LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
VIS
SAM HOBART,
THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER.
A WORKINGMAN'S SOLUTION OF
THE LABOR PROBLEM.
BY
JUSTIN D. FULTON, D.D.,
AUTHOR or "TIMOTHY GILBERT," "WOMAN AS GOD MADE HER," "SHOW YOUB
COLORS," "THE WAY OUT," ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK:
FUNK & WAGNALLS, PUBLISHERS,
10 AND 12 DEY STREET.
TTTV - r ^v rMT r* A T TTT/^T>-KTT A
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by
JUSTIN D. FULTON,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.
TO
OFFICERS AND EMPLOYES
OP
THE GREAT RAILWAY SYSTEM
THIS STORY OF A LIFE IS
BY ONE WHO APPRECIATES THE RESPONSIBILITIES
OF YOUR POSITION AND DESIRES
YOUR PRESENT AJ*D
ETERNAL HAPPINESS.
CONTENTS.-
PREFACE,
CHAPTER I.
THE MAN AND THE HOUR, ........ 13
CHAPTER II.
His BOYHOOD, ....... . . .21
The Surroundings of his Birthplace, Brighton His Early Home
The Homes of the Poor Parental Influence Investments in
Youth.
CHAPTER III.
HE BECOMES A MACHINIST AND A FIREMAN, ..... 28
CHAPTER IV.
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER, ...... 30
THE WORKING MAX, ......... 40
CHAPTER V.
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE HENRY WARD BEECHKR
MEETS HIM AND DESCRIBES HIM - THE GLORY OF HIS CONVERSION, 4ti
CHAPTER VI.
SAM'S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE, ..... C4
CHAPTER VII.
SAM AT WORK FOR GOD, ........ 75
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, .... 83
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL, .... 110
CHAPTER X.
THE REPRESENTATIVES OP OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE THEIR OPPORTUNITY, 126
CHAPTER XI.
SAM'S FAITH, OR WHOM SHALL WE TRUST? ..... 136
CHAPTER XII.
THE WORK AMONO RAILROAD MEN THE NEED OF THIS WOPK ED-
WARD D. INGERSOLL, THE STORY OF HIS LIFE AND WORK CHRIST
A NECESSITY FOR MEN WHO TOIL, 146
CHAPTER XIII.
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES THE STORY OF EDWARD H. UNIAC'S FALL
AND SOME OF THE SAD INCIDENTS IN SAM'S WORK, . . .173
CHAPTER XIV.
TEMPERANCE AN ADDED FORCE HENRY WILSON THE PERIL IN WILD
OATS LESSONS LEARNED AT THE FARM SCHOOL, . . .185
CHAPTER XV.
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE: Is INTEMPERANCE A DISEASE OR A
CRIME? 195
CHAPTER XVI.
SAM'S LOVE FOR THE YOUNG BARZILLAI SNOW, HIS BROTHER-IN-
LAW, DYING LIKE A HERO, ....... 206
CHAPTER XVII.
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART AND OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AS
A CLASS JOSEPH A. SEEDS, OF PENNSYLVANIA CENTRAL ; JOHN
MARROT, OF ENGLAND, AND OTHERS, 219
CHAPTER XVIII.
SAM'S LAST RIDE THE ENGINEER AT REST, 234
PREFACE.
THE life of Sam Hobart, the locomotive engineer, is written
to portray the possibilities of happiness and usefulness within
the reach of a workingman content to fill the sphere of useful-
ness awarded him, and willing to lend a helping hand to do work
for God and man lying near him and waiting for him.
Charles Lamb served as a clerk in the East India Company,
and filled such a place in literature and in society as makes us
forget how he earned his living, and remember only that he
wrote the " Essays of Elia," and lived and labored and com-
panioned with the great of his time, and in so doing became a
benefactor for all time. Elihu Burritt was a blacksmith, and
became learned in languages and rich in healthful influences
that have blessed American civilization, and help now to glorify
it in the eyes of the peoples of all lands, and he remained the
Learned Blacksmith to the last.
George Stephenson, born in Wylam-on-the-Tyne June 9th,
1781 the engineer of a coal mine, the inventor of the locomo-
tive in 1815, first to drag coal-cars along a tramway, and
afterward fastened to a passenger coach in 1828, the year Sam
Hobart was born developed into one of the ablest of engineers
and one of the greatest of inventors, and was content thus to
remain to the day of his death. When asked to stand for
Parliament, he declined, saying, " Politics have no stability ;
X PREFACE.
they shift about like the sand of the sea ; they are all matters
of fancy, matters of theory, and I should feel out of my ele-
ment among them ;" and so he remained George Stephenson
the engineer.
Sam Hobart was willing to be an engineer. Tie might have
gone West and occupied great positions of trust, but he was
content to allow others to be president, superintendent, or
heads of department, and he remain engineer and work as best
he could. As such a life is a necessity in the perfection and
working of the railway system, the most complete and exten-
sive in the world a system extending its lines of communica-
tion from ocean to ocean and from the Lakes to the Gulf ; a
system which is even now pushing its way through Mexico, and
must ere long embrace South America, bringing to our tables
the grapes and fruits grown in the gardens, vineyards, and
orchards of the Pacific coast, beef from the great pasture fields
of Texas, coal from the coal-fields, minerals from the moun-
tains, and traffic from India, China, Japan, and South America,
because confidence in commerce is built not on money, not on
brain, but on Christian character the writer will be pardoned
for believing that this attempt made to portray a railroad man,
at work as a railroad man while he earned his livelihood, then
occupying spare time and energy in the promotion of such in.
terests as are identified with the weal of humanity, is a health-
ful contribution to the working capital of the Christian Church,
which if properly used must fulfil an important mission among
the men of toil, and gird with confidence and hope those con-
fronting fields white with harvests or standing in doors opening
to marvellous and unreached possibilities. It is known that
over a million of men are employed upon the 125,000 miles of
railway in America. Over a fortieth of the population are.
PREFACE. XI
engaged in railroad work. The men called and known as railway
kings are not the creatures of chance or the accidents of the
hour : they are men of destiny, created to untie the perplex-
ing knots which smaller men have tied in the hope of selfishly
checking the tide of emigration and traffic, which by their aid
has burst through every opposing obstacle and streamed outward
and onward, like an unbanked river, rejoicing in its ongoing
flow. These men dared to expect great things, and so they went
forward to achieve them. They cannot work alone. To make
this railway system a success, true and trustworthy men must
be found to do the work required. How shall these be grown ?
is the problem of the future. This book tells how one s*joh
man was grown. Let us hope that it may help to build many
more. J. D. F.
SAM HOBART.
CHAPTER I.
THE MAN AND THE HOUR.
SAM HOBART was associated with power, and believed in
power. Like Abraham Lincoln, he had great respect for
augers that would bore, and augers that would not bore he had
no use for. He had no place in his heart or in his home or on
his locomotive' for the merely ornamental. To the useful he
was a devotee. A mere dilettante, a man who follows an art or
a calling without a purpose, was to him utterly valueless. He
was a man of purpose. He was well built. He had a stalwart
frame, a broad chest, a big arm and leg, thick neck, good-
sized head, in voice at times a son of thunder, and at other
times soft and sweet-toned as a child ; a large blue eye, auburn
hair, upper lip shaved, a long flowing red beard beneath it ; the
step of a giant, the will of a despot, and withal with those he
loved the heart of a woman.
In an audience he would attract attention by his gravity of
demeanor, a look of being ready for business. He could not
bear trifling. He had no wit. He cared nothing for a story
that would make people laugh. He was quiet as a locomotive
unfired when off duty. But light him up with a purpose, and
he moved in such a way and with such a bearing that instinc-
tively men gave way before him. He was distinguished for
hard sense and an immense business faculty. As I think of
him when first I saw him, I am reminded of the hull of a
14 SAM HOB ART.
steamer brought to the dock to receive its motive power. Natu-
rally he had the framework of a great man. He did his man-
ual labor as did thousands of others. But there was nothing
special to write about or think of until he received Jesus Christ
into his heart. Then power came to him to become a son of
God, " which was born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of tie will of man, but of God," and the word in
him was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Men saw it and felt
it. Before this great event he was bold, reckless, hard, and
pushing ; after the machinery of redemptive grace was set up in
his soul, he was thoughtful, prudent, wise, indomitable and
benevolent in look, in action, and in purpose. Henceforth he
had no ambition in business directions to be more than an
engineer. He did not seek or desire promotion. He was con-
tent to do his work, and that finished he delighted to engage in
philanthropic and Christian enterprises. He was not an in-
ventor, nor had he claims to rank as a genius. He never ac-
quired a competence. He died as he lived, poor in purse, but
rich in faith and in good works. He was everybody's man,
because he worked for everybody. He was God's man in
what he believed to be God's world, and served him with dili-
gence and with delight. He believed in the brotherhood of
man. He was not a Chartist, nor a Socialist, nor a Communist.
He was an engineer of the Boston and Albany Railroad, capa-
ble of fulfilling his high trust and of earning his money, and
entitled to his opinions. Anywhere and everywhere he dared
avow them, and if men interfered with his prerogatives they did
so at their own risk. He loved great, strong, and true men,
and mated with the sturdiest characters in the realms of poli-
tics, of finance, and of religion, as if they were yokefellows.
Henry Ward Beecher, who frequently rode with him on his
locomotive, recently said : " If I could have written down in
the words used by him the remarkable utterances he made to
me regarding God's love for man, and the way to bring men to
obtain just and right conceptions of God ; if I could record his
experiences in seeking to help men and lead them to a higher
THE MAN AND THE HOUR. 15
life, I could give to world ngmen the best book ever written
for them."
Rev. J. O. Peck, D.P., of the Methodist Church, for years
settled in Worcester, gave a similar testimony; and Edwin I).
Ingersoll, Railroad Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., who trav-
ersed the field of his labors years after he went higher, said :
" I meet with his Christian influence even now, everywhere in
New England, and hundreds of railroad men trace their con-
version to his labors."
As a railroad man he believed himself to have been born at
a propitious time in what he regarded as the railroad century.
It is a significant fact that, though the conception of a road-
way on which to move heavy blocks of stone dates back to the
time when the Pyramids of Egypt were built ; though the Ap-
pian Way of ancient Rome, made of solid blocks of stone laid
in parallel lines, was the thought, born of necessity, which
pointed forward to the railway system now in vogue ; though
the Dutchmen in Albany, N. Y., and the Yankees at Quincy,
Mass., constructed a roadbed, modelled after the Appian Way,
from Albany to Schenectady, and from the quarries of granite
to the river, yet the world waited until about the year Sam was
born before charters were given in England, France, and the
United States to construct railways worthy of the name. In
1826 charters were granted by the Parliament in England and
by the legislatures of States in the Western Republic to con-
struct railroads. On July 4th, 1828, the year in which Sam
Hobart was born, the first blow was struck in the construction
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and in 1830 the Albany
and Schenectady Railroad was commenced. In 1831, 384 pas-
sengers were dragged daily by horses over its limited line. In
regard to the introduction of the locomotive, there is some-
thing quiet as strange. The story of George Stephenson's
life was a favorite book with the Boston engineer. He never
tired of speaking of that boy of the collieries, who was temper-
ate while others were dissipated, frugal while others were profli-
gate, and industrious while others were idle, used of God to
10 SAM 1IOHAKT.
bring to comparative perfection the instrument which lias had
more to do with promoting the civilization of the million than
any other agency apart from the Gospel of Christ.
J. F. Loyson, in his life of Stcphenson, gives this graphic
sketch of this wonderful fact : " More than two centuries ago a
visit was paid a French madhouse by an English nobleman, the
Marquis of Worcester. As he passed through the wards, con-
taining the cages wherein the most unfortunate of their species
were confined like so many wild animals, the attendant who
accompanied him described the various hallucinations peculiar
to the inmates of that abode of the hopeless. As they ap-
proached one of the caged cells, the steps of the visitor were
suddenly arrested by a pitiful cry and the terrible appearance
of a man whose cadaverous and careworn countenance peered
through the massive bars which his thin, bloodless hands tremu-
lously clutched. The ashy lips from which the cry had pro-
ceeded again parted, and a voice hoarse and husky, but fierce
in its earnestness, exclaimed, ' I am not a madman. I am the
discoverer of a power of incalculable moment to mankind/
" ' What has this man.discovered ? ' inquired the marquis.
" ' A mere trifle,' the keeper answered derisively ; ' but he
wrote a book about it nevertheless. Why, you would never
guess what the discovery was to use the steam of boiling water
for the navigation of ships, the driving of carriages, and a host
of other miracles which are equally incapable of performance."
Such was the fate of him who, in all probability, projected the
idea of steam locomotion, Solomon de Cans, a native of Nor-
mandy, and such the reception given to a discovery calculated
to confer stupendous benefits not only upon France but the
world. The age was not, however, propitious to scientific or
mechanical research. Supineness in the court and superstition
in the Church, together with the antagonism of officials toward
anything which took the shape of innovation, conspired to hold
back from society for a time the advantages which have since
attended the construction of the steam engine.
Confident in the soundness of his conclusions, poor Solomon
THE MAX AND THE HOUR. 17
de Cans had laid a description of his plans before the King of
France ; but the mind of the monarch was not fitted to deal
with such complicated details as were therein presented, and
the readiest way to dispose of the matter was to treat the Nor-
man genius and his discovery with contempt. Turned over
to a cardinal of the Church, who became exasperated by re-
peated and urgent appeals, he consigned him to a madhouse.
And Soloman de Caus and his premature project was lost to
his country and mankind. It was reserved for the nineteenth
century to give a welcome to the locomotive. There is reason
to believe that the locomotive was an American invention. It
is certain that in 1782 Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, patented
a steam-wagon, the drawings and specifications of which were
sent to England in 1787, and again in 1794-95. In 1784, two
years after Evans's invention in America, Watt patented a
locomotive.
Little or nothing was done with them. For some reason
everything seemed to wait the dawn of the nineteenth century.
Richard Trevethick, born in the parish of Illogan, Cornwall,
April, 13th, 1771, was an inventor of whom the world has
heard much. Though a child of genius, he died penniless. In
1801 he started the iron horse on the public highway ; in
1802 he obtained a patent for a locomotive. It was on the
28th of December, 1801, the travelling engine took its depart-
ure fom Camborne Church town for Tehidy. ' ' The carriage/'
says Mr. Davies Gilbert, " broke down, after travelling very
well about 400 yards. Then it was forced under some shelter,
and the parties adjourned to the hotel and comforted their
hearts with a roast goose and drinks, where, forgetful of the en-
gine, its water boiled away. The iron became red-hot, and
nothing that was combustible remained either of the engine
or the house, thus falling a victim to the punch-drinking pro-
pensity of the period. "
A similar result might have been reached had not the foster-
father of the locomotive been temperate in habit and irrepressible
because of his determination and pluck. The steam locomo-
18 SAM HOB ART.
tive, the material transformer of the world, has a remarkable
history. As has been said, " It was not born on the rails, but
on the common road ; and a tremendous baby-giant it was, tear-
ing up its cradle in such furious fashion that men were terrified
by it, and tried their best to condemn it to inactivity, just as a
-weak and foolish father might lock up his unruly boy and re-
strain him perforce, instead of training him wisely in the way
he should go.' 7 But the progenitors of the iron horse were like
their herculean child, men of mettle. They fought a gallant
fight for their darling's freedom, and came off victorious ! As
with the railroad, so with the locomotive. They attained their
place in or near 1828. Then it was that a premium was offered
of 500 for the best locomotive that could be produced, in
accordance with certain conditions. These were :
" That the chimney should emit no smoke ; that the engine
should be on springs ; that it should not weigh more than six
tons, or four and a half tons if it had only four wheels ; that it
should be able to draw a load of twenty tons at the rate of ten
miles an hour, with a pressure of fifty pounds to the square
inch in the boiler ; and that it should not cost more than
500."
The iron horse was now at last about to assume its right posi-
tion. It was no longer an infant, but a powerful stripling,
though still far from its full growth as far as six tons is from
sixty.
It was October 6th, 1829, when the memorable trial of loco-
motives took place. It was to continue eight days. The four
exhibited were the " Novelty," " Sanspareil," "Rocket,"
and "Perseverance," built respectively by Messrs. Braithwaite
& Ericsson, Timothy Hackworth, 11. Stephenson & Co., and
Burstall.
The Rocket looked as if it were all funnel a stunted body
with a long, very long neck. Along a level stretch of railroad,
two miles long, each engine was required to make twenty double
journeys during the day, at an average speed of not less than
ten miles per hour. The Rocket made the time and more, but
THE MAX AND THE HOUR. 19
was not at the outset a favorite ; as people said; " Its appear-
ance was against it."
The Novelty was a favorite with spectators and judges. It
looked compact and handy, and its lines were harmonious and
in keeping with the purpose for which it had been built. Its
water and fuel were carried without the aid of a separate
tender, and the weight of the whole was less than three tons.
While tiavelling its experimental journey it occasionally moved
at the rate per hour of twenty-four miles, but on the second
day of the trial the blast bellows gave out The boiler of the
Sanspareil also showed a defect, and the Perseverance failed
because it could not go faster than six miles an hour. The
Rocket won the day because it had the " go" in it. It not
only made thirty miles an hour, but it drew thirteen tons 1
weight in wagons at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. The
old engine grew handsomer every moment, and before the third
day was over people said, " She did not look so bad after all."
The Novelty tried it again, but bursting its pipes ended its
hopes. The Sanspareil was similarly unfortunate, and the
Rocket, by Stephenson, received the prize.
Could a man at that time have seen in a vision of the future,
as Henry George says, " the steamship taking the place of the
sailing vessel, the railroad train of the wagon, the reaping-
machine of the scythe, the threshing-machine of the flail ; could
he have heard the throb of the engines that in obedience to the
human will and for the satisfaction of human desire exert a
power greater than all the men and all the beasts of burden of
the earth combined ; could he have seen the forest tree trans-
formed into finished lumber into doors, sashes, blinds, boxes,
or barrels, with hardly the touch of human hand ; the great
workshops where boots and shoes are turned out by the case
with less labor than the old-fashioned cobbler could have put
on a sole ; the factories where, under the eye of a girl, cotton
becomes cloth faster than hundreds of stalwart weavers could
have turned it out with their hand-looms ; could he have seen
steam hammers shaping mammoth shafts and mighty anchors,
20 SAM HOB ART.
and delicate machinery making tiny watches ; the diamond
drill cutting through the heart of the rocks and coal-oil sparing
the whale ; could he have realized the enormous saving of labor
resulting from improved facilities of exchange and communi-
cation sheep killed in Australia eaten fresh in England, and
the order given by the London banker in the afternoon executed
in San Francisco in the morning of the same day ; could he
have conceived of the hundred thousand improvements which
these only suggest, what would he have inferred of the social
condition of mankind ? His heart would have leaped and his
nerves would have thrilled, as one from a height beholds just
ahead of the thirst- stricken caravan the living gleam of rustling
woods and the glint of living waters." Upon this vision,
realized and fulfilled, Sam Hobart looked with pleasing satis-
faction and with exuberant hope.
CHAPTER IT.
SAM AS A BOY.
The Surroundings of His Birthplace, Brighton His Early
Home From Cattle- Driver to the Machine- Shop and the
Locomotive Some Notions he Fought when a Boy.
SAMUEL BROOKS HOBART was born iji Brighton, Mass., Octo-
ber 12tli, 1828. Brighton is the cattle-market of Boston. In
the olden time it was more of a centre of influence than it is at
the present time, Then drovers gathered their cattle from the
hillsides and valleys of New England and brought them to
Brighton and distributed them east and west, as the case might
be. Railroads were unknown, and the cattle were driven, not
brought. Many an emigrant going to the Far West bought there
his team and cows, the one to bear his household to their dis-
tant home, the other to supply the wants of their table in the
wilderness. To the South cattle and mules were driven, and
Brighton was the cattle-market most widely known. The dro-
vers, as we have intimated, did business on a smaller scale and
on a different basis than at present. Though their responsibil-
ities were not as great or their business so large, they were
more exacting, often very profane and dissipated. They
worked hard, kept " their eye-teeth cut," and were sharp in
trade, and sometimes not over-honest in deal. Into such soci-
ety this boy came as soon as he could walk. lie grew up to
be hard, smart, and ready for a job that brought pennies to his
pocket and pleasure to his life.
He was not a bad boy, as the word goes he did not lie
nor steal ; nor was he specially a good one. It was said of him
while very young, " That boy will take care of himself." He
did do this, and much more. He took care of whatever was
22 SAM HOB ART.
given him to do. He was naturally a success, because lie inade
a success of whatever was committed to his caro. He could
fight his way. He somehow came out first, no matter when he
started in. He was hard to manage. His mother was proud
of him. She believed in honesty, in industry, and scorned
lying and meanness. She would not take advantage. Sam
agreed with her. Sain was a dutiful son. He would never
shirk a task. He was as faithful when alone as when at work
under the eye of a master. lie became a favorite with the
drovers. He would get as good time out of a drove of cattle
as any man around. He was a favorite about the yards because
he was trustworthy. He was utterly fearless. A wild bull or
an infuriated cow found in his unterrified look, his command-
ing speech, and determined bearing that before which they
must yield. As with beasts, so was lie with men. Rouse him,
get him into motion, and nothing could daunt him. He has
entered houses full of fighting, of cursing, and where wild and
crazed drunkards were in almost the act of murder, and he was
as calm and self-possessed as a rock amid the wild surges of a
boisterous sea. He could take a mighty man by the throat
with one hand, hold another off, and put down a fight as a man
would trample out a lire just kindling into flame.
His schooling was picked up at intervals in the New England
school-house. He could read, write and cipher. His book
knowledge was limited. His knowledge of men was most
profound. He seemed by instinct or intuition to know what
was in men. He admired boldness, fearlessness, and fidelity.
David Crockett's motto was his : " Be sure vou are ri^ht, and
then go ahead. 7 '
A boy ran a great risk that interfered with his or with his
friends' rights. He never looked mad when he was going to
do a desperate deed. He would come up to a boy that was
playing bully over some weaker party, and in a polite way inti-
mate that it would be advisable to " let up" on him and " take
some one of his size." " Perhaps you would like to take it
up." ' No objection," Sam would reply, and with a smile on
SAM AS A BOY. 23
his face and with desperation in his heart would go in and do
his best. There was no fear in his composition. He expected
to win. He had great dignity of character, and enjoyed it in
others. He never desired that men should try and get down
to him ; he much preferred climbing up to them, if indeed
climbing was necessary. He became a judge of cattle, of their
weight and condition ; was consulted in the yards when a boy
as if he had been an owner. He believed in right as right, and
that right was might. He was trustworthy to his employers
and obedient to his mother. She could rely on him. This
characteristic made him largely what he afterward became.
His employers rested with faith upon his ability to brush away
difficulties and almost defy impossibilities.
He was not the person to give up his purpose if his mind
was once set upon having or doing a certain thing. Men saw
this in his looks, they heard it in his voice. Believing that it
was manly to smoke, he acquired the habit of using tobacco,
and thinking it brave to take the name of God in vain, he be-
came when a youth terribly profane.
A friend writes of Sam as a boy in these words :
" He was energetic, never lazy, would travel on foot miles
to aid a drover with his cattle for a few pennies, and then be
rewarded, a k s he has often told me, by the man's taking a
handful of change from his pocket, and, looking it over, and
selecting the smoothest fourpenny bit he could find, and hand-
ing it to Sam. Sam would take the poor little piece and rub it
industriously on his jacket sleeve to try to bring out the pillars
to plainer view, so that he could pass it for six cents, what he
feared no person used to handling money would count worth
more than five.
u He labored hard when a boy. He would rise early in the
morning, and go off on any errand that promised him remunera-
tion. How tired he got, as he walked mile after mile, occa-
sionally running after refractory cattle ! Boys do not work
now as he worked ; they would think they would be killed, he
said, with half the labor he performed. This helped to make
'24 SAM II 015 A KT.
him the energetic, persevering man that lie eventually became.
His indomitable will would carry all before it. Naturally of a
hasty, impulsive temperament, he could not brook delay or any
obstruction in his path, and if such occurred he would swear
till all quailed befor him."
No one can look upon that brave, struggling boy without
regretting that some large hearted Christian man had not seen
him and invested in him. A Sabbath-school and a Chris-
tian teacher of tact and ability would have been of inesti-
mable value to him. Few think of the difference between the
growth of a tree that was in rich soil and had good care from
the beginning, and a tiee un watched and untended, broken by
storms, scarred by rude treatment, and left without being
grafted to grow only such fruit as is natural, and is usually
small if not mean. There is meaning in the words, li As the
twig is bent the tree is inclined." Sam was warm-hearted.
lie grew up to hate strong drink. But his mind was uncult.-
u red and undeveloped to an extent that always gave him a
sense of poverty in mental calibre and filled him with sorrow.
Investments in youth pay as do no other investments. It is
a noticeable fact that in Great Britain and in the older port
of the United States men are bestowing thought upon the de-
velopment of the brain, and the culture of the young life com-
mitted to their caie. The history of the Adams family in
Massachusetts livals anything in the annals of English life,
where the elder Pitt wrought in the younger and made him at
twenty-three the best Minister of State England ever li
The same spirit lived in and blessed Disraeli, whose father
lived and wrought in his boy and made him the glory of au
empire on whose realms the sun never sets. The same is true
of the Gladstone of the past, and of the Premier whose name
and fame will forever be associated with the brightest annals of
English history.
Gardner Colby came to Boston the poorest of the poor.
His mother believed in him and built on him. Having gi
his heart to Christ in his youth, his whole nature opened south-
SAM AS A BOY. 25
ward, and the warm breath of heaven made flowers of beauty,
of culture, of love and of service for Christ and man bud and
blossom in his young life. He lived for the youth of America,
and so gave his name to the college in Waterville, Me., where
he was born, and wrought in the Theological Seminary of New-
ton, where he lived, and, dying, left children cultured, benevo-
lent, and enterprising, to perpetuate his name and widen the
channel of his beneficent thought.
Brooklyn, N. Y., holds to her heart the name and fame of
one of the most modest and unassuming of men, who has given
to colleges, to hospitals, to retreats for the young, the aged,
sums of money that astonish by their magnitude and at the
same time inspire by their large-mindedness and comprehensive-
ness of aim. People everywhere who had admired the giver
\vere made to prize as never before the value of early training,
when they learned that an unpretentious Methodist minister
was his father, after whom he named a hospital that shall for
ages attest the son's devotion to the memory of one who led
him when a youth into the paths of promise, and of devotion
also to the needs of humanity for whom Christ died.
Seth Low is the product of home training as well as of the
money of A. A. Low. Wm. H. Vanderbilt, with his culture
and large nature, has carried into a nobler and higher realm the
name and fame of his father Cornelius, and is doing a still
grander work in building up boys not only to be millionaires
capable of managing great affairs, but in seeing to it that they
are fitted to welcome great trusts and become pillars on which
society builds its noblest superstructures. Time and space
alike forbid our dwelling longer upon what investments in
youth are to humanity and to Christianity. Had Sam Hobart,
with his might, with his genius for being good and doing good,
been blessed with early advantages similar to those placed
within the reach of many who secure them, and, thank God,
of many who welcome them, it is impossible to describe what
might have come from it.
Wm. E. Dodge has just gone home to God, rich in fame and
26 SAM HOBART.
in good works. Forget it not : the tree was cared for from
the start. He gave his heart to Christ when a boy of eleven.
He grew up with Christ and in Christ, and blessings came to
him because he knew how wisely to use them, and like a foun-
tain on a mountain that sends forth streams on every side, he
blessed humanities everywhere, and was God's benefaction to
all men. Sam Hobart, deprived of such watch care and cult-
ure, had to get on as best he could. He had love as good and
as strong as the richest and the best. In the homes of the poor
are compensations which outweigh in value all that wealth can
bring. There are no poorer children than some of the children
of our wealthiest people. Business, fashion, and the responsi-
bilities of life cause them to commit the care of children to
servants while they give themselves up to society. The mother
of wealth who, on one occasion being compelled to put her
child to bed, learned by the language and conduct of the child
that he was being exposed to terrible temptation, and clasping
him to her heart resolved that henceforth society should bo
poorer that the child might be enriched with love, with care,
with kindness, became wise none too soon for her own good
and the happiness and prosperity of her child. The children
of the poor at least can have their mother's society, and if their
mothers be cultured, ambitious, and withal Christian, they are
rich indeed. It is not money, nor libraries, nor horses, nor
great opportunities that make great men and women. It must
be in the child, if greatness ever distinguishes him.
Abraham Lincoln delighted to dwell upon his obligations to
that stepmother who helped him to books, to schooling, to
society, for which his soul longed while living in the log-cabin
with a father who thought little of the boy's great need ; while
as long as there is a place in the world's history for what is
noblest and best in our life the memory of the mothers of
Washington and of Garfield will remain as illustrations of the
way in which there has passed into the highest place of renown,
that which glorifies the family and the school-house of America.
Some of the noblest young men in our colleges come from some
SAM AS A BOY. 27
of the poorest of our homes, and are sons of mothers who kept
their boys with them, breathed into their ears the story of their
' ambitious dreamings until they resolved to climb the steeps of
success. All this Sam had. His mother was an unambitious,
strong-minded New England woman, and her boys fill honor-
able places, because of the mainspring of purpose that came
from her resistless will. In her society he learned to scorn
meanness and to hate servility* Would that she had led him
to Christ ! Then might he have carried into the places of
honor and trust the influences acquired at the hearthstone, to
be practised round the world.
CHAPTER III.
THE MACHINIST AND FIREMAN.
FROM the stock-yard and cattle-pen Sam passed to the ma-
chine-shop. His ambition was to become a locomotive engi-
neer. To reach that position preparation was a necessity. He
carried into the shop a tough and wiry frame, a good eye, a
hand that only needed training to find skill. In a short time
he made himself friends and a name. With open eye and with
attentive brain he took in all that passed before him.
The fireman was the engineer in embryo. In that responsi-
ble place his mettle was tested and his skill was developed.
There are firemen who work by the day or month as firemen.
Sam was never among them. From the day he crossed the
threshold of the machine-shop, indeed from the day he first
saw the locomotive careering over the highway prepared for
the fiery steed, he determined to ride it, to master it, and to
be identified with it. He wanted to be an engineer, a locomo-
tive engineer, and that satisfied him. Can we believe in such
a nature ? There are millions such, or society would be a
wreck. There are men who desire to drive horses, and care
not to own them. These men win fame as drivers. They
have a place in the world which they like, and which other
men covet, because they can drive. Their ambition is to drive
a horse on the race. They care for nothing else. They
exercise the horses, live with them and for them, that on the
course, in the eye of thousands, amid cheers and wild huzzahs
they might first cross the line and be crowned as victors. A
locomotive to a man that loves it is like a fleet courser. Now,
horses are not all alike. Every one is peculiar to himself. He
has his moods, his way of working, his spirit, his gait, the
THE MACHINIST AND FIREMAN. 29
moment when he will stretch himself to his utmost capacity,
and when all the go in him comes out of him.
Men that own horses delight in them. Owners love their
horses as though they were human. They call them pet
names. They like to drive them occasionally, and feel the
tingle in the hands which comes from the mouth of the steed
to the hand of the master. But there is a man nearer to the
horse than his owner, and that is his driver. The horse and
man are almost one and inseparable.
Enough has been said to reveal the idiosyncrasy of this man
of the locomotive. That matchless piece of mechanism was to
Sam Hobart a poem, meat and drink. He studied it. He un-
derstood it through and through, from boiler to throttle- valve.
Every locomotive has its peculiar nature. There are some
locomotives that always want to run away. There are others
that always seem to be getting ready to stop. There are times
when a locomotive will do marvellously well, and there are
other times when it does marvellously ill. Then the fireman is
alert. He puts oil here and there, tightens a nut or loosens it,
puts coal in, or what it requires, and at last the thing is all
aflame with energy. As fireman Sam was a success. He was
lithe of limb, quick of eye, and ready of hand. He could be
all over a locomotive when at its utmost speed.
From the first he worked for his engineer, and his engineer in
a short time began to work for him. Gently he backed out the
machine. The puffs of steam were given as intimations rather
than as threats. From the machine-shop to the position of
fireman seemed to him like promotion. It was a step on. He
delighted to see his locomotive in perfect condition. A fire-
man's position is peculiarly responsible. On our best roads he
does not clean the engine. Wipers do that. But he sees to
it, and superintends it. He mounts the engine when fired up,
and takes it from the round-house to the track. He waits for
the signal. Then the engineer steps on board and takes, as we
might say, the reins. As fireman Sam gave his engineer a
cordial greeting, and ministered to him without waiting for
30 SAM HOBA.RT.
suggestion, direction, or command. Superintendent, president,
and directors, or whoever saw his engine saw that labor had
been bestowed upon it. Its brasses shone with golden lustre,
its iron rods and bars and cranks and pistons glistened with
silvery sheen, and its heavier parts and body were made as
beautiful and bright and fresh-looking as possible. Before he
took the machine out, every screw and nut and lever and
joint were examined and oiled. We can imagine Ginery
Tvvitchel, whose eye never omitted any detail, saying to the
engineer, u Your locomotive looks well this morning/' " Yes.
It is Sam's pride. He keeps it in apple-pie order. 77 Thus the
ambitious fireman was rewarded. This faithfulness and service
opened the path to promotion. The engineer took pains with
him, and helped him on. Sam soon came to know how to
handle the monster with safety and skill. The locomotive was
his passion, whether at rest or fired up and quivering with the
tremendous energy, which if unbound would wreck whatever
was near, and under control was the servant of man. It was
the embodiment and personification of power while fiying on
its iron way, or while standing at the station snorting like a
war-horse, as if smelling the battle from afar. A fireman's
position requires nerve, a clear head, a quick brain, coolness in
the midst of peril, a steady hand when dangers have to be met
Now he is throwing wood or coal into the furnace, which
devours material with fierce rapacity ; then he is compelled to
walk out on the side of the heated bounding force to give a
little oil where the friction is great ; then back he flies to his
place to ring the bell while crossing a highway or dashing
through a town.
Enter the round-house where the locomotives are kept, and
there is much to interest. In it are these tremendous engines,
with that in them which if neglected might wreck the building
and the engines, of which there are usually a multitude. Sam
has just come in from the road, where with lightning speed
they have men fulfilling their mission and are now disgorging
their fire and water and preparing to rest ; some are letting off
THE MACHINIST A3STD FIREMAN. 31
steam with a fiendish yell unbearably prolonged ; some are in
the hands of the wipers, the firemen superintending and per-
haps attending to some needed minutia ; others are undergoing
the necessary repairs, and a few are ready for instant action.
Among these helpers Sam was a hale fellow well met. He
was quick to learn because ready to take a suggestion, and
thorough in the performance of the duties enjoined upon him.
His engineer could repose implicit confidence in his discretion,
fidelity, and trustworthiness, and so took pride in him. From
his boyhood up " he studied to be quiet, to do his own busi-
ness, and to work with his own hands," as the apostle com-
mands. He believed there was a place for him, work for him
to do, and that he had a mission to fulfil. What was true of
him he felt to be true of every other man. In his estimation
the dignity of labor finds its exponent in the fact that every
trade, profession, art, and employment is an essential link in the
chain that binds society together. He felt that it was a mis-
taken notion that forever, associates labor with a curse. He
was not miserable, because he had something to do. He had
only contempt for loafers, and wasted no pity upon those who
were ever harping upon the miseries of the workingman. He
denied that there were menial employments, in the sense in
which the term is used. We all serve. Menial pertains to
service. The employer serves his servant as much as the ser-
vant serves the employer. Christ illustrated this truth when
he washed his disciples' feet and said, " Let him that is
chief be as he that doth serve." This was the secret of the
success of young Hobart.
As a fireman he was faithful and trustworthy. He made his
engine his pride. He was prompt, respectful, and obliging.
He filled his place, and sought to fill no one else's place. He
did not seek to be superintendent or president, but simply fire-
man, and desired to learn all that could be known about the
management of the engine. He never saw an open door that
he did not enter it. His engineer reported him to the superin-
tendent as fitted for an engine, while Sam was bus} r with his
32 SAM HOBART.
work and not dreaming of promotion. He went higher because
the place called for him. He did not cry for the place. There
was not a lazy hair in his head, nor a lazy bone in his body.
In his estimation, the most miserable men on earth are those
who have nothing to do. They are in the way when they seek
society, for society has bread to earn and duties to discharge.
At home they are miserable. Idleness is the sepulchre of a
living man. Every individual is so constituted that if he will
not work he shall hasten to destruction. It is the grain be-
tween the upper and nether millstones which saves the machin-
ery from ruin. So it is the work placed before us that keeps
the machinery of life in running order and makes men happy.
" Look/' said Sam to a comrade when a fireman,' 44 at the
laborer confined to his house. He has bread and sources of
comfort, but he pines for occupation. 4 The sleep of a labor-
ing man is sweet. ' ' Sam had no sympathy with one who was
wishing he had nothing to do, that he had money enough to
live without work. He said, " You are mistaken. Imagine
yourself inheriting money on the condition that from this time
you ceased laboring. Hitherto you have been engaged in a
machine-shop. Your companions and friends are there. But
you can no more be permitted to touch or use a tool. You try
staying at home. Your mother complains that you are in the
way. They wish to clean up the house, and want you out of
it. You saunter forth and enter a store ; the merchant is busy.
He will wait on you, but cannot afford to have you lounging
around. You go back to the shop. Your companions have
no time to waste upon an idler, and no respect for a drone in
the great human hive. You try reading, and are not used to it.
Your bones ache, your head feels uncomfortable. The world
is busy, and you are unemployed. There is one of two things
that would occur in one month's time. You would rush into .
dissipation to drown your bodily suffering, or you would put
your inheritance to use and go to work." Sam was right.
Food received in the body requires exercise to aid the digestive
organs. It is equally true of mental food. There is no place
in this wide world for an idle man. He is refuse, and the
THE MACHINIST AND FIREMAN. 33
sooner he finds it out the belter, when the money he keeps
from circulating will find its way into the channels of useful-
ness. The man who does not labor, for its own sake and the
blessings that follow in its train, is diseased either in body or
soul. Dissipation may destroy the constitution and rob the
body of its strength and energy, and for a time the system
may need repose ; but as soon as it regains health it will de-
mand occupation. The bees understand it : they kill off the
drones.
4< No," said the friend, " that theory must be given up."
" Well," said Sam, " I don't believe it. If the bees don't do
it, then all I have to say is, I shan't think so much of the bees.
' For he that will not work, neither shall he eat. ' '
Another mistaken notion which Sam was fond of fighting
was that men are unhappy because of their peculiar occupation.
He declared that his acquaintance with men forced upon him
the conviction, that with rare exceptions, every man is doing
that which under all the circumstances he is best adapted to do,
and that he would not be as happy anywhere else as where he
is. He knew there were places he could not fill. He was very
proud of Hon. Ginery Twitchel, who passed from a stage-
driver up the grade to being railroad president, and then grad-
uated and went to Congress. He was familiar with the history
of Tom Scott, the railroad king of the Pennsylvania Central, or
of Cornelius Vanderbilt, both of whom climbed up from the
humblest of beginnings to their distinguished positions ; but
Sam Hobart knew that he was plain Sam Hobart, and that he
could not do their work. So when a boy he sought to fill his
place, and filled it to the satisfaction of all parties. He believed
that in his humble sphere God gave to him just as many sources
of innocent happiness as he had given to anybody. Happiness
r is within, and not without. The discontented imagine that
happiness must be found in a change of position or of occupa-
tion rather than in a change of opinion. There is no good
reason why the coachman should not be as happy as the dainty
lady whom he serves. There is no reason why the hod-carrier
may not be as happy at his toil as is the mason whom he waits
34 SAM 1IOBAKT.
upon, or the architect in accordance with whose plan he helps
to build. It was Sam Hobart's feeling that the duties and
responsibilities of the president of the railroad would be too
much for him. Would that his faith was more widely diffused.
