found the means to enable two -brothers to enter the ministry. At this time he devoted his leisure to -the study of mathematics and astronomy. In 1743 he laid aside the awl, -and left his native place to settle at New Milford, Connecticut, where -he joined his elder brother in keeping a small store. His -accomplishments very soon led to his appointment as surveyor of roads. -While holding this office he began the study of law, and made such -progress that in 1745, at the age of twenty-four, he was admitted to the -bar. In 1748 he began to supply the astronomical calculations for a New -York almanac. His life as a legislator commenced with his membership of -the Connecticut Assembly, where he held a seat during several sessions. -The appointment of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas was given him in -1759, and again in 1765, at New Haven, whither he had removed four years -previously. He was made an assistant in 1766, and held the office for -nineteen years. The judgeship was not resigned until 1789, part of the -time since his appointment having been spent on the bench of the -Superior Court. - -Roger Sherman's connection with the American Congress was long and -highly honorable. He became a Congressman in 1774, and served his -country faithfully in that capacity for nearly twenty years till the -time of his death, at which time he held a seat in the Senate of the -United States. He was appointed also as a member of the Council of -Safety. During the last nine years of his life he was Mayor of New -Haven. For many years he held the honorable office of treasurer of Yale -College. - -In the year 1766 Sherman was placed on the Commission appointed to -draught the Declaration of Independence, and he was one of those who -afterward signed the Declaration. Having been one of those who framed -the old "Articles of Confederation," and a very useful member of the -Constitutional Convention of 1787, his services in obtaining the -indorsement or ratification of the Constitution by his own State -Convention (_i.e._, of Connecticut) were of the utmost value. - -The foregoing statements will sufficiently show how well the quondam -shoemaker of Massachusetts earned the noble name of Patriot. Few men in -his day did more solid and lasting public work. Although he was a man of -remarkably cool, deliberate judgment, he was none the less an enthusiast -in the cause of political freedom and independence. During the War of -Independence he urged his compatriots by every means in his power to -resist the English claims to impose taxation upon the colonies. He never -swerved for a moment from the view he first took on the crucial question -of "taxation without representation," but always avowed his firm -conviction that "no European Government would ever give its sanction to -such unfair legislation." His rectitude and integrity were -unimpeachable, and his "rare good sense" made him a man of mark even -among the noteworthy men of the first Federal Congress. Mr. Macon used -to say of him, "Roger Sherman had more common-sense than any man I ever -knew;" and Thomas Jefferson was wont to declare that Roger Sherman was -"a man who never said a foolish thing in his life." To this opinion of -his judgment and mental qualities may be added a valuable estimate of -his moral and religious character. Goodrich[184] says that Sherman -"having made a public profession of religion in early life, was never -ashamed to advocate the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, which are -often so unwelcome to men of worldly eminence. His sentiments were -derived from the Word of God, and not from his own reason." - - [184] In "American Biographical Dictionary." Boston: - J. P. Jewett & Co. - -The life of this man of "patriot fame"[185] came to an end July 23d, -1793. His good name is in no danger of being lost to posterity, for in -addition to his own personal claim to immortality, he gave "hostages to -fortune" in a family of fifteen children, one of whom, his namesake, -died in 1856 at the patriarchal age of eighty-eight. - - [185] See the allusion to Sherman in Whittier's lines, - given below. - - -HENRY WILSON, "THE NATICK COBBLER." - -Among the political leaders of modern times _Henry Wilson_ long held a -conspicuous place in the United States. His early connection with