Society would hear less of complaint. There would be fewer
grumblers and less tumult. Now, alas, in many instances a
mechanic acquires wealth. His son inherits his traits of char-
acter and habits of mind. But the father scorns the idea of
bringing the boy up to business. He must make a gentleman
of him. God makes the gentleman. Man oftentimes makes
of a good youth, by false training, a spendthrift, and mayhap
a prodigal and a drunkard. The ocean of the mercantile world
is strewn with the wrecks of young men who ruined their
hopes because their parents- had heaped up fortunes for them.
Happy had it been for them had they been constrained to toil
as their fathers toiled before them, and to make their fortune
that they might enjoy it. Providence rights the wrongs of the
workingman by building up those who toil and by casting
idlers down. It is known that the sons of wealth who with
competences have inherited sloth come to want, as a rule, in the
course of three generations, while " the thoughts of the dili-
gent tend only to plenteousness. " From them come the inven-
tions which lighten labor and hasten on the chariot of plenty.
From them come those vast schemes which have belted society
with the bands of prosperity and girded society for its benefi-
cent tasks. Said the great Alexander : " It is a slavish thing
to luxuriate, but a most royal thing to labor. The man that
luxuriates is the man who is a slave. The man who labors is in
truth the king, for he alone is king of himself, while the king
who is not king of himself is but a royal slave. The entire
truth is summed up by the wise man : " Seest thou a man dili-
gent in his business : he shall stand before kings, he shall not
stand before mean persons.' 7 That is, diligence shall cause
him to be a necessity to society. The world stands in need of
the product of honest toil, and the vineyard waits for laborers.
So there was a place for Sam Hobart.
CHAPTER IV.
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER.
SAM is twenty years of age, and is promoted from being fire-
man to being put in trust of a locomotive. It was 1848. Rail-
roading was then in its infancy in the West. The East was edu-
cating the West. The men of the East were sought to fill places
of trust in the West. Sam's eyes soon saw the laying of the
first track on the road that was in due time to bind Boston and
San Francisco together with bonds of iron. Then it was pro-
nounced visionary to attempt to climb the Berkshire hills, and
when achieved and the road was completed it was regarded as
great an exploit as to build the Pacific Road and climb and
scale the Rocky Mountains. A boy of twenty in charge of a
locomotive was a novelty. Jealousies were kindled into flame
by it, and men of age were not happy at the progress made by
the youngster. Sam was compelled to conquer his place, and
to hold it by reason that he was equal to the position. He did
not step to the first place at once. He crept up. He walked
in due time ; he was content. He knew that " A rolling stone
gathers no moss," and a man who often changes his business
is most likely to remain poor. Said the sagacious Richard :
" I never saw an oft-removed tree,
Nor yet an oft-removed family,
That throve so well as those that settled be."
It is not because of any property he acquired by remaining
in one place and contenting himself with one kind of employ-
ment, but because of the influence he acquired by maintaining
a good character through all these years, that he deserves men-
tion.
36 SAM HOBART.
At the commencement he was put in charge of a locomotive
as a guard, then on a freight, and soon on a passenger train ;
and so he went on until at last by common consent the best
place was assigned him. It was said of him that his train was
sure to pull through. In the midst of terrific storms, when
deep snows impeded their progress or blocked their path, and it
was known that Sam was with the train, people said : "She
will come through if it's among the possibilities." Men were
accustomed to speak of the fertility of his inventive genius, his
powers of endurance, his good-nature and indomitable pluck.
He believed in success. There is sense in the saying, " Keep
thy shop and thy shop will keep thee." He stuck to the one
business ; he meddled with nothing else. He was master of
every department. He knew how to calculate for frost and
heat, for rain and snow, for the spring of the road and for the
lack of it. He knew little of what the books said of it, but
everything which experience and observation could teach. As
a result, he knew that he knew what to do and how to do it.
' ' Perseverance is a Roman virtue
That wins each godlike act and plucks success,
Even from the spear-proof crest of rugged danger. "
As a manager of the locomotive he was an expert, and for
many years he had the latest improvements submitted to his
inspection and committed to his charge. He loved a good
engine as other men love a horse, or a dog, or a gun. It was
his joy to be with it. He liked the regularity with which it
ran to and back from Worcester to Boston like the beat of a
pendulum swinging through its iron arc. He loved the excite-
ment of seeing the train loaded up, the hurrying of passengers,
the rolling of the baggage, the start, and best of all, the race.
He delighted in the bound and speed of the fiery steed. He
would touch the levers as delicately and with as much grace as
a good reinsman would handle the lines. The sound of the
whistle, the clip-clap of the wheels rattling on the iron track
had a music for him more enlivening and bewitching than ever
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE EXGIHEER. 37
accompanied the organ's peal. It is not strange, for a wonder-
fill thing is that engine, the emblem and exponent of the hour,
" the thing of iron and of fire, with a banner of light, an eye
like a star ; with sinews of brass and steel, and breathings of
flame." See it standing on the track, pipe puffing, steam fret-
, ting to be free, reminding one of the horse described in Job,
whose neck is clothed with thunder, which paweth in the valley
and rejoiceth in his strength. He saith among the trumpets,
Ha, ha ! and he smelleth 'the battle afar off, the thunder of
the captains and the shouting, and is impatient to go forth to
battle. " It glides upon those two iron bars from winter to
summer, from day to night, from morning to evening. " " It
plunges like a strand of thunder through the mountain gorges ;
it Ikaps across the wide valley. Its shaft glitters in the mines ;
its voice is heard in the shop ; its banner is everywhere. It has
forced its way to the far hamlets in the quiet vales, and they
have felt the thrill and the jar of the great world." It is won-
derful how that hissing, panting thing of iron has revolution-
ized the world. Benjamin F. Taylor has in his wonderful way
written of the engine, and asked, " Did you ever creep gingerly
should there be another ' ly ' to the gingerly ? up to the
deck of a railway car when the train was moving, say twenty-
five or thirty miles an hour ? And did you look way on be-
yond the train, where the two iron bars that noblest couplet
in the great epic of the time were welded lovingly together,
without hammer or furnace or pin, but just beneath the won-
derful, invisible fingers of distance, till they lay there a huge V
upon the bosom of the prairie ? And how marvellously, as the
train moved on, those stubborn "bars swayed round to a parallel,
as lightly and noiselessly as a brace of sunbeams, flung from a
mirror swinging in the wanton wind, sweep round *in the blue
air ! And did you ' mind, 7 not a spike wrenched from its
good hold, not a tie ?mtied, not a timber splintered ! There
must be a charm in those fingers indeed."
No one that ever rode upon the engine can forget the sensa-
tion of pleasure, of exultation, of exuberant joy experienced, as
38 SAM HOBART.
fear is forgotten, and one is given up to the excitement incident
to the situation, when in fancy you keep time with Saxe in his
Rhyme on the Rail, as you go
" Singing through the forests,
Battling over ridges,
Shooting under arches,
Humbling over bridges,
Whizzing through the mountains,
Buzzing o'er the vale,
Bless me ! this is pleasant,
Biding on the Bail."
At times you feel like shouting, ' i Stop the train ! Let us
off ! Conductor, captain, somebody, anybody, there's a vil-
lage on the track. The meeting-house, the grave-yard, fed-
faced stores, presto, you are there, they recede, and you pass
on. Every one has looked up. The very ground has shaken
beneath giant structures, and you, the freest, the wildest, the
most impetuous creature that ever moved through space, are
identified with this marvellous product of skill. Look again..
This time there is surely something on the track again. It's a
fly, it's a frog, it's a child, it's a man six feet high a D.D.,
a P.M., an M.C. On we go. We have passed him, we have
left him. Five feet high ; four feet high ; a child, a frog, a
bug, a nothing. The D.D, dwindled down ; the P.M. is past
minding, and the M.C. is microscopic curiosity."
" Lo ! there * the breathing thought'
The poets sang of old,
And there ' the burning word '
No tongue had full\ T told,
Until the magic hand
The bold conception wrought
In iron and in fire it stands
The world's embodied thought.
" Lo ! in the panting thunders,
Hear the echo of the Age !
Lo ! in the globe' s broad breast, behold
The poet's noblest page !
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. 39
For in the brace of iron bars,
That weld two worlds in one,
The couplet of a nobler lay
Than bards have e'r begun !"
The locomotive engineer rides this poem, this epic, or this
monster call it what you will he rides it as a thing of life.
The signal comes to him, not in a loud shout of command, or a
trumpet-blast, but by the silent hand of time as indicated on
his chronometer. But how, it may be asked, does he know
precisely the hour at which he has to start, the stations he has
to stop at, the various little acts of coupling on and dropping
off carriages and trucks, and returning within fixed periods so
punctually, that he shall not interfere with, run into, or delay
the operations of the hundreds of drivers ; whose duties are as
complete, wise, important, and swift as his own. The reply is
framed in the perfection of system attained in railroad manage-
ment. Without this there would be endless confusion and un-
told and unnumbered disasters.
Sam recognized this fact, and made use of it. The responsi-
bility of making a time-table devolved upon another. The
obeying of it devolved upon him. He knew that the difficulty of
running so many trains and making them dovetail into one an-
other so that the regular traffic be not interfered with, and that
excursion, special, and other irregular trains be provided for, re-
quired a calculation, a skill, a comprehension of detail, for which
he had neither ability nor ambition. Being carefully hedged in,
as we have shown, with strict rules and regulations, the engineer
knowing his duties well, and feeling perfect confidence in him-
self and his superiors, looks at his chronometer, and at the
proper time mounts to his place. The fireman, putting a finish-
ing drop of oil into some part of the machinery, takes his sta-
tion beside his mate, eases off the brake, looks at the fire and
waits upon the monster, as the engineer waits for the signal to
start. The clock strikes. Sam lets off his shot whistles and
lets on the steam. The first is a soft pulsation, a mere puff ;
but it was enough to move the ponderous engine as if it had
40 SAM HOBAKT.
been the spirit of life. Another, and gently it pulls out the
train. All are aboard. Everything is ready. Another puff of
greater strength sends forward the engine with -a sudden gran-
deur of action that enables the engineer to show off the points
of the powerful steed.
As an engineer, he began first in the yard. Then he took a
freight train. It was seen that he could move a train and not
jerk it. He never went too far or stopped too soon. He was
expeditious. ' He was safe. He attended to his business. At
length, an engineer being sick, he was placed on a passenger
train for the day. The skill acquired in the yard and with
freight trains enabled him to move out of the depot quickly
and stop at the stations without a jar. That night the con-
ductor reported him as a success for the passenger train.
" Why," said he, " no old engineer that I know of can do any
better, if as well. He did not seem to start, but to insinuate the
idea of motion to his iron steed, and so glide softly away. As
a result he was transferred to the passenger trains, and kept his
place for evermore. He never forgot his obligations to the
men who advanced him, and in this showed good sense.
America in 1 848 was the El Dorado of the workingman.
Here was thrift and plenty, while terrible convulsions were
shaking the old world. Italy, France and Hungary were being
ploughed with excitements that gave birth to republics and
shook the foundations of time-honored despotisms, papal and
other. In England the working classes were crying out for de-
liverance. It was on the 10th of April, 1848, the great peti-
tion for the charter became the jest and sport of men. How
wild their hope, how bitter their despair. One wrote in behalf '
of the charter these words : " Had not freedom, progression,
expanding, descending, been the glory and the strength of
England ? Were Magna Charta and the Habeas Corpus Act,
Hampden's resistance to ship-money, and the calm, righteous
might of 1688 were they all futilities and fallacies ? Ever
downward for seven hundred years, welling from the heaven-
watered mountain peaks of wisdom, had spread the stream*
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. 41
of liberty. The nobles had gained their charter from John ;
the middle classes from Wiiliam of Orange ; was not the time
at hand, when from a queen, more gentle, charitable, upright,
spotless than had ever sat on the throne of England, the work-
ing masses in their turn should gain their charter?" They
were to go in a procession 250,000 strong to the very doors of
the House of Commons, and demand their rights.
The day came. All England was aroused. Thousands of
special constables were enrolled. The practical common-sense
of the people refused to side with outlaws, and to expose
themselves to French and Irish interference, and so the masses
would not rise. Whatever sympathy they had with Chartists,
they did not care to show it. And then futility after futility
exposed itself. The meeting, which was to have numbered its
hundreds of thousands, did not number its tens of thousands.
The broadest and the wisest saw that all was up, and cried, We
are all " humbugged and betrayed," and the meeting broke
up pitiably, piecemeal, drenched and cowed, body and soul, by
pouring rain on its way home for the very heavens mercifully
helped to quench the folly while the monster petition crawled
ludicrously away in a hack-cab to be dragged to the floor of the
House of Commons amid roars of laughter " inextinguishable
laughter. ' '
Thus wrote Charles Kingsley in '* Alton Locke," of a move-
ment engaging the world's thought when Sam Hobart at the age'
of twenty, became a locomotive engineer. Boston is the work-
ingman's paradise. Here every improvement is welcomed. The
inventive spirit is encouraged. The man of the forge or of the
loom, of the spindle, of the shoe-shop, and of the carpenter's
bench, comes into association with the noblest, the most enter-
prising of the land. Sam felt it and gloried in it. He was an
American out and out. He saw the possibilities within reach,
and the open doors to usefulness and power inviting attention
at every turn. Some one has said : " Everybody has his ani-
mal period, when he can only eat and sleep ; intelligence slowly
dawning on his mind. Then comes his savage period, when he
42 SAM HOB ART.
knows nothing of rights, when all thine is mine, if he can get
it. Then comes the barbarous period, when he is ignorant and
dislikes to learn ; study and restraint are irksome. Nothing is
sacred to him no time, nor place, nor person. He grows up
wild and reckless/ 7 Through these periods, companions say,
Sam passed. Some called him a " boy," claiming that he got
more than his share, as they thought, and was selfish, grasping,
and unfeeling. Well, if that was true of him at any time he
soon passed beyond this stage. The pushing boy that would
not be sat down on that as apprentice, as fireman and as
engineer, did his best soon attracted notice. Discouragement
had never entered his soul. He knew what it was to be an
apprentice, and he misjudged. He knew also what love, confi-
dence and respect from those set over him was. He never for-
got it. The story is told of John -Morrissey and Tom Hyer.
Both were fighting men. Friends were anxious that they
should have " a mill," or prize fight. Tom Hyer never came
to time in any way pleasing to Morrissey. One day they were
on a steamer sailing up the Hudson, and John said to Tom,
" Do you know why you and I have never fought ?" " No."
" Well, I do." " Why ?" " Because there are just two men
in this world," said Morrissey, " who know that I can whip you
one is you and t'other one is me." He believed that he was
equal to the situation.
Some declare that when his work was done he went the
rounds with wild and rude associates visiting theatres, brothels,
dance-houses, and the like. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Such men never climb the steep ascent to positions
of trust. They go down and they end in disgrace. Their
wrecks line the shore of life's sea. It is easy to go down.
The broad road is an inclined plane. The descent is easy and
natural. The current in Niagara River is not more certain
making toward the cataract and the headlong plunge to utter
ruin than is the path of the young mechanic that squanders his
evenings and wastes his opportunities.
Sam became a Freemason when young. He was welcomed
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. 43
to the association by men who appreciated his worth. The
symbols, the humanities, the fraternity, the stand-up-to-a- tire-
ness of the order delighted him. He travelled through the
West as an engineer. To the shops, to the depots of the great
railways he went no more certainly than he visited the lodges of
the fraternity. In this order he learned the value of brother-
hood and how to minister to the distressed and afflicted. For
years this was his religion. , He fought his way through diffi-
culties made strong by the fact that the eye of a great order
was on him, and that within the lodge- room he had bosom
friends. His reverence for his mother and for himself made
him respect women. Lectures he loved on scientific subjects.
As the years went on, Boston became the battle-ground of
liberty. Faneuil Hall and Tremont Temple, the Meronian,
where Parker preached and where Channing and Culver and
Gilbert and others met to compare notes and plan for the pro-
tection of the weak, were favorite resorts for the young and
aspiring engineer. All this time he was the champion of the
work that had fallen to him to do. He believed in, the man-
agement and in the road he served. When other men would
find fault with the company, with the road, with the equip-
ments, Sam would stand by them and defend them. He knew
enough to praise what he had and make the most of it. That
fact became known. When his brother engineers would de-
clare that on such and such roads men were treated better or
paid more wages or had less hours, Sam would reply, " Boys,
I have seen many of them, and to me there is no place like
home."
" Easy enough for you to say that, Sam Hobart, who are
advanced and petted and favored by every one," replied an
associate. Sam's reply was, " Boys, I get what I can. If I
have won confidence, I try to deserve it. I am grateful for the
friendship of my superiors in position, but after all this is not
all. This is a good road. There is not an improvement which
we do not have, and not one of you makes any special time but
it is noticed.
44 SAM HOBAKT.
" Do you remember how, when the yard was full of trains
during the last snow blockade, the call came for men to work
extra time ? You know who found excuses for not going.
Those of us who went and who worked all night and helped to
clear the yards, and took the kink out of the tangle of tied-up
trains, were thanked by the superintendent, who was out all
night and worked with us as if he were one of us. For one,
I like such employers, and am going to stand by them. 57
As when Jesse sent David to find out how his soldier
brothers were getting on, green-eyed jealousy was suspicious,
insinuating, and mean, so then and there men were found who
saw in Sam's willingness to help, only a spirit that sought pro-
motion. Nothing was further from the truth. The spirit of
help was in the man. He enjoyed the excitement of desperate
and difficult work. He went at it with a will, and kept at it
until victory was achieved. * l Napoleon, " it is said, ' ' on the
battle-field was equal to thirty thousand men." Sam, on au
engine in a snow blockade, was an inspiration to all called to
work. He was master of the situation, and superintendent and
directors knew that everything possible would be done. Let
one man or a half dozen men arise, who believe that the world
is not the devil's world at all, but God's ; that the multitude of
the people is not the ruin, but, as Solomon avers, the strength
of the rulers ; that men are not meant to be beasts of prey, eating
one another up by competition, as in some confined pike pond
where the great pike, having despatched the little ones, begin to
devour each other, till one overgrown monster is left alone to
die of starvation ; but rather, that every man has his place, and
a right to fill it. Let a few men who have brains and believe
that, arise to play the men, and there is a place for them in
this great, free-hearted world. Sam believed it, and in the
heartiest way gave assistance to all in his power. Prompt to
the moment, quick to discern a difficulty and find out a
remedy, brave in the midst of peril, and always pushing for the
main chance, he came to be recognized as one on whom, in an
emergency, men might lean. Having achieved this, he was
SAM BECOMES A LOCOMOTIVE ESTGIKEER. 45
satisfied. He dare be true to his own class and seek such im-
provement as came within his reach. He sought to befriend
the helpless and improve the condition of those about him.
This made him friends in his own circle, and gave him introduc-
tions to society about him. It is not who a man is thought to
be, but what he is within, that determines his position in
society. The world knows us better than we think, and weighs
us with wonderful precision 4 .
CHAPTER V.
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE.
IF this were a romance instead of a biography, I would de-
scribe Sam at this period of his life in the railroad world as
being what Stephenson had been in England, or what Elihu
Burritt, in another sphere, became in America. I would picture
him mastering arithmetic, algebra, philosophy, and the higher
mathematics, until he attained the power of weighing a star,
calculating an eclipse, or telling how many cubic feet of earth
there was in an embankment, or what proportions were essential
to the solidity of a bridge. But this cannot be done, because
it was not true.
The time for free libraries and free reading-rooms had not
come. Railroading was not then what it is now. There was
then no room for the engineer where, apart from wicked com-
panions, he might culture his brain and find that for which his
heart yearned. Sam was an engineer. At the outset rough,
profane, faithful to the road, and kind to his companions, but
not a genius, not a model. Afterward, how he regretted wasted
opportunities all know who heard him speak.
" Young men," he would say, "what are you doing?
Books are within your reach. Are you not living without
them and growing up in ignorance as if they were not ? If so,
you will regret it. What you neglect now can never be made
up to you. What you obtain now of knowledge, of science.
and of the wisdom which is from on high, will always enrich
you." Later on he went in for improvements. It is not
necessary that we enter into the particulars of his private life.
His mother is still living, though in enfeebled health, and he
has several brothers and a sister. His wife writes :
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 47
u A kinder, truer, more loving husband than Samuel Brooks
Hobart ever and always was, would be difficult to find ; and
better companions to a man's earthly lot, than Sarah Jane
Marston, of Newton, Mass., and Annette Snow, of Lunen-
burg, Vt, , the world does not furnish. They lie side by side
with him at Mt. Auburn, and share with him, I trust, the
blessedness of the heavenly home ; and what does it matter to
the world that I unceasingly mourn his loss ?
" Yours in sorrow deep,
" MARY J. HOBART. "
From the first his home was to him a delight. He lived for
it and lived in it. He was glad, when the day's work was done,
to give his arm to his wife and walk out to gaze upon the beau-
ties of sea and land, of garden and field.
Boston, then as now, was beautiful. Nature had blessed it,
and art came to adorn it as best it could. He delighted to visit
the hill in South Boston which overlooks the harbor, and de-
scribe the scenes of the Revolution, where Putnam was in Cam-
bridge, Warren at Bunker Hill, and where a camp of our revo-
lutionary sires saw from the Heights the British furl their flags
and steal away, because of the tactics of Washington and the
bravery of those that stood about him. The monument at
Blinker Hill thrilled him with patriotic emotions. Boston is
the workingman's paradise. There a man is a man. Faneuil
Hall, consecrated to free speech ; the Capitol, in which the
noblest orators living or dead have spoken ; Tremont Temple,
where Nathaniel Culver preached, and Music Hall in which
Theodore Parker stood forth as the prophet of liberty ; churches
in which Sharp and Neal and Stone and Pierpoint and Chan-
ning made the welkin ring with words that leaped in echoes
round the world these were his delight.
Mt. Auburn, too, he loved. The chapel in which the statues
of Otis and John Adams will ever instruct and inspire, Harvard
College and the gallery of portraits in which are pictures of
Bowdoin, Franklin, Whitefield and others, these places were
known to him and were loved by him.
48 SAM HOB ART.
Fifteen months of wedded bliss came and went, bearing with
them wife and child, and he was a widower and alone. It was
to him a sad and empty world. He needed Christ. He was
like parts of a machine not joined, and so not at work. For-
tunately, God gave him in Miss Snow, of Lunenburg, Vt., a
second wife who proved to be a great blessing. The woman's
life introduced him to the Green Mountain State, and its won-
derful scenery, enlarged the range of his vision, and gave him
an acquaintance with improving friends. He loved her and
all that belonged to her. He delighted to take his vacations
by going with her to the old home. At last she sickened.
Through her I came to know her husband. Dr. O. S. Saun-
ders said one day, " You have a great friend in Sam Hobart,
an engineer of the Boston and Albany Road, and his wife is
very sick. I wish you would go and see her.' 7 I went. I
found her sitting in her large rocking-chair beside the window
that overlooked the railroad, waiting for Sam's return. Soon
the whistle sounded. Her eye brightened. She looked out of
the window, kissed her hand to the red-haired engineer who,
with his cap and overalls on, looked the workingman. Quick
as a flash he went past. She turned with a pleasant, proud
smile saying, " He always looks for me, poor fellow. I can't
wait here much longer for him." The scene reminds us of
William Guild, who was engineer of the train. which plunged
into Meadow Brook, on the line of the Stonington and Provi-
dence Railroad. It was his custom, as often as he passed his
home, to whistle an "All is well" to his wife. He was
found, after the disaster, dead, with his hand on the throttle-
valve of the engine. Bret Harte thus describes the scene :
" Two low whistles, quaint and clear,
That was the signal the engineer
That was the signal that Guild, 'tis said
Gave to his wife at Providence,
As through the sleeping town and thence
Out in the night,
On to the light,
Down past the farms lying while he sped !
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 49
" As a husband's greeting, secret, no doubt,
Yet to the woman looking out,
Watching and waiting, no serenade,
Love song, or midnight roundelay
Said what that whistle seemed to say,
To my trust true,
So love to you,
Working or waiting, good-night it said."
So was Sam Hobart's greeting to her. How sad she was
when she said, " By and by there will be no one at the window
here waiting for him." Then turning to me, I said, " Are you
ready to go ?"
" Would be, if he were ready to follow on."
" Is he not a Christian ?"
" No, far from it ; but as good a man as ever breathed to
me and mine." After prayer I went forth to other duties, and
forgot the incident. In a day or two I received a message
from the engineer, asking me to take a seat on his locomotive
the next time I went to Worcester, as a recognition of my
kindness to her he loved.
His home life was the theme of remark, not only among his
comrades and friends, but among men of wealth and position.
His widow delights to think of his goodness, and to describe him
as being the most tender and devoted of husbands. She writes :
" His second wife was an invalid for years. Consumption
was her disease. Nothing could exceed the kindness with
which he ministered unto her every want. Nothing that her pal-
ate craved or her necessities required was ever denied her. A
mother could not have watched over an infant with greater
solicitude. Attentions paid to her were never forgotten.
' This devotion so impressed his friends that one of them
wrote him the following letter, inclosing one hundred dollars,
which he well knew Samcould find abundant use for :
1 MY DEAR SIR AND BROTHER i Inclosed please find my
check for $100, which you will please accept as a slight token
of sympathy and regard. The fidelity you have shown to your
50 SAM HOBART.
wife during her seven long years of suffering is truly commend-
able, and excites the warmest admiration of your friends.
That you will get your reward both here and hereafter, there
cannot be the slightest doubt. I can but refer, my dear sir, to
your kind attentions to me in my last sickness with feelings of
unmixed gratitude ; for these, and for your unvarying friend-
ship during the whole of our acquaintance, I feel I owe you a
debt that money does not pay. With these greetings I can
but express my hearty sympathy with you and your beloved
wife, and with an earnest prayer that she may be yet spared to
you many years, I remain
" ' Yours fraternally.
" ' WORCESTER, April 21, 1868.'
" The same friend presented him in 1869, just as he was
about uniting with the Church, with a copy of the New Testa-
ment, beautifully printed in large clear type, and bound in
four volumes. These books were a great comfort to him, as
he ever after in his daily home readings read from them.
They must have been read through many times."
At home Sam wore a troubled look. His wife was full of
anxiety about him. Though at times he was desperate and gave
loose rein to passion and profaned God's name in the most ter-
rible way, so that those next him turned from him and left
him to blow out (as they say of a locomotive), he felt humili-
ated by his conduct, and saw that he had disgraced himself and
offended God. His wife's sweet ways and fervent prayers
were telling on him. Months before I spoke to the engineers,
the impression came upon him that he must go to church. He
dressed in his best and started, not vouchsafing to tell whither
he was going. Passing down Harrison Avenue he came first
to Harvard Street Church. This was closed for repairs. Now,
thought he, I have one more Sabbath. I will go home, and
turned to do so. Instantly a voice seemed to say to him, "Go
on. 19 He dared not resist. He continued down the avenue
until he came to Howe Street Church, into which he walked,
was shown to a seat, and listened attentively to a sermon deliv-
ered by Baron Stone, D.D. The next Sabbath, Harvard Street
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 5J
was opened, and it being the chosen place of worship of his
wife, he took a seat and made that his Sabbath home.
In the Christian Union of November 19th, 1870, among the
Lecture Boom Talks, by H. W. Beecher, is this reference to
Sam Hobart.
" I think some of my pleasantest experiences in life, in a
common way, are likely to be on locomotives. I had the
pleasure, yesterday morning, of riding out of Boston as far as
\Vorcester on one of the locomotives ; and on going up to
South Framingham I was reminded of a conversation I once
had there. I was reminded of it, indeed, before I left Boston,
because I met in the Boston depot the man with whom I had
it. Several years ago, I was waiting to go over to Marlboro.
A } T oung man asked me if my name was not Henry Ward
Beecher. I said it was. He asked me if I had any objections
to riding with him on the machine. I said, ' None at all. ' I
accordingly went forward with him, and before the train started
he broke the matter which he had on his mind. He said he
had a great deal of trouble in regard to his soul's salvation,
that he did not seem to get much rest, and wanted some in-
struction. And so, having such a ride as Philip never had
with the eunuch in the chariot, I rode over the hills and along the
vales with him, preaching Christ. After coming home I sent
him a number of religious books. When he came to me yes-
terday, in the station house in Boston, I remembered him,
though he commenced to explain who he was, and that we had
once had some conversation. He was my blood-brother, and I
felt the kinship. I went forward to see his engine, for I take
more pleasure in riding if I see the machine that is going to
draw me. I wanted to see what its name was, where it was
built, what its peculiarities were, and so on, and then, too, who
was its engineer. I knew him of old. He is a large, florid-
faced, frank, but firm man. You would not like to run against
him, but you would like to lean against him. The moment he
saw me, he called to me and said, l Come, get up and ride with
me.' ' Certainly I will,' I said, and I had hardly sat down
52 SAM HUB ART.
before he broke out to tell me what the Lord had done for his
soul. He gave me a very interesting history of his experience.
He told me how he had been for some years secretly believing
that he was a disciple of Christ, and doing many things which
he recognized as belonging to a Christian's life, though he was
not willing to come out and make a profession of Christ before
men. How at last his heart became so full that he could not
conceal his faith any longer, and he went and joined a Baptist
Church. He said he had * gone down into the water (I knew
what he meant), * and that now he was a joyful and earnest
Christian.' He told me in the course of our conversation a
very interesting fact, which I will repeat.
" ' There was a time,' he said, ' when there was not a man
on that road that he knew of who professed Christ ; but now, '
he said, * we have fifty men on this road who are professing
Christians ; men that do not drink, that do love God, and pro-
fess his Son, Jesus Christ. And more are coming.' And then
he told me how he worked with them. Said he, 4 It does not
seem as if it was right to try and give a man the whole of relig-
ion at once, all in a heap. He will not read a full chapter, but
if you take him right ho will read one verse, and after a while
he will read two verses on his own account, and then he will
read on a little more. And so he will go along step by step.
Get him to leave off tobacco, and then he will leave off some-
f thing else. And when he gets agoing, shove him along, and
keep him a-moving. '
" He showed good mother-wit in the methods he pursued in
working for men. He took men on the subject of religion as
merchants and others take men in business. They do not come
up to a man at any time and disclose their whole plans at once.
They study their times and plans. They frequently confer to-
gether as to the best way to approach a man, and gradually win
him over and carry him along with them. He said he had
studied men to get at the best mode of dealing with them, and
had exercised his skill and judgment in reaching their convic-
tions, and then when he had got them started on the right
THE RAILROAD EKGIXEER TAKES A WIFE. 53
path, had kept them moving along, and finally brought them to
Christ. So we went to Worcester, talking all the way ; and it
* was a good meeting to my soul."
It was during the time intervening between Mr. Beecher's
sending him the books and when he last saw him, that I met
him, and saw him surrender his soul unconditionally to Christ.
One night I remember to have seen him in the Temple prayer-
meeting. Great numbers of workingmen came, and he came
with them occasionally. There was a good deal of feeling in
the congregation. Sinners were coming to Christ.
Seeing him while a hymn was being sung, I went to him and
spoke to him about his soul. My rebuff I will never forget.
The sequel makes it bearable, and may help some who are dis-
couraged by the reception given to their earnest pleadings to
go on.
" Have you made a profession of religion ?" I asked him.
He said with some emphasis, "/ have not."
" Have you given your heart to God ?"
" No, sir, and don't want to do so at present."
I could say no more, and went on with a great sorrow in my
heart. It did not drive him away. He always seemed to feel
that I was his friend, and afterward he thanked me for coming,
saying, " When you spoke to me, I did not want to be made
an example of, but when going home I blamed myself for my
rudeness ; I could see by your looks that it cost you a great
deal of love for your Master and for souls to come to me, and
that you deserved something better than a repulse, and in my
heart I thanked you, and rejoiced that some one had taken an
interest in me.
u I was then under conviction. My wife was dying. My
heart was breaking. When she told me of your prayer in my
behalf I determined to see you. The result was I was ready
for you when you came. I had spoken of you to my wife,
told her how your appeals to sinners affected me, and yet how
blind I was. My heart revolted. I did not want to be con-
verted in God's way, but in my own."
54 SAM HOB ART
It was in the fall of 1867 that I accepted his invitation to
take a ride on his locomotive. I knew that Mr. Beecher was
interested in him, that he had sent him books and had given
him money to aid poor families in distress, whose husbands he
was helping on to their feet.
All this struggling for a higher and better life told on his
looks. It softened him. He spoke in a lower tone and with
more gentleness. He was master on the locomotive, whatever
he might be elsewhere. You saw it in his stride and heard it
in his voice. Never can I forget his bearing on that crisp and
cold November morning when I entered the depot, thinking if
all was well I would ride to Worcester on his locomotive.
On inquiring, I found that it was his train, and went up and
spoke to him as he stood in the door of the depot waiting for
the fireman to bring up the engine. He was well dressed, and
looked as if he might be going to take a seat in a palace car.
" Good-morning, Mr. Hobart," I said. He looked round,
recognized me, and said, "Good-morning," with a great heart
in his salutation. " Going to Worcester ?" " Yes." " Take
a ride with me?" "If agreeable." "Perfectly." The
engine was coming up. Taking my satchel he introduced me
to his assistant. The boy bowed without noticing the new-
comer. Sam saw it, and said :
"Take off your hat." He took it off. " Take off your
glove." He did so. " Shake hands with the gentleman.
This is the minister that visited ray wife."
At once the fireman put his heart into look and hand-shake
as he said, " I am glad to sec Mr. Hobart' s friend."
My satchel and umbrella were placed in the chest or box
where the engineer carried his clothes and dinner. Then the
fireman took a piece of cloth and spread it on the seat at the
right of the locomotive and asked me to be seated, to put
my feet up so. I put my feet up so to hold my hands in
such a position. I held them as directed and waited, not
knowing more than Paul what was to befall me. Sam then put
on his overalls, cap and gloves, and was ready for business.
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 55
The half -past eight bell struck. The whistle sounded, the train
started. Coming by the house near the track on the right, I
remembered the window, as I saw the engineer looking for a
farewell from his wife. His face was out at the door, hers was
at the window. He bowed, she kissed her pale hand, and he
went to his work. At the Providence crossing all came to a
stand-still. Flagmen, trackmen, and others saluted him, and he
bowed or spoke to men, never as a sycophant, but always as a
friend. Across the Providence track we went at regulation
pace, then we started to make time. How we flew ! Towns
were like beads strung upon the thread of this railroad track.
The foliage of the trees was in variegated colors. Every-
thing was robed in beauty ; distant mountains, " blue hills,"
quiet lakes, all attracted notice as we dashed on. I have said
he was proud of his locomotive. I think he loved it as a
friend. He handled the machine with great strength. The
sensation produced was delightful and soul -inspiring. We
passed Brighton and the Newtons, and were just making for the
open country, when I saw him spring. He whistled up the
brakes. He had no air brake then. There was commotion
everywhere. The fireman grew white. As soon as I could
speak I inquired the cause, and he replied in his quick way,
" See the flag !" I had not seen it. It was too far away for
my unpractised eye. But the engineer saw it, and stopped in
a brief time. Soon a man came, saying, " A train is on this
track? and is trying to get back. " Sam at once replied, " All
right !" and, turning to me, said, " No danger. That train
cannot stay on this track. There is some trouble. I will go
and help them ;" and, whistling up the brakes, he took the
flagman on, asked him about matters, and crept on at a slow
pace. In a few moments we reached the curve. He sent
the man on, and, almost before we had turned the curve, he
whistled up the brakes, and we swept on. Turning to me, he
said, " This comes from having a clear brain. A man mud-
dled with beer or whiskey is not safe in such a place." My ad-
miration for the man kindled into a glow, and I said to him,
56 SAM HOBART.
as soon as we got straightened out, and were flying on again :
" Sam, why don't you let the Lord Jesus run you as you run
this locomotive ?" " Can't do it, can He ?" " That is what
He is for." " You don't know me. I am a very profane and
wicked man." " Yes ; but He wants you, and died for you,
and God says, ' He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His name ; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' " " Where is
that promise ?" "In John's gospel, first chapter, eleventh to
the thirteenth verse, inclusive." " Can I pray?" "Jesus
commands you to try, saying, ' Ask, and ye shall receive, seek,
and ye shall find.' ' " But I am terribly profane." " Yes ;
but if you will give Christ welcome to your heart, He will take
that all out of you. Try it."
In due time we reached Worcester, and we parted, with the
assurance from him that he would bend his knees in prayer be-
fore God that day in his room at twelve o'clock M., and I was
to meet him at the throne of grace. That day Jesus came to
his help, and he never uttered another profane expression.
The next night, on his return from Worcester, he came to my
house. He wore a changed look. We went direct to the par-
lor, when I inquired as to how he had got on. His reply I can
never forget. "The profanity is gone, but I am in hell."
" Not if you will confess Christ with your lips, and believe on
Him in your heart, for with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto sal-
vation." His reply was, " I am ready for this." " Then let
us pray." Down he dropped upon his knees, confessed Christ
as a Saviour, and gave himself to Christ.
He did not at once make a profession. He did not attend
the Temple. The wife he loved was a member of Harvard
Street, and out of respect to her, and because of his sincere love
for her pastor, he continued to. worship there. His wife died
October 5th, 1868. After this he was much with us. He
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 57
often spoke. But he did not join our Church. He presented
himself for membership, and was baptized by Rev. S. W. Fol-
jambe, on the first Sabbath of 1869. It was to him a won-
derful day. Then he was buried to the world and rose to a
newness of life. He had been a lion for Satan. He was
henceforth to be a lion for Christ. He was, said a judge of
human nature, " A man you would not like to run against, but
one you would like to lean upon."
In due time he married again. This third wife is now his
widow. She had been a school-teacher, and was blessed with
advantages which were of incalculable benefit to her husband.
He was proud of her gifts, and gloried in her graces. To her
pen we are indebted for this sketch. She said :
" He found his work all around him, his meat and drink it
was to do the Master's will. Stronger than any earthly love
was his love for Christ. Sweeter than food or rest or any
earthly enoyment was labor in his Saviour's cause.
" He was ever obliging and willing to do any favor for any
one needing it. I never knew him to give reluctant consent or
to deny his efforts, if it were possible for him to give them,
even though at sacrifice on his part. Only the last Thanksgiv-
ing Day, he declined taking from home his usual dinner, be-
cause a friend in Worcester had engaged him to dine with him.
Hearing of a family in distressed circumstances the husband
and father sick with rheumatism for six years he gave up his
Thanksgiving invitation, and spent all his leisure time in visit-
ing this family and talking with them of Jesus, returning home
wonderfully blessed in spirit though, after his two long rides
and his all day fasting, physically weary and hungry.
" He would often, after his day's labor was ended, walk a
mile or two to see people in whose case he had become inter-
ested, or to help in the conduct of a meeting of any evangelical
denomination. Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Ad-
ventists, all were glad of his cheerful help, and all loved him as
a dear brother in Christ. His labors in the temperance cause
were unwearied. He always felt that he did not know how to
58 SAM HOB ART.
address a temperance meeting, from the want of personal knowl-
edge, having never been a drinking man ; but he could see the
effects upon others, and he felt the deepest sympathy for those
whose appetite was becoming their ruin, and he labored for
them individually with the greatest patience.
" He grew in grace daily, his progress was wonderful. He
lived very near to Christ. By prayer, by reading the Bible,
and comparing passage with passage, he became acquainted
with what God requires of His children.
" He had a little room in his home which he made a very
Bethel of. Every morning he retired to it, and the tones of his
voice could be heard in earnest pleadings with his God, as a
man talketh face to face with his friend ; and from this room
he would come forth with eyes suffused with tears, while his
countenance glowed with joy, and the tenderness of his manner
would tell of the sweetness of his communion with his heavenly
Father. Thus fortified and prepared, he would go forth to his
daily labor.
" He carried all things to God in prayer, and acknowledged
God's interest even in the most trivial affairs of life. It was
his custom to kindle the kitchen fire every morning, and for
this purpose he would always collect together his shavings,
wood and coal the night previous. One morning being in un-
usual haste, things, as we say, wouldn't work : the wood was
green, and the fire refused to start. Immediately his thought
went forth to God, and he prayed, * O Lord, Thou knowest I
am in haste ; Thou canst make even green wood to burn as well
as dry ; if it be Thy will, aid me now. J Need we say the sim-
ple, child-like prayer was accepted of the loving Father, and
the fire immediately kindled ? It was even so.
" And this was only one of many, many instances of direct
answers to his prayers.
1 When the Westinghaus brake was first applied to his
engine, he felt some fear of trusting it, especially at one place
the Providence crossing, I think, where it had never been
tried, and where much depended on the perfection with which
THE KAILROAD ENGINEEB TAKES A WIFE. 59
the train was brought to a stand-still. He asked for permission
to use the brake at this place, and it being granted, he made
this a subject of earnest prayer, well knowing that things
which to man were new and strange, to God were all open as
day. He then made the attempt, with his reliance on God,
and was successful ; and to God he gave all the praise. ' He
left his dying testimony that his Bible had enabled him to run
his train in the name and fear of God, and that he never went
around a curve in the road without asking for the guidance and
sight of ^hat eye which goes in advance of all earthly vision,
and had never pulled the throttle of his engine without feeling
a responsibility to God for the long train of immortal souls
under his care and guidance.'
1 i It was not enough for him to read his Bible at home, but
he requested one to be purchased to carry on his engine. This
was done about five years ago, and ever since it has been his
daily companion ; several times read through, as pencil marks
indicate, and the sweetest passages appropriated, as other pencil
marks show now blackened by smoke, and worn with use, it
is cherished as a sacred treasure by one who, in Worcester,
was associated with him in Christian work.
" When he reached Worcester, it was his custom to repair
to the bath-room where, after removing the smoke and dust
gathered in his ride, he would have another season of prayer
and reading ' God's Word ;' and then to the room where the
* Young Men's Christian Association ' held a noon prayer-meet-
ing, conversing on the way with any whom he met. His
power of illustration was very great, and he was never at a loss
for a simile to point his argument, nor for words to clothe his
thoughts ; and so, his 4 glowing utterances thrilled all hearts/
and helped to give life and interest to the meetings.
" Often after the meeting closed, he would talk with one and
another till three o'clock, before he would get the opportunity
to eat the little cold dinner which it was his custom to carry
daily. Then taking charge of his engine at half -past three, he
was due in Boston shortly before five, and he reached his home
60 SAM HOBART.
usually by half-past five ; then supper and a little rest, and he
was again off to attend some religious meeting, or to visit some
family in sickness or poverty.
" Thus he spent his days, rising early, that he l might havo
more time to pray,' as he often said, and retiring late after a
day filled with good works. As one recently said of him, * lie
has done the work of two men for more than a year past.'
And this very extra labor, coupled with disease, made him an
easy prey, and ere we thought of it the Lord pronounced his
work done, and called him home.
" His general intelligence was remarkable, his eyes and cars
were ever open, and he managed to acquaint himself with
almost everything that was going on. His argumentative power
was so great that we often thought what a capital lawyer he
would have made ; or, better still, as we saw love to Jesus so
shine out in his character, what a preacher might he have be-
come ! Indeed, one of his dreams was of some day retiring
from the road, and securing a little place in the country, with
a small patch of ground to cultivate for support, and to go
around in the towns and villages, as layman, seeking to lead
souls to Christ. But the dream is past the Lord has done
better for him and taken him to the mansion of which he so
often and so confidently spoke. A few months ago, he
removed from one residence to another, which was, in some
respects, more eligible. After he had got things settled to his
mind, he met a friend one day to whom he told how pleasantly
he was situated, and what a nice home it seemed ; but then,
said he, what is that to my heavenly home the mansion my
Saviour is preparing for me ! So heavenly-minded was he,
that almost his entire conversation was of divine things.
" He lived religion in his home. He never went into the pres-
ence of his wife in dirty garments or with soiled hands. His
home was his castle. His wife was the pride of his life. As
he arrayed himself in his best garments to win her love when
he wooed her, he entered his home, and walked the streets as a
well-dressed gentleman. As a result his wife was proud of his
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 61
attentions. Flowers he loved, the fruits of earth told him of
God.
" Ono friend who met him but once, and then only for a
short time, writes : i How often I have thought of what Mr.
Hobart said about the tomato. That if we got a plant and set
it out, we should not go in the morning to look for a tomato,
but that first we should look for the blossom, then the bud, and
then for the tomato ; he said it was just so in coming to Christ,
do not at first try to do some great thing, but fiist believe, and
then, before you know it, you will be working for Him, and
bringing forth fruit to His glory. '
" Also, in speaking of using the light you have at first in
divine things, without waiting for an increase, he said : l When
I first began to run upon the railroad we had a very little
light, a mere lantern, to see by, and we did the best we could to
run by its light ; now we have those large head-lights, which
all have seen, and which throw their rays for a long distance
upon the track.'
" Since his death we have heard of one friend who in pre-
senting himself for church-membership said that a few words
which Mr. Hobart said to a company of inquirers, gathered to-
gether in a little room in Tremont Temple, were the means, by
God's blessing, of letting light into his mind. Mr. Hobart
said : 4 All you have to do is to believe and receive ; the friend
did this, and immediately rejoiced in salvation.'
" Once, visiting in Vermont a Christian woman, be found her
mind beclouded, worrying because heaven was not open to her
view. He said : ' When wife and I started for this mountain-
ous region we journeyed along for some time through a very
flat country, talking pleasantly of the things that presented
themselves. We knew where we were coming to, and that by
and by the mountains would rise before us, but we did not try
to see them till we came to them, and then in all their grandeur
they stood on every side, and we could not help seeing them if
we would. So now in our Christian life let us take and enjoy
the comforts God gives us day by day, and live upon Him
62 SAM HOBART.
wholly, trusting that by and by, when in our life's journey we
reach the borders of that heavenly country, the eye of faith,
trained to spiritual vision, will clearly distinguish and accept the
home prepared for us by Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us/
" His humility was very marked. * He sought not for great
opportunities of usefulness, but was willing to do the little
things.' It had been his custom for years past to take a fort-
night's vacation at the end of summer, and among the green
hills of Vermont to seek renewed strength. But his zeal in
the Master's cause allowed him but little rest. He would hear
of one and another whom sickness had laid aside, or whose
heart had grown cold in the service of Christ, and he must be
off to see such, and conversing with them try to lift their hearts
above tlieir sufferings in the first instance, and to stimulate to
renewed consecration in the second. And then he would use
his influence for an increase of meetings for conference and
prayer, and these would be held and well attended, and much
interest would prevail. The last season he was absent from
Boston fourteen days, including the two days spent in journey-
ing to and from his destination, and in that time he attended
fifteen different meetings, besides visiting and holding direct
personal religious conversation with a large number of individ-
uals, both those professing Christianity and those who made no
profession. He felt that he had done the Lord's service, but
he failed to secure that rest which his physical nature required.
And so he lived. He daily prayed that he might ' put his hand
in the Saviour's hand, and be led by Him,' and the prayer was
truly answered, for no one could live nearer to the heart of
Jesus than he manifestly did.
" He was benevolent so far as his means allowed him to be.
Never allowed the contribution box to pass him unheeded, and
never turned away from the plea of poverty and distress, if he
could conscientiously relieve it. On one occasion Rev. H. W.
Beecher in riding with him became so interested in his ac-
count of drunkards trying to reform, and others in distress,
THE RAILROAD ENGINEER TAKES A WIFE. 63
that, on leaving him, he handed him twenty dollars to be ex-
pended, as he thought best, for the relief of such distressed per-
sons. This money, with five dollars given some time after by
another minister, was most sacredly devoted to the use designed.
He kept a record of every dollar's outlay. Whenever he gave
any of it away, he would say, i That is the Lord's money. I
have prayed over that, be careful how you use it' ; the last dol-
lar of this money was given away about two months and a half
before he was taken ill."
Sam having become a Christian led a Christian life. He car-
ried the golden thread of Christian love through all the web
and woof of his existence. We have seen him as he appeared
to Mr. Beecher, to his wife and friends. He appeared a Chris-
tian because he was one. His Christian power was a growth.
He became a potential force among railroad men, and was
known far and near as the Christian engineer.
CHAPTER VI.
SAM'S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE.
SAM had tact as well as talent. This was shown quite as
much in his enthusiastic admiration of other people as in his
influence over those who needed help to get out of the mire
and get upon the rock. There are men who desire to appear
as bottom, sides, and top to every enterprise with which they
are identified. It was never so with Sam. He was as good a
listener as he was a talker. Nothing pleased him more than to
hear railroad men praised for being valiant for the truth. The
Christian engineers on the different roads were brothers indeed.
On my return from England I told him of an experience I had
coming one night from London to Liverpool, which pleased
and encouraged him. It was on the evening of September 1st,
1868, after having met in the great temperance fete at the
Crystal Palace some 35,000 temperance people, who had come
from all parts of Great Britain, to plan for further work and to
report on what had been achieved. It had been a wonderful
day. I had attempted to speak to the great crowd and, weaned
with toil, had sunk back in the corner of the car to sleep. After
a time I was disturbed by a man saying :
" You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir. Nobody wants
to ride in a car scented up with the smell of whiskey. It is a
disgrace and a shame to see a man pull a bottle and drink in an
open car like this."
I opened my eyes and saw that a finely- dressed man had un-
corked a bottle of whiskey, and was handing it to gentlemen in
the car prior to helping himself.
The man replied, " What business is it to you ?"
SAM'S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE. 65
" Business to me ! I will tell you what business it is to
me. I am a passenger on this car and have a right to ride in
safety. Who knows what peril may sleep in that bottle ! It
may make you a demon. It may make your neighbor a con-
spirator. There is enough of devil in that bottle to convert
this place in an hour into a hell. Business, sir ! I would have
a right to fight a rattlesnake let loose, or hinder you from letting
one loose. I tell you there is a venom in strong drink as per-
ilous as there is in a rattlesnake."
The man protested against such treatment, but his antagonist
appealed to us if he was not in the right.
One man replied, " I think whiskey may be good as a medi-
cine."
1 Yes," said the first man, " my physician orders me to
drink."
" Nonsense," said the champion of temperance. " A plenty
of men have followed such prescriptions and are in a drunk-
ards' hell to-night. They are wailing in a drunkards' hell,
sir, " said the man, slapping his knee.
Things looked desperate. Then I was appealed to. I stood
by the advocate of temperance, and in speaking had to strain
my voice as hard as when I spoke in the Crystal Palace.
" Give me your hand, stranger. I heard you to-day. Now
help, sir. Let us persuade these young men to toss the bottle
out of the window."
He then told them his experience. It was a familiar one.
He thought liquor would do him good, would steady his nerves,
would help him to hold a place ; " but," said he, " gentle-
men, it lost me everything and it nearly cost me my life. Then
a man came to me in the shape of a minister of Christ, though
he wore a smock frock and was a working-man as I am, but he
came fearlessly and determinedly, and he said, ' Joe, stop ! ' I
said, i I can't.' ' With God's help you can.' ' How will I
get that help ? ' 'By prayer. ' ' When will I pray ? ' ' Now. '
I tried it and got over it, and have kept on by the help of God
fifteen years."
66 SAM H01JAKT.
" Who are you?"
"I am the engineer that runs the officers' train. When
they want to make great time I make it, and they keep me for
their train."
Before he had completed the story the bottle had dropped
out of the window.
" It was a great victory," said Sam, " and it came because
the man was utterly fearless in standing by what he believed.
He told the truth in regard to what was in that bottle. There
was not only misery and poverty in it, but he was right when
he said there might be murder in it."
" Then he described a man whom he knew well and had just
come from helping. He came home, sober and in his right
mind. A neighbor came and invited him to take a walk. He
had formerly drank, but for some time had been an abstainer.
His neighbor insisted that he should take a single glass of ale.
He did so. The appetite was roused within him. In a
moment it flamed up and swept him away from his moorings.
He suddenly asked for whiskey. His friend remonstrated. It
was too late. He claimed that he was his own master. He
drank it. He called for more. His friend saw that he had
cut loose, and naturally became alarmed. He tried to get him
home. He might as well have tried his hand on an infuriated
tiger as upon this madman. He grew more and more furious.
At last his friend became his enemy, and he tried to kill him.
He was arrested, thrown into prison, and the next morning the
friend took the blame upon himself, and asked that his friend
be discharged. It was done. But the injury went on. The
appetite demanded more, and I have just come from his house,
where he is raving with delirium tremens ; and it ail finds its
origin in that glass of ale."
Then he expressed his mind very freely in regard to those
temperance lecturers who are ever seeking to make a plaything
of drunkenness and a sport of the drunkard. He could not
bear it. He believed that drinking was a crime as well as a
disease. Men knew that when they tampered with strong drink
SAM'S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE. 67
they surrendered to something stronger than themselves, and
which was only bent upon their destruction. The engineer
was very radical in his views on this subject.
He opposed the use of tobacco because it leads to temptation.
It was amusing to see him call up a fireman or brakeman and
argue against the habit. They would claim it kept them from
strong drink because when asked to indulge they could take a
cigar instead of beer or whiskey. " Yes," he would say,
" but why tamper with appetite ? To acquire the habit a
deathly nausea must be overcome, and when the victory is won
it reduces the strength, beclouds the intellect, stunts the growth,
and renders men brutal in their habits. No one can enter a
srnoking-car without feeling that men degrade themselves by
the use of tobacco almost as much as by the use of strong
drink. They purchase cigars in saloons where liquors are
sold, and very often a man who goes in to purchase a cigar is
induced to drink before he comes out. The fact that a man
enters such a place is damaging to him.
" Besides, a man cannot ask God's blessing upon this self-in-
flicted curse. If he has ever used intoxicating beverages the very
sight of the decanters, the smell of the liquors, become an over-
mastering tempation, and he falls, perhaps not to rise again."
Sam knew that when, in Tremont Temple, a plea was made
against liquor and tobacco, men have come forward and given
up tobacco which would fill a peck measure. They would
sign the pledge and agree to abstain from the use of all intoxi-
cants, opium, and tobacco. As a rule the men who went back
to tobacco went back to rum. They who kept the appetite for
tobacco under were masters of the situation.
Tobacco, previous to his conversion, was his solace, and the
pipe his companion. To the use of tobacco he charged the
violation of the command which reads, "Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not
hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." He be-
lieved that if railroad men would give up tobacco they would,
as a rule, abandon profanity. They congregate together,
68 SAM HOBART.
smoke, tell stories, and indulge in the use of language which
destroys their influence and dwarfs their powers. He joined
the Temperance Society of Tremont Temple, whose pledge
was :
" For the sake of God and humanity we promise to abstain
from the use of intoxicating liquors, opium, and tobacco. "
Hundreds took this pledgeat various times and broke it, but
Sam kept it. When he gave up tobacco, lie gave it up. No
one ever saw him petting his sin or tampering with it after-
ward. He broke off all connection with it and fought it as an
enemy. It was his theory that the use of tobacco is the first
step in the ruin of uncounted numbers of the youth of the land.
Tobacco he regarded as an abomination and next to rum. He
delighted to relate how his pastor gave it up because of his
influence, so that he could say with Paul, " Be ye followers of
me, even as I am of Christ. " He traced the downfall of many
a minister to the inordinate love of tobacco, which awakened
an appetite that made a demand for beer or wine for the clergy,
and beer and whiskey for the working-man. It was a source
of gladness that in Tremont Temple, when the floor under the
regime of a minister who used tobacco was a disgrace, because
of the influence of his pastor, became clean, and the church in
which were members whose example favored the use of the
stimulant, as a rule became abstainers and put their shoulders
to the wheel of the car of prohibition and became a power in
the cause of temperance. The popular pastor of a neighboring
church used the weed. Sam loved the man. He often had
him ride with him on his locomotive that he might talk to the
man who preached to an immense multitude on Sabbath and
lectured to vast numbers in the cities and towns of New Eng-
land during the week. The fact that he unblushingly entered
the smoking car, lit a cigar ; that he would sit around stables
and talk and smoke with horsemen, hurt Sam. He told him
so. He said, u I have no need for your preaching until you
illustrate in your life the gospel of my Master."
" Plain talk, Sam."
SAM'S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE. 69
" Ah, sir, if you knew the injury your example is doing,
and that thousands are forgetting your words and are putting
their feet in the tracks you make in the broad road to death,
you would feel that what I have said is true. M^n follow what
you do, not what you say. ' '
The warning was unheeded, but the subsequent history of
the man shows how much it was needed. He lost his place in
the church, went to a hall, drew a motley crowd of pleasure-
seekers about him, held them for a time, and then broke away
from all restraints of the Gospel and went into exile ; where he
remains, unhonored of men, and lost to usefulness.
Sam lived the Gospel of Christ. On one occasion, when in
Vermont, he was welcomed by a minister whose mouth was full
of tobacco.
" Glad to see you, Mr. Hobart. There is great need of a
movement in favor of temperance up here. "
Sam eyed him, saw him expectorating tobacco juice, and in
a polite and quiet way walked on. At night he was to speak.
The house was crowded. The minister presided. Sam told
this story :
" My pastor was up in the northern part of New York to
speak on temperance. A minister of great prominence wel-
comed him. The minister was an inveterate user of tobacco.
My pastor gave up tobacco to save a son of a deacon from mak-
ing him an excuse for intemperance. He has fought
tobacco as relentlessly as he fights rum, because by striking
tobacco he hits the idol of vast numbers in the church."
The minister who was by his side began to move uneasily.
His mouth was full of tobacco and he could not expectorate
without drawing attention to himself. Sam went on :
" My pastor told this story : A man given up to strong
drink, who was bringing ruin upon his family, was remonstrated
with by a man who used tobacco. He said :
" ' Neighbor, 1 have come to see you. All the neighbors
are worried about you/
" * Why ? '
70 SAM HOB ART.
" 4 Because you are drinking up health, property, and hap-
piness/
44 * I am no worse than you/
* 4 * Than me ; what do you mean ? 9
44 * Simply this. You use tobacco and I use rum. Your
wife knows that you dirty your house more than I do mine ;
and when they ask you to give up tobacco you say it is neces-
sary to you. That is what I say about rum. '
44 The man went home under conviction. He called to his
wife and inquired :
" 4 Have you been telling of my filthy habit ? '
44 * Certainly ; I was telling the wife of our neighbor who
drinks not to think she had all the trials ; that I had mine, and
that I thought the use of tobacco was worse for the house than
drinking, but not so bad for the man. Look at that spittoon.
Think how our clothes are scented by the fumes of tobacco.
You don't get crazy from the use of the weed, but go without
it and you act like a fool or a madman, and it must be had.'
44 4 Wife, you are right. Bring my box and pipes.'
44 She brought them. He worked at the lire diligently while
she was away, and when she came he had got up a good blaze.
Taking the box of tobacco and pipes he threw them on, and
while his idols were burning he asked his wife's pardon for
having been so oblivious to the comfort and neatness of his
home. The next morning he called again upon his neighbor.
44 4 Good-morning, my friend.'
44 * Good-morning.'
44 4 I have come to talk to you about your peril because of
the use of strong drink. Its effects are telling on you.'
44 l No worse than yours.'
44 'Why?'
44 4 You use tobacco and I use rum. Yours is as much an
appetite as mine, and I think quite as disgusting.'
44 4 You are mistaken, neighbor.'
44 4 In what?'
* 4 4 I don't use tobacco.'
SAM ? S TACT IN PREACHING TEMPERANCE. 71
" ' Since when ? '
" ' Since yesterday. I gave up the practice that I might
have power with you. Now, neighbor, let us both be clean. 7
" 'Agreed/
" The men signed the pledge and kept it, and the minister
who had greeted my pastor so warmly felt the rebuke and be-
came a champion of cleanliness which is next to godliness."
" Hold up, Mr. Hobart. I am converted," said the minis-
ter in the desk with Sam. " Henceforth I will be free."
He gave up tobacco and his influence has been ever since of
the most salutary character in Vermont. His signature was the
beginning not only of a temperance revival which opened the
eyes of many Christians to the evils of tobacco, but led great
numbers to believe in a Christianity that demands a clean body
as well as a soul washed and made white in the blood of the
Lamb.
Neal Dow describes an interview with a tobacco-smoker, and
he pictures this scene :
" Suppose that I begin the practice. My lips are livid, my
face is pale, the anguish of a most painful death agony comes
upon me. You are standing by and encouraging me, and doing
your best to keep my courage up. You speak of the rewards
sure to come. An appetite that is injurious, health-ruining,
and beauty-blighting." The man laughed at the ridiculousness
of the position, yet thousands by their example are leading
millions astray. God purposes to bear us triumphantly over
temptation and not sink down into it, and the slavery to
tobacco with many is but a prelude to the rule of strong drink.
In speaking of this, Sam said: * ' Christ, who associates us
with Himself in the words 4 Lead us not into temptation,'
understood the full force of its meaning. We do not ; we
cannot. With God's clear vision which ranges through the
infinitudes of measureless space, which looks down upon the
heights of heavenly fruition and up through all grades and
classifications of untold and hellish misery Christ saw tempta-
tion in its fierceness, in its malignity, and in its ubiquity. He
72 SAM HOB ART.
believed that the prayer implied peril. He knew that perils
existed for railroad men to an extent that few appreciate.
Temptations are within and without. They come from the
lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the spirit. Every individual
is exposed to peculiar temptations. The smoking-room is.
made foul in many ways. As a rule those who frequent it are
impure. Their conversation reveals it. Hence Sam would
advise the young men to rest with a book instead of with a
pipe. Such a statement as this concerning a State Inebriate
Asylum impressed him. Since its establishment 39 ministers,
8 judges, 40 merchants, 226 physicians, 240 gentlemen, and
1300 women have been ministered unto, and without exception
all trace their fall to the yielding to temptation.
To Sam there was significance in the supposition that the
word "lead" should be translated into "leave." " Leave
me not in temptation" is a prayer which many young men
need to make. They are surrounded with the impure and un-
clean. Their language is profane and vile. As has been said,
after his conversion he found his happiness and chief occupation,
when away from his place of business, in seeking to comfort
the afflicted and the distressed, and save the lost. He had for
many years a passion for souls. He sought to save drunkards
and sinners of every class through Christ. He believed in the
blood that washes sins away. At the noontime hour, in the
daily prayer-meeting at Worcester, at eventime when laborers
were going home, he was ever on the alert for the lost and
undone, and in the morning at the opening of the day he was
known to go to men and give them a good start by a word of
encouragement and an assurance that he should be around to
see how they got on. He was instant, in season and out of
season, striving to save men.
Though a locomotive engineer he was more than that in the
estimation of every one. Christ was added to the man. The
people saw it and were glad. The head of the freight depart-
ment, the superintendent of the shipping department, the men
of position and the men of toil alike, recognized his worth, and
SAM'S TACT IX PREACHING TEMPERAXCE. 73
paid him that respect which is born of merit and esteem. He
.was not a politician and cared nothing for ward caucuses.
He was a Mason. He attained distinction in the order, but
after his conversion he gave his heart to other service, and
without doing anything against the order which once claimed
his affections, he told those who came to him that he found
more complete satisfaction in Christ and in the church.
He was a reformer. He was 1 a natural enthusiast in what-
ever he gave his heart to, and he gave his heart to advocating
temperance. He had a fondness for personal visitation. Like
Thomas Guthrie, D.D., he was fitted to get the best out of bad
men. He knew that they had a good side, and how to reach it.
One morning he met a man who had once been the owner of
several carts and wagons, and who had hauled vast amounts of
freight ; but had lost nearly all through drink. Sam had been
in his house, helped the family, and provoked by his kindness
the wrath of the drayman. The threat had been made that if
he met Sam Hobart he would " hammer" him. The engineer
saw his man coming toward him in the early morn. The dray-
man was cross and nervous. The engineer was kind and calm.
" Good-morning," said Sam ; and he stretched out his hand.
" You were in my house ?" said the drayman.
" I was, and a sorry house I found it. Come, stop drink
and build up. You have poured horses and carts enough down
your throat ; by sobriety and industry get them back and
rebuild your home."
The words, so full of the inspirations of hope, touched the
heart of the man. He asked him to forgive him for his rude-
ness; he told him his troubles and wet the sidewalk with his tears.
Sam encouraged him, got him reinstated as a drayman, watched
over him, and had the pleasure before he died of seeing him
thrifty and prosperous once more. It was the most lovable feat-
ure in his character that he knew how to appreciate that which
was praiseworthy in others, even if by praising the faulty he
revealed his own lack. His exceeding gentleness, his patience,
his consciousness of the difference between womanly weakness
74 SAM HOB ART.
and manly strength, must have made him a very lovable man,
the memory of whose kind actions forms a legacy of priceless
value. Once in our house, I remember that he called with his
wife and found the house full of company. They were urged
to lay aside their wraps. But the wife saw that they were not
dressed as she felt they should be, so expressed a desire to go
home. The objection was brushed away in his mind, but not
in hers. Never will I forget how delicately he approached her
and said, " I think you look very nicely ; plenty well enough ;
but if you feel uncomfortable, we will go home." Her an-
swering look of gratitude is in my mind's eye now, and soon
she laid aside her objections and they both enjoyed the even-
ing. There was a man, some might call a rough mechanic one
who could breast any storm or dare any danger or endure any
hardness as pliant, as thoughtful, and as yielding to this loving
wife as it was possible for a young lover to be in the first flush
of boyish excitement.
This was the man in action. It will repay us to go with
him into the new life opening to him. Religion joined the
different parts of this strong nature ; the stone which he had
rejected became the head of the corner, and made him a work-
ing force for God among men.
CHAPTER VII.
SAM AT WORK FOR GOD.
SAUL of Tarsus was a leader in the ranks of sin and Satan.
Converted to Christ, Paul the apostle became a leader in the
work of saving men. The lion in the ranks of the ungodly
did not become a lamb. He remained a lion, only he changed
sides. The power, the courage, the push he put into the ser-
vice of Satan he gave to Christ. In Jerusalem, in Antioch, in
Rome, in Athens everywhere he was a stalwart for God.
Sam Hobart was like Saul of Tarsus in the world, and, when
converted, Paul himself was not more resolute, more self-deny-
ing, more indomitable in purpose than was this railroad
engineer. He began doing the work next to him. At that
time it was not fashionable to profess Christ on railroads.
Sam was converted in 1867. He joined the church in 1869.
He got to work as soon as he could. But his way was hedged
up. Well do I remember his doming to me and saying, " I
can't do anything with railroad men in the church. They are
not wanted. " I replied, "You are mistaken. We all want
you. We know what you are worth what religion will do
for you and what you can do for religion. M He smiled that
incredulous smile and said, " The railroad men understand it."
I said, " Bring them to the Temple, and we will welcome you
with enthusiasm." Sam said, " I will try you." Soon he
came. About sixty men followed him one night into the Mei-
onian. I heard their soldier-like tramp as they came down the
hall. Soon the face of Sam Hobart was seen in the door. The
engineer with a door for the frame made a picture never to be
forgotten. I was in the midst of the sermon. I stopped and
76 SAM HOBART.
said: " Come on, Mr. Hobart." He gave the invitation,
" Come on." I asked that the front seats be cleared of people
and given up to the railroad men. In they came. Some with
their hats on, some with them off. They filled up the seats.
I said :
" Well, Mr. Hobart, what is your desire ?"
" That you should pray with these men."
" Kneel down then," was rny request.
" Kneel," said Sam.
Down they went like soldiers. Some of them had still their
hats on. Sam shouted :
" Take off your hats. Don't you know enough to take your
hats off before God ?"
Off came their hats. All bent their heads in prayer.
" Pray, Brother Hobart, " was my request. He prayed. And
what a prayer ! He was at home at last. The entire congre-
gation had bowed with him. Sam pleaded like a mother for a
child. His soul was melted into exceeding tenderness. Tears
ran down his cheeks. He told of the men, of their struggles,
of what religion had done for him, of what it would do for all.
Others followed. Then, when we arose, after a few remarks
explaining the way to take Christ for help, for victory, for
restraint, for guidance, we had testimonies, and some wonderful
conversions followed. This opened Sam's eyes. He believed
in a free church for the people, and despite of all that could be
said, he joined it. It was up-hill work in Boston. It is fash-
ionable to believe in morality, but not in Christianity. The
faith in temperance was great, but not in much besides. Sam
saw men being mowed down in great swaths by ungovernable
appetites, and believing that nothing apart from faith in Christ
and the help resulting therefrom could save them, he contended
with all his might for the reception of Christ into the heart,
that they might obtain the power to put temptation and appe-
tite and inclination down.
It is said that the Ohio finds its origin in a fountain among
the Alleghenies, so small that an ox can drain it at a draught.
SAM AT WORK FOR GOD. 77
May it not be true that the mighty movement among railroad
men found its origin in the prayers of Sam Hobart ? The Bos-
ton and Albany road had a library and reading-room for men.
There was no Christ in it, and no room for Christ. Sam be-
lieved in a personal God for the person of a man. He said it.
At times he would picture the needs of the men about him and
the difficulty of reaching them.
Now all is changed. Then all was deadness. Sailors had
chaplains on men-of-war, and Bethel stations and chaplains on
shore for the men of the sea. But railroad men as a class might
say, " I looked on the right hand and on the left, and behold,
but there was no man that would know me ; refuge failed me ;
no man cared for my soul."
M. R. Davenport, of Erie, Pa., in speaking of this time,
said : " I remember well being at a convention of Young Men's
Christian Associations in a town I will not name, where we
wished to hold an open-air service for railroad men. There
was one place in the town well adapted for the purpose an
open platform covered by a roof, a place used for a railroad
passenger depot. A request was made for it. No man on
the road dared grant it. They did not want it noised abroad
that they had refused to grant it. I think they would have
responded favorably to an organ-grinder, but they refused us."
That town was no exception. Christ was ruled out.
Sam's conversion meant that Christ had gained admission to
the ranks. He pleaded the cause of his fellow-men.
Methinks I hear him now, almost in the words which O. R.
Stockwell, of the Railroad Branch of the Young Men's Christian
Association of the City of New York, used in London in 1881,
when, in answering the question why we should be interested in
railroad men, he said :
" A large proportion are young men, many from homes
where they have been taught the Word of God ; not a few of
them have Christian parents, and large numbers are graduates
from Sunday-schools. We only see the external of the man as
we are brought into contact with him ; the very nature of his
78 SAM HOBAKT.
work, always exacting, often exasperating, leads to profanity,
and the work he must of necessity perform on the Lord's day
in a very short period tends to a disregard of that day we are
commanded " to keep holy. 7 '
Satan's agents are at work all along their lines of travel,
seeking to throw them from the straight and narrow way. It
is the influence of his surroundings that has a tendency to lead
him downward. He is almost entirely isolated by his circum-
stances from elevating influences. I have found, from an associ-
ation of over fifteen years with this class of men, that they are
superior in judgment and common-sense. Their mode of life
is a training-school ; they are men of quick perceptions, reach
conclusions very readily, and when fully convinced what is the
right step, generally take it ; conscientious many times to a
fault, yet they appear hardened to almost every one but the
close observer. One reason of this is, they feel that their ser-
vices are not appreciated by the public. They very seldom
receive any recognition for their faithfulness. It is not every
man who is willing to make the sacrifices that many of these
employes do. And we are but poorly paying a debt of grati-
tude when we attempt to do anything that contributes to their
welfare and happiness. It is only within the past few years
that the attention of the associations of the United States has
been turned in this direction, little realizing the great magnitude
of their work and the large number of employes. Nearly one
fortieth of the population of the United States are employes of
the railroad corporations, and there are very few towns or cities
without representatives from this class. The effort to provide
a moral and social influence among them is not a new thing.
In 1854 Messrs. Peto, Betts & Brossy, the contractors of the
Victoria Bridge, opened a reading-room for their employes at
Point St. Charles, Montreal, Canada, believing that the char-
acter and service of their men would be improved if this pro-
vision was made for their leisure hours. Other rooms were
opened. But the project languished for want of adequate care.
In 1872, in Cleveland, Ohio, a movement was made by the
SAM AT WORK FOR GOD. 79
Young Men's Christian Association for railroad men. Mr. R.
F. Smith, Assistant General Manager of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, in a letter commends the movement, and says it
was the first room of the kind opened where the religious
element was introduced. And herein was the hiding of its
power. The General Superintendent of the New York Central
and Hudson River Railroad, at a reception given to Mr. Charles
Fermond during his visit ^to the United States, said in 1879,
" Fifteen years ago it was a common thing to see railroad em-
ployes go out upon their trains under the influence of liquor,
and profanity was characteristic of railroad men." It was
at this time Sam established in Worcester a daily prayer-
meeting for railroad men. It is believed to be the first. He
and those with him called on God in faith. Special subjects of
prayer were brought before them.
An instance is before me. Sam came and said : " I want
you to go with me and see an official on one of our railroads.
He is drinking fearfully. He is on my heart. We are pray-
ing for him. But I cannot go alone. You know the Master
sent his disciples out two by two. I want eome one with me
for this job." I went to the office, and saw the head man in
liquor. His brain was not seemingly affected, but his counte-
nance showed dissipation. As we entered, the man in a gruff
voice said, u Well, Sam, what is wanted ?"
" Just a moment of your time/' said Sam, with a face full
of suppressed emotion.
The man came out from behind the desk and said, '*' Well ?"
" Permit me to introduce you to my pastor ; we have come
to see you on a very important matter."
Turning to me he said, " Well, sir, what is wanted ?"
I replied, " Sir, my friend Mr. Hobart has teen greatly
troubled because of your intemperance. He feels that you
stand on the verge of ruin, soul and body. He has tried to
speak to you and failed, and has asked me to come and say a
word in the name of our common Master."
The man looked dumbfounded for a moment, and turning to
80 SAM HOB ART.
Sam said, " Good friend, I am obliged to you. If ever a man
needed prayer, it is me. Appetite has me in its grasp, and I
seem unable to master it."
" You can't hope to do it in your own strength, and so we
have been praying that you might turn to the great Helper, our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, " said Sam.
" What do you want me to do ?"
" Sign this pledge, and rest in God for help."
" I will doit."
He signed the pledge, and had help of God, and won the
victory. It was the beginning of a movement among officials
and among the men.
The work begun by Sam alone was taken up by the Young
Men's Christian Associations, first in Cleveland and afterward in
different portions of the country, until the seedling planted in
faith has grown into the banyan-tree of hope, and at this hour
thousands gather beneath the sheltering shade of blessed and
immortal hope.
Sam's prescience was wonderful. He believed that Christian
railroad men must carry the interests of railroad men in their
hearts. He claimed that the officials of the railroad lines ought
to take an interest in their operatives. While it is wise to
house locomotives, it is unwise to leave the men who run them
out in the cold, cold world, to go to places of vice such as curse
every large city.
He saw that there were two classes of men who are weak and
little : one is weak and little by nature, consisting of such as
are born with feeble powers, not strongly capable of self-help ;
the other is little by position, comprising men that are perma-
nently poor and ignorant, and it was his belief, even before he
knew God, 4hat ' ' it is not the will of our Father who is in
heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Hence he
was a philanthropist before he was a Christian. He saw and
felt that in a society wherein there is a preference for the
mighty, where power is worshipped, where selfishness has such
room to swing in, trampling upon the good if they be weak,
SAM AT WORK FOE GOD. 81
and helping the bad if they be strong ; where justice is little
honored though much talked of, it comes to pass that a great
many little ones from both these classes actually perish. Theo-
dore Parker expressed his mind when he said, " You go to our
churches ; the poor are not in them, they are idling and loung-
ing away their day of rest like the horse and the ox." This
class of men are perishing yes, perishing in the nineteenth
century perishing soul and body, contrary to God's will, and
perishing all the worse because they die slow and corrupt by
inches. Many of our houses of public worship would be well
named il churches for the affluent." Yet religion is more to
the poor man than to the rich. What wonder, then, if the poor
lose self-respect when driven from the only churches where it
is thought respectable to pray ?
" Here are the sons of the poor, vagrant in your streets, shut
out by their misery from the culture of the age, growing up to
fill your jails, to be fathers of a race like themselves, and to be
huddled into an infamous grave. Here are the daughters of
the poor cast out and abandoned, the pariahs of our civilization,
training up for a life of shame and pollution, and coming early
to a miserable end." These facts were patent to him. They
made him uncomfortable. They taught him that in the realm
near him were unsolved problems which had to do with his
inner life. He knew that there was work waiting for him.
Christianity, like the eagle's flight, begins at home. He knew
that he ought to be pure and Christian as well as manly, and
be booted and girded and road ready for the work waiting to
be done. Such sentiments thrilling along the lines of human
thought sought admission to his heart and caused him to enter
the Masonic lodge, the Workingmen's Club, the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers, and whatever other organization gave
opportunity to proffer a helping hand to men that were down,
and to find companionship for his soul with those who were
bent on doing good.
He loved the Christian Church, and denied the premise that
Christian churches were not open to all, and that Christian
S2 SAM JIOBAUT.
ministers were not anxious to save all. He pointed to the
churches he knew, with their wide welcome, and to the ministers
who preached u Christ the workingman's Friend and Saviour,
the great Reformer and the true Conservative, the inspirer of
all new truths, revealing in his Bible to every age abysses of
new wisdom as the times require, and yet the Vindicator of all
that is ancient and eternal ; the true demagogue, the champion
of the poor, and yet as the true King, above and below all
earthly rank ; on whose will alone all real superiority of man
to man, all the time-justified and time-honored usages of the
family, the society, the nation stand, and shall stand, forever. "
He did not believe in trying to do God's work with the devil's
tools. With the friend of workingmen in England he could
exclaim, " These are strange times. I thought the devil used
to befriend tyrants and oppressors, but he seems to have
profited by Burns' s advice to * tak a thought and mend.' I
thought the struggling freeman's watchword was, 4 God sees my
wrongs.' He hath taken the matter into his own hands. The
poor committeth himself unto him, for he is the Helper of the
friendless. But now the devil seems all at once to have turned
philanthropist and patriot, and to intend himself to fight the
good cause, against which he has been fighting ever since
Adam's time. I don't deny that it is much cheaper to be
reformed by the devil than by God, for God will only reform
society on the condition of our reforming every man his own
self, while the devil is quite ready to help us to mend the laws of
earth and heaven without ever starting such an impertinent and
personal request as that a man should mend himself." Against
the gospel that demands the surrender of the carnal heart he
stood for years immovable and in favor of the gospel that flat-
tered the human heart and paid a premium on morality and
o-ood works. Now he knew better.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS.
THIS mighty organization, which at one time had 13,000
engineers on its roll, was formed in the city of Detroit in
August, 1863, as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. Its
motto is, " Sobriety, Truth, Justice, Morality ;" and its rule,
" Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you,
and so fulfil the law." To become a member, a person must
be twenty-one years of age, must be able to read and write,
and must be of good moral character, temperate in his habits,
and a locomotive engineer in good standing. Every member
must so conduct himself as to secure the confidence and esteem
of his employers. If a member wilfully or maliciously injures
his employer's property, or defrauds any one, or engages in the
traffic of intoxicating liquors, he is subject to expulsion. The
insurance department of the Brotherhood has been very useful.
At the death of a member his widow or heirs receive $3000.