the -gentle craft procured for him the familiar and not unfriendly sobriquet -"The Natick Cobbler." Wilson was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, -February 16th, 1812. From his schoolboy days until he entered on -political life he seems to have been connected both with shoemaking and -farming, but chiefly with the former occupation. Part of his time, viz., -from 1832 to 1837, he was a thorough-going son of Crispin, working on -the stool from daylight till dusk. From 1837 to 1840 he was still -connected with the trade, but in the more ambitious position of a "shoe -manufacturer." In the year 1840 he devoted himself to the life of a -politician. The office of President of the Massachusetts Senate was held -by him in 1851 and 1852. Three years after this he became a senator as a -representative of the same State. This honor he held for seventeen -years, that is, till 1872. In 1861 he was made Colonel of the -Twenty-second Massachusetts Volunteers. The highest office to which he -attained was that of Vice-President of the United States, which post he -held from 1872 to 1875, the year of his death. Henry Wilson was held at -the time of his death in general and hearty esteem for the valuable -services which he had rendered for thirty-five years to his country. -Like many another famous son of St. Crispin, _The Natick Cobbler_ was a -friend of freedom and a sworn foe to all kinds of tyranny. For many -years he stood side by side with the best men in the Northern States, -fighting the battle of liberation for the slaves, and at last was -permitted to rejoice with them in the triumph of the good cause. - -One is very much tempted to multiply instances of men like Wilson, who, -having begun life as shoemakers, found their way into the Congress of -the United States. _Seven_ such men at least have sat in Congress during -the present century.[186] It may also be mentioned here that Franklin -in his Autobiography speaks of a member of the _Junto_, a "William -Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but loving reading, who acquired a -considerable share of mathematics," and "became surveyor-general;" and -that Philip Kirtland, a shoemaker from Sherrington, Buckinghamshire, who -settled at Lynn, Mass., in 1635, was the founder of the immense trade in -boots and shoes for which that city has obtained an unrivalled name -throughout the States. - - [186] These are Roger Sherman and Henry Wilson, - already noticed, and Daniel Sheffey, Gideon Lee, William - Claflin, John B. Alley, and H. P. Baldwin. In answer to the - question, "What shoemaker has risen to political or literary - eminence in the United States?" a writer in the Philadelphia - _Dispatch_, besides speaking of the four remarkable men we have - selected as examples, says, "There are other famous names of - graduates from that profession. _Daniel Sheffey_ of Virginia - learned the trade, and worked at it many years, and from 1809 - to 1817 represented his district in the Congress of the United - States. His retort to John Randolph of Roanoke, who taunted him - on the floor of Congress with his former occupation, was, 'The - difference, sir, between my colleague and myself is this, that - if his lot had been cast like mine in early life, instead of - rising, by industry, enterprise, and study, above his calling, - and occupying a seat on this floor, he would at this time be - engaged in making shoes on the bench.' ... _Gideon Lee_, a - mayor of New York City, and a member of Congress from about - 1840 to 1844, was a working shoemaker, and afterward a leather - dealer. _William Claflin_, an ex-governor of Massachusetts and - a member of Congress, worked at the shoemaker's trade when - young, and is now at the head of a very large - shoe-manufacturing firm. _John B. Attey_, an ex-member of - Congress from Massachusetts, was in the shoe trade, as was also - _H. P. Baldwin_, ex-governor of Michigan, and ex-member of - Congress from that State." - - -J. G. WHITTIER, "THE QUAKER POET." - -The last name we have to give in this long, but still incomplete, list -of illustrious shoemakers is that of _John Greenleaf Whittier_, who -happily is still living to charm and educate the English-speaking people -on both sides of the Atlantic with his simple, spirit-stirring poetry. -Whittier is frequently spoken