They claim to have paid nearly one million dollars to the in-
sured, and disbursed to the needy out of their hard earnings
50,000. " We have reclaimed the fallen, reformed the
drunkard, and furnished the public and railroad companies
with a better, more skilled, and trustworthy class of engineers
than they had previous to the inception of the Brotherhood. ' '
This is the process of action taken by the Brotherhood when-
ever a difference arises between a company and its men. The
men are instructed first to exhaust all their own efforts in coming
to an amicable settlement with the company. Failing in that,
they send for the Grand Chief. It is his duty then " to go and
use all honorable means in his power to prevent rupture be-
tween the company and engineers." There is a committee of
84 SAM HOBART.
thirteen, selected u for known ability and judgment." If the
Grand Chief fails, this committee is convened, and the matter
laid before them. If they by a two thirds vote decide that the
men have good grounds for striking, the men are so notified,
and that entitles them to be sustained by the whole Brother-
hood.
President Arthur, Chief of the Brotherhood in 1877, argued
that this opportunity for combination is the only weapon
engineers have against the oppression to which they would be
subjected if left to face immense corporations only as individ-
uals. He claims that the method of operation is such that a
strike will only occur in an extreme case, and he says he be-
lieves strikes have been averted by it on thirteen different roads
in the last three years. He charges railway managers with
tyrannical and unreasonable conduct, abusing their men, dis-
charging them without a hearing, etc. As long as this over-
bearing spirit is manifested, he says, we shall have strikes.
" I would say to railroad managers, be honest and just toward
each other and to your employes. Cease your suicidal policy
of cutting rates, and submit all differences that may arise be-
tween you and your employes that you cannot adjust to a board
of arbitration composed of three disinterested men, one to be
chosen by each party and the two to select the third, and their
decision to be final. In my opinion it is the only fair way of
settling disputes and a sure prevention of strikes."
In conclusion, after some references to the strength of the
Brotherhood, he says : " Our meetings are opened with prayer,
and the open Bible upon our altar, which we recognize as the
emblem of our Order, and upon which our institution is
founded, and by it we are taught. * Come, and let us reason
together.' "
In 1865 it took the name it now bears, and became a Brother-
hood of Locomotive Engineers. At the outset Sam joined it.
In 1865, when the trouble arose with the Michigan Southern
and Northern Indiana Railroad, and the conflict came on be-
tween the employers arid the employed, Sam, who through this
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, 85
organization sought to elevate the character of the class of
workmgmen to which he belonged, and not to interfere with the
vested rights of capital, called a halt and determined for himself
to be true to his class and at the same time remain faithful to
those who had trusted and befriended him. He kept his love
for both classes, and was alike trusted by both. In 1866 the
Brotherhood came to Boston. They uncovered their purpose.
The press proclaimed it. The citizens one and all indorsed it.
They saw in it a movement which, headed right, would make
locomotive engineers self-respecting and self-sustaining, causing
them to seek to promote temperate habits and develop manly
characteristics. To them as a class are intrusted interests im-
measurably great. As General B. F. Butler said, in his address
when he welcomed them to Lowell, Mass. :
" The locomotive is the great precursor and herald of civili-
zation. More has been and will be done to bring out the re-
sources of this country by the extension of railroads than any-
thing else.
11 To the men who are put upon the engines, to whose
fidelity, capacity, integrity, sobriety, and coolness the lives of
more men are intrusted every day than were ever intrusted to
the commanders of any army, is the country most indebted.
[Applause.] It only requires one ride on the engine to see the .
necessity for all those great qualities in the men who control
the trains.
" It has been proved by statistics that there was greater loss
of life, in the proportion to the amount of travel, by the old
stage coaches than occur now by the railroad. There can be
but one answer to that, and in this place I would say that I
have just returned from travelling forty-five hundred miles by
railroad, without an accident or shock in any form, and there-
fore when I was told that you desired to have a word from me
I felt it my duty to come. ' '
Charles Wilson, G.C.E., recognized the support of the rail-
road officials who had taken the time to investigate the work-
ings of the institution.
80 SAM HOB ART.
" They have approved of what appeared to them to be a
guarantee for the good behavior of their engineers, and now
are apparently anxious for the success and perpetuity of the
Brotherhood. They desire that the fact that an engineer be-
longs to the Brotherhood should be a sure recommendation
that he can fill any position for which he might apply.
Nothing can accomplish this end so quickly as the hearty
co-operation of the railroad officials with the efforts of the
Brotherhood.
" Let it be understood that the official under whom you are
working holds you strictly accountable for the good conduct of
your associates or fellow-employes, and you will be very cautious
whom you admit as members of the Brotherhood. I am pleased
to see that some divisions take action in regard to the miscon-
duct of their members while on the road. I lately received a
notice of the expulsion of a member, and the cause assigned
was that he had been guilty of running on the time of a pas-
senger train. I was forcibly impressed with the justice of the
decision in this case, and I think all neglect in the performance
of duties to the company should be immediately noticed in the
division. In this way you will carry out your professions, and
command the respect of all.
" The public have manifested a great interest in our success.
The good impression your delegates made in the city of Roches-
ter during our last annual session will not soon be forgotten by
its citizens. The contrast your delegates presented to a like
number of locomotive engineers that could have been collected
a few years since was apparent to every one, and the advantage
of having such men to occupy the responsible position of
engineer commended itself to all.
" I do not wish to be understood as claiming that an engi-
neer cannot be a well-behaved man without he belongs to this
organization ; but all engineers of much experience very well
know that a few years ago, when a party of engineers met, the
first thing thought of was to * come and take a drink.'
Although I am obliged to confess that this is too much the case
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 87
now, yet all will agree that great improvement has been made
within a few years ; and I think this Brotherhood is entitled
to full credit for what has been accomplished in this reform.
If any position requires sober men it is that of locomotive
engineers, and everything should be done to secure such men
to run train's. The engineer that uses intoxicating drinks to
excess is not fit to be intrusted with the lives and property of
the travelling public. The public fully appreciate the advan-
tages of having good men, and I think that you can safely rely
upon them for their influence and support, if you merit it by
your good conduct.
" It is absolutely necessary to the maintenance of your posi-
tion to have a sentiment inculcated and universally acknowl-
edged that the position of a locomotive engineer is of such a
responsible character that no railroad official will be justified
under any circumstance in employing any man to fill that posi-
tion unless he shall be a man that possesses every requisite
quality, both moral and mechanical.
" I have been led to make these remarks from the fact that
many men are hired to run engines that are universally known
to be men of no moral character, some of them apparently not
having much regard for human life, and with no mechanical
knowledge of the powerful engine intrusted to their care. It
is idle for managers to deny this, as the proof is abundant,
showing how these irresponsible men get positions, and are
retained in them to the exclusion of good and reliable men. If
this class of irresponsible men are just as good engineers as you
are, then your efforts are all for nought ; and the official does
not perform his duty by hiring good men and paying liberally,
as there are plenty of those ready-made engineers that can be
hired for half price. The knowledge acquired by years of ex-
perience is in emergencies worth more to the company, as well
as to the passengers on the train, than all the wages the engi-
neer will ever receive while running an engine.
' The truth is, there is not importance enough attached to
your position ; neither are you held to as strict accountability
88 SAM HOBAKT.
as you ought to be. If it were possible to make yonr position
properly respected, and you were paid wages sufficient to
enable you to save a surplus for old age, and ample time was
allowed to keep your mind as well as your engine in good
repair I say, with these facilities and privileges offered you,
you ought never to ask to be excused for neglect <ff duty on
your part. You should not attempt to perform the duty of
running an engine without a thorough understanding of all that
pertains to that important position ; and any answer or act on
your part that indicated incompetency should be a sufficient
reason for your rejection or dismissal. I cannot imagine any
position in which a man can be placed tht requires better
judgment, and fuller knowledge of the duties he will be called
upon to perform than that of a locomotive engineer.
" The recent railroad difficulty has been the cause of some
slight trouble within our ranks ; but all will eventually admit
that it has afforded us a lesson that will be of great advantage
to us in all our future proceedings. It has developed resources
that no one could have anticipated.'*
The w'ords " to excess' 7 in the address Sam did not like. He
claimed that they were misleading. " It is impossible to play
or tamper with strong drink and remain safe. No one knows
what is l to excess.' At one time a man can stand more than he
can at another time. What would not be l to excess 9 in health
and strength might overcome and overturn him in sickness
and weakness, and yet it is in weakness and sickness his need
for it appears to be greatest. No ; leave liquor alone," said
Sam. " Sleep, rest, keep well in body and sound in mind,
and trust to the Lord and not to stimulus."
A TRIBUTE TO DEAN RICHMOND.
" In calling to mind the men that have been our friends and
upon whom we have leaned in every emergency to assist in
maintaining the right, I know you will pardon me if I mention
the name of Dean Richmond. He was emphatically the poor
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 89
man's friend. To him we are indebted in a measure for the
good standing we occupy to-day. I think that the example of
organization on the New York Central Railroad has had a good
influence upon other sections of the country. He was the
president of the road throughout the whole history of our
organization, and no narrow suspicion ever entered his mind
that the engineers would make unreasonable demands if they
were combined in a Brotherhood. He took as much pride in
the improvement made in the j conduct of the engineers as any
member of the Order. Death has removed him from labor on
earth, but his memory will ever be cherished with the most
grateful recollections by all engineers who had the pleasure of
his acquaintance, and who have been partakers of his liberality
in the capacity of employes under him on the New York Cen-
tral Kailroad. It is fitting for all to pause at the death of one
that, possessing both power and wealth, apparently did not
enjoy either when the one deprived the humblest of his rights,
or. the other deprived the poor of the necessities of life.
" I regret that we have so few engineers that seem to feel
any interest in the welfare of their old associates. H. G.
Brooks, Esq., General Superintendent of the motive power of
the New York and Erie Railroad, with a few others, are honor-
able exceptions. Let us resolve that we will not disappoint the
sanguine expectations of our friends, so that they, seeing our
good intentions, will be willing and desire to assist us in every
laudable undertaking. ' '
These words struck a responsive chord in the breast of the
great-hearted engineer. He believed in men. He believed in
a place for every man, and every man for his place. He was
content to be an engineer. He did not seek to be superin-
tendent or president, but simply engineer. It was his ambi-
tion to be the best engineer on the road. He felt the weight
of responsibility committed to his keeping. When he drew
out of the depot with a train crowded with passengers, among
whom were some of the noblest in the land, though they never
thought of the engineer, the engineer thought of them, and
V)U SAM HOBAKT.
recognized the fact that their lives were committed to his care.
His faith in man came to him before he reposed faith in Jesus
Christ. He gladly applauded the reference of the G. C. E. to
Dean Richmond, and proudly claimed that Boston and Worces-
ter could match his devotion and kindness in the unselfish
life of Ginery Twichell a man who began as stage-driver and
grew to be one of the first railroad presidents of the Union.
Sam believed in railroad men as a class, and sympathized with
the sentiment expressed by 0. T. Johnson, F. G. E., when
he said :
41 A fraternal relation is one around which cluster the best
feelings of our nature, and the brother who becomes duly im-
pressed with a true sense of the obligations of this relationship
can neither be controlled by selfishness nor indifference.
Brothers, let there be an end to strife which may have hereto-
fore existed between us, for we are brethren ; yea, let us leave
off contention before it is meddled with.
" We must, if we would be men, be sober, temperate, and
chaste. The drunkard is a curse to himself, his family, his
friends, and the world. He renders himself wretched in this
life, and unfitted for the life hereafter. The intemperate man
is only one step behind the drunkard ; if he does not pause, he
must shortly overtake him. The unchaste man must bring
upon himself certain disgrace ; he is a scandal to his kind, and
will be despised by the good and pure. Brotherly love should
dwell among those who meet with us here, and among the
entire fraternity of engineers wherever it exists. Kindly
sentiments for each other, for the world, should illuminate
their hearts, and burn brighter and brighter throughout all
time.
" We profess principles which should destroy the stubble and
chaff of dissension, and refine the powers and faculties which con-
stitute the dignity and glory of man. In i union is strength ' is a
common axiom. We must be united in the cause, not only in
our corporate capacity, but in our deeds. A single member, if
he labor with a will, may accomplish much in the field of frater-
THE BKOTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 01
nity ; but a host, united in a perfect phalanx in the service of
the Brotherhood, may revolutionize the world, and in the course
of human events we shall find our hope fully realized and our
labor crowned with success. The Brotherhood will be equal to
if not foremost in the ranks of other organizations already
established for the good of mankind.
*' To enjoy more fully the desirable connection which our
frequent intercourse affords, we should ever grace our conduct
to each other with mildness, ^generosity, frankness, and confi-
dence, and ever be ready to perform the same office to others
as far as in our power, without pride and arrogance, always
remembering that cordial affability generally begets esteem.
To those that are erring from the strict path of rectitude, we
should be assiduous in imparting warning, reproof, and instruc-
tion.
4 * Toward those who are elected our officers, let us exercise a
beseeming degree of respect and deference, that they may find
we have set no idle value upon the offices they fill. By our
own voice they preside over us ; as such, consequently, we virtu-
ally engage to accept their instructions in all that pertaineth to
the good and welfare of the Brotherhood. Hence, members
of the Order are expected to welcome official admonition, re-
proof, and advice. I mean no slavish, mental, or bodily fear,
or adulation, no sacrifice of conscience or judgment, but a
readiness to hear the inculcations of the true principles of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. "
Through Sam Hobart's influence the following address was
delivered to the Brotherhood in Boston, Nov. 18th, 1866 :
"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate." 1
Con. 9 : 25.
* ' The words of the apostle deserve to be imprinted on the
memory and engraven on the body of every workingman.
" Temperance is scorned because its value is overlooked.
Men fail to appreciate what it helps them to win. They ignore
92 SAM HOB ART.
the truth, that every man that striveth for the mastery is tem-
perate.
" We know that the combatant for the prizo ring is temperate.
That he abstains from the use of intoxicating drinks, and from
tobacco ; that he eats sparingly and very carefully, in order
that his blood be not weakened, and that his strength be not
injured.
" We know that men who climb the hill of distinction, and
are to-day the foremost men of the times, won the mastery, not
by dissipating their strength, but by husbanding it. They held
themselves in check, or in restraint, in order that they might
employ their force in a given direction.
"The idea contained in the word Temperance is habitual
moderation in the indulgence of the natural appetites and pas-
sions. The purpose of this moderation is set forth by the
champion of the cross. It is to win the mastery. A temper-
ate man is not an indolent man, nor is he a moderate man, in
the common acceptation of the term. He may make good time ;
indeed, he can make the best time because he is temperate.
This thought is not welcomed, nor is it believed in this land of
wild enterprises and gigantic undertakings. More than that,
and worse than that, it is ignored. Men drink to obtain the
mastery. Intemperance could not be tolerated if this opinion
did not prevail, that stimulus is conducive to success. The
theory prevails, in the West more than in the East, that stimu-
lus is essential to success. How large a proportion use intoxi-
cating drinks and how many use tobacco is best known to you.
The reason for this indulgence in rum and tobacco is to win
the mastery. You claim it steadies the nerves, clears the brain,
takes away all thoughts of danger, and enables you drive your
heated courser along his iron way with lightning velocity.
" Statistics assure us that a large proportion of the accidents
on railroads and rivers are the result of stimulus. We have
seen it on the steamer as on the rail -car. The engineer gets
excited. He is asked to compete ; the fire burns within ; the
brain feels it, and at once the steam is turned on and every-
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 93
thing is pushed forward with all possible haste. The effect is
so apparent that on some of our best managed roads an en-
gineer is not employed who is accustomed to the use of intoxi-
cating liquors. Statistics prove that temperance is the key to
success in avoiding accidents, in protecting life, and in promot-
ing the interests of the public.
" Notwithstanding the lesson taught by figures, men at their
toil preach that they who would gain this mastery must be in-
temperate. Benjamin Franklin proved the contrary when he
worked as a printer in London. The English printers drank
their beer. He drank clear, cold water. At length an English-
man accosted him with the question, 4 Why don't you drink
beer?' * Can't afford it,' was the reply. * You have more
money than I have, but I can't afford the strength I desire to
keep myself strong.' * Ah,' said the Englishman, ' beer makes
strength. ' ' No it doesn't, ' said Franklin. * It does, ' replied the
Englishman ; 'this makes me drink it. ' ' Then I will show you, '
said Franklin, ' that I am stronger without beer than you are
with it.' There were printer's forms made up, type enchased
in iron, and ready for the press. ' Carry that across the shop,'
said Franklin. The beer-drinking Englishman attempted it, and
with great difficulty, succeeded in carrying a single form.
Franklin took two forms, one in each hand, and bore them
without difficulty. The proof was apparent, and a reform was
worked in the shop.
'* This lesson is taught by the All- Wise Ruler in various
ways. The universe pushes on toward its distant goal, because
of restraining forces which hold each star and sun and planet in
its given orbit.
" A star or a planet bent oh self-indulgence and breaking
forth from the restraints of gravitation, would, unless checked,
shatter into atoms the systems which sweep on in their shining
pathway which the Creator has prepared for them.
" Do we turn to nature, we find this truth illustrated in
many ways.
" Undue excitement reacts, and begets weakness. Temper-
94: SAM HOB ART.
ance and moderation is health. A field can be forced to yield
great crops, but unless its wasted energies are supplied by rest,
its strength departs and barrenness ensues. An apple-tree seems
to possess intelligence It will tell by the tinge of its flower,
and by the brightness of its leaf, and by the quality of its fruit,
whether it has been intemperate or not. If this year it is in-
temperate in yield, next year it will resemble the drunkard
getting over the effects of his debauch, and will be unable to
perform the task allotted to it. In its growth we see the same
truths. A restraint upon those forces which seek undue indul-
gence, such as in limbs seeking to disturb the equilibrium of
the parent, or in a disposition to pour all of its rich fluids into
the harvest of a single year, will detract from the symmetry,
beauty, and health of the tree. Hence a wise horticulturist will
preach Paul's sermon to his orchards, vines, and plants, claim-
ing that they who would win the mastery must be temperate.
Hence he will watch his trees and shrubs, and when they are
unduly excited, will bud, and check their proclivities, knowing
that by so doing he protects the future from the disasters re-
sulting from the imprudence of to-day.
" These thoughts were suggested by a contemplation of the
object of this and kindred organizations. You desire to pro-
mote the growth, intellectually, morally, and physically, of
the class of which you are representing. In no way can you
do so better than by conforming to the principles enunciated
in the words, ' And every man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate. ' The words do not declare that every man who
desires the mastery is temperate, nor that every man who is
trying to obtain the mastery is temperate, but that every man
who rationally and truly striveth for the mastery is temperate.
Perhaps we should gain a better idea of the mastery to be won
by considering very briefly the railroad interest represented by
you.
" Some may object to this language, and claim that locomotive
engineers do not represent the railroad interest. We all remem-
ber the story of the organist and the boy that filled the bellows.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 95
At the close of the performance the boy came round and said,
* Didn't we play splendid ?' ' We ! What did you have
to do with the playing?' 'I Mowed,' replied the boy.
4 Go away,' said the organist, 'you didn't do anything with
the playing. ' The next occasion that presented itself the boy
thought he would see whether or no he was of any importance.
So, in the midst of a splendid performance he stopped blow-
ing, and of course the musio collapsed. * Blow ! blow ! ' he
cried. ' Say ive, then,' said the boy, and the organist was
compelled to shout ' We,' before he could go on. It needs no
argument to prove that our railroad system depends upon the
character of our locomotive engineers more than any other
class. The Worcester Railroad makes temperate habits a sine
qua non in its engineers, and so perhaps do other roads. The
result is seen in the fewness of accidents and in the regularity
of trains.
" The locomotive is a school ever crowded with scholars, who
graduate from it to fill other important positions in other ranks
of life. During the engineers' strike on the Michigan Southern
Railroad it surprised every one to see how many conductors,
master mechanics, and other officials had served their time on
the locomotive.
" During the early history of the war, all remember the inci-
dent when General Butler found an old locomotive in the shop
at Annapolis, out of repair, but essential to their march.
' Does any one here know anything about this machine ? '
Charles Homans, a private of Company E, of the Massachusetts
Eighth, eyed the machine for a moment, and said, ' Our shop
made that engine, General ; I guess I can put her in order and
run her. ' * Go to work and do it. ' Charles Homans picked
out a man or two, and began at once to obey the order. Loco-
motive engineers are found in every rank of railway life.
Their very education enables them to take responsibilit} 7 ;
to keep their wits about them ; and if they have an inclina-
tion to study mechanical engineering, there is no limit to
their acquisitions, nor to the doors thrown open before them
96 SAM HOBART.
for advancement. In 1860 there were 31,185 miles of rail-
road, in 1883 over 125,000. A railroad map discloses at a
glance the extent of this system. It interlaces New England ;
its iron bands unite the East to the West, and will, ere-long,
pass through the gates of the mountains and belt the continent.
This has been the product of less than forty years. In 1826
the first sod was cut on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road. It was on the 4th day of July, our natal day in more
senses than one. The road was originally planned for a horse
track only ; but the introduction of steam locomotives from
England encouraged the attempt to run them on the line, and
in 1830 a small engine constructed at Baltimore was put upon
the road, which still exists and is preserved in the company's
workshop as a very interesting relic. Although the traffic was
great, the engine appears to have been only partially worked,
the trains having also been moved by horses.
"Contemplate the fact. In 1826 Stephenson was compelled,
against obloquy, to oppose the attempt to draw trains by station-
ary engines by the aid of ropes, and his prophecy that this iron
horse would yet be completed to move at twelve miles an hour
and drag a load after him was received with roars of laughter.
In 1830 the New York Central Railroad was begun. In 1831
twelve different railroad companies were incorporated, and
from this time railroad enterprises were multiplied with great
rapidity. In 1832 the most important lines were commenced
in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Behold the
tree grown from the seedling. To-day the West and East are
neighbors. We build the factories, weave the cloth, make the
shoes, and other notions ; the West grows the wheat and corn
on which we feed. Were it not for the railroad, there can be
no doubt cities would still hug the Atlantic border and the
banks of rivers, and the vast West with its inland towns would
have remained an uninhabited wilderness.
" We read much of the famine in India, in which over two
millions of human beings have starved to death. What is the
cause ? The answer is plain. There is no means of communi-
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 97
cation, and so, while food abounds in one department it fails
in another, and they starve for lack of means of communica-
tion. Imagine our railroad system broken off. The East
would starve and the West would be reduced to first principles,
and would become naked as savages before they could protect
themselves.
" Years ago the surplus products of Ohio had accumulated
beyond the means of transport, and wheat sold in the interior
at thirty-seven cents and Indian corn at ten cents. When the
Erie Canal was opened, and soon after the Ohio Canal,
prices were raised more than fifty per cent. Now that the
means of transportation have increased, the price of flour in
the interior has more than trebled, while on the seaboard it is
higher than ever before.
" Land has risen because of railroads, from $1.25 to $20 and
$30 per acre. Between 1850 and 1860, the prices of farms
throughout the West have doubled. And of about 9,000,000
tons, the produce carried from the W T est to the East, the rail-
roads carry two thirds. All the lines are stocked with freight,
and at times places like Toledo or Cleveland get blocked with
produce. We have hardly an idea of the elevators and of the
means employed to lighten labor. The future resources of
America are such that, with all the products of skill we shall be
unable with our present facilities to do the business that presses
upon us at every turn.
" As has been said, ' A vast amount of produce is destroyed
yearly from the inability of the carriers to carry it forward.
The owners are ruined. The parties in the Eastern States who
advance money on their produce charge excessive rates to
cover the risks of failure.' The result is, the producer, the
merchant, the railway company, and the consumer are all
directly injured ; but the indirect injury extends far beyond
this. The whole produce of the West, and consequently the
entire cultivation of America, is affected. If the produce cannot
be carried, it can only find local markets. If it only find local
markets, prices must abate. If prices abate, the stimulus to
98 SAM HOBAUT.
cultivation of land is lost. If the land is not required for cul-
tivation, in the same proportion it diminishes in value. The
prosperity of the West, the value of its produce, the value of
its land, and the extent of land cultivated and the provisions in
the East, together with the demand for the product here pro-
duced all depend upon the increased facilities for the convey-
ance of produce, and those facilities railroads must afford.
" The occasion, then, that invites our thought materially in-
terests all classes of men. Without railways the States of the
great West would have been nothing. With railways they are
what they are. With a proper development of the railway
system, they may be ten times, nay a hundred times greater
than they are.
" The want has been expressed for a combination for the due
development of traffic. It is proposed to bring the immense
chain- work of Northern railroads into closer communication
with the Southern system, and to establish railway intercourse
across the continent from the shores of the Atlantic to the
shores of the Pacific.
41 Napoleon tried to grasp the key of commerce and compel
the nations of the earth to pay their toll for the transportation
of goods and people into their treasury. The failure of his
Mexican scheme and the opening of that land to the energy,
the enterprise, and the civilization of the United States, proves
that God's purpose is to keep the control of this Western con-
tinent in the hands, not of the Latin, but of the Anglo-Saxon
races. Sir Morton Peto, in his invaluable treatise on the rail-
way future of America, expresses a conviction which deserves
consideration. He declares the great means of developing the
railway system is co-operation. A system which will place the
various great lines of railway in a position to carry any amount
of passengers and freight traffic is essential to the prosperity
of railways and the advancement of this country.
" 4 The fact is, the American railways have been made and
are conducted too much in detached portions, and too little on
a large and liberal system of co-operation. The wide extent,
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 99
the enlarged resources, the rapid development of this territory
accounts very much for this. But the American railways must
be worked as one system. This result may be accomplished
by substituting for a system of jealousy, rivalry, and opposi-
tion, one of common understanding, comprehensive alliance,
friendship, mutuality, and interchange each line acting as a
part of one great entire whole the railways in fact consider-
ing themselves not a system of States, but a system of United
States. '
*' That this result is being achieved there can be no doubt.
The railroad conventions prove it. The gathering of different
organizations similar to your own establish the conclusion that
a community of interest is felt to be an element and source
of strength.
1 ' Let the work go on. Let schools be established for the per-
fection of men in the practical work at hand, and for the edu-
cation of the mind in all that appertains to their given pursuits,
and great good will be obtained.
u From this hasty sketch of railway interests it is evident that
the highest incentives to exertion, to temperance, to the obtain-
ing of skill, of information and of culture, is held out to those
who have turned their attention to this important branch of
industry.
" In engineering, as in all other employments, culture pays.
The man who labors with his hands and does not work his
brain must forever live from hand to mouth. It is brain work
attended with hand work that makes Titans of men. The
physical necessity of mental activity in every practical sense
confers upon the mind the power to determine our stature,
strength, or longevity, to multiply our organs of sense and in-
crease their capacity in some cases to 30,000,000 their natural
power.
11 George Stephenson, born June 9th, 1781, near the Wylau
Colliery, was the son of the fireman of the pumping engine.
At eighteen years of age he could neither read, write, nor
cipher. He had mastered the steam-engine, could take it in
100 SAM HOBART.
pieces, but he could not read. AJI evening school was started
in the colliery. He seized the opportunity, broke the fetters
that bound him, and became a master mechanic. His skill in
applying ideas at last arrested the attention of the owners of
the colliery, and he received the appointment of chief engineer
at 100 per annum. From that moment his progress was
rapid. He built his first locomotive, obtained the prize, and
became the founder of the railway system. What was the
secret of his success ? lie was temperate. In the midst of his
occupations he cultivated his powers and became a gentleman.
The result was, he became conscious of his power and possessed
confidence in his own judgment, which enabled him to carry
out principles to their legitimate extent, but from which feebler
or more practical minds usually shrink.
44 Instances abound in this country more surprising than this.
How many a poor boy has kept himself aloof from society that
would degrade him, has husbanded his resources, his time and
money, until he has worked his way from the lowest to the
most exalted positions?
44 In my mind I see a man who is the president of a Western
road who began as a brakeman. But he was an elegant
brakeman. His work done, he sought pleasure in study, and
attracted the attention of a railroad official, who promoted him,
and on and on he went until he has won the name of Railway
King.
14 Forget not that in this country every railroad constructed
calls into development vast areas of unworked wealth ; it also
calls for men to manage and control it. Men are the powers
that carry forward enterprises.
" Clang, clang, the massive anvils ring ;
Clang, clang ! a hundred hammers swing ;
Like the thunder rattle of a tropic sky,
The mighty blows still multiply ;
Clang, clang,
Say, brothers of the dusky bro\r,
What are your strong arms forging now ?
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 101
" The world asks that question, and listens for a reply.
" How truthfully Elihu Burritt, the Learned Blacksmith, de-
scribes the movement of the Iron Horse, with bones of steel
and muscles of brass, that will run against time with Mercury or
any other winged messenger of Jove.
" He brings out his huge leviathan hexoped upon the track.
How the giant creature struts forth from his stable, panting to
be gone. His great breast is a* furnace of burning coals ; his
lymphatic blood is boiling in his veins ; the strength of a thou-
sand horses is nerving his iron sinews. But his master reins
him in with one finger, till the whole of some Western village
men, women, children, and half their horned cattle, sheep,
poultry, wheat, cheese, and potatoes has been stowed away in
that long train of wagons he has harnessed to his fiery steed.
And now he shouts, interrogatorily, All right ? and applying a
burning goad to the huge creature, away it thunders over the
iron road, breathing forth fire and smoke in its indignant haste
to outstrip the wind. More terrible than the war-horse in
Scripture, clothed with loud thunder, and emitting a cloud of
flame and burning coals from his iron nostrils, he dashes on
through dark mountain passes, over jolting precipices and deep
ravines. His tread shakes the eaith like a trembling Niagara,
and the sound of his chariot-wheels warns the people of the
distant town that he is coming.
" Think of it : on these fiery coursers ride these men, now
down to peril, if not to death, and now on to safety and
repose. Such men should be self-restrained. Their brain
should be cool, their nerves under supreme control ; and only
the temperate attain this mastery. Contemplate the scene.
In the night time, as in the day, their iron horses rattle on
their iron way. It is a luxury to listen to the chime of that
mighty chronometer. We hear the beat of great pendulums
swinging through their iron arks East and West Boston and
Chicago further to the westward still goes the train
" Swinging through the forests,
Rattling over ridges,
102 SAM HDBART.
Shooting under arches,
Rumbling over bridges,
Whizzing through the mountains,
Buzzing through the vale,
and pushing on through the Golden Gate to the shores of the
blue Pacific.
44 Whether we sleep or wake, whether we journey or stay at
home, the morning train, like the flying spindle, is carrying
the thread of traffic through the woof of commerce. As
regular as the sun rises or sets this work goes on. To the en-
gineer more than any one else we intrust our property and our
lives. Commerce and humanity are alike interested in promot-
ing your mental and moral welfare.
" But there are other interests. Christ has claims upon you.
Your immortal souls are to be saved or lost. Your influence
on earth and your happiness in eternity depend upon your ac-
ceptance or rejection of the Gospel.
44 You know the value of that single burning lamp of the
locomotive as you plunge into the darkness of the natural
night.
44 There is a moral night of denser gloom. It is rayless only
as the light brought by Christ sheds its radiance upon your
path.
44 You know the value of the signal when danger threatens
you. Christ has given you the signal. A while ago a terrible
storm gathered in the sky, and the torrent filled the streams
which in maddening fury swept away the bridges. There were
but a few moments between the crash and the coming of the
express train. A poor frail woman left her child, took her lan-
tern, and, amid the driving wind and pelting rain, swung the
light and gave the signal. Yonder comes the train. Behold
her in the path, swinging her light. The fiery horse conies on.
Nearer and nearer it comes. At last the whistle sounds Down
with the brakes ! and that passenger train is saved. That work
can be understood. Christ has encountered greater peril than
that frail woman. He stood in the path and permitted the
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 103
bolt to fall upon him, that he might sound the alarm and kindle
. in the path of danger the warning light.
" It is said that on the Dayton and Cincinnati road, during
one of the freshets of the spring, a bridge was washed away by
the swollen stream. The track-master failed to ascertain the
fact, and so the signal -master telegraphed all right to the Day-
ton office, and the train left the depot. Soon the peril was dis-
covered, and a report was sent on, but it was now too late.
There was no intermediate station, and the train was doomed
unless some unlooked-for Providence should save them. Alas,
no help came, and blindly at full speed the locomotive leaped
into the chasm, and many lives were sacrificed. Imagine the
feelings of that track- and signal -master. They should have
known the peril and sounded the alarm.
"Would you win the mastery on earth? be temperate.
Would you win the crown that never fadeth ? then add to your
temperance, patience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to god-
liness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity.
" Accept Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the light,
remembering that whatsoever worketh in this way worketh
safely ; whosoever believeth this truth, obtaineth thereby eter-
nal life, and whosoever accepts the guidance of this light enter-
eth a path which shall grow brighter and brighter unto the per-
fect day. Do this for the world's sake as well as for your
own. You must exert an important influence over those with
whom you mingle. Let it be felt in the cause of Christ, and
thus shall you secure the broadest, fullest, and freest develop-
ment on earth, and the trials and cares endured here will form
a fitting prelude to the rest prepared for the people of God
hereafter. ' '
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opposed the organization
of the Brotherhood, and substituted an Employes Relief Asso-
ciation instead, in accordance with this following plan. It was
organized May 1st, 1880, and incorporated by an act of the
Maryland Legislature May 3d, 1882.
104 SAM HOHART.
The object of this association is to provide a fund for relief
in cases of sickness, injury, old age, or death, to the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad employes and their families. The full pay-
ment of all benefits for sickness, accident, or death is guaranteed
by the company, which at the outset gave the sum of $100,000 as
a basis of operations, which amount is invested in securities which
yield a revenue of six per cent per annum. This, together wit!,
amounts received from members as dues, forms a fund to meet
the demands made by members upon the funds of the associa-
tion for the payment of benciits. Every able-bodied employe
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad not over the age of forty-
five years, and who passes a satisfactory physical examination, is
eligible for membership. Blank forms are supplied by the
officers of the road, which must be filled out, giving the name,
residence, age, occupation, department of the road employed
in, the amount be deducted monthly from his pay as dues,
and the name of the person or persons to whom, in case of his
death, his benefits shall be paid ; and all applications made by
minors must bear the written consent of the parent or guardian
before the applicant can become a member or enjoy any of
the benefits of the society.
When the association was organized it was optional with the
men to join or not, but by a later order of the Baltimore and
Ohio Company all new employes must subscribe to the relief
features before they can be taken into the service of the com-
pany.
MEMBERSHIP ASSESSMENTS. When a man passes the physi-
cal examination referred to, his application is forwarded to the
secretary, and in return the applicant recei-ves a certificate of
membership stating the number of benefits the holder is en-
titled to receive. The company grants to all its employes who
are members of the relief association and to their families trans-
portation over the line of the road at half rates, and to secure
this half-rate ticket the employe is furnished with an order by
his superior officer to the nearest ticket agent, stating to what
point and for whom he desires this ticket, the department of
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 105
the road employed in, his occupation, and the number of his
certificate of membership ; but he cannot secure this ticket
unless he can produce his certificate of membership, showing
that he is the person who is entitled to receive it.
The assessments, which are deducted from the pay of the
members on the pay-rolls, are divided into two classes, known
as first and second class. The first class consists of men who
are connected with the runnjng of trains, such as engineers,
firemen, conductors, baggage-masters, brakemen, switchmen,
and flagmen ; the second class, of officers of the road, clerks,
agents, telegraph operators, machinists, and all others not con-
nected with the running of trains. As members of the first class
run a much greater risk of meeting with accidents than those
in the second class, they are assessed more per month than the
latter. The amounts thus collected from the pay-rolls are de-
posited with the treasurer of the Baltimore and Ohio Company,
upon whom all requisitions for disbursements are drawn, and
the vouchers thus drawn, after receiving the signature of the
chairman of the Committee of Management and the secretary of
the association, are payable by any agent of the Baltimore and
Ohio Company or can be negotiated through any banking insti-
tution.
The members are assessed in proportion to the salary received
by them, under the following schedule :
First Class. Those receiving $35 and under, $1 per month ;
those receiving $35 and not over $50, $2 per month ; those
receiving $50 and not over $75, $3 per month ; those receiving
875 and not over $100, $4 per month ; those receiving $100
and upward, $5 per month.
Second Class. Those receiving $35 and under, seventy- five
cents per month ; those receiving $35 and not over $50, $1.50
per month ; those receiving $50 and not over $75. $2.25 per
month ; those receiving $75 and not over $100, $3 per month ;
those receiving 1 $100 and upward, $3.75 per month.
BENEFITS DERIVED. Take the case of a brakeman who, say
in coupling a car, gets his thumb mashed and is unable to per-
106 SAM HOBART.
form any manual labor for a period of twenty-five days, exclud-
ing Sundays. He reports the accident to a medical inspector,
who examines the case and reports it to the secretary. For
this the sufferer receives from the association the sum of $25,
and as railroad companies pay only for service actually per-
formed, the man gets from the relief association fund what he
would not otherwise have the means to support his family
while he is unable to work. He is under no expense for medi-
cal attendance, as the association has an able corps of medical
inspectors, besides contract physicians along the line of the
road, and, when attended by one of the latter, the bill for at-
tendance is not rendered to the individual, but to the Relief
Association.
But should a brakeman be killed after the fact has been
proved that he was killed while in the discharge of his duty,
the association pays to his widow or the beneficiary named in
his application for membership, the sum of $1000. There are
two rates for accidental death, one rate being $500. For this
he paid the association at the rate of $2 per month. It is pro-
vided, however, that no claims for accidental death can be
paid until all the heirs of the deceased file with the secretary a
paper satisfactory to him releasing the Baltimore and Ohio
Company from damages ; and if a member while in the dis-
charge of his duty should receive any injury, and files a suit in
any court against the company, he will not be, according to the
constitution of the association, entitled to receive any of the
benefits promised by the association. Take the case of an en-
gineer who in the discharge of his duty is injured and is totally
unable to perform any manual labor for a period of twenty
days. He pays into the association the sum of $4 per month,
and is therefore entitled to receive twice the number of bene-
fits received by a brakeman, and he receives the sum of $2 for
every day thus totally disabled. Should he meet with an ac-
cident which would cause his death while in the discharge of
his duty, his heirs would receive the sum of $2000. A con-
ductor pays $3 per month, and if sick twenty days would re-
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 107
ceive the sum of $30, and were lie to meet with death by acci-
dent, his heirs would receive the sum of 1500. There is
insurance for sickness as well as accident. Take the case of a
brakeman who is sick for a period of ten days, and unable to
perform his usual duties ; he will receive the sum of $10, and
were he to die from natural causes his heirs would receive the
sum of $200, being at the rate of $100 for each rate. An
engineer dying from natural causes, his heirs would receive the
sum of $400, being four rates at $100 each.
All claims presented and allowed by the association on ac-
count of death are paid within sixty days from the date or
receipt of notice of death.
MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. The association is under contract
with three hundred and eighteen physicians along the line of
the road to attend upon members in case of accidents, and also
with the most prominent hospitals in Baltimore, Washington,
Wheeling, Pittsburg, Columbus, and Chicago, where disabled
members may be treated at greatly reduced rates, and also with
the Baltimore Eye and Ear Infirmary, where members receive
board and indoor treatment at the rate of $4 per week. They
also receive board and the best of medical treatment at the
hospitals referred to above at the rate of $2.50 per week, which
amount may be paid out of the allowance from the association.
As shown by the first report of the secretary, dated May 1st,
1881, there had been issued 14,439 certificates of membership,
and the gross receipts to December 31st, 1880, amounted to
$88,543.26 ; the disbursements to $41,503.14 ; leaving a
balance of $47,040.12, which amount was used to liquidate
claims made or to be made on account of disbursements to
members prior to December 31st, 1880.
All the salaries of the secretary, medical inspectors, clerks,
and all other expenses of the association are borne by the Balti-
more and Ohio Company, and therefore the funds of the associa-
tion are under no other expense than for the payment of allow-
ances to members and physicians' fees for attendance upon
disabled members.
108 SAM HOBART.
FINANCIAL REPORT. Between May 1st, 1880, and December
31st, 1880, 1685 claims for allowance and 352 bills for medical
attendance were paid, the whole aggregating $41,503.14 ; and
from December 31st, 1880, to April 30th, 1881, 699 claims
for allowance and 182 bills for attendance of physicians were
examined and paid, amounting to $25,077.48, making a total
disbursement of one year of $66,580.62.
The second annual report of the secretary, dated October 1st,
1882, covered a period of twenty-one months, as the fiscal year
of the association was changed so as to correspond with the
fiscal year of the Baltimore and Ohio Company. This report
shows a balance on hand, December 31st, 1880, of $47,040.12,
and receipts from all sources, $345,088.30 $322,038.20 of this
amount being received from the members as premiums. The
disbursements for the same period were $302,617.69, leaving a
balance of $89,510.73, and six months' interest, $2500, mak-
ing a balance, September 30th, 1882, of $92,010.73. But this
amount does not represent the actual balance, for from it were
to be deducted $40,473.60 for benefits due and not yet paid,
and $21,424.46 insurance reserve, leaving a net balance of
$30,112.67 ; and this balance, by the provisions of the consti-
tution, is to be used " to reduce the next year's contributions
or to increase the allowance for natural death or in promoting
the interests of the association/' By this report the number
of members of the association is stated at 28,706, embracing
" ninety-four per cent of all employes in the service."
By these two reports the association has paid 91 claims of
accidental death, amounting to $94,500 ; 189 claims of natural
death, amounting to $48,300 ; 3972 claims of disablement
from injuries, amounting to $50,520.67 ; 2606 cases of physi-
cians for services rendered in above cases, amounting to $20,-
096.29, and 9094 claims from disablements by sickness or in-
juries not received in discharge of duty, amounting to $127,-
689.39, making a total number of claims examined and al-
lowed of 15,952, and a total amount paid of $341,106.35.
The affairs of the association are controlled by a committee
THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 109
of management, which includes the president of the Baltimore
and Ohio Company and nine other members, four appointed by
the company and five elected by the contributors. The imme-
diate management is under the control of a secretary, who is
elected by the committee, and to whom all the business of the
association is intrusted.
SAVINGS FUND AND BUILDING FEATURES. There is also con-
nected with the Relief Association another feature known as
" The Savings Fund and Building Features," whereby all
members of the Relief Association or their families may deposit
any sum over $1 and receive interest upon it at the rate of four
per cent per annum. The association will also advance to
members sums ranging from $100 upward at the rate of six per
cent per annum, which advances can only be used for the pur-
pose of purchasing or building homes. The Baltimore and
Ohio Company is responsible for all moneys deposited, as also
for the prompt payment of the interest on money deposited.
Every subscriber to this feature is provided with a pass-book.
When he wishes to make a deposit, it is made to a bonded
agent of the Baltimore and Ohio Company, and when the
depositor wishes to withdraw money he draws a check upon
the association or an order upon the secretary. The secretary
furnishes him with a check or voucher, which is payable in the
same manner as vouchers for sickness or disablements in the
relief features.
The company also extends to the members of the savings
fund who wish to secure homesteads along the line of the road
or improve those already owned, " a reduction of twenty-five
per cent from its regular rates on all building material entering
into the construction or improvements of such homesteads and
on all household effects. ' '
If from the undefined and crude hopes of the engineer strug-
gling for a place in the railroad system, such a system could
find general acceptance, we can see that it would be helpful to
the many and injurious to none.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL.
The Principle that ruled his Life and made him a Blessing.
SAM was in a tumult. He was a man of influence, yet he
seemed left to himself. His wife, the idol of his heart, was in
consumption. His hope built on everything else than Jesus'
blood and righteousness was failing him. Masonry brought
him but little comfort. His relations with workingmen were
not satisfactory. Sam was not a Communist nor a Socialist nor
an International. He was an engineer on the Boston and
Albany Railroad, and was true to their interest.
It is said that a drop of water falling into a bay changes the
tide-currents of the ocean, and that the sound of the human
voice changed into echoes passes through waves of air and dis-
turbs the condition of society and the destinies of men. Cer-
tain it is that the conflicts ravaging Europe produced an
impression upon the minds and hearts of the workingmen in
America. Communism was in the air. Agitation was the
rule. " Organization " and " combination" were the talis-
manic words ever on the lips of the discontented and the ambi-
tious. Sam believed in doing his duty, and being content with
filling the sphere in which circumstances placed him. On one
occasion, when in a company of workingmen, one had con-
tended that the engineers and brakemen ought to share in the
profits of the road, and " that all legalized charter corporations,
such as railroad, banking, mining, manufacturing, gas, etc.,
under the present system of operation, were the most despotic
and heartless enemies of the working classes ; that their acts of
tyranny and oppression have been the cause of demoralizing
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. Ill
thousands of honest workingmen, thereby driving them to acts
of madness, desperation, and crime. " Sam shouted out,
" There, you have copied that from the charter of the i Inter-
nationals/ and it never ought to be permitted to take root in
American soil."
" You are too late," said another. " It has taken root in
my heart, and in the hearts of thousands more."
" Go slow, boys," said Sam, with that pleasant smile which
preceded his best utterance^ as the lightning's flash precedes
the thunder's roll. Then pulling a printed slip from his pocket,
he said : " Here are the words that our young friend quoted,
and many more like them. In it we are earnestly requested
to unite as speedily as possible for the purpose of forming a
political party, based on the natural rights of labor. l Let us
make common cause against a common enemy. ' These are dan-
gerous words," said Sam. " Dangerous for us who have only
our labor as capital, dangerous for our employers who intrust
their capital to our keeping. This avowal reveals the milk in
the cocoanut and deserves to be pondered and condemned."
Again he read : " It is the purpose of the workingmen's party
to confiscate, through legislation, the unjustly gotten wealth of
these legalized and chartered corporation thieves that are back-
ed by the Shylocks and moneyed syndicates of Europe and
this country." Then folding up the paper he looked the men
in the eye and said : " That is Communism. That means
blood. It means the loss of confidence on the part of the em- '
plovers and spending the strength for nought on the part of the
workingmen. You are being misled by agitators. The devil
is at the bottom of the whole business. There is no love in it,
no kindness, no honor. It is pandering to the worst element
in our natures, and no one knows what will grow out of it.
They have just gone through a crisis in Europe. The result is,
thousands of the dissatisfied are pouring into this country. The
war has given them a field suited to their bloodthirsty natures.
They could join the army, though, as a rule, they made poor
soldiers, because they object to government and authority, and
112 SAM HOBART.
in the army there must be discipline. Hence they desert, take
a new name, and become bounty-jumpers.
" We had two of them on the train the other day. For a
time it seemed as if they would clean out the officials and take
possession."
" Tell us about it," shouted a half dozen at the same time.
" Well," said Sam, " I saw then what it was to contend with
an unchained devil. They had boarded the train at Framing-
ham. The conductor came to collect the fare. They replied :
" ' Guess this road can afford to carry us free. 7
" ' Fare, gentlemen,' said the conductor.
" The men looked up, and with an oath told him to go to
perdition. The conductor called a brakeman, and demanded
the fare. They refused. The train was stopped, and they
attempted to put them off. Out came their revolvers. Then
came the fight. The bell-rope was pulled. The engine was
stopped. I was called in. There was a train full of passen-
gers, frightened and helpless. Every one was afraid of being
shot, and no one wanted to mix in the fight. The conductor
and brakeman were being beaten, and the car was being emptied
of men and women "
u Well, what did you do?"
" I took hold as best I could, and saved the conductor's life
and endangered my own. One of the men I threw off the train
in a disabled condition, and the other we took to Worcester
and locked him up. Imagine ten thousand such desperadoes
loose in a town. That is what this doctrine of the Interna-
tionals means, and the time will come when, if this doctrine
spreads, America will have trouble. I am in sympathy with the
words posted on the gate where a crowd of these workingmen,
so called, were to assemble to listen to inflammatory appeals.
1 Stand still where you are,' said the paper, ' and think
before going further in this path of danger. An hour's work
may cost millions of money and hundreds of lives. All the
lives lost will not be on one side only, and the money will come
back on the people to be paid out of the taxes to be imposed
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 113
on all. Powder burns more than one hand when it is used.
Keep on the side of law, and keep the law on the side of
laborers. If they want to right their wrongs, they must keep in
the path of right. ' This is true. There is a great deal of talk
about capital being the enemy of labor. That is not true.
Capital and labor must work together. The capitalist and the
laborer are partners now in business, and it requires good faith
on both sides to make business profitable. Neither prospers
alone. It is my faith, men, that we should beware of men who
talk violence, riot, and bloodshed."
" Are you not a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers ?"
"/a**"
" Would you as an engineer give up your engine if ordered
to do so for the good of the Order ?"
" What ! betray a company that took me when a boy into
their employ, and have brought me up and opened every path
of promotion and prosperity to me, treating me with uniform
kindness from the first to the present ? Would I leave this
company's interests to be sacrificed and join a party determined
to make war upon them because of the behest of some one at a
distance ? / would not. ' '
" Then you are not worthy to belong to the Order. "
" / am," said Sam. " My reason for saying so is this : A
man must be true to the trust given him if he would be of
value anywhere. Some claim because I am a Mason that I am
bound to do wrong. I would not do wrong for Masonry,
knowingly, nor for anything else. A false man is never a true
man. In joining the Brotherhood I joined to help my fellow-
craftsmen, not to injure the company. It is my faith that the
better engineers we are, the more value we are to the company.
If we let go of this purpose we are lost. It seems to me that
you are all in peril. At times I have been under conviction.
Those words of the preacher in his sermon to us still ring in
my ears, ' Accept Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the
life. Jesus was true to God and true to men. Whoever
114 SAM HOBART.
accepts the guidance of this light entereth a path which shall
grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Do this for
the world's sake as well as your own.' '
" You a preacher, Sara ?' "
" No ; but I am thinking that we are treading very close to
danger. The best way for us is to work on, keep the wheels
moving, and avoid everything that makes an unfriendly feeling
with those who have all the risks of business both for them-
selves and for workingrnen. Turn away from bad advisers, and
above all, don't unchain the tiger. "
These words cost him much sorrow of heart. The isolation
of a man that will not bow down to the image set up by other
hands, gets into trouble in Boston as in Babylon, where, be-
cause of such a refusal, Daniel was cast into the lion's den.
Sam's apprehensions were well founded. It was in 1866
when these words were spoken. He had defined his position.
He stood with the men who stood with him.
Let us close this chapter by quoting from " The Annals of
the Great Strikes in the United States," by Hon. J. A. Dacus,
Ph.D., in which the battle between capital and labor of 1877
is described. Truly did he say the events where phenomenal.
" A republic still regarded in the light of an experiment, hav-
ing lately terminated a long and fierce sectional conflict by en-
gaging in one of the greatest wars of modern times ; having
achieved order, reconciliation, and peace between all sections ;
having demonstrated the greatness and magnanimity of the
people ; having extorted from the enemies of liberal institutions
acknowledgments that self-government was a possibility ; hav-
ing accomplished all these things, this republic suddenly startles
the world, drowns the noise of strife on the Bulgarian plains
and among the Balkans, and draws exclusive attention to a
social emeute on this side of the Atlantic, unparalleled in the
annals of time." . . .
11 Sudden as a thunderburst from a clear sky the crisis came
upon the country. Hundreds of thousands of men belonging
to the laboring classes, alleging that they were wronged and
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 115
oppressed, ceased to work, seized railroads, closed factories,
foundries, shops, and mills, and laid a complete embargo on
all internal commerce, interrupted travel, and bid defiance to
the ordinary instrument of legal authority. Commencing at
Camden Station, Baltimore, July 17th, 1877, and at Martins-
burgh, West Virginia, in three days the movement had extended
to Pittsburgh, Newark, Ohio, Hornelisville, N. Y., Fort Wayne
Ind., and a hundred other -points. State militia forces were
encountered and repelled. The whole country seemed stricken
by a profound dread of impending rum. In the large cities
the cause of the strikers was espoused by a nondescript class of
the idle, the vicious, the visionary, and the whole rabble of the
pariahs of society. No standing army was available, and these
classes absolutely controlled the country."
PITTSBURGH IN THE HANDS OF THE MOB.
Without attempting to give a history of the strike, let us, as
an illustration of the manner in which Sam's forebodings were
realized, glean some of these terrible facts from the narrative.
" At noon Friday, July 20th, the strikers and other workingtnen
held a meeting in the yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany, which was attended by a vast crowd of people. Then the
State militia came in and took their places along the tracks.
The citizens of Pittsburgh as a mass were decided in expres-
sions of sympathy with the strikers. The spirit of the Inter-
nationals was revelling in fiendish delight. Women taunted
soldiers and encouraged the canaille to deeds of violence. It
was a repetition of the scenes witnessed in Paris, in those terri-
ble days when the Commune rose in 1871, only on a less scale.
It was a new experience to meet with women in mobs. But
they were abroad now, and exerted an influence for evil that
can scarcely be estimated. All night the uproar was contin-
ued. Pittsburgh was fast becoming drunk with passion dark,
unrelenting, devilish passion, that would hesitate to commit no
crime, shrink not from any deed of horror. . , . The law-
116 SAM HOBART.
abiding citizens were in a state of alarm and trepidation. ' They
stood,' in the language of Statins, ' in silent astonishment,
and waited for the fall of the yet doubtful thunderbolt. ' But
the surging masses of the strikers and the mob were neither
silent nor astonished. They neither knew when, nor cared
how, the impending bolt would fall. Vast multitudes of men
of the lowest character, largely of boys from sixteen to twenty,
actuated by the most brutal passions, were assembled for the
sole purpose of inaugurating a reign of terror among the people,
and to light the torch of destruction in the city. Clamoring
for a redress of grievances which they were unable to formulate
or distinctly specify, the mighty throngs of uneasy spirits who
had been called into action in consequence of the railroad
strikes, were preparing to commit the most heinous crimes
against the peace and order of society. These men had no
grievances to be redressed. They were the vagrants of our
modern social organization. They prated of the downfall of
liberty, when in truth they did not have a comprehension of the
meaning of the word. Liberty is a proud spirit ; it regards
government as the true instrument of human happiness, and re-
sists it only when it becomes manifestly prejudicial to happi-
ness. It is consistent with a sense of duty and a willingness to
bear just restraint, and uncombined with these it achieves noth-
ing lasting.
" It was an hour fraught with momentous events. A city con-
taining a population of more than 120,000 was without law, in
the complete possession of a vast mob, armed, vindictive, and
cruel. The demoniac yells, the laud profanity, the terrible
threats, were united to swell the awful volume of angry noises.
It seemed as if the infernal regions had been emptied of its
myriads of fiends, who were released for the purpose of enact-
ing on earth the orgies of hell. Men, women, old and young,
high and low, both sexes, all conditions, all orders, all classes
in life, came forth and joined the angry, surging tide of
humanity that incessantly ebbed and flowed through the streets
of the fated city.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 117
The strikers were resolute and determined. But the chief
danger was in the presence of an immense number of vagrants
and tramps, idle miners and roughs of every character.
Strange to say, there was a large element in the population of
Pittsburgh, who had the reputation of being respectable people
tradesmen, householders, well-to-do mechanics and such
who were witnesses of the progress of the turbulent mob, and
who not only did not protest against their proceedings, but
openly mingled with them and encouraged them to commit
deeds of violence.
" Stores full of arms had been burst open and robbed. Whis-
key flowed in streams, and men and women drank to their fill.
Immense amounts of valuable property, arrested in transit, filled
long lines of freight cars on the railway tracks and were
burned. Splendid stores and luxuriously appointed mansions
were all placed at the mercy of a mob which had set law at
defiance. Municipal government was at an end, police
authority despised, and even the government of a great State
openly defied.
THE STORM BURSTS.
"It was half past one o'clock Sunday morning, July 22d,
when the fire-bells rang out ; the awful announcement was
made that the depot and cars and city were being fired. The
militia were driven out of the city. The machine-shop, eleva-
tors, car- sheds filled with freight cars, the great hotels were on
fire.
" About noon Sunday a mass-meeting of citizens was called
and a committee composed of bishops, clergymen, and others
was appointed to confer with the mob. They would not hear
them. The property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
was being wholly consumed, and the mob would not allow one
drop of water to be thrown upon the burning, seething mass.
Then the work of pillage began. Cars were broken open and
every one helped themselves as they desired. Fat Irishwomen
were seen carrying a pair of white slippers suited to a delicate
118 SAM HOBART.
lady ; another would roll a barrel of flour along the sidewalk ;
boys hurried through the crowd with large-sized family Bibles
as their share of the plunder, while scores of females took and
carried off whatever they could lay their hands on, without
regard to utility, and thus it went on until at last the citizens
arose, formed a vigilance committee, and prevented further
incendiarism. The reign of the mob was over. It came to all
that hell was not paradise. The citizens who were in sympa-
thy with the strikers at the outset had been alienated from
them by the deeds of the communistic mob, and the revulsion
was so marked and so dangerous in its symptoms that the law-
breakers naturally felt alarmed. Thus this spirit of violence
sped westward. In Kansas City, Mo., reason resumed its
sway, and at a meeting held on July 24th, between the execu-
tive committee appointed by the strikers and the arbitration
committee, the strikers passed a resolution declaring their de-
sire to see business resumed on all the railroads throughout the
land, and expressing confidence in the justice and fair-minded-
ness of the railroad managers, and declaring their readiness to
resume work ; and so the strike which began without reason
ended without redress of injuries or advancement of wages."
Had Sam's advice been taken when he plead for brotherhood
among engineers and for respect of property and law, this
strike had been avoided.
The charge is made that Colonel Thomas A. Scott was re-
sponsible for the destruction of property at Pittsburgh. ' i He
could/' says a writer, " have arrested the progress of the
strike ; he could have ended the conflict ; he could have
calmed the rising storm of heated passion ; he could have
swept away the volumes of human misery that were rolling on ;
he could have extinguished the little flame that threatened to
become a conflagration ; aye, with a word he could have stayed
the stroke of the angel of death which waited to descend upon
scores of wretched beings, driven by hunger to desperation.
But he would not." That is one side. Let us behold the
other. In a letter published in the New York Herald July
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 119
25th, 1877, he says : " I see an account of an interview with
P. M. Arthur, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, in
which he states that if Thomas A. Scott had gone himself to
Pittsburgh, bloodshed and arson would have been averted.
4 Whenever the officers of a road have met the Brotherhood and
have evinced a disposition to treat with us, we have had no
strike ; it is only whenever they have refused to arbitrate with
us that we have had a strike as the only means of redress.' '
" In response to this permit me to say," said Thomas A.
Scott, " that this whole statement is most unfair to me and the
company. The first intimation of this strike was given me
after I had retired for the night at a point on the Delaware
River twenty miles from Philadelphia, and the strike was in-
augurated without any attempt to have a conference with the
officers of the company. So much was this the case that the
Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division had started East
with his family and was on his way to Altoona, where the
strike took place, and the trains of the company were stopped.
. . . At all times and under all circumstances, when the
men in the service of our company have come to meet the
officers of the road for conference they have been promptly
and courteously met. It is not more than a month since a
large delegation of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
had a conference with me at the office in this city, where every-
thing pertaining to the question of reduction was fully dis-
cussed, the result of which was that the men, representing, as
they stated to me, the engineers and firemen, addressed me a
letter stating that the reason given for the reduction of wages
caused by the great depression of the business of the country
was entirely satisfactory to them, and that they would stand
thoroughly and firmly by the company."
This proves, as Sam delighted to say, that there was no
trouble in getting on with employers, if employes would
remember that the interests of capital and labor are identical,
and that men occupying positions of responsibility have often-
times more trouble than those whose responsibilities are less.
120 SAM HOB ART.
The riot at Pittsburgh and the disasters which came upon the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company broke the heart of President
Scott. It is said that when he visited the Iron City after the
calamities had come upon it, as he rode through the streets he
wept like a child, and exclaimed, "This is enough to break one's
faith in human nature." The iron entered his soul. He was
never the same man after it. He who had served the nation
as assistant secretary of war and had revealed traits of character
so invaluable that the nation without him would have been
poor, and who had built up the Pennsylvania Railroad and
planned connections for it through the south and west, which
made it a felt power in the nation, saw in the four million of
dollars of property consumed because of the lawlessness of men
that which blocked the path to enterprise and put far off the
consummation of the hopes of which he had dreamed and for
which he had toiled.
THE FAITH OF WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT REWARDED.
On the New York Central Railroad every effort was made to
induce the employes to swerve from their loyalty and surrender
to the communistic spirit of the hour. Those who remember
the faith of William H. Vanderbilt, the president of the road,
in the men who worked it, will recall how he stood almost
alone in the nation, unshaken in purpose and undismayed by
disaster. Though commerce was arrested and industry para-
lyzed and property was being reduced in value or rendered
utterly worthless, he remained uncompromising and firm.
Henry George in " Progress and Poverty," p. 84, described
the condition of affairs when he said : u A strike, which is the
only recourse by which a trades-union can enfore its demands,
is a destructive contest ; just such a contest as that to which an
eccentric called the i Money King' once in the early days of
San Francisco challenged a man who had taunted him with
meanness, that they should go down to the wharf and alternately
toss twenty-dollar gold pieces into the bay until one gave in.
The struggle of endurance involved in a strike is really what it
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 121
has often been compared to a war ; and like all war it lessens
wealth. And the organization for it must, like the organiza-
tion for war, be tyrannical. As even the man who lights for
freedom must, when he enters an army, give up his personal
freedom and become a mere part in a great machine, so must
it be with workmen who organize for a strike. These combina-
tions aTe, therefore, necessarily destructive of the very things
which workmen seek to gain through them wealth and free-
dom. " Every one saw this truth standing forth in startling
proportions. Peril was in the air. The country became
alarmed. The trunk line of the Pennsylvania Road was
broken. The Erie Road was in the hands of the mob. So
was the Baltimore and Ohio. Let the New York Central go
and all was gone. New York, Philadelphia, and even Washing-
ton were at the mercy of men without character, without prop-
erty, without responsibility. William II. Vanderbilt saw the
peril and stood like a rock in mid-ocean, undaunted and undis-
turbed by the wild waves of riot that threatened him. It was
then proven that nothing is so great as greatness, and nothing
is so small as smallness. As in the days when John Jacob
Astor was in the zenith of his power, men came to him and de-
manded that he should divide his property with the mob. His
reply was, " That would do you no good. You don't know
enough to keep wealth if you had it. I should get it back in a
little time, if I gave it to you. I am now but your agent, and I
am doing the work so well that I keep the wolf from your door.
You had better let me alone. You will make by it. " The old
man spoke wisely. So William II. Vanderbilt grasped the
situation and became the big brother of the concern. While
Pittsburgh was in flames and the riot was in progress, William
II. Vanderbilt telegraphed his superintendent, J. W r . Tilling-
hast, then in Buffalo, saying : " I have every confidence in the
good sense and stability of a large majority of our employes.
The whole country is now looking most anxiously on them, and
I feel confident that they will sustain their reputation and that
of the road by making common cause ; having the fullest
122 SAM HOBART.
assurance that when the business of the country will justify it,
they will receive compensation accordingly."
Z, C. Priest telegraphed that " on the Eastern Division a large
majority are well informed and have a reputation they do not
wish to tarnish." This faith held them. President Vander-
bilt was at Saratoga and stood firm. July 23d came. Though
his men had been driven out from their shop and the demand
had been made for a restoration of the former rate of wages, he
said, u The proposition could not be entertained for a moment.
The owners of the road could not consent to let the employes
manage it." <5 There is a great principle involved in this
matter," said Mr. Vanderbilt, " and we cannot afford to yield,
and the country cannot afford to have us yield." " I put
great confidence in our men. There is a perfect understanding
between the heads of departments and the employes, and they
appreciate, I think, so thoroughly the identity of interest be-
tween themselves and us that I cannot for a moment believe
they will have any part in this business. I am proud of the
men of the Central Road, and my groat trust in them is
founded on their intelligent appreciation of the business situa-
tion at the present time. If they shall stand firm in the present
crisis it will be a triumph of good sense over blind fury and
fanaticism. Our business relations with all our men on the
Central are shaped, as they fully understand, by the emergen-
cies of the business situation. Their hope, like ours, is for
better times. We have simply done what wo have been
obliged to do, and they comprehend this thoroughly."
" In case of trouble, what then, Mr. Vanderbilt ?"
" We shall run trains just as long as the public authorities
afford us protection from desperadoes. The railroad is an in- ,
stitution for the accommodation of the public, and as such is
entitled to public protection. When we can no longer run our
trains we shall close our shop, but we shall control our roads
so long as we run them. No demand made in a juncture like
the present or accompanied by a display of force or intimida-
tion, will receive any consideration at our hands, and so far as
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AXD CAPITAL. 123
the Central is concerned we do not expect any trouble. The
persons, I notice, who are doing much of the mischief 'are not
railroad men at all, and I expect that our Central employes
would defend the property of the railroad rather than take
sides with the rioters. They are men generally who are proud
of their road, and whose instinct would lead them to fight for
It rather than against it." Notwithstanding there was said to
be a strike, Mr. Yanderbilt did not believe it. He stood by
the men and said, u I am not informed of any strike on the
part of Central employes. They had been driven out of tho
shop by a crowd of rioters and had been forced to stop work.
That was all there was of it."
REPORTER. li What about the demand for an increase of
twenty-five per cent in wages ?"
MR. VANDERBILT. " I have received no such demand from
the men of the Central. A despatch was received last night
embracing something of the sort, but I would not insult the
men of the Central by attributing it to them. He believed
that the rioters belonged to the communistic classes who were
determined to pillage and destroy, and the government must
protect business. He still had confidence in his men.* The
conditions of law and order are to be sought for. The entire
* As the proof-sheets of this book come before me I read on this
May 3d, 1883, the story of his retirement from the position of rail-
way president, after expressing his sincere thanks to all the employes
of the different companies for the assistance and co-operation they
have rendered him in the performance of his dnties, and the following
timely words of regret from the directors associated with him :
Resolved, That the directors learn with regret the determination of
William H. Vanderbilt to no longer act as president of the company.
For nineteen years his administration first of the Hudson Kiver Rail-
road Company and subsequently of the consolidated New York Cen-
tral and Hudson River corporation has met the unanimous approval
of the stockholders. The record shows a business success unexam-
pled in the management of companies of this character, due mainly
to the skill and fidelity with which he has conducted the affairs of the
corporations.
124 SAM HOBART.
difficulty springs from outsiders, and should be so dealt
with."
The country became alarmed. Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh,
and Baltimore had been terrorized and threatened by the mob.
In the mean time the inhabitants of the great cities saw that the
public was quite as dependent upon the railroads as the rail-
roads were upon the public. The famine of India would be
reproduced in America in four weeks if the lines of railways
were broken. They hold the keys to our warehouses. They
control our supplies of fuel and food. Sam Hobart saw it in
1867. Everybody saw in 1877 that if the capabilities of the
railroads were destroyed, in a short time bread riots, starvation,
bloodshed, carnage, and suffering would become terrible facts.
Hence all breathed freer when the words, ' ' The strike is
ended," were seen on the head-lines, and it was known that
danger was averted for the moment. It might spring up again
any moment. Confidence in employers and in employes was a
necessity, and the religion of Christ can alone meet this felt
want.
Among the utterances Sam delighted to quote was this :
" One set informs the world that it is to be regenerated by
cheap bread, free trade, and that peculiar form of the freedom
of industry which in plain language signifies, ' the despotism
of capital ' and which, whatever it means, is merely some out-
ward system, circumstance or * dodge ' about man and not in
him. Another party's nostrum is more churches, more schools,
more clergymen excellent things in their way, better things
than cheap bread or free trade, provided only that they are ex-
cellent that the churches, schools, clergymen, are good ones.
For my part, I seem to have learned that the only thing to
regenerate the world is not more of any system, good or bad,
but simply more of the Spirit of God."
Though when the storm broke upon the land Sam Hobart
was in his grave, it is apparent that had he been in health and
strength he would have been a peacemaker between employers
and employed, and if peace had been impossible he would
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL. 125
have stood with those who stood with him and who leaned
upon him with assuring confidence, as the men of the New York
Central stood with Mr. Vanderbilt. Such men are invaluable
at any time and in any place. On men thus principled busi-
ness interests rest with assuring confidence, and to them rewards
for well-doing come in time and in eternity.
CHAPTER X.
THE REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE THEIR
OPPORTUNITY.
ENOUGH is not made of the men who bear the burdens of our
commercial life. They are the " epistles" of the nation, known
and read of all men. They are composed of employers and of
employed. Of men who produce, whether in the factory or in
the field, and who handle commodities, whether in the store, in
the warehouse, or on the thoroughfares of transportation and
exchange. All are linked together. Try as much as men
choose, it is found that society is composed of a system of
mutual interdependence. The president of the railroad and
the switch-tender, the engineer and the fireman, the conductor
and the brakeman, the manufacturer and the operator, the
people who buy and the people who sell, the people who raise
grain and they who eat it, are identified in interest. This
truth we are apt to forget. Ever and anon Providence lifts the
cover off from society, and humanity stands unroofed before the
people as it always is before God. We see the palpitating
heart, the active brain, the implacable will, and get conceptions
of the forces which influence, mould, and fashion the destinies
of men. We look down into depths of struggle, of strife, of
poverty, of trial, of wearying care, of distress, of perplexity,
and of doubt, of which we had no conception. Every individ-
ual knows much about his own troubles, but he knows very
little of those which beset and give distress to his neighbor.
It is natural for all to think much of their own cares and not
to think of those which come to their neighbors.
The sorrows of the poor are on the world's broad tongue.
They can be heard. Society's ear is open to them. The press
REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE. 127
voices their murmurs and articulates their distress. At times
the opinion prevails that there are no other sorrows except
those endured by the struggling sons of toil. Few think of
the sorrows of the rich. Little is said about the perplexities
of the employer. We forget that capitalists are compelled to
contend with capitalists as man contends with his fellow.
That a railroad president, representing millions of money and
thousands of men who seek employment and stock held as a
chief dependence by widows and orphans, is compelled to cope
with another president as an individual and as the head of a
rival corporation, while at the same time he is under obliga-
tions to protect the interests of stockholders as though he was
personally interested in their individual profits and losses.
Who ever thinks of the cares that infest the rich, that rob them
of rest, and that fill them with anxiety, more because of those
dependent upon them than because of themselves ? And yet
these men who stand at the head of affairs in banks, in stores,
in factories, in railroads, and in numberless other positions of
trust, are our epistles as much as are the men who march in
trades- unions or who clamor against a fall in wages.
This society forgets, and yet it deserves to be remembered,
that the helpless may be helped, the wants of the needy sup-
plied, energies directed, and efforts to better one's condition
encouraged. It is often said that Christianity and trade do not
go well together. It is beginning to be apparent that trade can-
not get on satisfactorily without Christianity. There is a moral
law. There is a spiritual realm. It surrounds us. It is a part
of us. Violate its laws and society is dismembered. If em-
ployers ignore the rights of the weak and the poor, God be-
comes their champion and spoils those who spoiled them.
If the employed trample upon the rights of employers, burn,
rend, and destroy in their mad folly, and they are not restrained,
society is robbed of every claim to respect. An opportunity
has come to unbend. In the past there has been growing up a
caste feeling ; workingmen have divided themselves off into
classes. These men have acted as though they lived in a world
128 SAM HOBART.
by themselves, and somehow could manage and control the
business which devolved upon others. All this Sam fought
with all his might. lie did not believe that boards of direction
could afford to ignore the interests of those represented. He
felt that the true rule was the golden rule, " As ye would that
others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." This
he said has been understood to apply to those who stood on a
level, but not to reach up or down. Moral law plays like a
piston, up and down. It comes from God and descends to the
lowest, the weakest, and the most dependent. The time has
come when employers should put themselves in the place of the
employed, and when the employed should put themselves in
the place of the employer. The noble manner in which this
principle has been illustrated in the management of some of the
great manufacturing interests of the land deserves all praise.
No greater mistake was ever made than the one contained in
the supposition that men of property have no interest in the
people who toil. How absurd the theory. The most of them
came up from the small to the large, because they proved trust-
worthy. Society has to lean on something, and will lean on
the best it can find. If you want confidence, deserve it and
you will have it, was Sam's principle of action. Could work-
ingmen hear how they are praised in the home-circle for well-
doing ; could they understand how true it is that the men who
are successful employers must be in sympathy with the wants
of men employed, I am sure thousands of hearts would be
opened toward them which are now closed.
Each class of employments has its peculiar advantages and its
peculiar dangers. As each approaches the highest point of de-
velopment, they draw nearer and nearer toward one another as
the opposite sides of a pyramid, far apart at the base, meet at
the top.
There are those who make ignorance of everything outside
of their business their glory. They shut their doors to all the
world beyond a narrow circle. Over the gates of their minds
they write "No admittance except on business." They live in
REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE. 129
a narrow world. History is a blank, poetry an untravelled
wilderness, and science an unexplored realm. Books and
knowledge and wise discourse and the amenities of life are like
words in a strange tongue. To the hard, smooth surface of
their souls, nothing genial, graceful, or winning will cling.
They cannot afford thus to live. God is above them and asks
for love. Humanity is beneath and around them and cries for
help.
Suppose men of wealth should strike. Suppose the owners
of railroads should refuse to run them, the men who handle
grain should refuse to buy it ; suppose the men of wealth
should imitate the men of poverty, what would become of us ?
It is a fact that a man worth millions is under no greater obli-
gations to use the means in his possession wisely than is the
man who only has his labor to depend upon. The man with
five talents who used them did wisely ; but the man with one
talent who hid it in the earth did foolishly. If men of wealth,
of position, and of power should refuse to put forth exertion,
our cities would be filled with starving multitudes, our farmers
would be impoverished because of the lack of ability to ex-
change their crops for money necessary to supply the waste of
machinery ; our miners would be out of employ, and death
and destruction would come upon all classes.
The value of commercial integrity as a source of thrift is
overlooked. There are those who trust to shrewdness and
sharpness, and suavity rather than to honor, honesty, and up-
rightness. It is a mistake. The merchants who deal with
men as if they never expected to see them again, cannot com-
pare with those who seek to do a safe business by giving satis-
faction as an inducement to trade on the morrow. The mer-
chants of France and Italy are not expected to tell the truth.
The result is apparent in the lack of wholesale establishments.
Paris and Rome are not commercial centres and never can be
until truthfulness and integrity become their characteristics.
The same is true of men who toil. The man who seeks to do
no more than he agreed to do, who is ever playing sharp and
130 SAM HOB ART.
shrewd with his employer, will not be able to compete with the
man or men who make the interest of their employer their in-
terests. 44 What is the secret of your success ?" said a man to
Deacon John G. Whipple. <4 My employers know that I
Httend to their business and that on quarter day they get every
dollar that is due them." That was only a part of the truth.
He was as true to the men with whom he did business as to
those who employed him. Every one trusted him because he
was true to every one.
Such a man is a success no matter where he begins. A man
who does with perfect accuracy and thoroughness what his
hand finds to do, what is ordinary and established in the
routine of business, and has always a sure and piercing glance
ahead and around, is sure of success. In every walk of life
there are certain minutiae which are visible only to the man of
insight, and to be seized only by the man of tact, but which
are yet the tender, scarce perceptible filaments leading to for-
tune's mines. If you know not how to seize those, no matter
where you start, you are sure to meet with defeat ; but if you
know how to seize them, start where you may, the smiles of
fortune may be secured.
Let love exist and let it be without dissimulation. Cleave to
' that which is good and right and true, and abhor that which is
evil. This do because such characteristics ennoble and enlarge
men.
" Do you not believe that the illustration of the teachings of
the gospel is the main safeguard of the country ?" said a father
to his son.
44 I do," was the reply.
44 Why, then, do you not seek to help the country by living
in conformity with the teachings of the Word of God ?"
44 Because I am not pious. "
44 But you ought to be pious."
44 I know that ; but I am not, and until I am I will not enter
upon such a life."
Does not that opinion prevail ? Is not God's government
REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE. 131
ignored because men do not profess religion ? We cannot
afford to have it ignored. This is professedly a Christian
'land. Is it so ? Does a youth find here an open door to be
and do all that he finds within himself the capacity of being
and doing ? All know he does not. The way to apprentice-
ship, to trades, is blocked by men who object to new-comers
because of the peril threatening wages. The dog in the
rnanger that could not eat hay and would not let the ox do it
was as generous, as wise, as far-seeing as is such a man.
Despotism in the small lives in communities. It is seen
among men who control wages as well as among men who pay
wages. It is impossible for liberty to exist in the large when
it is rejected by the individual. Hence the make-up of our
great cities creates uneasiness and apprehension. A city is
connected by a myriad net-work of electric communication
with all parts of the country, and the powerful and assimilative
influence of intercommunication with all parts of the country is
ever operating. The nerves of the social body, diverging from
the sensorium, lie along the channels of commercial, literary,
and religious correspondence, affiliating every village, neigh-
borhood, and hamlet in sympathetic and dependent existence,
and diffusing the influence of wealth and arts and letters to the
farthest bounds of the state, and a reacting influence of every
event occurring in every part of the land, and almost of the
world, vibrates along these nerves and is tremblingly felt at the
centres of trade. Let us remember this. Let not the head
ignore the hand or the heart or the foot. Let the head, the
heart, the hand, and the foot be in accord. u Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor
trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us
richly all things to enjoy ; that they do good, that they be rich
in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate ;
laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the
time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." *
Honor all men and cultivate respect for all classes. Poets,
* 1 Tim. 6 : 17.
132 SAM HOBART.
orators, sculptors, painters, artists, writers, mechanics live and
thrive in cities and in the land because each is necessary to all.
The providence of God summons the representatives of our
commercial life to posts of responsibility and of influence such
as the men of Babylon, Tyre, and Sidon never knew. When
I think of what is to be the future of America, if the men who
now live shall find it in their hearts to respect the rights of
their fellows ; when her wildernesses shall be converted into
fruitful fields, and her deserts are made to bud and blossom as
the rose ; when the mineral, the agricultural, and the manufact-
uring wealth of the nation is developed ; when cotton-fiuld shall
wave greetings to wheat-field ; when the toilers in the South
shall vie with the laborers of the North in promoting the ad-
vancement of every healthful enterprise ; when the men who
stand at the gateways of traffic in the East shall faithfully repre-
sent the men who work on the vast prairies and deep-flowing
rivers, among the mines of the Western mountains, and on the
shores of the Pacific, then shall come such a largeness of bless-
ing as shall fill the garner of national hope, and glorify a people
called of God to lead the highest and best thought of the ages.
An opportunity to proclaim the friendship of God to all has
come. God cares for the poor. Proof of this fact is found in
the very construction of society and in the declarations of the
Bible, from Deuteronomy to Revelation.
God also cares for the rich. The crown of the wise is their
riches. To him that hath shall be given, and he shall have
more abundantly. They are held responsible for the use or
abuse of their trust. If they are not faithful in the unrighteous
Mammon, He will not commit to them the true riches. God
holds all responsible for the use or misuse of their powers.
No man, no city, no state occupies an isolated position.
Sodom and Gomorrah, Nineveh and Babylon went to the wall,
not because they lacked position or were not well situated for
trade, but because they neglected opportunities to advance the
interests of the race.
Trade finds its foundation stone and its security in confidence
REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE. 133
derived from conduct which harmonizes with the claims of the
gospel. Commercial honor is a power as well as a praise.
With that preserved inviolate, a man may be poor in purse but
of inestimable value in the community. To sustain and help
such fortunes are pledged. It is possible for all to obtain the
. boon. These opportunities are within more than without.
The country holds thousands who are ready to pay for capacity
linked to honor aud trustworthiness. Have you that which
meets the demand ? New doors to usefulness are opening every
hour. Grand opportunities are ever presenting themselves to
men who have the discernment to see them and the capacity to
meet the requirements of the position. Let us rejoice that
there are about us so many models of excellence. Christian
men stand as pillars of support in this land which uphold the
nation's name and fame. Be workers with them. Lead for-
ward in the way of life.