of in the States as _the Quaker Poet_. -This designation is sufficiently distinctive, for poets are not very -numerous in the Society of Friends. Preachers, patriots, -philanthropists, orators, and writers of prose are numerous enough, but -poets are very hard to find in this intensely earnest and practical -religious community. - -Like his coreligionists in every generation since the days of George Fox -and William Penn, Whittier is "right on all points" relating to social -and religious reform. The assistance his vigorous, thrilling lines have -given to every philanthropic movement in the United States is beyond -calculation. For many years he was the _Hans Sachs_ or _Ebenezer -Elliott_ of the Liberation cause, giving similar help by his songs to -the work of emancipation in America to that which the German gave to the -cause of Protestantism on the continent of Europe, and the Englishman -gave to the labors of the Anti-Corn Law League in Great Britain. - -His father was a farmer at Haverhill, Massachusetts, where the poet was -born in 1807. He remained on the farm until he was nearly nineteen years -of age, and divided his time between field-work and shoemaking. In 1825 -he was sent to a college belonging to the Society of Friends. Four years -after this he became editor of _The American Manufacturer_, which office -he held for only twelve months, and then resigned in order to take the -management of the _New England Weekly Review_. In 1832 he went back to -the old home, worked on the farm, and edited _The Haverhill Gazette_. -Twice he represented Haverhill in the State Legislature. All through -life he has been a strong and consistent anti-slavery advocate, and at -various times has been made secretary of societies and editor of papers -whose aim has been the abolition of slavery. About 1838-39 he became the -editor of the _Pennsylvania Freeman_, an ardent anti-slavery paper. It -required no small amount of courage to advocate freedom for the slave in -those days. On one occasion Whittier's office was surrounded by a mob, -who plundered and set fire to the building. His published works in prose -and verse are very numerous, beginning with the "Legends of New England" -in 1831, and coming down to volumes of verse like "The King's Missive, -Mabel Martin, and Later Poems," etc.,[187] published within the last few -years. Through all his writings there runs a healthy moral tone, and his -poetry is no less distinguished for purity of sentiment than for -sweetness of numbers and true poetic fire. No man in New England, nor, -indeed, in the States, has earned a better title to the thanks and -esteem of his fellow-countrymen than the "Quaker Poet," who began the -hard work of life by blending the duties of the farm with the occupation -of a shoemaker. Whittier College at Salem, Iowa, was established and -named in his honor. - - [187] In a review of this last volume of Whittier's - poems (Macmillan & Co.), a writer in the _Athenæum_ (February - 18th, 1882) gives the following just estimate of Whittier's - character and merits as a man and a poet: "The poems in this - collection ... show that delicate apprehension of nature, that - deep-seated sympathy with suffering mankind, that unwavering - love of liberty and all things lovable, that earnest belief in - a spirit of beneficence guiding to right issues the affairs of - the world, that beautiful tolerance of differences--in a word, - all those high qualities which, being fused with imagination, - make Mr. Whittier, not indeed an analytical and subtle poet, - nor a poet dealing with great passions, but what he is - emphatically, the apostle of all that is pure, fair, and - morally beautiful. - -Whittier has never forgotten his connection with the gentle craft in -early life; nor has he been ashamed to own fellowship with its humble -but worthy members. What he thinks of the craft itself, and of the -spirit of the men who have followed it, may be learned from his lines -addressed to shoemakers in the "Songs of Labor," published in 1850: - - TO SHOEMAKERS. - - Ho! workers of the old time, styled - The Gentle Craft of Leather! - Young brothers of the ancient guild, - Stand forth once more together! - Call out again your long array, - In the olden merry manner! - Once more, on gay St. Crispin's Day, - Fling out your