" Ah, the wrongs that might be righted,
If we would but see the way ;
Ah, the pains that might be lightened
Every hour and every day,
If we would but hear the pleadings
Of the hearts that go astray.
Le us step outside the stronghold
Of our selfishness and pride ;
Let us lift our fainting brothers,
Let us strengthen ere we chide.
Let us, ere we blame the fallen,
Hold a light to cheer and guide.
Ah, how blessed, ah, how blessed
Earth would be, if we would try
Thus to aid and right the weaker,
Thus to check each brother's sigh ;
Thus to walk in duty's pathway
To our better life on high."
An opportunity for the display of love has come. Let it
exist. There is but little of it in comparison with what there
should be. That man that manifests an interest in another's
134 SAM HOI3ART.
welfare, that greets employer or employed with a smile, that is
not afraid to sacrifice self for the good of another, will succeed.
This insight is the gift of God. Believe in him and serve
him, and it shall be welL Refuse to serve him, and it shall not
be well. God never forgets. How wonderful the words of
Jacob to Simeon andLevi at the last : " Instruments of cruelty
are in your habitations. O, my soul, come not thou into
their secret ; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou
united : for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-
will they digged down a wall."
"Will the conduct of men be forgotten, who for selfish pur-
poses have turned back the wheels of progress and brought
starvation and penury to thousands of homes ? Will he not
say again : "Cursed be their anycr for it was fierce, and their
wrath for it was cruel " ?
The key to prosperity is within our reach. It is knocking
at the door. It is ready to enter in and shed the glad smile of
its benefaction over home and workshop, over store and fac-
tory, over field and mine. It has been ordained that honesty,
industry, integrity, fair dealing, and brotherly kindness enable
any man to unlock the gates which to others are locked and
barred, providing the conditions of honesty are met. It is
never found in unsettling values nor in dishonest practices.
Just balances and just weights are essential to the prosperity of
all classes. Honesty is more than the best policy ; it is duty.
Take from the nation " the wisdom of the wise and the under-
standing of the prudent, and it hasteneth to ruin." God holds
each one responsible for using time, talent, and money for the
advancement of man's highest interests. God summons his
children by the voice of truth to sublime endeavor. It is be-
cause God does not die, but lives in the darkness as in the
light, and watches from on high to reward honesty and integrity
and to frown upon trickery and fraud, that no matter how the
pendulum swing of human opinion falls away from the correct
standard, it must come back, and that society learns that noth-
ing is surely and safely settled until it is settled right. In a
REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR COMMERCIAL LIFE. 135
room filled with pianos, whoever strikes a key causes every
similar chord to yield a responsive tone, and so good deeds
exert their influence. Christ touching the key-board of our
lives strikes chords that run through the world.
A missionary mingling with all classes declared that in his
opinion nothing was wanting to secure continued prosperity but
that each man would go to the help of his fellow, according to
God's law of brotherly kindness. Let fidelity characterize
capacity, let honor distinguish the trusted. Sam used to love
to say that because these principles find embodiment in human
action there is prosperity. Nearly every good and trusty me-
chanic has all he can do. Let laborers of every class make it
for the interest of capital to employ labor and there will be no
hard times. The winter of neglect will change to the summer
air of brotherly kindness.
CHAPTER XI.
SAM'S FAITH, OR WHOM SHALL WE TRUST ?
IN Sam's estimation, nothing was nobler than a trustworthy
man, and he believed that in answering this question " Whom
shall we trust ?" we permit the noblest characteristics of man-
hood to engage the thought, and give to the possession of the
individual the key which unlocks the riddle of another's life
and solves the mysteries of his own.
Trust, whether exercised in another or reposed in one's self,
is never an accident. It is a plant of slow growth, reared with
diligent and unwearying care, and is easily injured, and may be
quickly destroyed. It is essential to life. The fact meets us
at the threshold of existence, and in many ways occupies our
attention from the cradle to the grave. Men are strong or
weak, noble or mean, brave or cowardly, because of what they
confide in or trust. Faith grows out of trust. Government
finds here its corner-stone, and its administration depends
entirely upon what men build their hopes upon and in whom
they trust. No question can be freighted with graver respon-
sibilities, no matter where asked or by whom answered. Man
is so constituted that independence in an absolute sense is an
impossibility. Circumstances beyond our reach control us.
Ties which other natures have interlaced with our own being
bring us into subjection. Trust is essential to individual life.
Society is its outgrowth, civilization and Christianity its fruit.
Trust is the girdle of strength for individuals and nations.
Diffuse it broadcast, and there is peace. Destroy it, and there
is war. Trust makes fraternity, freedom, and prosperity possi-
bilities. Distrust uproots the foundations of social order, racks
SAM'S FAITH, OR WHOM SHALL WE TRUST ? 137
society with revolutions, and writes its plaintive story on the
faces of men, on the street and in the home. Laws regulate
and govern its growth. Obey them and life becomes fruitful
of buds and flowers. The soul twines its tendrils about strong
supports, which carry the fruitage of life into the ripening
sunshine of love, and cause the child of promise to walk the
roadways of God.
Disobey these laws, trifle with this instinct of the human
soul, and you wound and demoralize the spiritual nature,
change society from being an Eden into a desert, and convert
the heir and prop of your existence into an Ishmael, whose
hand shall be against his fellow because he has learned to
regard the world as his hunting ground and man as his foe.
No trust tells a sorry story, whether seen on the sign of the
village store, on the shrewd and suspicious look of a commu-
nity, or in the revolutionary and unmanageable spirit that dis-
tinguishes so large a portion of the world. Society is made up
of systems of mutual dependencies. In a civilized state men
and women must trust. Only savages can profess indepen-
dence, and they are savages and are not independent. The Indian
warrior links his interests with those of his tribe, compels his
wife to carry his game, cook his meal, and hoe his field.
Whom shall ive trust ? has sounded all along the centuries. It
was heard in Eden, and its voice reverberates over desert wastes.
It is a personal question. As trust in the individual comes
from what God has done for him and from what he has by
God's help achieved for himself, so when we ascertain who are
worthy of trust, we find out the individuals with whom God is
well pleased, and who are honored as instruments in carrying
forward enterprises which benefit mankind and bless the world.
Every Christian man or woman may say by action as well as by
speech, " I am no accident. As creation implies a purpose,
my being here means something. I am part of the plan. I
am a link in a chain. I am a unit of universal being. God
has use for me. There is something for me to do. Some-
thing that would have been left undone had I not come.
138 SAM HOBART.
There is a place which I can fill better than any other man in
the universe. Let me do my duty, improve my opportunity,
develop all of my powers of body, of mind and soul, and use
them skilfully and wisely, and God will be honored and
humanity will be helped. "
The recognition of this truth concerning himself and his
place enables him to regard with favor the mission of every
other man and the importance of his place. Trust is, then, a
seed of God's own sowing. The more of it there is in the
world, the more will earth become like heaven. The more will
God rule and the louder will grow the refrain, " Trust in the
Lord and do good ; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily
thou shalt be fed." This was Sam's faith. This faith made
the man. He had no sympathy with those who believed that
the old times were better than these, and who are ever wishing
that they had from the graves some of the men who, being
dead, yet speak. Often he would say to the men about him,
his face glowing with serene satisfaction and happiness, " Never
were there better times than these. Never were the boughs of
the tree of life so full of flowers and fruit. Never were there
so many trustworthy men on the earth. Never was there so
much of moral influence permeating the affairs of men. " Of
the extent of trust it is impossible to form an adequate concep-
tion. It is the bond of union among men. It is the soul of
commerce, the parent of enterprise, and the reward of toil. It
whitens every sea with our mercantile marine. It nets the
continent with railways, it girdles the globe with its electric
bands.
The lighthouse system, so perfect and so extensive, illustrates
this principle. Because of it men dare the perils of the deep,
and put their lives and fortunes into the keeping of those un-
known to them. Sam often referred to it, and grew enthusiastic
one night, as from Narragansett Beach he saw the revolving
light, warning off " The Graves," where so many good ships
had gone down.
" But," said he, " we would be nothing without trust.
SAM'S FAITH, OH WHOM SHALL WE TRUST ? 139
Every engineer who drives Ins locomotive out on the iron track
feels that eyes are on him and that every one trusts him. He
lias in his hands the lives of hundreds of confiding men and
women. Switchmen, flagmen, and men at other points are all
working under one law."
Pulling a letter from his pocket, he said : tl This is wonder-
ful. It came to me from the other side of the globe. It can-
not speak nor walk nor move, and yet it is carried by men of
other languages and of other systems of faith, because trust-
worthy men live all along the way. Why/' said Sam, " it is
possible to draw a check on this bank almost anywhere and
find it honored. The other day in the horse-cars, I saw an
Irishwoman approach the car and unwind a bundle. Out
rolled a great, red-faced, chubby-cheeked boy. * Put him out
at such a street, conductor,' said the woman. The little fellow
had perfect faith, and rode without fear. Two old women
w r ere in the car. They both took the boy in charge and pep-
pered the conductor with questions as to whether they had
reached the street, whenever they approached a new corner ;
and though the conductor told them the place was a mile away,
they kept saying in their softest tones, * You are not forgetting
the boy, conductor ? ' And when at last the street was reached
he shouted out the name, lifted out the boy, and found the old
grandmother at the crossing waiting for him, because trust is a
fact at both ends of the route. To the steps of a rail-car
conies a blind father, led by the hand of a loving daughter.
She has only time to open the door, bid him good-bye, and
s-iy, 'Some one will give you a scat, 7 and leap off the train.
The car is full of men. Nearly all rise, and prove that the
daughter's faith is not misplaced. This faith and trust is the
birthright of love. In the home it came to us and taught us
trust in every form. It is this that makes a mother of a refined
and cultured nature, who is a companion to her children, who
lives with as well as lives for them, who obtains arid keeps the
confidences of the child a blessing beyond compare, the most
precious of earth. " It was way back there in childhood," said
140 SAM HOBART.
Sam, " my mother implanted in my heart this principle of
trustworthiness. She believed in me and, in the home, wove
linked armor for my soul. ' '
Sam used to be often asked to look after some young man
that came to Boston. Frequently he would say, " This is not
the place to do that work ; it is among the hills of New Eng-
land. A boy trustworthy at home will be trustworthy here.
A boy that cares not for home, for his word, for trusts there,
will be a scoundrel here." It is possible to stand by a boy, to
take stock in him and thus to aid him. This story touched
Sam's heart : A father related to him his failure to stand by
his boy. " When quite a lad," he said, " my son came home
from school with a flushed face and with a distrusted look.
He had his books with him. I asked him what was the mat-
ter. He replied : ' I have been wrongly treated by my
teacher, and am not going to school again. ' I rebuked him,
took ground against him, sided with his teacher, and said :
* You will go to school to-morrow morning, and I will see
that you do so.' My boy pleaded earnestly and tried to prove
he was right. I would not listen to him, and the next
morning compelled him to go with me. On entering the vesti-
bule of the house, with a strange look in his eye which I never
saw before, he stopped and said, ' Father, I cannot enter that
schoolroom until they set me right. / would die first. ' I
turned and looked at him, and saw something about the boy
which told me to stop. I paused to think. This gave him a
moment to explain that there were several boys who knew all
about the case, and if I would go in and ask them to tell the
story before the teacher I would learn the truth. In I went,
and frankly told the teacher what had occurred. He called up
the boys. They confirmed my son's story. The teacher saw
his mistake and at once went out and brought him in, and set
him right before all the school. He did it so handsomely that
my son never afterward felt any bitterness toward him ; but I
have ever been conscious that from that day to the present my
son has never felt toward me as before.
SAM'S FAITH, OR WHOM SHALL WE TRUST ? 141
" If, on the other hand, I had said, ' I will see about this. I
hope there is no mistake about it, and if there is not you shall
be upheld, ' the boy would have been satisfied and he would
have been bound to me with hooks of steel."
u I can understand it," said Sam, " and well remember
when a man said to me he had faith in me, and that I was to be
advanced because of it. ' '
i( Trust is a duty," said Sam. " No one is fit to live who
refuses to exercise it, and 'yet it is easily wounded, and when
once injured can never be repaired or restored. The wonder
of human skill is the Etruscan vase, once shattered into a thou-
sand fragments and yet apparently restored. It is still a
broken vase. You feel it, if you cannot see the fractures ; but
you know they exist and that it is not what it once was. Trust
once shattered is ruined, because a portion of its component
parts is destroyed. Lose confidence in an individual and you
cannot get it back. You may act as if you had it back, but it
is pretence, and a hollow mockery. You may strive to look it,
but he knows you are acting a part. To tamper with trust is
to trifle with one of the most precious qualities with which life
can be enriched.
Convince a man that he cannot succeed and his muscles
relax, his arm is paralyzed, his will loses its mastering volition.
Endow him with trust, and what cares he for seeming impossi-
bilities. He laughs at them and cries with Job, " Though lie
slay me yet will I trust him, and will maintain mine ways be-
fore him," and with Job holds on in the world's despite, while
fortune mocks, and wealth betrays, and friends desert, and
kindred turn their back upon the suffering one, knowing that
in God's good time, not a moment too soon, not a moment too
late, it shall be found that those who trust in the Lord shall be
as Mount Zion ; for as the mountains are round about Jerusa-
lem, so is the Lord round about them that fear him and that
put their trust in him. The mountains may depart with the
mists that hang about their summits, the heavens may be rolled
142 SAM 1IOBAKT.
together as a scroll, yet he that keeps his trust in God and
truth shall not be confounded.
The older Sam grew and the more he mingled with men, tho
more he felt that he could trust men whose faith and life
enabled them to repose trust in God. " A man," said Sam,
" who so lives that he can expect God to bless him, will find
support. God is a shield to them who put their trust in him."
By this Sam did not imply Christian characteristics alone.
There is a faith which comes to men in critical times. Irving'a
story of Columbus sailing over an unknown sea, and despite th-.;
objections of his crew and the opposition of his companions
resolved to keep one bold course westward until he should reach
land or get back to Spain, was the personification of trust.
It is impossible to follow him as he sails in among seaweed,
which resembled submerged meadows, and listen to the crew at
open defiance as they call to mind some tale of a frozen ocean
where ships were said to be sometimes fixed immovable, or of
the sunken island of Atlantis, fearing that they were at that
part of the ocean where navigation was said to be obstructed
by drowned lands and the ruin of an engulfed country ; to see
him pass day by day in pressing westward, believing that he
should succeed because God willed it ; and when the dangers
thickened and perils increased, who can fail to gaze with de-
light upon the man as he rises in the majesty of faith and tells
them it is useless to murmur, that he is determined to persevere
until, by the blessing of God, he shall accomplish the enter-
prise.
No wonder he bowed himself before God when the cry of
^ Land ! LAND ! LAND !" rang through the night air. In
spile of every difficulty and danger he had accomplished hie
object. The great mystery of the ocean was revealed ; his
theory, which had been the scoff of sages, was triumphantly
vindicated ; he had secured to himself a glory durable as the
world itself. We rejoice with him as on Friday morning,
October 12th, 1492, he first beheld the New World. His
SAM'S FAITH, oft WHOM: SHALL WE TRUST ? 143
victory was complete. His thoughts and feelings must have
been, as Irving declares, tumultuous and intense.
This faith helped Abraham Lincoln, when the stars of hope
had almost faded out of the nation's sky, to hold on and still
hold on. The Governor of Illinois had sent him a despairing
telegram, saying, " Man the forts with raw recruits, and send
every soldier ready for action to the field. ' ' Lincoln telegraphed
back, " Hold on, Dick, and see the salvation of God."
It was this faith which made Nathan Hale, in the gray morn-
ing, on the ladder leaning against the tree from which his life-
less body was so soon to hang, say as he looked at the weeping
women and tear-dimmed eyes of the wagon-boys, " I regret
that I have but one life to give my country. "
It was this faith that enabled Stephen to talk with God while
stones hurtled through the air, and to pray, " Lay not this sin
to their charge.'' Just as did his Master when hanging on the
accursed tree cry, " Father, forgive them, they know not what
they do."
It was one of Sam's quaint say ings, " There is nothing smaller
than a small man, and nothing poorer than a poor man. He
is small in brain power, in will power, in capacity. He is poor
because of this. Poor in purpose and in plan."
The great man has all the powers of manhood in large meas-
ure. He has great affections, great thoughts, good judgment,
mighty force of will, great foresight, marvellous impulses,
and tremendous self-control. There have been great wrecks
because some man great in almost everything weakened when
he came to hold the helm in the midst of great temptations. In
the oft-quoted words of Sidney Smith : " The meaning of an
extraordinary great man is, that he is eight men, not one man ;
that he has as much wit as if he had no sense, and as much
sense as if he had no wit ; that his conduct is as judicious as
if he were the dullest of human beings, and his imagination as
brilliant as if he were irretrievably ruined. Having this many-
sided nature his sympathies are broad. He touches life at all
144 SAM HOB ART.
points ; he feds with the child, with the mother, with the
veteran, with the feeble, with the strong, with the joyous, with
the afflicted, as the broad ocean holds in its close embrace the
island and the continent.
" The great man forgets himself. The man whose eye
Is ever on himself doth look on one
The least of nature's works, one which might move
The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds
Unlawful ever."
Trust the trustworthy, was to Sam a privilege quite as much
as a duty.
There is a minister of Christ who well remembers and often
refers to his fidelity when another minister betrayed him, and
when brethren on whom he had leaned with absolute confidence
failed him. Then Sam arose in his might. He revealed his
greatness, his faith, his constancy, and his nobility. He sai-l
then, with an emphasis that will never be forgotten by those
who heard him, " We should trust those who voice by thdr
speech and illustrate by their conduct the purposes of Almighty
God. 11 Faith is God's measure of a man. It ought to be
ours. The victors to-day are those who believed in God in
spite of failure, obloquy and reproach. They saw their work
in the light of duty and moved on 'in the strength of God.
Monuments begin to thicken on our squares and in our parks,
built to perpetuate the memory of those titled sons of God who
have wrought a great work and obtained their crown. Lafay-
ette is immortal because he early saw in this new world an area
for freedom, and left behind him the splendors of his palatial
home that he might enter the wilderness, as did Jonathan of
old, and strengthen David's hand in God. Howard is immor-
tal because in the poorest prisoner he saw a brother, and in the
pest-infected city he heard the wail of suffering and want and
went to its relief. Our best and noblest men are not trusted
because of any claim of infallibility, but rather because of a
humility and of a felt dependence upon God, which makes
SAM'S FAITH, OR*\VHOM SHALL WE TRUST ? 145
them, no matter what their purpose be to-day, determine to
keep their heart open for a better purpose to-morrow. It was
these acts of Sam Hobart, unnoticed at the time and apparently
unthought of by the men, that come out and shine in the clear
light now that the actor is removed, as do the stars shine forth
when the sun retires from view ; which make him immortal in
the love of all who knew him, and deserving to have his name
enrolled among the titled ones of earth.
CHAPTER XII.
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN.
The Need of the WorkEdioard D. IngersollThe Story
of His Life and Work.
CHRIST is a necessity for men who toil. This Sam be-
lieved and this faitli he avowed. How dark was the hour
before the dawn ! The uprising had not then taken place.
Dwight L. Moody was sounding the alarm, and Ira D. San-
key and P. P. Bliss and many more were beginning to fill
the air with notes of enlivening song. Little was done. Much
was hoped for, and supplications earnest and fervent were
being poured into the ear of God. There was need of it. It
was seen that Europe is pouring upon our shores, by the tens
of thousands, men trained to wrong ideas under its despotisms.
These men become a disturbing element in our midst ; they are
gathering to-day in our great cities ; they are forming secret
societies which hold that the greatest crime which can be com-
mitted is that of owning property and being prosperous above
themselves. These men claim that all men should share alike ;
and if by the end of the first year, one should spend his patri-
mony, and another should double his, there should be a new
divide for the next year. These men, whose doctrine is that
right in property is wrong in principle, are teaching it to
wrong-headed men, who are operating our railroads and work-
ing in our manufactories. They are fomenting disturbance,
teaching that there is between capital and labor an irrepressible
conflict. They are sowing the wind, and expect to reap in the
whirlwind. They fatten on spoil ; they delight in riot. They
have nothing to lose and everything to gain by disturbance.
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 14-7
Railroad men became convinced of the need of Christ to
resist this influence. As W. R. Davenport, of Erie, Pa., said,
" they have seen that they cannot afford not to invest their
money that this work may be carried on among their employes.
" You remember that, more than three thousand years ago,
a shrewd Egyptian monarch observed that a certain young
prisoner was a wonderfully ' lucky fellow/ that what was in his
hand prospered, and this monarch took this young man out
of prison, lifted him up to be his prime minister, and put every-
thing under his hand, and only in the matter of the throne
was the monarch the greater ; and the Lord prospered every-
thing under this young man's hand. Now, railroad corpora-
tions seem to have made a similar discovery of late and have
been calling Christian men from one place and another and
placing them in the highest positions of trust ; trying the ex-
periment tried so long ago by this old heathen. And what has
been the result ? It is astonishing. These men, without fear
of God before their eyes, but having a great deal of regard for
the stockholders, have found that what has been placed in the
hands of these sons of God has prospered ; therefore, they
search out these Christian men and put them in the highest
positions, and then reap a reward of gold, verifying that which
the Word of God says : 4 Godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is.' The Inter-
national Committee can tell all how wonderfully the Lord
has brought about an affirmative answer to this question, from
East and West, from North and South. And no longer do
the officials ask it with doubt. The shrewdest men, the most
careful managers, are now ready to appropriate money for this
purpose ; and the response they make to their stockholders is :
4 We are making money for you by it.' '
Christianity as a police force is seldom praised. It is a
great mistake to forget our obligations to what is being done
by the churches of Christ in creating a moral sentiment that
acts like a breakwater against the increasing waves of barbarism.
" Can you protect a railroad? Tell me that. What will
148 SAM HOB ART.
protect one train and get it over the road in safety, if there is
a band of ten men on the length of the line determined to ditch
that train ? Tell me, if a hundred men cannot on a thousand
miles of railroad make it impossible to operate that line ?
u Gentlemen, I want to repeat here, to-night, that the most
dangerous, the most difficult property to handle on this con-
tinent, is the railroad property, and there is no class of property
in which we have a deeper interest.
il l Now, then, what is the fuss about this matter?' The
fuss about this matter is just here : that Europe is emptying
her people, that she does not want, here her convicts, her
Communists, her Nihilists by the ten thousands ; they are
coming here for no good, and they seek the employment con-
genial to them. You say : ' What is to be done ? They will
get employed/ Yes, they will get employed. 4 Our railroads
will not know them, and so will hire them/ Yes, they will
hire them. And then these men will foment disturbance ;
they will strive to create strikes ; they will strive to embarrass
all healthy business operations ; they will do it secretly ; dark-
ness is what they like. * Well, then, what is the remedy ? *
I asked a business man this question last night a man of large
experience and extensive travel. I spread this thing out before
him carefully, and said: * Now, sir, what is the remedy V
He was not a Christian. He moved uneasily in his seat two or
three times, and said : * There is none ; I do not see any.'
But, friends, there is just one remedy ; I see no other. This
country can be saved from this thing only in one way by the
Power that upholds the world, and by no other power. We
must oppose this satanic influence by that Power which alone
has proved greater than the power of Satan."
Receiver J. H. Devereux, of Cleveland, attended, as deputy
from Ohio, the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, held in Boston, October, 1877. Alluding to the rail-
road strikes of last summer, and the call suggested by them
for greater effort by the churches among certain classes in the
community, Mr. Devereux said :
THE WOKK AMO^G RAILBOAD MEW. 149
" I propose to give you, at the instance of sundry members
of the Convention, some personal experience and some per-
sonal knowledge on the subject covered by the resolution in-
troduced by the Lay Deputy from Pennsylvania.
" West of Pittsburg, and a little north of it, upon the lake
shore, is a city of 150,000 inhabitants, with a suburban popula-
tion of perhaps five thousand. The main trunk lines of railroads
running through tho country traverse it. It is well known as
a prosperous commercial and manufacturing centre.
" Now, right here, gentlemen of the Convention, understand
that the class I am speaking of at this time is not the pauper
or the vicious element. It is a vast assembly of men, scattered
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Lakes to the Gulf,
numbering half a million or more. The politicians will tell you
they are voters. They are a class of men who, less than any
others, have no opinion that is forced upon them by prescription.
Particularly is this true in regard to their religious opinions.
You must give a reason, and a very good one, for whatever
belief you arc desirous to impress upon them. I am speaking
of a class of men who are mighty in their passion when they
are aroused, and gentle when their hearts are touched. On
Monday morning, in this city that I am speaking of, a railway
officer, responsible for two roads and for about six thousand men
upon them, went to his office. Of course he knew much that
had happened before he went there. He heard on that Mon-
day morning, that on the public square of that city, the Satur-
day night before, there had been a meeting of so-called laboring
men, though they were not so, in the higher sense. There
had been some twenty-five hundred men assembled there, and
it had been deliberately proposed to go from there to Euclid
Avenue, and sack the city. The next morning (Sunday) came
the news from the City of Pittsburg.
" On Monday morning, the air was quivering with excite-
ment, the whole city seemed to be paralyzed ; and well it might
be> for there were in that city only two hundred policemen,
and no military force worth speaking of. Two lines of road
150 SAM HOBART.
were in the hands of those who were called * strikers.' Not a
single wheel was moved, business was paralyzed, and apprehen-
sion sat upon the face of every man.
" When this railroad officer found out how things were, and
how the men upon the other road were taking things into their
own hands, he also learned that his own two roads, upon which
his men yet stood firm, were being threatened by a mob, or a
crowd, if you please, from the striking roads ; and he learned
that they were coming down there to force his men to quit
work, and to enforce what they called ' their rights/ That
was a supreme moment ; it was a moment for action. It took
but a short time to determine that, God helping him, that
President would prevent the mass meeting which it was deter-
mined by these men that they should hold on the square. Ten
thousand men, at least, would have been there, more or less
excited, more or less drunk, more or less angry. What could
two hundred policemen do against such a force as that ? It
was not a crowd of men who could be driven by clubs. Many
of them had been soldiers, and were used to arms. Moreover,
they were ignorant, and they believed they were right ; and if
a man believes he is right, he will sometimes sacrifice his life.
I firmly believe that if force had been used at that time, a great
amount of blood would have been shed, and Cleveland would
have been in ashes. I draw no fancy picture.
" What did this railway officer do ? He went down sub-
stantially alone, only one officer of the road going with him.
As he approached the shops, he saw the procession, and his
own men being forced out two by two. It looked bad enough.
Men from the other roads had determined that the men em-
ployed upon his roads should not work. They were gathered
in the machine-shop. There were some three thousand. The
railroad officer stood upon a platform. And what did he urge ?
Simply the gospel of Jesus Christ. He held up Christ to these
men, and appealed to them as Christian men, urging the prin-
ciples of the gospel as his argument against their proceedings.
" The passions of the men were very strong, but he had not
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 151
spoken long before sour faces grew brighter, and the evidence
of passion died out. All went down, for Jesus had been ap-
pealed to. Jesus spoke to these men. They became silent,
and when the matter was put to vote by the leader of the
crowd, i Will you stand by the proposition of the President ? '
there was a loud shout of 4 Aye ! ' When the question came
whether any were opposed to the proposition of the President,
there was the silence of the grave. Then this railroad officer
said to these men, ' Now that you know you are in the right
way, I want you to swear to me an oath this day. Those men
who will regard the law, who will not commit any acts of vio-
lence, who will protect every life and every piece of property in
this city, as if it were his own, hold up your right hand. ' And
every man's hand went up.
* ' That was the wall that was drawn around that city, and I
tell you, no set of men could prevail against it.
" I shall not go into detail, although I want it to be under-
stood generally that there was no miracle about this. This
work was not the outgrowth of a moment, but of years. These
men were ready to hear this word, for they had been prepared
to hear it. One man's conversion had been the cause of lead-
ing thousands of railroad men to Christ, and thus it was easier
to address them. I have been reproached since I have been
here, because I have given encouragement to the Young Men's
Christian Association. It was through their influence that this
change had been brought about. I am here neither to praise
nor to apologize for any institution. I am here because I am
of the Church of Christ of this church ; and I am speaking of
the progress of the work of the church, and of the need of mis-
sionary effort existing in the West.
" Now, what we propose to do is this : to extend this rail-
road department of the Young Men's Christian Associations
throughout the country among the railroad men ; and we say
to the railroad officials : ' Gentlemen, if you have a right to
build a snow-shed with the company's money, when your line
runs through the Sierras ; if you have a right to expend money
152 SAM HOBAKT.
in any other way to prevent destruction and detention, then
you have the right, yea, more, you are solemnly bound to pro-
tect us whose interests have been handed over into your hands
our bodies, our property, our families, everything. And
you not only have the right, but a solemn responsibility to take
care that these influences which have been found to be saving
influences in the past shall be perpetuated and extended on
every line of railroad that carries our food and our fuel to us.
We demand it of you. ' And what reply shall they make ?
The logic of events has closed the mouth of every one to any
other reply than ' Yes/ There is no other answer. "
FURTHER TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE LATE RAILROAD
STRIKES. From the report of the Pennsylvania State Young
Men's Christian Association Convention (October, 1877), in
Harper's Weekly, we extract the following :
" Mr. W. R. Davenport, an old railroad man, gave the testi-
mony that, during the Pennsylvania Railroad strike, the Chris-
tian men were those upon whom the railroad officers relied.
The most influential men were the Christians, and their in-
fluence was greatly felt." Another officer, holding a position
of responsibility in railroad service at a place where the Rail-
road Young Men's Christian Association has long been active,
writes : " In regard to the part Christian men took in the
strike, I can speak of what I know. These men were forced
to quit work, but openly denounced the action of the strikers ;
and all went to their homes, except a few who stayed among
the strikers to wield all the influence for good that lay in their
power. Through the influence of these men the saloons were
closed, and all riotousness was kept down. Men who are not
Christians have come to me personally, and of their own free
will said the Christian work among railroad employes has saved
more than it will cost to prosecute this work for a hundred
years. Religious services were held every day and evening
during the strike ; and I believe many of the men will date
their conversion from those meetings. It was through the in-
fluence of Christian railroad men that strikers returned to
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 153
work." An officer of two railroads in Columbus, Ohio,
writes : " The Christian railroad men in this place did not, to
my knowledge, take any part in the strike. " A Christian
gentleman, who had the best opportunity to see and know,
writes from the same place : " I do not know of a single rail-
road man, who professes to be a Christian, that took any active
part in the strike. One was arrested for participating in it
but, upon trial, fully exonerated." A manager of an impor-
tant railroad in one of our large cities, where there was a total
suspension of trains, writes : " All' of our men known to be
pronounced Christians had no sympathy with any lawlessness,
and kept clear of it. They freely expressed their disapproba-
tion of all such proceedings, and openly declined to take part
in the same. There were those among them who took occa-
sion respectfully to join in a request for an advance in wages ;
but it was in the more excellent way ; and when a respectful
answer was returned, showing good reasons why their request
could not be granted at this time, they cheerfully accepted the
situation, and continued to perform their duties. These care-
fully disclaimed any intention to strike, and though compelled,
during the most threatening period, to quit work, they returned
when notified, without waiting fora reply to their petition."
An officer of the Pennsylvania Company, in the same city,
writes : " I have to report that the inquiries started to find
out what part the Christian railroad men took in the strike
have resulted in obtaining very satisfactory reports ; and that
is that not one of the men who attend the noon-day meetings
at our shops took any part whatever in the strike or, either by
word or action, encouraged the strikers, but, on the contrary,
they kept up their prayer-meetings throughout all the excite-
ment." A gentleman of Martinsburg says of the meeting of
the Railroad Young Men's Christian Association, on the Sab-
bath afternoon when the trouble was most serious: "The
attendance was large, and the meeting one of the most impres-
sive I ever attended. What touched me particularly was the
many earnest prayers of the railroad men for the officers of the
154 SAM HOBART.
railroad company, that they might be given wisdom to guide
them in their trying positions, to do just what was right, and
that they, as employes, might be restrained from all excess and
violence, and prove faithful to their duties." A railroad man
in Baltimore writes : " I am satisfied that none who were
looked up to as Christian men before the strike were at all en-
gaged in it. " A member of the Railroad Young Men's Chris-
on o
tian Association, of Altoona, Pa., writes : " It is with gn at
pleasure that I bear testimony to the calmness, discretion, and
good conduct of our Christian railroad men during the excite-
ment caused by the strike. Our religious meetings were held
as usual, and were quite well attended. Although quite a
number of railroad employes have been discharged for taking
part in the strike, I am glad to say that no active member of
our Association is among the number/' A superintendent in
the extensive railroad shops of one of the trunk lines writes :
44 I don't know of one Christian that took part in the strike.
We found the Christian men ready to work ; and those that
were made watchmen during the week of the strike were chiefly
the Christian men." From the same point, one who has been
in the employ of the company twenty-five years writes :
" There was not one of the Christian men here, who, during
the strike, was not on duty. They went home peaceably,
and stayed until sent for to come to work."
These facts make us turn with delight to the origin and
growth of the Railroad Department of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association as outlined in the report of Edwin D. Inger-
soll, Railroad Secretary of the International Committee.
" A library for railroad men was established by officers of
the Passumpsic Railroad Company at St. Johnsbury, Vt., in
1850, another by officials of the Vermont Central Railroad
Company, at Northfield, Vt., in 1852, and another by Messrs.
Peto, Betts & Brassey, contractors, while building the Vic-
toria Bridge at Montreal, in 1854. Many others have since
been established throughout the country. A few of them sur-
vive. The great majority of these library organizations are
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 155
dead, and in many cases nothing can now be found to show
that they ever existed. With possibly one or two exceptions,
the interest in and use of the libraries that are still in existence
are less than they were at first. As a rule, they were used
only by men of good habits and of some literary taste. There
was not sufficient social or other influence connected with them
to draw men away from evil resorts ; there was no aggressive
reformatory force.
" At Cleveland, O., in April, 1872, there was a union
formed on this old plan of reading-rooms and libraries for rail-
road men, with the active Christian work of the Young Men's
Christian Association. A secretary was employed to do what
one man could do to make the library and reading-rooms
attractive to railroad men. He went out after men who did
not come to the rooms until personally invited, or until they
came to return the repeated calls of a personal friend. He
visited them in their homes and in the places of their daily
toil : on the engine, in the caboose, in office, shop, yard, or
switch house. Wherever a railroad man could be found, he
got a pleasant word and a hearty invitation to come to the
rooms when off duty. If sick or injured, at home or home-
less, whatever his position, creed, or nationality, the railroad
employe received, not only the best surgical and hospital attend-
ance, but the loving personal service of Christian brotherhood.
'* But this service was not limited to one man's ability. The
Association idea was developed and utilized, and the efforts of
Christian men in railroad service united, to carry out and put
in operation the means and methods of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association. Committees were formed, trained, and set
at work. Gradually, but steadily and surely, the secretary
multiplied his effort and ability, thirty, sixty, or a hundred
fold, by the voluntary efforts of men, whom he had interested
one by one, and then formed into working committees. The
secret of his power was found to be not so much in his personal
work as in his ability to find, train, stimulate and help other
men, and set and keep them at work. Now, committees have
156 SAM HOBART.
charge of Sunday services and cottage meetings in the homes
of railroad men ; committees of their comrades visit and
minister to sick and injured men ; committees procure libra-
ries ; committees arrange entertainments, lectures, concerts,
medical talks, and practical talks on topics relating to railroad
service. In short, the moral power of the best men in railroad
service is united and made an effective force to reach and in-
fluence the whole body of railroad men, including employes of
express, telegraph and palace car companies. Educational
classes are formed, or secretaries and their assistants give pri-
vate instruction to men who cannot attend classes in penman-
ship, arithmetic, telegraphy, stenography, mechanical and free-
hand drawing. Many men whose early educational advantages
were limited have been helped to hold their positions, or to
promotion. Men physically disabled for train service have been
taught telegraphy or stenography, and so are earning better
support for themselves and their families than they earned as
brakemen before they were crippled. Enthusiasm is kindled.
The rooms of the Railroad Branch of the Association become
social headquarters for railroad men ; conversation and amuse-
ment rooms attract men who have no use for prayer-meetings,
classes, or even for reading-rooms and libraries. Gradually
they become interested in social or musical entertainments, or
in illustrated newspapers and magazines. Each is encouraged
by the secretary to read something, and his attention is called
to something that will interest him. Soon amusements are less
attractive or needful. He has learned to desire and use some-
thing better. Thought is stimulated. His social instincts are
satisfied with healthful associations. Beer gardens and billiard
rooms are less attractive than our rooms. The man becomes a
better man, a better citizen, a more intelligent, faithful and
loyal servant of the corporation.
" Such results in various places have led railroad managers
to say of this work, ' It pays spiritually, it pays morally, and
it pays financially/ and to emphasize this testimony by largely
increased appropriations.
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 157
11 The true place of these organizations, as branches of the
Young Men's Christian Associations in their respective cities,
has been definitely settled. After numerous experiments in
other directions, both by the companies and by the men now
in the opening of reading and bath rooms independent of all
.religious influence or control, again in the establishment of
separate organizations, without affiliation with the local Asso-
ciation or the International Committee of these societies the
great advantages in stability atid efficiency to be derived from
union with the Associations are at present almost universally
recognized and appreciated by both employes and officials.
" During the first five years, 1872-' 77, organizations were
formed at Altoona, Pa., Baltimore, Md., New York, Colum-
bus, O., and Detroit, Mich,, the two latter employing secreta-
ries. Interest was awakened and something done toward or-
ganization at Jersey City, N. J. , Springfield and Boston, Mass. ,
and at Toronto, and St. Thomas, Ont. Mr. Lang Sheaff,
whose salary was paid by a few gentlemen of Cleveland, visited
these places in 1875-' 76, under the direction of the Inter-
national Committee. The good results of that visitation are
still apparent.
" In January, 1877, Mr. Morris K. Jesup, of the Interna-
tional Committee, procured from the President and Vice-Presi-
dent of the New York Central and Hudson River, and the
Presidents of the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Companies, contributions, which, with his own, justi-
fied the Committee in employing their present Railroad Secre-
tary.
' ' At that time only three local secretaries were employed
at Cleveland, Columbus, and Detroit ten railroad companies
contributing less than $3000 a year toward their support.
" In the past five years, 1877-'82, the principal railroad
centres of the United States and British Provinces have been
visited, many of them very many times. Several strong or-
ganizations have been formed, employing from one to five
secretaries and assistants. The number of secretaries and
158 8AM HOBART.
assistants is now (June 5th, 1882) forty-six, with money waiting
for six more, and support partially secured for ten or twelve
more. Contributions of more than $50,000 are already secured
for the support of the local work for the current year.
" There have been some wrecks, and some other organiza-
tions have failed to come up to the measure of their need or
opportunity.
" The service on the part of secretaries has been greatly im-
proved. The standard of five years ago no longer satisfies rail-
road officials or the International Committee. Some men of
rare tact, consecration, and ability have been led into the work,
and are being greatly blessed in it ; others have been moder-
ately successful and are trying faithfully to meet the demands
of the work. Those who think that they know all that there
is, or that they need to know, or whose education is deficient,
or who do not manifest tact or adaptability to this peculiar
work, or who are not born leaders, are gradually dropping out of
the service. On the whole, the secretarial force in this depart-
ment is not only all that can reasonably be expected for the
salaries paid, but is a vigorous, able, and consecrated band of
pioneers in a new field of Christian effort, whose labors have
already called out strong testimonials to the value of the results
accomplished.
" In Chicago, eleven Presidents, Vice-Presidents, General
Managers and General Superintendents of leading Railroad
Companies, compose the Advisory Committee of the Railroad
Department of the Young Men's Christian Association. They
testify in the strongest terras to the value of the work done,
and recommend that the amount expended last year ($7500) in
this department of the Chicago Association be largely increased.
" In Albany and Troy, N. Y., Springfield, Mass., Rutland,
Vt., and other places, leading citizens are ser\ 7 ing on commit-
tees with railroad officials and men in the management of this
work.
" At Galion, 0., East St. Louis, 111., and Elmira, N. Y.,
buildings have been erected specially for and dedicated to the
THE WORK AMOXG RAILROAD MEN. 159
work of Young Men's Christian Associations among railroad
men. Similar buildings are about to be erected at Troy, N. Y.,
and St. Albans, Vt.
" In Toronto, at the house of Hon. William McMaster, sena-
tor, some seventy-five leading citizens met the secretary to hear
reports of and consult about this work. The result was the
appointment of a large committee of the most influential men in
public and private life in Toronto, Col. C. S. Gzowski, A. D. C.,
chairman, to present facts and testimonials of this work to
Managers of Canadian railways, and to presidents and direc-
tors in England, and to ask for similar appropriations for the
support of this work on their roads. At the request of this
committee, the International Committee wrote to leading offi-
cials and directors of railroads, at places where this work had
been in operation long enough to enable them to estimate its
worth, for their opinion of the value of the work as an invest-
ment by railroad companies. Replies came from every point,
and are unanimous in tenor and spirit, all testifying to the
value of the work and its wholesome influence upon railroad
employes. Similar testimony to the value of the work spirit-
ually, in additions to churches of men who were beyond the
reach of the church in any other department of its effort, and
of church members aroused to newness of life and service,
comes from pastors and church officers in all parts of the
country.
" The secretary has travelled more than 30,000 miles a year,
made public addresses, held conferences with officials and men,
and written letters till it was impossible to keep a record of their
number, and yet is utterly unable to meet the calls that come
for help in the organization and supervision of this work.
" Men are willing and anxious to take hold of the work,
money is forthcoming to support secretaries and erect build-
ings for local work at various points, promising young men
are giving themselves to the work for life as secretaries, and
results are delayed for want of intelligent aid and guidance in
organization. Some places have already suffered, mistakes
100 SAM HOB ART.
have been made, and partial failures warn us to he more watch-
ful and helpful. The best results appear where this supervi-
sion has been most constant. There is work waiting and
urgent, for at least three secretaries in this department, while
as yet the Committee has means to support but one."
A brief history of the railroad secretary and the work
achieved will appropriately conclude the chapter.
Edward D. Tngersoli in 1877 was appointed Secretary of the
Railway Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association.
He was born in Stockbridge, Mass., June 12th, 1836. His
father was a minister and related to the great preacher who is
known as the father of the man that has by his infidelity
earned the right to wear the mantle of Thomas Paine. As the
railroad secretary says, " the man rejected Christ, trampled on
the overtures of mercy, and has gone on from bad to worse
until he has fought with all his might against God, as is in the
nature of an Ingorsoll."
This trait of character was illustrated by a locomotive engin-
eer by the name of Ingersoll on one of the^roads in Ohio. He
was ordered to wait for the superintendent's car at a given
station. He was told to take it to a given pkce as fast as pos-
sible. There was no bell-rope to the engine, and the superin-
tendent sat in his car alone. The engineer started, put on
steam, and opened the valves and let her go. The passenger
coach bounded and leaped, swaying from side to side, causing
the superintendent to be thrown from side to side and bob up
and down like a ball shaken in a bottle. Reaching the station
the superintendent came out, his hair on end and his face pale
with fright and rage, saying, " What on earth did you go at
that rate for ?" " You told me," said the engineer, " to go
as fast as I could, and you ought not to tell an Ingersoll to do
that unless you meant it."
The characteristics of the engineer have been conspicuous in
the life of the secretary. He began his career as a wild and
wayward young man. He entered Union College and enjoyed
for a time the watchful care of Eliphalet Nott. its illustrious
THE WOliK AiiOXU KA1LROAD MEX. 101
president. He was converted in 1856 and joined the church,
but did nothing for years. He had a name to live hut was
dead. In 1872 he was living in Cleveland. Lang Sheaff, the
Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, failing to
get workers to go to Norwalk, Ohio, because he had no better,
asked him to go and help in a meeting. This was said on
Tuesday. Ingersoll thought little of the invitation. Friday
came and he was urged again to go. He went. On his way
the responsibilities of the work touched his heart and awed his
spirit. Depressed and bent with the weight of the great trust
reposed in him he entered the hall and took his seat upon the
platform. The room was crowded to the doors. He spoke.
God owned him. Souls were struck under conviction. They
made him stay. Business to him became of no account. His
work surprised and enthused him. From Sunday to Thursday
he spoke every day with increasing power. Railroad men were
converted in large numbers. A patent case claimed his atten-
tion in Cleveland. lie returned, but God loosened the chains
of his captivity in business and permitted him to enter into the
service of the Master untrammelled. He returned to Norwalk
and stayed a month. His destiny was sealed. His course in
life was determined for him. In 1874 he came to Syracuse and
became the leader of the work for the Young Men's Christian
Association. There he developed and revealed his power to
organize for victory, and there he remained until January,
1877, when he became railroad secretary in accordance with a
resolution of the International Committee passed in 1875. To
him we are largely indebted for the interest taken in work
among employes by railroad corporations. He knows how to
appeal to employes and at the same time how to represent their
interests to employers. To-day the great railroad corporations
give their support to this work to an extent which promises
great future harvests. The leaders recognize the fact that drill
a man as best you may still you must depend in the last resort
on his own intelligence and will. Sobriety and moral principle
contribute their quota toward the production of dividends, and
162 SAM HOBAKT.
a good workman who is also a good man counts for something
in financial estimates. It is important that the hand on the
throttle-valve be not guided by a brain muddled with drink.
" No position, not even leadership in battle, calls more impera-
tively for firm nerves, well-poised faculties and entire self-
command. Railway corporations have souls enough to know
what affects their purses, but we should fail to do justice to
many of the managers of the great lines if we did not concede
to them a sincere interest in the welfare of men. When Will-
iam H. Vanderbilt distributed one hundred thousand dollars
among the servants of the company of which he is the head, as
a token of his appreciation of their fidelity during the week of
the riots, he showed his sense of the value of moral principle in
men who work for daily wages. There are instances of hero-
ism in the lives of these men, and often in their dying."*
Doc Simmons, the engineer on the New York Central and
Hudson River Railroad, who at the disaster at New Hamburg
went down with his locomotive and would not leave it and was
found with his hand on the throttle ; Gould, the brave engin-
eer on the Boston and Stonington Railroad, who loved his wife
and signalled to her by the whistle at night as Sam Hobart
kissed his hand to his when he passed, preferred death at his
post to an escape with added risk to the passengers are thus
referred to by Bret Harte :
" And then one night it was heard no more,
From Stonington on Rhode Island shore ;
And the folks in Providence smiled and said,
As they turned in their beds, " The engineer
Has once forgotten his midnight cheer.
One only knew,
To his trust true,
Gould lay under his engine dead !"
Heroism is heroism in men begrimed with oil and smoke, as
well as in men who carry swords and epaulets. And if the
* Harper's Magazine for Jan. 1882, pp. 264-5.
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN". 163
Christian Association address the better side of the natures of
this large and growing class of workers, they will render an
essential service to society. The interest in their welfare has
taken a very practical form. In June, 1882, there were read-
ing-rooms at thirfy-three railroad centres for railroad men, of
each of which a secretary has charge. An aggregate of
$30,000 is annually appropriated by the companies for this
truly Christian labor.
" Mr. Ingersoll," says a leading railroad manager, " is in-
deed a busy man. Night and day he travels. To-day a rail-
road president wants him here ; to-morrow a manager summons
him there. He is going like a shuttle back and forth through
the country, weaving the web of the Railway Associations. In
Indianapolis twelve railroad companies aid in the support of
this work of benevolence. In Chicago, the president of one of
the leading roads, the general superintendent of another, and
other officials, have served and are serving actively on the Rail-
way Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association.
The stuff these men are made of may be seen from some of the
reports to the Altoona Convention. One spoke thus : " About
twelve years ago we organized, in Stonington, Conn., a mid-
night prayer-meeting of railroad men. It was the hour before
the starting of the steamboat night train. The first night one
man was soundly converted, and continues a living witness for
the truth. I run a midnight train from Providence, and speak
"almost every Sunday, and many of our railroad men attend. I
am forty-six years of age, and have been twenty-seven years on
the road and four years at sea. My engineer is a Christian, and
I feel safe behind him." Are the passengers of the midnight
train worse off because the engineer and conductor are such
men as these ? A railroad secretary who represented Indian-
apolis said : " A member of our association was killed last
week, and I was called on to bury him. It was a very sad
duty. He was a Christian boy, and there are men here who
heard him pray. Going home from the funeral, one of the
boys, not a Christian, said : ' The Railroad Christian Associa-
164 SAM HOHART.
tioii is doing more for our railroad men than anything else in
the world. '"
From the Third International Conference Railroad Depart-
ment of 1882, we make liberal extracts which bear upon this
subject. R. B. Paul, Librarian of the New York City Associ-
ation, says :
" The founders and friends of Young Men's Christian
Associations have wisely regarded the library as an important
agency in their work. It is a tool indispensable to the best
and complete working of a railroad association. What shall
we aim to make the peculiar feature and excellence of this
library for railroad men ? Evidently it should not be com-
posed of books suitable for scholars, philosophers, and men of
studious life ; nor will mere sentimental works like the latest
sensational novels answer. But the books should be adapted
to the tastes of practical men of common sense, who are grap-
pling with the stern realities of life, and who want to devote
their spare moments to reading which will help to advance
them in their work, and give them agreeable pastime. The
aim should be to make the library exert an elevating influence
on the men. In order to do this the grade of books should be
a little above the average grade of the readers, not below them.
It will then be educating in its influence. We will not attempt
here to specify the works on general literature, science, etc.,
which should characterize such a library, but will content our-
selves with naming that class of books which will be specially"
practical in a railroad library and interesting to railroad men.
It will not be amiss to say that experience shows that the Bible
is the favorite book. Hence there should be shelves for the
Bible in as many languages as there will be; found readers, and
such popular expositions as will invite a closer study of the
W r ord of God and aid those who are engaged in Christian
work. It is, however, to the professional feature of books that
will be of practical service to engineers, mechanics, firemen,
and other employes, viz.: books which relate to the steam-
engine, telegraphy, civil engineering in some of its branches,
TUP: WORK AMOXG RAILROAD MEN. 165
car building, track-laying, iron, steel, color-blindness, etc.
Such books on the shelves will entice many men in subordinate
positions to work their way up by study and application.
"We will mention a few authorities on Railroad Science,
naming those first which are published at a moderate price,
below five dollars :
" RAILROAD SCIENCE. Auchincloss's Link Valve Motion ;
Bourne's Catechism of Steam Engine ; Bourne's Recent Im-
provements in the Steam Engine ; Bourne's Hand-Book of
Steam Engine ; Barlow's Strength of Timber ; Bender's Pro-
portions of Pins Used in Bridges ; also, Proportions of Continu-
ous Bridges ; Barry's Railway Appliances ; Bauerman's Metal-
lurgy of Iron ; Baker's Actual Lateral Pressure of Earthworks ;
Cluman's R.R. Engineer's Practice ; Cooke's The New
Chemistry ; Combustion of Coal ; Car Builders' Dictionary
(R. R. Gazette); Clark's Works on Iron Bridges and Roof
Structures ; Chevereul's Contrast of Colors ; Davidson's
Linear Drawing and Practical Geometry ; Davidson's Linear
Drawing and Projections ; Davidson's Drawing for Machinists
and Engineers ; Dresser's Principles of Decorative Design ;
Ede's Management of Steel, 5th ed., 1873 ; Engineering
Specifications and Contracts ; Fairbairn's Iron : its History,
Properties and Process of Manufacture ; Forney's Catechism
of the Locomotive ; Ganot's Physics, last edition ; Hamil-
ton's Useful Information for Railroad Men ; Haswell's En-
gineer's and Mechanic's Pocket-Book ; Kirkman's Railway
Accounts, Revenue ; also Railroad Expenditures ; Lardncr's
Scientific Hand-Books ; Mahan's Civil Engineering ; Moore's
Universal Assistant, 100,000 Receipts ; Molesworth's Pocket-
Book of Engineering Formula ; Pope's Modern Practice . of
the Telegraph ; Richards' Steam Engine Indication, by C. T.
Porter ; Reynolds's Locomotive Engine ; Reynolds's Railway
Brakes ; Rankine's Rules and Tables ; Rood's Modern Chro-
matics ; Shreve's Treatise on the Strength of Bridges and
Roofs; Simms's Practical Tunnelling; Spon, E., Workshop
Receipts ; Stewart, Balfour, Lessons in Elementary Physics ;
166 . SAM HOBAUT.
Stewart, Balfour, Conservation of Energy ; Stewart, Balfour,
Elementary Treatise on Heat ; Thurston's History of the
Growth of the Steam Engine ; Thurston's Frictions and Lubri-
cation ; Thrnpp's History of Coaches ; Tyndall on Heat as a
Mode of Motion ; Welch's Designing Valve Gearing ; Wilson
(Robert), Treatise on Steam Boilers. Two works by F. B.
Gardner, published by the Hub Publishing Co., New York,
will, we doubt not, be found useful to painters, viz : 44 Les-
sons in Lettering/' and "Studies in Scrolling." A few
higher priced works are very desirable ; we append the prices :
Appleton's Encyclopaedia of Drawing, $10 ; Ball's F^lementary
Mechanics, $4; Clark's Manual of Rules, Tulles, etc., for
Mechanical Engineers, $7.50 ; History and Description of the
Pennslyvania R.R., illustrated, $20 ; Rankine's Civil Engineer-
ing, $6.50 ; Stoney's Theory of Strains in Girders, $12.50 ;
Trautwine's Civil Engineer's Pocket-Book, $5 ; Vose's Man-
ual for R.R. Engineeis and Engineering Students, $12.50.
To these should be added : Knight's Mechanical Dictionary,
$24, or Appleton's ; Spon's Dictionary of Engineering, say
$45 ; Weale's Series of Scientific Works contain a number
that would be suitable for such a collection.
44 The question of color-blindness among railroad men is one
of vital importance to the great travelling public, one in which
personal safety or peril is involved. We know of but two
treatises in English on this subject, but every railway library
should have one or both. The earliest treatise is by Prof.
Holmgren, of Upsala, Sweden, and was published in 1877,
entitled, 4 Color Blindness and its Relations to Railroads and
the Marine.' A translation was published in the report for
1877 of the Smithsonian Institute. Since Prof. Holmgren's
work was published we have had Dr. Jeffries' * Color Blind-
ness, its Dangers and its Detection,' in which he copies a good
part of Prof. Holmgren's book ; but Dr. Jeffries has made
10,000 tests of his own, of which he gives the results.
44 But we must not forget works of a more entertaining
and general character, that will relieve the leisure hours
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 167
of the railroad man, and awaken in him more ardor for his
work.
" RAILROAD LITERATURE. Adams, C. F. Jr., Railroads :
Their Origin and Problems ; Adams, C. F. Jr., Chapters of
Erie ; Adams, C. F. -Jr., Notes on Railroad Accidents ; Audu-
bon, Life of ; Beckrnan's History of Inventions ; Black we! Pa
Great Facts ; Brassey, Thomas, Life of ; Brunei, Isambard K.,
Life of ; Brunei, Mark Isambard, Life of ; Craik's Pursuit of
Knowledge under Difficulties ; Edgar's Boyhood of Great
Men ; Edison and his Inventions ; English Hearts and English
Hands ; Fouchaud's Lives of Illustrious Mechanics ; Howe's
Memoirs of the most Eminent Mechanics ; Light for the Line,
or Life of Thomas Ward ; Locke, Joseph, Life of ; Men who
have Made Themselves ; Railways (in Library of Wonders) ;
Read, Nathan, His Invention of the High Pressure Engine ;
Reynolds's Engine Driving (English book) ; Reynolds's The
Model Locomotive Engineer (English book) ; Rogers's The
Law of the Road, or Wrongs and Rights of a Traveller ;
Smiles's Brief Biographies ; Smiles's Industrial Biography ;
Smiles's Lives of the Engineers, in 5 vols. $12.50 ; Smiles's
Self-Help, Character ; Smiles's Thrift ; Stephenson, Robert,
Life, by J. C. Jeaifreson ; Stimson's History of the Express
Companies and Origin of American Railroads ; Stuart, C. R.,
Lives of Civil and Military Engineers of America ; Taylor's
The World on Wheels ; Timbs, J., Inventors and Discover-
ers ; Timbs, J., Wonderful Inventions ; Trevithick, Robert,
Life of, with an Account of his Inventions, by F. Trevithick ;
Tweedie's The Life and Works of Earnest Men ; Worcester,
Second Marquis, Life of, with Century of Inventions ; Wrig-
ley's The Workingraan's Way to Wealth ; Wynne, J., Emi-
nent Scientific Men.
" Many, if not all, of the scientific publications named, can
be purchased at Van Nostrand's Scientific Bookstore, or at
E. Spon's, New York City. We have indicated with as much
fulness as our space will allow the lines of books for such a
library as will meet the requirements of railroad men."
168 SAM HOB ART.
O. R. Stockwell, Railroad Secretary, New York, gives his
experience :
" When I went as secretary to New York City, the Rail-
road Branch had no membership. The Company was contrib-
uting liberally, but some felt that the men would be driven
from the rooms if they were asked to contribute to the work.
We arranged for a sustaining membership, the men contribut-
ing just as they feel able ; and the result is that we have
secured a membership of 250, the annual income from which is
about $600. The attendance, which the year previous was
about 2500 monthly, has now increased to over 3000.
" In attempting a Bible Class we at first tried it on Sunday,
but we found that we could command a better attendance
Wednesday noon, and so changed to that time. Through its
influence many Christian men have been stimulated to work
for others. We have a circulating library of 540 volumes.
" I feel that the library is one of the most important ad-
juncts in our work. We do not want books that will please
and cater to a low order of intelligence, so much as books that
will educate, refine and cultivate a moral sentiment in a man's
heart. While I was secretary of the Columbus Association a
brakeman asked me to select him a book from the library. Ho
was given to drink. I selected a book that would be enter-
taining, and yet would exert the right influence ; and when he
brought it back, he said : 4 Stockwell, any man who reads that
book will never touch another drop of liquor.' I have often
placed the same book in the hands of young men in New York
City, some of them Roman Catholics, although it is written by
a Baptist minister's wife, and they say that they never read as
good a book before, or one with a better moral. We don't
want books simply that at the end of the month we can make
a good report. We could get any amount of yellow-covered
literature that would be read with avidity. But we want
books that will be like an electric light in a dark corner, and
that will make a man better for his family and for the com-
munity, not books that will lead men downward."
THE WORK AMOJ^G RAILROAD MEK. 169
Frank W. Smith, of Toledo, said :
" In our place we asked for magazines, Harper's, Scribner's,
and All the Year Round, and we received something over
a thousand copies. They were placed in the switch-houses
and round-houses, and were not to be returned, but to be
passed from one man to another. Among the magazines were
a few religious peridoicals. The devil said : * Frank, don't
put in that religious magazine ; the boys will not read it.* I
said : ' Get thee behind me, Satan,' and then I put the maga-
zine on top. This was one of the strongest temptations I had
when I sent out these magazines, and I conquered it only by
placing the religious magazines on the top."
W. J. Orr said :
" I visited a man on the Great Western Railway who had
been sick for three weeks. He was a Roman Catholic, and
was fond of reading. I took Scribner's Magazine and slipped
inside some little religious papers. I said to him : ' Here is
Scribner^s, and I have slipped a couple of tracts inside, you do
not object ? ' and he said : * No.'
H. F. Williams said :
" Railroad men need an intelligent understanding of the
work they have in hand. The man who has a practical educa-
tion will better fill any position he is called to than he would
without it. The employes of a road give character to the
road ; and when we elevate them to a higher standard we are
doing that much toward giving to the stockholders an equiva-
lent for the money they contribute for the support of our
work. The tendency of any man's life who is a specialist is to
narrow him down. Put a man at the throttle of an engine,
let him stand there year after year, doing the same work, run-
ning over the same road, even whistling at the very same
points, and that man's life is being contracted by constantly
doing this one work. We ought to offer a helping hand to
such men to break the treadmill monotony of their lives. The
word education means to draw out as well as to put in knowl-
edge : the educational part of our work should both put some-
170 SAM HOBART.
thing into a man's life and draw something out, making him
not only useful to himself, but useful to others.
" I know there is a temptation to make the Association
room simply a pleasant place of resort, but wo want our rooms
to be more than that : we want them to be educational centres.
The very pictures on the walls should be made a means of edu-
cation. Instead of getting railroad advertisements around our
rooms, we ought to seek, as many Associations are wisely seek-
ing, to put the right sort of pictures before the men, and thus
put good thoughts into their minds which may be drawn out to
a purpose by and by. We cannot maintain classes in the
railroad work in the same way that we can in the city work.
Our men are not permanent, but are liable to be moved from
division to division, and so we have to do the educational
work in such a way that each lesson will be complete in itself.
" One day a Division Superintendent came into our rooms,
who was interested in a car-coupling arrangement. I suppose
there are hundreds of different kinds of car-couplings. This
gentleman had thoroughly familiarized himself with the
different patterns of couplings, and at my request he promised
to tell us something about them. We called a meeting,
endeavoring especially to reach the brakemen ; and it was one
of the most interesting meetings we ever had, both to the
superintendent and the men. He enjoyed it quite as much as
they did. I heard them talking about car-couplings many
times afterward in the yard. This shows that other lines of
work may be taken up besides class-work. A vocal music
class, for instance, could be very well maintained. An occa-
sional lesson in penmanship may be given. I have also
thought I would like to try a class in business forms. I was
connected once with a very interesting spelling class, using a
little book with specimen words in it. We combined spelling
with penmanship by having the pupils write out the words.
We have a very careful and conscientious surgeon connected
with the road, who gave us some very practical lessons, ex-
plaining from charts the circulation of the blood and describing
THE WORK AMONG RAILROAD MEN. 171
the most prevalent kinds of injuries. He rolled np tlie men's
sleeves and tied up their arms and showed them how to stop
' the flow of blood. He gave them a prescription for a liniment,
and I was very much interested afterward to find how many of
the men were carrying it with them. But let us never forget
that we want to show the men the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
far easier to reach worldly people through our educational feat-
ures than by presenting Christ, and we are tempted to be
drawn away too much to the secular side. The Lord has
given us golden opportunities to get hold of men through this
educational interest, and let us make these but stepping-stones
to better things.
" How can this work be organized ? or, What can the secre-
tary of a local organization do for railroad work, where a
branch has not been established ? That is to say, How is the
railroad work to be commenced in a new place ?"
Mr. Ingersoll. The first thing is for the secretary of the
city Association to make* the acquaintance of Christian rail-
road men. Seek them out. Go to the pastors and ask them
if they have any railroad men in their churches. You will
always find one or more, and every one you find will give you
the name of another one. In that way you will get track of a
number of Christian railroad men. Then, in personal inter-
course with these men, one at a time, get them into this work,
and afterward get them together. Give them the literature
pertaining to the railroad work of our Associations ; reports of
conferences held, bulletins of railroad branches, anything bear-
ing upon the work that would interest them, and give them a
clear idea of what is being done in this department and how it
is done. Seek to impress them with the fact that the Chris-
tian railroad man has more influence over his unsaved comrades
than any one else has. Bring the matter to their conscience as
a duty that no one else can perform. Show them what has
been done by Christian railroad men in other places, and say :
" Don't you think that such a work ought to be done here ?"
They will say : " Yes." Then ask : " Don't you think yon
172 SAM HOBART.
ought to do it V 9 It will not be long before the Lord will
help you to lay it upon the hearts of one or two, or more.
Then you have a nucleus for your committee. The first and
simplest work for them to do is to hold cottage meetings in the
homes of other men. Two Christian men can commence that
work anywhere. It does not involve any expense ; it needs
nothing but willingness and love for souls. I don't care how
hard a case a railroad man may be, two Christian comrades
can get his house for a little prayer-meeting ; and no kind of
effort has been more wonderfully blessed in our railroad
branches than this same work.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES.
The Story of Edward H. Uniac's Fall and some of the sad
Incidents in Sam 1 s Work.
SAM lived amid the surging currents of evil. Though the
prohibitory law had been nominally enforced, this truth
pressed upon his attention and gave him alarm, viz., that men
were in danger of going wrong because they were wrong, they
loved evil. In the story of the Prodigal Son, the younger boy
is called, by common consent, " The Prodigal Son," because
he " wasted his substance in riotous living. " He deserved
the name. Such a man is prodigal. A man that lives for self ;
that consumes his substance in gratifying inclination or appe-
tite ; who reads, not for improvement, but for pleasure ; who
worships God, even without a thought of helping any one, is a
prodigal.
There are those who, for God's cause and man's good, give
their all, and leave themselves impoverished in purse, though
enriched in character, who are called prodigal by those who
regard as saved what they enjoy, and as lost what they bestow
upon others. These make a mistake. Christ said, " Freely
ye have received, freely give." The man that does this
wisely, carefully, and discriminatingly, is a benefactor, but no
prodigal. A prodigal is one who expends money on other
1 things without necessity and foolishly. Wasting substance is
prodigality. The word is sometimes misused. We speak of
the man of genius as one on whom nature has been prodigal in
the bestowment of her gifts. This can never be true. When
the man misuses these gifts, then he is prodigal of his genius.
174 SAM 1IOBAKT.
Yet it is not nature that is prodigal, but the man. Nature is
liberal in the bestowment, man is prodigal in the expenditure.
We justly speak of a spendthrift as prodigal, because he wastes
what he distributes.
There is a thought suggested by the words " wasted his sub-
stance/' which saddens the mind and pains the heart. The
word implies recklessness, thoughtlessness, if not absolute and
intrinsic wickedness. A man cannot become prodigal so as to
spend his time or squander his talent or his money without
necessity and without a purpose to do good except he first cut
loose from moral restraint and determine upon a career of per-
sonal gratification without regard to future responsibilities or
opportunities. The career of the prodigal is easily traced.
His pride led him to say, " I know the world better than
others. The advice of the aged is very well for those who
need it, but I need it not, and will have none of it. Money is
made to be used. The only use fit for it is to procure enjoy-
ment. I can get more pleasure out of my money away from
home than at home." Indeed, the restraints of home arc un-
bearable to the child so soon as sin takes full possession of the
heart. Is there a boy who feels that a mother's eye gives
pain, a sister's confiding look brings reproach, who dislikes
family prayers, who hurries away so as to avoid them ? such a
one is becoming a prodigal. He feels that home is a prison,
and the rendezvous of the wild and dissipated, paradise. Such
are in danger. The prodigal went into a far country and there
wasted his substance. There was no purpose to do well. It
is possible to lose a fortune and not be blamed for it. It is
impossible to waste a fortune and not be called a prodigal.
The wrecks of misfortune line the shore of life's sea. The
number of mistaken and disappointed men is legion. They
are everywhere. Success is the exception and not the rule.
But this utterance does not condemn mankind. Thousands
of our most successful men have clambered to the heights of
success up the steeps of difficulty and amid the pitfalls of fail-
ure, and have won position, distinction, and fortune. Others
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES. 175
that have toiled just as hard and just as wisely have been over-
whelmed by misfortune and are regarded as failures, but are
not prodigals.
Some of the men who have gone down into the vortex of
bankruptcy have been far-seeing, prudent, economical, and
wise. But business is dependent upon others. There is a net-
work of influences which distinguishes financial transactions,
which extend far and wide beyond the reach and control of the
individual. Ships freighted' with rich cargoes may go down
into the sea. Railroad stocks, promising great dividends in
the future, may prove worthless at a given time. Men in
whom unlimited confidence has been reposed suddenly fail and
become bankrupt in character as in purse. A failure under
such circumstances may be all that is left to honor. A man
might deceive and become rich. If he is true he must go to
the wall, not necessarily to stay there.
The business man learns by his mistakes quite as much as
by his successes. It is not dishonorable to fail. It is dishon-
orable to squander and waste. Whoever tries and fails, reveals
a purpose which is commendable, and is honored ; and though
such a one becomes bankrupt, yet, if he does as well as he
can, society covers him with the mantle of charity, and, hoping
for the best, lends with pleasure the helping hand.
Not so does society feel toward the man who squanders
opportunity and patrimony, and by inattention to business and
by riotous living sows his fortune to the wind, and in due time
reaps the whirlwind of disappointment, chagrin, and want.
You feel that a prodigal is destitute of self control, of a
beneficent and ennobling purpose ; that he tries not to help,
not to build up, but to injure, to tear down, and demolish.
Well can I recollect the impression made upon my young heart
by a prodigal son whom I saw when a boy. He was the heir
to a fortune, and married a fortune with his wife. He seemed
to feel that there was no end to his income. He drank fiercely
and squandered lavishly. For a time he was the ringleader of
a class of dissipated followers. He was notorious for having
176 SAM UOBAKT.
spread a hundred-dollar bill on a slice of bread and butter and
eating it in the midst of a drunken revel. He died from the
effects of his dissipation, and was buried. The remembrance
of the manner in which he was despised is still fresh. His
widow, impoverished by his prodigality, was compelled to
live in penury, and her life was overshadowed by the ter-
rible disgrace.
In his life there was not a single redeeming trait. His com-
panions were ashamed of him, and his former friends left him
in disgust. Self was his idol, drink his passion, and pleasure
his highest aim. He lived like a brute and died like a brute.
All have possessions with which they may be prodigal.
They may have talents, and by using them foolishly and for
unwise purposes, waste them. An individual is under obliga-
tions to hold all his powers of body, mind, and soul in abey-
ance to the highest needs of God and humanity. Whoever
refuses to do this is prodigal. There are individuals prodigal
of opportunities. They are placed in stores, in shops, and
offices. They have been trusted. They prove false to the
trust reposed in them. They neglect to do as well as they
can. They do what they are required to do, and no more. If
asked to do a favor outside of their peculiar place, they regard
it as an insult. The result is, they are dismissed when there is
a slack of employment. Their narrowness and meanness has
made them prodigal of their opportunities. They have wasted
them in attending to self-interests. They have themselves to
blame for their being out of employment. They regarded to-
day's privileges as of no consequence, and seemed to feel that
the time for distinguishing themselves was coming, and so by
inattention and by negligence they extinguished the fires of
hope and squandered the blessings intrusted to their keeping.
Whoever acts thus is prodigal and will come to want. On the
other hand, we have seen a man in a store who could and
would do anything that needed to be done. He was a man of
all work. He could keep books, collect accounts, lift a pack-
age, run an errand, stay late and get up early. He was careful
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES. 17?
to improve every opportunity and to use his talent for his em-
ployer's advantage. Such a man cannot be spared. The
chances are that he will become a partner in the business.
Such succeed. Their success is a certainty.
Christian loafers are pious prodigals, and are great pests.
They have nothing that they will do, but sponge a living under
the pretence that they have a call which forbids their working.
The world is fuli of them. They make a zeal for God a cloak
for dishonesty toward men. They borrow money without a
thought of paying it, and claim that they are giving their time
to the church, and so are justified in cheating you. Such dis-
grace Christianity, and waste their little substance because of
their false views of duty and right.
Consider what was the substance of the prodigal. His
substance consisted not alone of the money he carried
with him from his father's house, but largely in what he
had in himself, apart from money. He had something in
and of himself. The health of body which gave a tinge of
beauty to his cheek and elasticity to his limb, and strength to
his frame, was a part of his substance which he was under ob-
ligation to himself and to God to husband with care. He
wasted it. Dissipation tells its sad story for him as for others.
It always tells its sad story. Hide it* you cannot. Compare
the look of the dissipated youth, who wastes his nights in
revels, who invades his hours of sleep, who changes night into
day and day into night, whose haggard look and hollow cough
and laggard step point unmistakably to an early grave ; with
the bright eye, the quick step, the hearty laugh, the joyous
face of the man whose evenings are passed at home, with pleas-
ant books for companions, to whom sleep brings rest and re-
freshment, and to whom the morning comes with cheery voices
sounding in the ear, and pleasant duties engaging the thought
this man is frugal of his strength and time, the other is a
prodigal.
Vigor of mind is also a part of a man's capital. Whatever
clouds, deadens, or impairs the intellect, or distracts the mind,
178 BAM HOB ART.
wastes a man's substance, and impoverishes him as surely as
does the scattering of money or destroying of property.
Let us ask whence comes this tendency to prodigality ?
The answer is at hand. Not from what is without a man so
much as from what is within. Dram shops abound and will
abound so long as society remains at heart what it is. But
they would not last a week if society could be Christianized.
But do not Christians indulge their appetites, and make drink-
ing respectable ? We answer a thousand times no. There
may not be moral power enough in churches to throw off the
body of this death, and wine-drinking and intemperance may
be tolerated ; but intemperance is a sin, and whoever is intem-
perate is a sinner, and it is a shame for him to do the devil's
work in the garments of a professed Christianity. Prodigality
comes from forgetfulness of God, from ignoring the responsi-
bilities of life, from seeking the things of self, and from living
selfishly rather than for God.
INTEMPERANCE A CURSE.
Boston and New England were startled by the fall of Edward
H. Uniac. His story interested Sarn and enabled him to
portray the peril in strong drink with tremendous power. Sam
declared that strong drink was a devil. He described not only
the insidious approach of the destroyer, but the cunning it
gives its victim and the utter overthrow of truthfulness, of
honor, of uprightness.
Edward H. Uniac left Ireland for America a boy of fifteen.
He ran away from home. The hot Celtic blood that coursed
his veins predisposed him to temptation. On board ship he
obtained his first sip of grog. A sailor gave it to him, and he
drank it from a dipper with the men. He liked it. He
wanted more. He landed in New York with a purpose to see
the sights and enjoy the world. Intemperance was the gate to
pleasure, and he entered it. The broad road to rum may be
entered anywhere and at any time. That young man is the
representative of a great class. Sam felt it. On one occasion.
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES. 179
when the wreck and ruin of this bright young life was engaging
public thought, Sam in the presence of a great number of rail-
road men sketched the story of the young man and plead with
them to shun the rock on which his bark of life went down.
This is the story in outline. Uniac came to America fresh
from the blessings and benedictions of a Christian home,
endowed with ability to climb to the highest round of the lad-
der ; he yielded to temptations, and afterward in a letter
wrote : " When I think of the advantages that were presented
to me in my young days and see how much I might have ac-
complished had I been true to my home education, I feel keenly
the truth of Whittier's words when he says :
' ' Of all sad words of tongne or pen
The saddest are these, ' it might have 'been.'"
" The light of the wicked shall be put out." " The truth of this
text," said Uniac, " I know and can verify. I have walked
for years in darkness without one single ray to light my path-
way of sin and crime. There was a time when I walked in the
light, when the songs of birds were hymns of praise and the
\yinds sighed the love and greatness of God. Mine was the
peaceful life of innocent childhood. I had a mother to direct
me into the paths of piety. I had a Christian father, and every
Sunday found me at the foot of the altar, filling up my young
soul with divine truth and love. But how sad the story ! I
turned from the right to the wrong, and entered the ways and
wickedness of the world. I followed its luring phantoms until
my light was extinguished and I groped amid the dark debris,
plunging ever down into places of still deeper darkness."
He studied law and won position at the bar. Drink under-
mined his strength. He married and became the father of two
children. Drink broke up his home. His wife parted from
him. He enlisted as a soldier. He was promoted over and
over again for valor and reduced to the ranks because of drink.
He was wounded. He was captured. He was carried to Rich-
mond and suffered in Libbv and Belle Isle. In six months
180 SAM HOB ART.
starvation took him down from weighing one hundred and
thirty-eight pounds to weighing less than eighty pounds. Still
the love of drink held him. He was exchanged. He went to
Camp Distribution. There John B. Gough saw him and de-
scribed him. " His hair was matted, a dirty rag was bound
about his head, his eye was bloodshot, his face bloated and his
whole appearance spoke of utter neglect. " Being interested
in his apparent abandonment, Gough inquired of an officer who
he was. His reply was : " He is the worst man in the com-
pany and the most brilliant, but is so given to intemperance
that nothing but a miracle can save him." Uniac heard
Gough and came to himself. On the way to the meeting he
overheard a soldier say, "There goes a subject for Gough 's
lecture. 77 These words cut him to the quick, and he thought
to himself, "Is it possible ? Have I sunk so low in the scale
of humanity as to be pointed at by my companions in crime ?
By God's help I will try to be a man once more.' 7
His description of the scene is worthy of being ^introduced.
He said, " Gough was in the midst of one of his most power-
ful appeals. When pointing his finger almost directly at me,
he said, ' You can be a man ; you have an immortal spirit
beating in your bosom which must live forever. Will you try ?
God will help you. Good angels will help you, the prayers of
God's people will help you, and you will be successful in the
struggle. 7 7 He signed the pledge. Mrs. Gough offered him
her hand, saying, "God help you to keep it. 77 He replied,
" Thank you, madam, I will remember that. 77
He won a victory. He enlisted as a worker in the Christian
commission. He came to Boston, and in the lecture field be-
came the rival of Gough. He went from town to town and
State to State. He never overcame his appetite, and here it
was that Sam Hobart became interested in him. He often saw
him on the train. He often listened to him. He recalled with
horror the fact that when weak and faint he went into a drug
store in Boston, and in accordance with the recommendation of
a friend asked for quinine bitters. The clerk took down a
THE WASTED SUBSTANCES. 181
bottle, and Uniac taking it in his hand said, " Do you know
me, sir."
The man said, " Yes ; this is Mr. Uniac, the temperance
orator. ' '
" Well, then, you know," says Uniac, " that I can take
nothing that has alcohol in it ; have these bitters anything of
the kind in them ?"
The apothecary answered, " Not enough to hurt anybody, if
there is any. There may have been a few drops when they
were first made, put in to keep them ; but, still, knowing you,
I can cordially recommend them to you."
Uniac bought them, tasted of them, and went to Connecti-
cut. He spoke and fainted. Brandy was given to him, which
caused every nerve of his stomach to open its mouth and cry
for drink. He came the next morning back to Providence,
went into a saloon, drank nearly a tumbler full of raw whiskey,
and taking a bottle with him came to Boston drunk. Sam
wept over hjs fall. So did thousands. The story of his relapse
ran like wildfire. Uniac went from bad to worse. He at
times gained a mastery for a day, and then went down for a
week. He came to the Temple one Sabbath morning. The
pastor saw him, and calling a deacon said : " In yonder corner
is Uniac ; go to him and stay with him until the close of the
meeting, and bring him to my room."
It was done. Then and there his weakness was revealed.
He would not take Christ for strength. The devil held him
and made him reject the offered help of God. How we prayed
for him. How Sam described the weakness of the inebriate as
he related this story of his persisting in obtaining strong drink.
It was on an April morning in 1869 that a friend started with
him to go to John B. Gough's near Worcester. When they
arrived at South Framingham Uniac wanted drink, and was so
determined to have it that force was required to resist him.