blazoned banner! - - Rap, rap! upon the well-worn stone - How falls the polished hammer! - Rap, rap! the measured sound has grown - A quick and merry clamor. - Now shape the sole! now deftly curl - The glossy vamp around it, - And bless the while the bright-eyed girl - Whose gentle fingers bound it! - - For you, along the Spanish main - A hundred keels are ploughing; - For you, the Indian on the plain - His lasso-coil is throwing; - For you, deep glens with hemlock dark - The woodman's fire is lighting; - For you, upon the oak's gray bark - The woodman's axe is smiting. - - For you, from Carolina's pine - The rosin-gum is stealing; - For you, the dark-eyed Florentine - Her silken skein is reeling; - For you, the dizzy goatherd roams - His rugged Alpine ledges; - For you, round all her shepherd homes - Bloom England's thorny hedges. - - The foremost still, by day or night, - On moated mound or heather, - Where'er the need of trampled right - Brought toiling men together; - Where the free burghers from the wall - Defied the mail-clad master, - Than yours, at Freedom's trumpet-call, - No craftsmen rallied faster. - - Let foplings sneer, let fools deride-- - Ye heed no idle scorner; - Free hands and hearts are still your pride, - And duty done your honor. - Ye dare to trust, for honest fame, - The jury Time empanels, - And leave to truth each noble name - Which glorifies your annals. - - Thy songs, Hans Sachs, are living yet, - In strong and hearty German; - And Bloomfield's lay, and Gifford's wit, - And patriot fame of Sherman; - Still from his book, a mystic seer, - The soul of Behmen teaches, - And England's priestcraft shakes to hear - Of Fox's leathern breeches. - - The foot is yours; where'er it falls, - It treads your well-wrought leather, - On earthen floor, in marble halls, - On carpet, or on heather. - Still there the sweetest charm is found - Of matron grace or vestal's, - As Hebe's foot bore nectar round - Among the old celestials! - - Rap, rap! your stout and bluff brogan, - With footsteps slow and weary, - May wander where the sky's blue span - Shuts down upon the prairie. - On beauty's foot, your slippers glance - By Saratoga's fountains, - Or twinkle down the summer dance - Beneath the crystal mountains! - - The red brick to the mason's hand, - The brown earth to the tiller's, - The shoe in yours shall wealth command, - Like fairy Cinderella's! - As they who shunned the household maid - Beheld the crown upon her, - So all shall see your toil repaid - With heart and home and honor. - - Then let the toast be freely quaffed, - In water cool and brimming-- - "All honor to the good old Craft - Its merry men and women!" - Call out again your long array, - In the old time's pleasant manner: - Once more, on gay St. Crispin's Day, - Fling out his blazoned banner. - - - - -INDEX. - - - Adult schools at Gainsborough, started by J. F. Winks and T. Cooper, 171 - - Akiba, Ben Joseph, 194, 195 - - Alexander of Comana, 193 - - Alexandria, the pious cobbler of, 198 - - Alley, John B., 277 - - Andersen, Hans C., 210 - - Angling, book on, by Younger, 246, 247 - - Annianus of Alexandria, 192 - - Ansell and the battle of Aughrim, 245 - - Apelles and the cobbler, 191 - - Ashmole, Elias, and Partridge, 221 - - Askham, John, 248 - - Athenæum, quoted from, 115, 247, 278 - - - Baldwin, H. P., 277 - - Baptist jubilee memorial, 131 - - Baptist missions commenced by Carey and Thomas, 141, 142 - - Barebones, Praise God, 216 - - Baudouin, the learned, 200 - - Baviad and Mæviad, 75, 82, 86-7 - - Benbow and nautical songs, 17 - - Bennet, John, poet, 229 - - Bennett, Timothy, of Hampton-Wick, 212 - - Bentinck, Lady, visits Carey when dying, 146 - - Berridge, John, and John Thorp, 257 - - Blacket, Joseph, 236, 242 - - Blanshard's Life of Bradburn, 65, 66, 67, 70 - - Bloomfield and Blacket, 239 - - Bloomfield, George, 94, 95, 96, 238 - - Bloomfield, Nathaniel, 94, 96, 98, 239 - - Bloomfield, Robert, a farmer's boy at Sapiston, 94 - a ladies' shoemaker, 171 - becomes a shoemaker, 94, 95 - Birth and childhood, 94 - his first poems, 96, 97 - his mother, 94, 102 - his last years, death, and burial, 101 - life in London, 94, 101 - list of his poems, 96, 97, 102-3 - marriage of, 98 - method of composing "The Farmer's Boy," 98 - poetical tributes in "Blackwood," etc., 102, 103 - - Bloomfield, Robert, publishes "The Farmer's Boy," 99 - - Boehmen, Jacob, the mystic, 205-207 - opinions of, by Charles I., William Law, &c., 206 - - Bowden, Mr., of Taunton, Lackington's master, 34 - - Bradburn, Samuel, and Charles Wesley, 66 - and the clergyman, 68, 69 - anecdotes of early preaching, 68 - born at Gibraltar, 54 - called to be a preacher, 61 - circuits he travelled in, 64, 65, 66, 71 - death and burial, 71 - early life at Chester, 55-60 - eloquence as a preacher, 67, 68 - his conversion, 55-57 - his father pressed into the army, 54 - his first sermon, 61 - his marriage with Betsy Nangle, 65 - his marriage with Sophia Cooke, 66 - his mother a Welshwoman, 54 - his mother's death, note, 63 - his wit and humor, anecdotes of, 70, 71 - offered the pastorate of an Independent Church, 66 - overtaken in a fault, 71 - President of Wesleyan Conference, 67 - - Brizzio, Francesco, 208 - - Bruce's "Elegy written in Spring," 322 - - Buch, Henry Michael, "Good Henry," 201-203 - - Bunyan and Bradburn compared, 56 - - Burnet, Rev. John, 259-262 - - Bushey Park and Timothy Bennett, 213 - - Byron, Lord, allusion to Gifford, 93 - - - Campion's "Delightful History of ye Gentle Craft," 193, 199, 242, 259 - - Capellini, _il Caligarino_, 207 - - Carey and Thomas sail for India, 142 - - Carey, Eustace, "Life of Dr. Carey," 131 - William, abilities as a shoemaker, 131 - and Rev. John Ryland, 131, 138 - an enthusiast, 131, 132 - apprenticed to a shoemaker, 133 - baptized by Rev. J. Ryland, 135 - D.D. conferred on him by Brown University, 144 - first Bengali New Testament, 143 - first marriage a mistake, 137 - first sermon and pastorate, 135 - first study of languages, 132, 133, 135 - first thought of missions to heathen, 138 - his death, 146 - - Carey, William his famous sermon at Nottingham, 141 - his self-sacrificing spirit, 143 - life briefly sketched, 129, 130 - life in India, 142, 146 - lives at Moulton, 137, 139 - "Only a Cobbler," 132 - pamphlet on Missions, 140 - parentage and birth and childhood, 131, 132 - Professor of Oriental Languages, - - Calcutta, 129, 143 - removes to Leicester, 140 - - Carlisle, Gifford's guardian, 205 - - Carlyle on _Hans Sachs_, 76, 77, 205 - Thomas, and Thomas Cooper, 184 - - Carter, Edward, Esq., friend to John Pounds, 151, 157 - - Castell, Richard, "Ye Cocke of Westminster," 210 - - Caxton Printing Establishment and S. Drew, 121 - - Chambers's "Book of Days," 217 - - Channing on Noah Worcester, 271, 273 - - Charles, Rev. Thomas, of Bala, 139 - - Chartists and Thomas Cooper, 179, 182 - - Chartist Newspapers edited by Thomas Cooper, 181 - - Christ's Hospital and Richard Castell, 121 - - Claflin, William, Governor of Massachusetts, 277 - - Clarke, Dr. Adam, and Samuel Drew, 114, 122 - - Coke, Dr., and S. Drew, 122, 123 - - Coleridge, S. T., and Boehmen, 206 - and shoemakers, 189 - - Cooksley, Dr., Gifford's friend, 80, 81 - William, son of Dr. Cooksley, Gifford's will in favor of, 86 - - Cooper, _Robert_, mistaken for _Thomas_ - - Cooper, 186 - - Cooper, Thomas, a copyist at the Board of Health, 186 - - Cooper, Thomas, and "Stamford Mercury," 178 - a sceptic, his lectures as, 185: _footnote_, 186 - as a lecturer on Christianity, 187 - becomes a shoemaker, 169 - birth and parentage, 165 - childhood at Exeter, 165-167 - early studies while a shoemaker, 169-175 - editorship and authorship in 1848-49, 185 - final conversion to Christianity, 185, 186 - first poem, 170 - his connection with the Methodists, 177, 178 - his excessive studies, 175, 176 - his first published poems, 177 - in Stafford Jail, 182-3 - lectures at City Hall, London, on Theism, 186 - life in Leicester, 180-3 - life in Lincoln, 177 - life in London, 179-180 - Cooper, Thomas, list of his writings, 181-7 - marries Miss Jobson, 177 - professes Christianity in Baptism by immersion, 185 - schoolboy days, 168, 169 - sets up a school, 176 - the railway accident, 186 - Trial at Stafford and in London, 182-3 - - Craggs, Secretary, 216 - - Crispin and Crispianus, 197-199 - - Crispin anecdotes, 198-216, 223, 228, 242 - - Crocker, Charles, 247, 248 - - Cromwell and Fox, 249-51 - - Cruickshank and O'Neill, 244-6 - - Curwen's "History of Booksellers," 37, 45, 83 - - - D'Albrione, Signor, 178 - - Davies, Ann, Gifford's lines on, 68, 87 - - Dekker, Thomas, 228 - - Della Cruscan School, 75, 82 - - Deloney's "History of Gentle Craft," 199, 228 - - Dennis, friend of Lackington, 40 - - Devlin, James, 242 - - Dey of Tripoli and Lieutenant Shovel, 20-21 - - D'Israeli, Mr., and Thomas Cooper, 183 - - "Dramatists, Early English," edited by Gifford, 75, 82 - - Drew, Samuel, as a preacher, 122, 123 - as editor and author, list of works, 139-141 - apprenticeship days, 111-113 - attempts at poetry, 118-119 - begins to study, 114-115 - birth and childhood, 110-111 - competes for prize of £1500, 122 - conversion, joins the Wesleyans, 114 - Defence of the Methodists, 119 - his generosity, 117 - his method of writing books while a shoemaker, 121 - his works on immortality of the soul, 120 - honors conferred on, 123, 124 - last days, 124 - lives in Liverpool and London, 124 - marriage, 118 - narrow escape from drowning, 113 - quits the shoemaker's stall, 122 - starts in business on £5, his thrift, 116 - the midnight visitor, 118 - writes "Remarks on Paine's Age of Reason," 118 - - Duncombe, T. S., M.P., and Thomas Cooper, 183 - - - Elliott, Ebenezer, and John Younger, 246 - - Eyre, Sir Simon, Lord Mayor of London, 228 - - - Fletcher, vicar of Madely and Bradburn, 62 - - Foster, John, 242 - - Fox, George, 249 - - Fullarton's "Lives of Eminent Englishmen," 84 - - Fuller, Rev. Andrew, the friend of Carey, 138, 141 - - - Gainsborough the painter, 93 - - Gentle Craft, etc., origin of the terms, _note_, 198 - - George III. and Shillitoe, 254 - - Gifford, William, and Lord Grosvenor, 81, 82 - childhood and youth, 76, 79 - editorship of London "Quarterly," 75, 76, 83, 84 - first attempts at verse, 79 - his character, 83, 84 - parentage and birth, 76 - private tutor to Lord Belgrave, 81 - story of the candle, 84 - translations of Persius and Juvenal, 82 - works his sums on pieces of leather, 78 - - Goethe's opinion of _Hans Sachs_, 204 - - Grafton, the duke of, and Bloomfield, 100 - - Grainger's "Biographical History," 215, 218, 219 - - Gray's Elegy, 232 - - Gregory Thaumaturgus, 143 - - Grosvenor, Lord, a friend to Gifford, 81, 82 - - Guilds or fraternities of shoemakers in Paris, 201-203 - - Guthrie, Dr., anecdotes and stories, 151 - on John Pounds, 151, 152 - - - Halifax, Lord, and Timothy Bennett, 212, 213 - - Hanley, Thomas Cooper's speech at, 182 - - Hardy, Thomas, 265, 266 - - "Helmsley," the tune, who composed it? 234 - - Hewson, Colonel, the Cerdon of Hudibras, 215-217 - - Holcroft, Thomas, 234 - - Hook, Dr., of Leeds, and Thomas Cooper, 186 - - Howard, John, 139 - - Hudibras and Colonel Hewson, 217 - - Hugh, Saint, 228 - - Huntingdon, William, S. S., 257-8 - - - Imperial Dictionary of Biography, 244 257 - - Iphicrates, 219 - - Ireland, Dr., Lines to, by Gifford, 96 - - - Jackson's Lives of Methodist Preachers, 232 - - Jameson, Mrs., on S. Crispin legendary art, 199 - - Jefferson on Roger Sherman, 275 - - Jerrold, Douglas, and Thomas Cooper, 183, 184 - - Jochanan, Rabbi, 194 - - Johnstone, J., 242 - - Jones, John, friend of Lackington, 35 - - Jong, Ludolph de, 209 - - - Kettering, first collection for Baptist Missions, 141 - - Kingsley, Rev. Charles, and Thomas Cooper. 186 - - Kirtland, Philip, of Lynn, Mass., 277 - - Kitto, Rev. John, D.D., 261-4 - - Knowles, Herbert, "Lines," etc., 232 - - Krishnu, Carey's first convert in India, _note_, 146 - - - Law, William, and Boehmen, 206 - - Lackington, James, and bargain-hunters, 39 - apprenticeship, 33, 34 - benefactions to Wesleyan denomination, 47 - birth and parentage, 31 - boyhood, vender of pies, almanacs. etc., 32 - business and profits in 1791, 44 - buys Young's "Night Thoughts," 38 - courage as a boy--the ghost story, 32 - death and burial, 47 - extensive purchases, 42 - first sale catalogue, 40 - gives up shoemaking for book-selling, 38 - goes to London, 1774, 37 - helped by the Wesleyan Fund, 39 - kindness to his relatives, 46 - life in Bristol, 35, 36 - marries Nancy Smith, 36 - "Memoirs and Confessions," 29 - motto for the door of his carriage, 30 - "No credit" system, 41, 42 - reads Epictetus, etc., 35 - retires from business, 1798, 45 - second marriage, 40 - sets up a "chariot" and "country-house," 44 - starts as bookseller, 38 - strictures on the Wesleyans, 29 - "Temple of the Muses," 29, 45 - tour through England and Scotland, 45, 46 - - Lamb, Charles, on Shoemakers, 91, 227 - - Lacroix, "Manners and Customs of Middle Ages," 198 - - Lee, Dr. Samuel, 172 - Gideon, Mayor of New York, 277 - "Leisure Hour," articles on shoemakers, 211 - - Leno, John B., 248 - - Lestage, Nicholas, of Bordeaux, 203 - - Let the cobbler stick to his last, 191 - - "Literary Gazette " on Gifford, 93, 94 - - Living examples of illustrious shoemakers, 248 - - Llandaff, Earl of, and O'Neill, 245 - - Lofft, Capel, 99, 239, 243 - - - Mackay, of Norwich, 225 - - Macon, Mr., on Roger Sherman, 275 - - Madan, Martin, and "Helmsley," 234 - - Marriage, remarks on, 136, 137 - - Marshman's "Carey, Marshman, and Ward," 131, 144, 145 - John Clarke, author of "Carey, Marshman, and Ward," 145 - Mr., Dr. Carey's friend and colleague, 143, 145 - - Meistersingers of Germany, 204 - - Men's and Women's _conscia recti_, 225-6 - - Milbanke, Miss (Lady Byron) and Blacket, 241 - - Miller, Thomas, and Thomas Cooper, 173, 180 - - Montgomery, Jas., and Thomas Cooper, 177 - - Morrison, Rev. Robert, D.D., 258, 259 - - Mutual Improvement Society at Gainsborough and T. Cooper, 171 - - Murray, John, and Gifford's editorial stipend, 83, 84 - - Murray, John, his "drawing-rooms," 83 - - Myngs, Sir Christopher, 19, 28, 219 - - - Narborough, Sir John, 19-21, 219 - - Newton, Sir Isaac, and Boehmen, 206 - - Nichol, Rev. James, 239 - - Notes and Queries, 225 - - - Odger, George, 266-8 - - Olivers, Thomas, 234 - - O'Neill, John, temperance poet, 244-6 - - "Oracle," The, 268 - - - Parsons, William, of the _Junto_, 277 - - Partridge, Dr., 220-3 - - Peace Societies, founded in America, 273 - - Peel, Sir Robert, and shoemakers, 266 - - Polwhele, Rev. Mr., and S. Drew, 120 - - Pope John XXII., 209 - - Pope and Partridge, 221 - and Savage, 230 - - Portraits of naval officers at Greenwich, 219 - - Pounds, John, begins teaching poor children, 153, 154 - birth and childhood, 152, 153 - gratitude of his old scholars, 156 - his death, 157 - his workroom described, 153, 154 - kindness to his scholars, 156 - memorials of, in Portsmouth, 158 - method of teaching, 155-157 - the roasted potato, 155 - - Pressgang, 53 - - "Purgatory of suicides," 179, 183 - - Purver, Anthony, 226 - - - "Quarterly Review," 227, 243 - on Baptist Missionary Society, 141, 142 - - Quarterlies, the Edinburgh and London, 75, 83, 84 - - - Ragged schools, John Pounds a founder of, 151, 152 - - Raikes, Robert and Sophia Cooke start first Sunday-school, 66 - - Reading, growth of about 1790; - Lackington's remarks on, 43 - - Rigby, Richard, ballad-writer, 227, 228 - - Robinson, Henry Crabb, Diary, 206, 257, 266 - - Rousseau, Jean Baptiste, 209 - - Rowe, J. B., 228 - - Russell, Admiral, 22 - - - Sachs, Hans, the Nightingale of the Reformation, 203-205 - - Sandon, Lord, and Thomas Cooper, 188 - - Savage, Richard, 230 - - Scott, Rev. Thomas, the Commentator, and Carey, 113, 114 - - Service, David, 242 - - Sheaf, Mr., Shoemaker and artist, and John Pounds, 151, 157 - - Sheffey, Daniel, of Virginia, 276 - - Shenstone and Woodhouse, 228 - - Sherman, Roger, 274, 275 - - Shillitoe, Thomas, 251, 255 - - Shoemakers and literature, 75 - - Shoemaker's holiday, the, 227 - - Shoemakers, large proportion of eminent men, 189, 190 - - Shovel, Captain, knighted by William III., 22 - - Shovel, Cloudesley, made captain, 21 - - Shovel, Sir C., admiral of the _Blue_ and _Red_ and _White_, 22 - at battle of "La Hogue," 22 - at battle of Malaga, 23 - at capture of Barcelona, 23 - at the siege of Waterford, 22 - death by drowning, 23, 24 - epitaph, 17 - exploit as cabin boy, 19, 20 - exploit as lieutenant, 20, 21 - governor of Greenwich Hospital, _note_, 24 - M.P. for Rochester, _note_, 24 - portraits of, 17, 24 - presented to Queen Anne, 23 - William III.'s opinion of, 22 - - Sibly, Dr. Ebenezer, 282, 323 - - Sibly, Manoah, 266 - - Smerdon, Rev. T., prepares Gifford for Oxford, 81 - - Smith, Sidney, 75, 130, 145 - - Sons of shoemakers, 209 - - Souters of Selkirk, 213-215 - - Southey, Robert, 230, 255 - - Southey's article in "Quarterly Review" on Carey, etc., _note_, 141, 143, 145 - - Struthers, John, 243 - - Sturgeon, William, electrician, 264, 265 - - Sunday-school, the first, 66, 139 - - Sutcliffe, Rev. John, the friend of Carey, 136, 138, 140 - - Swift and Partridge, 222 - - - Tyerman's Life of Wesley, 233 - - Toplady and Olivers, 233 - - Tinlinn, Watt, 214, 215 - - Timmins, Rev. T., remarks on John Pounds, 154-156 - - Tichbourne, Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor of London, 227 - - Thorp, John, 255-7 - - Thomas, Mr., Carey's colleague in first mission work, 141, 142 - - - Value of books in 1775, _note_, 39 - - - Warton, Thomas, and John Bennet, 229 - - Watts, Dr. Isaac, 210 - - Wesley, John, and Bradburn, 60, 63, 64, 65, 66, 71 - and Olivers, 231-34 - and Thorpe, 255 - - Weever's "Funeral Monuments," _note_, 198 - - Whately, Archbishop, 189 - - White, Henry Kirke, lines on Bloomfield, 103 - - Whitefield, George, and Olivers, 232 - - Whittaker, Rev. John, and S. Drew, 120, 122 - - Whittier, John Greenleaf, 227, 229 - lines to "Shoemakers," 279-281 - - Wilberforce, William, remarks on Carey, 138 - - Williams, Dr. Edward, 256 - - Wilson, Bishop, friendship with Carey, 146 - - Wilson, Gavin, 242 - - Wilson, Henry, the Natick cobbler, 277-9 - - Wilson, Professor, his opinion of Bloomfield's poetry, 100 - - Wincklemann, J. J., 209 - - Winnifred, Saint, 227 - - Winks, Joseph, Foulkes, and Thomas Cooper, 171, 180, 186 - - Wolfe's "Burial of Sir J. Moore," 232 - - Woodhouse, James, 228 - - Worcester, Noah, D.D., 271-4 - - Wordsworth and Thomas Cooper, 184 - - - Ye Cocke of Westminster, Richard Castell, 210 - - Younger, John, 246-7 - - -THE END. - -CLOTH-BOUND - -STANDARD LIBRARY, 1883 SERIES. - -_Edition de Luxe._ - -Each volume of the Library is strongly and luxuriously bound in cloth as -issued, bevelled edges, gold stamp on side and back, extra paper, good -margins. - -PRICES: - - =_25 cent Numbers, in Cloth_ _$1.00._= - - =_15 cent Numbers, in Cloth_ _.75 cents._= - - =_26 Numbers, in Cloth, payable half now, and half July 2, $16.00._= - -Subscribers for the paper-bound may transfer their subscriptions for the -cloth-bound by paying the difference. - -P.S.--The paper used in the volumes succeeding the "Life of Cromwell" -will be much superior. - - -=_Analytical Bible Concordance, Revised Edition._= - -Analytical Concordance to the Bible on an entirely new plan. 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Orations of Demosthenes. 4to. 40 - - 35. Frondes Agrestes. John Ruskin. - 4to. 15 - - 36. Joan of Arc. Alphonse de Lamartine. - 4to. 10 - - 37. Thoughts of M. Aurelius Antoninus. - 4to. 15 - - 38. Salon of Madame Necker. Part - II. 4to. 15 - - 39. The Hermits. Chas. Kingsley. 4to. 15 - - 40. John Ploughman's Pictures. C. - H. Spurgeon. 4to. 15 - - 41. Pulpit Table-Talk. Dean Ramsay. - 4to. 10 - - 42. Bible and Newspaper. C. H. - Spurgeon. 4to. 15 - - 43. Lacon. Rev. C. C. Colton. 4to. 20 - - 44. Goldsmith's Citizen of the World. - 4to. $0 20 - - 45. America Revisited. George Augustus - Sala. 4to. 20 - - 46. Life of C. H. Spurgeon. 8vo. 20 - - 47. John Calvin. M. Guizot. 4to. 15 - - 48-49. Dickens' Christmas Books. - Illustrated. 8vo. 50 - - 50. Shairp's Culture and Religion. 8vo. 15 - - 51-52. Godet's Commentary on Luke. - Ed. by Dr. John Hall. 8vo, 2 parts, - both 2 00 - - 53. Diary of a Minister's Wife. Part - I. 8vo. 15 - - 54-57. Van Doren's Suggestive Commentary - on Luke. New edition, - enlarged. 8vo. 3 00 - - 58. Diary of a Minister's Wife. Part - II. 8vo. 15 - - 59. The Nutritive Cure. Dr. Robert - Walter. 8vo. 15 - - 60. Sartor Resartus. Thomas Carlyle. - 4to. 25 - - 61-62. Lothair. Lord Beaconsfield. - 8vo. 50 - - 63. The Persian Queen and Other - Pictures of Truth. Rev. E. P. - Thwing. 8vo. 10 - - 64. Salon of Madame Necker. Part - III. 4to. 15 - - 65-66. The Popular History of English - Bible Translation. H. P. Conant. - 8vo. Price both parts 50 - - 67. Ingersoll Answered. Joseph Parker, - D.D. 8vo. 15 - - 68-69. Studies in Mark. D. C. - Hughes. 8vo, in two parts 60 - - 70. Job's Comforters. A Religious - Satire. Joseph Parker, D.D. (.London.) - 12mo. 10 - - 71. The Revisers' English. G. Washington - Moon, F.R.S.L. 12mo. 20 - - 72. The Conversion of Children. Rev. - Edward Payson Hammond. 12mo. 30 - - 73. New Testament Helps. Rev. W. - F. Crafts. 8vo. 20 - - 74. Opium--England's Coercive Policy. - Rev. Jno. Liggins. 8vo. 10 - - 75. Blood of Jesus. Rev. Wm. A. - Reid. With Introduction by E. - P. Hammond. 12mo. 10 - - 76. Lesson in the Closet for 1883. - Charles F. Deems, D.D. 12mo. 20 - - 77-78. Heroes and Holidays. Rev. - W. F Crafts. 12mo. 2pts., both 30 - - 79. Reminiscences of Rev. 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