At Worcester he was threatened with delirium tremens. In
accordance with medical advice wine was given him. He then
escaped and drank freely. He went to Mr. Gough's, ate din-
182 SAM HOBART.
ner, came back, went to the theatre, and then escaped his
friend and was found in the bar-room just raising the liquor to
his lips. " Stop !" cried the friend. This is the description
of the scene : " I spoke sharply and told him that I had lost
all confidence in him. He appeared to feel very badly, and
wept like a child and said, * If you cannot trust me, there
is no use of ray trying to reclaim my lost position/ I talked
plainly, telling him, if he did not try I should, and that he
could not have any more drink. He gave me one of his defiant
laughs, and said he would have it if he lived, and that I did
not know the cunning of the inebriate. I told him that if that
was the case he would not live, for he should go to Boston
dead or alive without liquor. For two mi antes he looked me
in the eye, as only a drunken man can. At length, with his
eyes still fixed on me, he said, 'Do you mean that?"* I an-
swered firmly, * I do. 1 He said, in a subdued tone, ' I am ready
to go. 7 ' They came to Boston. In the morning he got up
early and said he was going to the Maine Depot to meet a
friend. The next heard of him he was intoxicated. They
found him. They put him on his feet. Back to drink he
went. Matters went on in this way until one morning a friend
received a note saying, " A man in the police station desires to
see you." The friend hastened thither. The prisoners were
in the dock. He looked in and among the array stood Uniac ;
his face bloated, his eyes bloodshot, hair dishevelled, clothes
torn and dirty, and a look of despair in his eyes. He was
taken out, carried to a private asylum ; the light of hope once
more flickered in the socket. It was but for a moment. He
used opium. He went and drank, came back and slept the
sleep that wakens only upon the dread realities of eternity.
This long story was known to the engineer. It nerved him.
It made him more desperate with weak men. It fired his im-
agination. It caused him to pray against rum at the Bethel
temperance meetings, in the Temple, at Worcester, and every-
where. If a man belted with friends as was Uniac could be
carried down, none were safe out of the arms of Jesus. This
THE WASTED SUBSTAXCES. 183
Sam saw. This he said, clinching his exhortation with the
words, " He that trusteth his own heart is a fool. Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
On another occasion he came into the meeting and with
thrilling effect related this incident. A young man fresh from
the country was gazing one evening listlessly at the windows of
a pleasantly lighted room when he felt a gentle tap on the
shoulder. He turned. A friend said, " Come. I am going
in for a few moments ; will you not come ?" He hesitated ;
his mother rose before him as on her dying bed he promised
her that he would never sit at a gaming-table, nor look upon
the wine-cup. Notwithstanding this promise he went in, again
and again ; he was in a good position. He has lost it. I
have just come from him. He has the* delirium tremens. I
have seen him pointing his attenuated finger toward the door
and exclaiming, 4< There they are. Don't you see them ? Oh,
keep them off. There they come. They are on me. They
have got me." He shrieks and promises, "Yes/ YES ! I
will play one more game with you, for you have my soul. I
know you have. " Contrast that man with our honored deacon,
George W. Chipman, who came as a young man to the city
from Marlboro. The first night he went out, his companions
led him to the threshold of a theatre. He stopped. He
stood. He saw his mother's beautiful face and, turning, said,
" I promised her not to go there, and I will not." He was
asked to drink. His vow kept him as he strode on to useful-
ness and to eminence. Temptation is a fact. It meets us
everywhere. It sounds like the great sea to some. It is like
the great sea to millions. Every man may be broken by it,
unless God keep him. Every enterprise may be wrecked by it,
unless God delivers it. Only those who take Jesus for strength
get the victory. There is no temptation taken you but is com-
mon to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able to bear, but will with the temp-
tation make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it.
Faith in God would have saved Uniac. Well has it been said : "
184 SAM HOBAKT.
" I would not give much for that virtue which has never been
tried. Give me rather the virtue whose battered and bruised
shield has arrayed itself against the hosts of evil. Give me the
man who has been baptized in the lire of temptation and come
out like refined gold. ' 7
CHAPTER XIV.
TEMPERANCE AN ADDED FORCE.
Henry Wilson The Peril in Wild Oats Lessons Learned
at the Farm School.
SAM delighted to do honor to those who deserved honor.
Foremost among these in his estimation stood Henry Wilson,
an illustration, known and read of all men, of the fact that tem-
perance was an added force.
Henry Wilson began at the bottom. His parents knew pov-
erty because of the curse of rum. He once said in Tremont
Temple, " From my cradle to this hour I have seen, felt, and
realized the curse of intemperance. When my eyes first saw
the light, when I came to recognize anything, I saw and felt
some of the evils of intemperance ; and all my life long to this
hour and now, my heart has been burdened with anxieties for
those of my kith and kin that I loved dearly. ' '
Sam dwelt sadly on this great sorrow in the life of the son,
Henry Hamilton Wilson, which illustrates the danger in strong
drink. Mr. Wilson's father loved liquor. He did not. He
had no relish for it. But his boy suffered from his grand-
father 9 B weakness and, giving way to the use of intoxicants,
went to an untimely grave.
This fact stares all workers in the face. In Brooklyn, N. Y.,
was a man perfectly temperate. His three boys were hopeless
drunkards, as was their grandfather before them. Mr. Beecher
described the condition of them, saying sometimes for days the
peril threatened them. They bemoaned it. They fought
against it. They yielded to it. They died drunkards because
of their grandfather's sin. Uniac over and over again would
18G bAM HOBAKT.
go to a friend and cry for help. He would not dare go alone.
The approach of the devil was like an armed guard. It was
impossible to obtain deliverance unaided.
Temperance is an added force. Hence the apostle says :
" Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and to knowl-
edge temperance. "
" Temperance," Sam would say, " is not religion. It can-
not take the place of religion. It is one feature of religion.
It is a strand in the rope, a block in the superstructure, a
branch of the tree. Faith is the foundation of Christianity.
Love is the dome of the grand superstructure, through which
the light of God irradiates the building from which comes the
glory and the mantling of beauty. "
Temperance is essential to manliness. Nothing is more
common than to see the young refuse to heed the injunction :
Add temperance to other virtues. Sam could not abide the
tendency in young boys to use tobacco. He protested against
the keeping of cigar-stores open on the Sabbath, where thousands
of children take the pennies designed for the treasury of the
Lord and drop them into the tobacconist's hands for that which
threatens to stunt the growth and destroy the promise of those
who otherwise would be the hope of the church and the world.
" I know what you think, " said Sam. " You declare we want
to know the world. We want to have a good time. We have
not sounded the depths of pleasure. W^e are not ready to give
up pleasure for piety and the world for Christ. How Christ
mourns over the fact that so many parents side with this ten-
dency to sin, saying, 'Boys will be boys,' and declaring that
children must not be brought up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord, and must not be held by too tight a rein while
young, and that they will get over their folly when they have
sowed their wild oats. Alas, wild oats grow. They bring
forth harvests, as the weak and dissipated wrecks of humanity
about us on every side declare." The poor were not, in Sam's
estimation, in greater danger than the rich. How he delighted
to describe the life of Senator Wilson. Beginning the poorest
TEMPERANCE AJST ADDED FOKCE. 187
of the poor. Early learning to read. Receiving as his first
text-book and as the guide of 'his youth a New Testament, he
started out under the benediction of the heavenly hand. Hav-
ing reached his majority he learned the shoemaker's trade, and
became .a good manufacturer. While others were idling away
their time, he was reading and working. At twenty-one he was
conversant with American history and with wide realms of
literature. As soon as he earned money he went to school.
He worked for his board that he might discipline his mind.
He grew mentally as he grew physically. He joined a debating
society and learned to think on his feet. He became a power
in his neighborhood, in the town, in the State and in the nation,
because of his growth intellectually and morally.
He was temperate. After he had been a member of the
Legislature and while the excitement of anti-slavery agitation
swept the land, he went to Washington to carry a petition
against the admission of Texas as a State into the Union. He
was asked to dine with John Quincy Adams. At the table,
wine was urged upon the rising politician. Henry Wilson
refused it, and, imitating Daniel at the court of Babylon, won
favor with God and man. Wilson spoke of this as one of the
strongest temptations of his life. Mr. Adams afterward
heartily commended him for his consistency. When elected
to the United States Senate he gave his friends a dinner at
Young's Hotel. On that occasion some jeeringly asked,
" Where are the wine-glasses ?" and spoke of the occasion as
a dry affair. Henry Wilson rose and with a great deal of feel-
ing said : " Gentlemen, you know my love for you, my qbliga-
tions to you. Great as they arc, they are not great enough to
make me forget 4 the rock whence I was hewn and the pit from
which I was dug. ' Some of you know how the curse of intem-
perance overshadowed my youth. That I might escape I fled
my early surroundings and changed my name. For what I am,
under God, I am indebted to my temperance vow and my adhe-
rence to the same. Call for what you want to eat and, if this
hostelry can provide it, it shall be forthcoming. But wines and
188 SAM HOBAUT.
liquors cannot come on to this table with my consent, because
I will not spread in the path of another the snare from which I
have escaped/'
All applauded him, and Senator Wilson became the pride of
the workingmen and the stalwart leader in the cause of temper-
ance in Washington as in Boston, and for him Sam Hobart had
unbounded admiration. Senator Wilson had a warm place in
his heart for the brave and faithful engineer. In some things
they were alike. They loved God and delighted to work for
men. The necessity of adding temperance to other Christian
and manly virtues was ever a present fact with this worker for
God. He knew that it was fashionable to be intemperate.
Intemperance is not regarded as a sin, but rather as a sign of a
generous nature. Temperance is looked upon as an evidence
of narrowness, of weakness and puerility, instead of being
proof of wisdom, of strength, of manliness. Drinking customs
have invaded society. They threaten the thrift and prosperity
of the men of toil. Many a man drinks up chairs, sofas, mir-
rors, wife's clothes, children's shoes, and goes on in poverty,
whereas he might with temperance enjoy it all.
This story illustrated the truth in one of Sam's talks : " An
engineer, through rum -drinking, had lost his place. He was
turned away. Railroad men cut him on every side. One day
he was leaning on the counter and was about to drink as Sam
entered the saloon in search of him. The wife of the saloon-
keeper brought in her beautiful child and stood her upon the
counter, saying, l Papa, see baby's shoes.' Just then the little
barefooted child of the engineer came in and said, ' Papa,
come home. 7 Sam, looking at the little red feet, said : * Bob,
your girl needs shoes quite as much as the saloon-keeper needs
your money.' The man looked at his child. He broke down
in grief and said : 'Sam, I am done.' He took the little child
in his arms, put her cold feet in his bosom, and carried her
home ; signed the pledge and that night Sam gathered a little
collection to give them a start. " " Temperance," said Sam,
on another occasion, " is essential to manly development. In-
TEMPERANCE AIT ADDED FORCE. 180
temperance weakens the system, destroys the intellect, and
ruins the sonl. Contrast the offspring of the temperate and
intemperate parents.' 1 Sam had visited the Reform School at
West Borough, and his attention was called to the diminutive
forms of the children of intemperate parents. The devil
knows it ; and as this Republic has to do with the world's prog-
ress Sam saw in the use of ardent spirits the degeneracy and
the destruction of thousands who otherwise might aid in pro-
moting its interests. Temperance gives skill to 'the hands,
clearness to the perception, value to the judgment, and power
to the will. Intemperance destroys it all, and casts down its
votary into the vortex of ruin. Parents should think of this.
" Recently, in a neighbor's house I saw," said Sam, " a boy
reeling around the room.
4 ' l What are you doing ? ' shouted the father in anger.
is ' Doing ? ' said the lad, t I am walking as father walked
last night/ "
It was as good as a picture to see the tear in Sam's eye as he
told the story and asked prayers that the father might feel the
terrible rebuke which came from the lips of his child. Such
facts as these illustrated the truth that temperance promotes
clearness and vigor of intellect. Daniel Webster achieved his
noble stature and his magnificent frame previous to his surren-
der to the use of intoxicants. Havelock and his regiment
proved that the temperate are more healthy, more ready for
duty, and more enduring than the intemperate. In Russia
when soldiers are sent north, an officer smells the breath of
every man and keeps home every one who drinks intoxicants.
Thousands perished in our army because of drink. Defeat
after defeat came to our arms because of the indulgence on the
part of the officers in strong drink. General Butler found that
drunkenness was sapping the strength of his army. He found
that soldiers concealed liquor in gun barrels, and in one way or
another thousands wer~ drinking. He issued an address. He
plead with officers and men to abandon the use of liquor for
the sake of the flag as well as for thoir own safety, and led the
190 SAM HOBAIIT.
way in total abstinence. The tide of drunkenness threatened
everything. When checked, victories came. It is probahle
that Commodore Foote did no \vork as valuable on his gunboat
at Fort Donelson as when on his way he held up before U. S.
Grant the importance of his abstaining from every form of
intoxicating beverages.
It is admitted that indulgence in drinking may unduly excite
the intellect for the moment and aid it in bearing an undue
strain for a time ; but no man that uses tobacco or intoxicants
understands the pleasure derived from the play of the united
forces of mind and body and soul as does the temperate man
whose imagination kindles under the inspirations of truth and
under the direction of the Spirit of God. Temperance enables
the individual to use the powers committed to his keeping. A
man falls into the gutter overcome by liquor. Liquor over-
comes. It does not help. It disgraces women, no matter how
wealthy or how refined, as it disgraces the ignorant sot. This
fact Sam illustrated by an incident which had just come to his
notice. A friend, knowing his skill in managing the intemper-
ate, invited him to an elegant home. He entered a parlor more
beautiful than anything he had before seen. Around him was
all that wealth, guided by an elegant taste, could desire.
Large and comfortable chairs, sofas of the most costly descrip-
tion, and book-cases filled with rare books surprised and de-
lighted him.. On the walls were the most costly of paintings
purchased in Europe, where the appetite for strong drink was
acquired, not by the man, but by the woman. To her he was
introduced. She admitted her degradation and contended that
she was utterly helpless. Sam took her at once to Christ.
u Take my Lord, madam, for temperance as I took him to
overcome profanity, and you will be all right. You know
Paul said, ' Every one who striveth for the mastery is temper-
ate.' You are to make a struggle to be temperate. "
" Yes ; that is the difficulty. I cannot live without stim-
ulus/'
" Die, then,'' said Sam.
TEMPERANCE AX ADDED FORCE. 191
" And be damned and go to hell ?" said the lady.
" No," said Sara, with the pleasantest of smiles, " die and
go to heaven, and get out of hell."
" Wouldn't I be damned if I should die as I am ?"
" Yes, but you need not die as you are. Whosoever con-
fesses Christ as a Saviour shall be confessed by Christ before
his Father and his holy angels. Confess Christ and then take
him for strength, and you won't be sick and you won't be
harmed. But if you should 3 be sick and die Jesus will take
you to himself. You see you are his after you give yourself
to him, and he is responsible for your salvation and preserva-
tion."
" It is a new view, Mr. Hobart. I see my way out through
God's help."
Together they prayed, and she began the fight in the name of
God, and won the victory, and the home was saved.
Ever after, that woman welcomed Sam, not as a railroad
engineer, but as her deliverer and benefactor in the Lord.
In Sam's estimation temperance was essential to piety. He
had no use for an intemperate minister or for a physician that
for any reason would prescribe the use of stimulants. He be-
lieved more were ruined than helped by it.
Add temperance to the attainments of childhood because of
the influence a child can wield. Sam met a little girl carrying
a pail of beer home. He spoke to her and said, " I am sorry
to see you in such business."
" I am sorry to be in it, Mr. Hobart. Come with me and
persuade my parents to give up drink."
Sam accepted the invitation. He found father and mother
thirsting for drink and eagerly waiting for their child's return.
Hearing the footfall of a man they feared punishment for send-
ing their child for drink. In went the child, after her came
Sam, with his pleasant, cheery smile, " We have brought your
beer."
" Have some with us, Mr. Hobart."
" Can't afford it"
192 8AM IIOBART.
" Why, you are better off than we are, and yet we afford it ;
don't we, mother ?"
" We use it."
" Yes, and pay for it."
" Yes, and go without much else. Look at me," said Sam.
" I have good clothes. You have not. If I drank my clothes
up I wouldn't have them, would I ?"
"Certainly not."
" I have good furniture ; you have not. I would not have
it if I drank it up. I have a good business. You have not.
I would not have it if drink made me untrustworthy. I have
the respect of children. You have not, because you drink.
Friends, give it up ; save what you waste in drink, and in time
you will have a good home, a good position, and a pleas-
ant life." Turning to the little girl he said : " Now let me
empty out the beer. I will give you what it cost ; and with that
start and go on to victory."
They refused, and drank the beer, and Sam came and told
the story and asked us to pray that the seed sown might bring
forth fruit. Weeks went on. The little girl came to our
school. She learned the song, " Put away the bowl," and one
day sang it with wondrous power. The arrow entered the
mother's soul. She gave up drink. The father came home.
He was sober. He heard the child sing, " Jesus, lover of my
soul." It awakened memories in his heart. He called his
child to him. She sang for her father. She asked them to
come to church. They came. Sam met them. All sat to-
gether in the house of God. They were pricked to the heart.
They turned to Christ. They were redeemed, and Sam rejoiced
because of what a child can do when temperance was an added
force. Sam believed and therefore spoke. He believed in
standing together with Christ. Hence he worked with God as
lie worked with men. Sam believed in the pledge. He always
had one in his pocket and asked men to sign it, promising to
pray for all on the list. He said we must stick together, and
.told how in climbing the Alpine glaciers the guide fastens to
TEMPERANCE AN ADDED FORCE. 193
himself the rope and fastens it to every other man, believing
that there will be strength in mutual support. If one slips, all
.the rest hold him up. What that rope is to the men going
down, that a pledge and agreeing to stand for each other is to
a temperance organization. Gough was saved in this way. It
was because when he signed the pledge the man said, "Come
and sign and be one of us," that he went home saying, "/ am
one of them." All that night he struggled. The next morn-
ing, very weak, he went to his work, saying to the man in the
office,
" I have signed the pledge. "
The man replied, in a brutal way, " I have heard so."
" I intend to keep it."
" So they all say," replied the brute.
Gough was alone. Wife dead, child dead ; and deader than
all was the man in the office from whom he expected help.
He went to his task faint-hearted. He began to work. He
held in his hand the piece of iron to turn the screw in the
clamp that held the book, for he was a bookbinder by trade.
The iron changed into a snake. On one end was a tail which
began to twist and turn. On the other' end came a serpent's
head with open mouth. In his hand the writhing thing moved
and struggled. It nearly tore out the palm. He saw his peril.
He cried for help. Just then, as he looked into the vortex of
delirium tremens, he heard a step and a man cried out :
" Good-morning, Mr. Gough. Glad to see you. Came
round to see you. You know you are one of us, and I came
to see you and to say that my name is Jesse W. Goodrich, and
that I will always be glad to help you. How are you ?"
Gough looked up. The iron was iron. The words had
lifted the falling man to his feet. He stood upon the rock of
temperance, and was helped to save thousands because on that
eventful morning Goodrich stood by Gough. " There is,"
said Sam, <4 in one of our towns a movement that promises to
spread. They work and pray for the intemperate. The result
is the saloons are being closed up, and notwithstanding the hard
194 8AM HOBART.
times there is but little suffering among the working people.
A reading-room well supplied with books and papers and made
attractive in many ways has been opened day and evening, and
is preferred to the saloon. Families have been reunited, men
have become able to support those dependent upon them,
public charity has been less needed. The sots of the gutter
appear in good clothes once more, and the houses of God are
filled with devout worshippers.
" God will help us all," said Sam, " if we will all help God.
The power to do well is within our reach. " This illustration
pleased him, and to it he often referred. A castaway ship was
floating on an apparently shoreless sea. The cry was for
" Water, water !" A ship came in sight. It approached
them. They signalled for help.
" What do you want ?" asked the captain.
" W T ater," was the reply.
" Dip and drink. You are sailing on the Amazon, and have
been there for days. ' '
So with us all. God is about us. Cry unto Christ, and
temperance can become an added force.
CHAPTER XV.
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE.
"Is intemperance a disease or a crime?" asked Sam one day.
" A mighty problem, Sam," was the reply.
" Ah, but I want to know," said Sam. " That it is a sin
there can be no question, for Paul says, ' Know ye not . . .
that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God "
(2 Cor. 9 : 10).
u What is a drunkard ? Is it a man who gets drunk ? If
so, millions go to hell. Or is it a man that chooses the wrong
in preference to the right and puts his heart into disobeying
God and wrecking his hopes here and hereafter ?"
" Well," said Sam, " without deciding as to who is guilty
of the sin of drunkenness, were there no other reason for press-
ing the claims of temperance upon the attention, that were
enough. The drunkard is shut out of heaven and is doomed to
an eternal hell. Whether all intemperate people can be classed
with drunkards must be decided at a higher tribunal."
Sam was full of this theme. He had just come from an
engineer's home who was fast hastening to ruin. He had
promised reformation again and again. He had signed the
pledge and yet he was down once more. Intemperance is
horrid in its workings and more horrid in its results. The
Bible is full of warnings for the imperilled, and of offers of
help to the degraded and the fallen. For the wounded it fur-
nishes the balm of Gilead, and to the sick it sends Christ, the
great Physician. The apostle ranks drunkenness with other
gross sins and crimes. Society at the present time is disposed
to treat it as a disease, and to class drunkards not with crimi-
1'JG SAM HOBAKT.
nals, but with unfortunates, with lunatics, with paralytics, with
half-witted people. Intemperance, in other words, is spoken
of as a disease. Drinking is not regarded as a sin, so long as
it is held in check and is under restraint.
A drunkard's peril is felt to begin when drinking passes into
intemperance, and when appetite gains control of the victim.
Is this a safe view ? Is it the correct opinion to hold and to
proclaim ? Or does the individual begin to be intemperate
when he begins to indulge in the use of intoxicants. In ap-
proaching this subject, I do it with the sincere desire of doing
good.
Differences of opinion abound. I will not characterize nor
describe them. Let us call attention to this question, Shall in-
temperance be treated as a disease or as a crime ? That it
resembles disease none can doubt. It produces terrible and
loathsome sickness. Nothing is more repulsive than the
drunkard getting over his debauch. He has been locked in
the embrace of a stupid sleep. He begins to come back to
consciousness. He yawns. His stomach can retain the poison
no longer, and ejects it.
He cannot bear water. His whole diseased nature cries out
for rum to satisfy the wants of a prostrate system. His fancy
is distempered. His nerves are unstrung. He is miserable,
and would be an object of pity were it not that he went into
danger warned and made the bed willingly on which the laws
of nature compel him to recline. That intemperance produces
disease there can be no question. The symptoms are very
manifest. These are some of them : It creates an appetite and
forms a habit which induces a man to drink at stated periods.
At times it is moderate in its demands. It asks for wine only
at dinner. Again it makes periodical attacks. Some men
drink to intoxication once a week, others once a month, and
others once a year. But the watcher within rings his bell at
the moment and sends the victim after his potion. If there
is one that begins to give way to the rule of appetite the fact
may be known, because it bestirs itself at certain times and in
A PliOBLEM HAKIJ TO 6ULVK. 197
certain places. Whoever finds the desire for drink returning
at stated intervals, is warned of his danger. He must deny
himself if he expects to escape confirmed intemperance. If he
associates drinking with sports and pastimes, if he looks for-
ward to convivial pleasure with anticipation of delight, he is in
peril. Some contend that they are safe, because they only
take the social glass when the day's work is done. Is any one
safe ? Millions are to-day wailing in a drunkard's hell because
they once fearlessly trod the edge of this precipice. They
went one step too far, and went down. A distinguished
United States Senator wrecked here his bark of hope. He
began to use wine with jovial companions in the evening, after
business was over. He began to be a drunkard then. Noth-
ing is better known or more absolutely proven than the inviola-
bility of nature's laws. Now, drinking intoxicants, no matter
how small the quantity, produces an appetite. That appetite
influences the individual. If tampered with, it produces a dis-
eased state of the system. Men who drink tell us that there
are hundreds of nerves that seem to rouse up like beasts, and
cry with one voice at certain periods for drink. They will not
be content with anything else. The stomach becomes dis-
eased this affects the imagination. Pain, uneasiness, and
distress is the result. Intemperance, if it deserved to be called
a disease, is the product of sin. Some one asks, Can that be
disease which people insist upon having ? Whoever saw a man
expose himself recklessly for the purpose of taking a malignant
disease ? Yet here is an ailment which destroys men and
women by the thousand ; it produces poverty, distress, cruelty,
and death to all the nobler powers of the mind and heart ; it
wrecks the frame, breaks down the constitution, and places
some of the noblest of the land in the vortex of ruin, and yet
many forget to warn against it. We warn against yellow
fever, against malignant forms of disease of every class. We
build up great institutions and make ships lie by in quarantine,
and yet permit this plague of intemperance to go on unwarned
]98 SAM HOB ART.
against, and see children, men, and women expose themselves
without remonstrance.
The objections to treating intemperance as a disease are
many, and some of them are well taken. The moment you
talk about it as a disease rather than as a sin against God and a
crime against man, you pity it, if you do not pet it. You
throw away moral power which you need to combat the influ-
ence of the monster. A man has the fever and ague. He
does not feel disgraced by it. He is diseased. He is sick,
and feels that he ought not to be found fault with because of
that. Call his intemperance a disease and you place him in
the same situation. Call it a sin. Denounce it as a sin.
Take ground against it, and you may save the man.
By so doing we tell the truth by act as well as speech. We
do not abandon moral suasion for legal suasion, nor do we turn
the minds of the people away from their duty of remonstrating
against indulging in drink because we at the same time oppose
those who place the pitfall of destruction in the path of the
unwary. By treating intemperance as a crime you array
society against it. You destroy the feeling of commiseration
which the victim delights to cherish. You array the nobler
nature against the baser, the higher against the lower.
"The trouble is," said Sam, " the drunkard don't care
whether you call his appetite a disease or a crime. His heart
is gross, his ears are dull of hearing, and his eyes are closed
lest he should be saved. He wants drink, and drink he will
have, cost what it may. ' '
" Not always, Sam."
Then I told him of my experience with a man who was the
son of a Congregationalist deacon, who had married a beautiful
woman for a wife, and began to drink. Children grew up about
him. His home was a wreck ; never will I forget the sight
my eyes beheld, as I entered it for the first time. The man
was a confirmed infidel, so called, when sober, and when drunk
was apparently religious. Hence his wife, at the close of a
sermon said :
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE. 199
" The next time my husband is drunk I want you to come
and see him."
I replied, " I don't want to see your husband when drunk ;
let me see him when sober."
She said, 4< No. When sober he hates you. When drunk
he likes you and imagines you could deliver him. "
" All right, I will go."
In a few days, on a snowy day in November, a little bare-
footed boy rang the door-bell. The girl told of the pitiable
object. I went and saw him. He said :
" My father is drunk, and my mother says you said you
would come and see him."
Calling the little fellow in and after getting him a pair of
stockings and shoes we started for the drunkard's home. We
found him sitting on a broken chair at a broken table, eating
from broken dishes a drunkard's meal. He was wild with
drink. His abode was a drunkard's home.
A little pale-faced child lay on a broken lounge, covered by
the thin dress of the mother. The children crept about the
room in fear of their natural protector, who had been changed
by strong drink into a tyrant. We talked about his sin. We
did not pity him we condemned him. We pointed out the
result of his sin. He began to apologize for it. He said ap-
petite had mastered him. He could not pass a rum-shop with-
out entering it. We called the longing for drink sin as the
desire for murder is sin. The act of drinking is a crime as the
commission of murder is a crime. Then we held up to him
the picture of the past and the possibility of the future, and
asked him to stand with us in opposition to his sin. He did
so and was saved, though the appeal to him as an unfortunate
had ever failed. It is true that if you cannot get men to feel
that drinking is a sin and a crime, it is impossible to exert a
restraining influence over them.
" All right," said Sam, " go with me and see my friend.
Try him. He hates rum when he is sober. He will for days
tell me of his fear, as would Uniac, and then he will go down.
;>(JO SAM HUBAKT.
He is not one of your animal drunkards who drinks to be
drunk, nor a rowdy drunkard who goes on a spree to smash
things, but he buys it and goes home with a sad look in his
eye, shuts himself up in his room, and drinks. He is there
now. Come and see him. M
Never can I forget the look of his wife as we entered. The
home was neatness itself. The man was in a room alone. As
we entered Sam said :
44 John, I have brought my pastor to see if we can't help
you. We have been asking whether intemperance was a
disease or a crime."
4 * It is both," said John.
"Both?"
" Yes, both. It begins a sin, and it ends as a dis-
ease."
" True ; but the sin does not die while the disease is
active."
" No ; it is both a disease and a sin."
" Well, then, of one thing you may be sure. The Lord
Jesus was a Saviour from sin and a healer of disease."
" Drink is a devil," said John. " It is a sin, a disease, and
a devil."
44 Well, Jesus cast out devils."
44 Is he in the business yet ?"
44 Yes."
44 Then I am his man."
44 Agreed," said Sam. 44 Will you obey orders ?"
4< Yes," replied John, as if he meant it.
Sam turned to me and said :
44 Pastor, will you take the job off from my hands ?"
44 We will take it to our Lord."
Then opening to Mark 5 : 2 I read of the man who met
Christ coming out of the tombs with an unclean spirit and no
man could bind him, no, not with chains.
44 He is worse than you, John ?"
" Yes ; worse until the delirium comes on."
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE. 201
Now this man went and worshipped Christ. Let us do the
same thing.
John looked and said, " But I am half drunk. "
" God knows it," said Sam.
After a moment I added, " Let us pray together."
All bowed, and after a short prayer we asked the man to take
Christ as his Saviour from the power of rum.
He did so, and we came away. Months passed. The man
was saved for a time. At length, to finish the story, Sam came
and said : li John has begun again."
" Begun to drink?"
" No ; but he is being tempted. He says he dare not go by
a certain saloon."
" Bring him here."
He came. His face wore a troubled look. He told his
story. " I always begin to drink at one place. It has been
so for two days that I dare not walk that way."
I said, li Give Jesus glory right there. Call on him in
prayer at the very door of the saloon, and let him deliver you
and shame this lurking devil."
The next day at high noon in the crowded streets a man was
seen on his knees crying to God for help. Men came out from
the saloon and found John in prayer. They asked him what
was the matter. He told them. His old companions helped
him on his feet, walked him off, and he was victor once more.
There are many kinds of drunkards. There is the social
drunkard, who will not drink or smoke alone. With him it is
not a desire. It must be a sin. Then there is the respectable
drunkard, who drinks as a help in business or because it is
fashionable. If he can be persuaded that he is mistaken he
can be made an apostle for the cause. The literary drunkards
are the men who drink in order that through the exciting and
stimulating effects of intoxicating fluids, whose effects alone
they seek, the " intelligence may keep pace with, and on cer-
tain occasions be made to outstrip itself. " Such forget the
law, " that they who gain the mastery are temperate."
202 SAM HOliAKT.
The use of ardent spirits, employed as an auxiliary to labor,
-is the most fatal, because the most common and least suspected
cause of intemperance. It is justified as innocent ; it is in-
sisted on as necessary. But no fact is more completely estab-
lished by experience than that it is utterly useless and ultimately
injurious, besides all the fearful evils of habitual intemperance
to which it so often leads.
There is no nutrition in ardent spirits. All that it does is to
concentrate the strength of the system for the time beyond the
capacity for regular exertion, It is borrowing strength for an
occasion which will be needed for futurity, without any pro-
vision for payment, and with the certainty of ultimate bank-
ruptcy.
Among this class are the mightiest intellects of the time and
age. They are in the immediate and active performance of the
highest works of their calling, and the most arduous tasks of
their brain. Names like Webster and Byron and Edgar A. Poe
give dignity to their class. Their tasks are herculean and their
gifts of intelligence almost superhuman. Now they begin to
see, to feel, to know, that there is yet the unattained within
the scope of their minds, greater speed in their mental ma-
chine, that cannot, they think, be reached without the addition
of extra fire, over and above that immense evolution of the
latent powers, set in motion by the undying forces of an im-
mortal mind.
They do not drink in crowds. They take their bottle of ale
to the study and drink it off quietly and deliberately, and de-
light themselves in the beautiful fancies that come and go flit-
ting before them, creatures of the brain waiting to tenant the
world as creations of the pen or of the speech.
This class must be treated carefully. The world wants their
power and is willing to pay any price for it. You see repre-
sentatives of this class among the paid contributors to the
press. You will find them in retreats for drunkards, in insane
asylums, and in prisons. Some of them have fallen very low.
They are brilliant with the pen and in speech. Their produc-
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE. 203
lions are eagerly caught up by the press. They work with
resistless energy. They seldom fall very low or commit great
excess. The same great mind which called for stimulants bids
them beware, and continues to be their controlling power.
They drink for their brain power, forgetful of the fact that the
world can get on without their splendid productions while it
ought not to be compelled to get on without a decent character
behind their brilliant reputation. To save them requires great
wisdom and friendly remonstrance, backed by deeds of love.
No taunts, no discouragements, nor bars, nor bolts ; but a never-
failing, never- wearying, affectionate care unto the very end,
though he " sin seventy times seven. " They are not as easily
reached by human sympathy or appeal.
Another species is described as the inner-man drunkard.
They are endowed with the highest types of intelligence, but
superadded to that and towering far above it, and domineering
over it, is the most exquisitely sensitive organization of the
inner man that is created, and it is born unto grief and sorrow
as the sparks fly upward.
This form is accompanied by the most terrible moral suffer-
ings orr earth, and if unwashed of sin and unredeemed, their
anguish in hell must be indescribable and beyond compare the
most intense of all.
Is there a talented and witty youth that finds in the delirium
of intoxication, whether of tobacco or ram or opium, a pleasure
that is indescribable ? Your joy is the prelude to a terrible
sorrow, and the heaven you find in intoxication points to a
dreary drunkard's hell. The sorrows already experienced are
as nothing in comparison with those ready to begin.
Abstinence from drink puts to sleep the nerves that, when
aroused, like a million of serpents open their mouths and cry
for drink. One glass wakens them and makes the man their
victim. Call it a crime. Treat it, as does God, as a sin. Put
it on a par with fornication, idolatry, adultery, abusers of
themselves with mankind. Place the drunkard where God
places, him, among thieves and outlaws and revellers and extor-
204 SAM HO BART.
tioners, and then you may reach him by law as well as by
moral suasion. Call it a crime, and what looks worse ?
What sin compares with it in harvests ? Look at the reports
of the police, and see that it furnishes nearly all of the occa-
sions of arrest. Its fires feed and sustain the brothel. It arms
the midnight assassin and gives courage to the garroter. Of
twenty-four men in Charlestown prison for wife-murder twenty,
three were drunk. It was this that steadied the hand that
aimed the pistol whose bullet pierced the heart of Abraham
Lincoln. It binds shackles about the limbs, and turns the key
that pushes the bolt of the prison. And yet men say, " I am
going to enjoy my liberty, and drink. " Follow him.
I chanced to be in a station-house when a fine-looking man
was led in. His name was called. The flask of rum was
taken from him, and he was remanded to his cell. How cruel
to treat a sick man thus.
Treat intemperance as a sin and a crime, and you can hold
up their only remedy. Then men will preach against it in
pulpits and talk against it in Sabbath-schools.
Think of the picture presented by the Rev. William M.
Thayer of the Alliance. He was speaking to a Band of Hope,
when a young man of thirty-two entered, took a seat, and
listened, and at the close of the meeting walked up to say, " I
am a drunkard beyond recovery. "
He was of a wealthy family. He had formed the habit of
drink. Since his return from the army he had pawned clothes
for rum. He was then shirtless and stockingless. Poor man.
He is but a specimen of a mighty class. He wept because he
had not been warned when young. Let not our young thus
speak in after years.
Remember, three fourths of the crimes committed are the
result of intemperance among the old and the young alike.
" The remedy, " said Sam, " is to stop drinking by the help
of God in the same way that any other sin is abstained from.
You are to break off your sins by righteousness, by Christ's
help."
A PROBLEM HARD TO SOLVE. 205
True ; and yet the misfortune is that such is the effect of
drink, that when a man is free from it he thanks himself, and
when drunk he prays to God for help.
Then get men to take Christ as a Saviour against all that
destroys and as a helper to do good in the world, and drunkards
will be redeemed and go battle-harnessed into the fight for
temperance and for whatever glorifies God and helps man. On
this ground Sam came and took his stand, and became a poten-
tial force in the fight against the demon in strong drink.
CHAPTER XVI.
SAM'S LOVE FOR TEIE YOUNG.
Barzillai Snow, his Br other -in-laio, Dying like a Hero.
SAM'S love for the young was a distinguishing trait in his
character. He delighted to twine the tendrils of their young
natures about the rugged strength of his life.
The story is told of Daniel Webster, that on one of his
summer excursions into the wilds of New Hampshire, he
became interested in his guide who led him to the best brooks
for trout, and placed him at the best points on the runways
for deer. The guide was not only expert as a sportsman, but
evidenced an inquiring mind which charmed the great states-
man, and so he revealed himself to the stranger, told him that
he was a senator from Massachusetts, and offered to show him
the wonders of the Capitol in return for the expert manner he
had exhibited to him the glories of the wilderness.
Months passed. At last, one morning, a tall, awkward-
looking man was seen at the Capitol, inquiring for Daniel
Webster. Men jeered at him, but he heeded them not, for he
was content with his acquaintance, and knew that in due time
he should receive a welcome. Hours passed. At length the
Senate was in session, and this uncouth and quaint-looking
backwoodsman stood at the door of the Senate and inquired,
" Is Daniel Webster in ?" " He is," replied the door-keeper.
" Please give him this card." It was done. No sooner had
the noble statesman glanced at it than he rose, went to the
door, grasped his friend by the hand, placed him beside him
at his desk, and after a little time went with him to the cloth-
SAM'S LOVE FOR THE YOUNG. J>0?
ing-store, dressed him up in new clothes, took him to his house,
and lifted the unknown stranger to his own high companion-
ship, and proved himself as good a guide in Washington as the
guide had proven himself to be in New Hampshire. This may
be fable ; it may be fact ; but it illustrates the feeling that
thrilled the heart of Sam Hobart when he invited his brother-
in law, whom he had learned to love, up among the hills of
Vermont, to come to Boston and engage in railroad work.
Barzillai, son of Zenas and Roxanna Snow, was born in Lunen-
burg, Vermont, December 3d, 1840. His mother died when
he was four years old. He remained with his father on the
farm until he was twenty-one years of age, in accordance with
the good old fashion, after which he went from home to work
for wages. During the war he enlisted as a nine-months man
in the 13th Vermont Regiment, Company K, Capt. Ford.
This regiment was present at the battle of Getty sburgh and
helped drive Lee across the river, being in the front ranks.
Though Gettysburgh was the culminating battle of the war, it
was by no means the end of the rebellion. New York was full
of riot, and her foreign population, led on by infuriated trai-
tors, not only burned orphan asylums and trampled upon inno-
cent children, but determined to resist the draft, by which it
was hoped the depleted ranks of the army might be filled up
and the war brought to a speedy close. As a result, Gen. B.
F. Butler, the terror of the enemies of the Republic, was
ordered to New York to quell the riot and hold the city in sub-
jugation. The 13th Vermont accompanied him and evidenced
in the city the same characteristics which had distinguished
them in Virginia and at Gettysburgh. Their term of service
expired in August, 1863, but they cheerfully remained until
their work was done, after which they received their discharge
and returned home. In September of the same year, Mr. Snow
came to Boston and engaged as fireman for the Boston and
Albany R. R. at the invitation of Mr. Samuel B. Hobart, his
brother-in-law, and at the urgent request of his sister. For one
week he worked as fireman under the eye of him who had
208 SAil HOBAUT.
loved him from his youth. He was an adept at work, and soon
mastered the business and became able to guide the iron horse,
and so entered upon the discharge of the responsibilities of his
profession as eng'neer.
John Smith was his second teacher. Mr. Bacon was his
third. All were kind to him and were held in high esteem by
him. The young man did his work well. He did not se.'k to
get on too fast, nor did he shirk any task or responsibility in-
cident to his position.
His advancement was rapid. The eye of Mr. A. B. Under-
bill, the Master Mechanic, was on him, and he was soon sum-
moned to come up higher, I believe against the protest of his
brother-in-law, who feared he was not ready for the offered
position.
There are some facts connected with this portion of his ap-
prenticeship which deserve mention. He neither used tobacco
nor spirituous liquors. He was pure in thought and speech.
He was once complained of for using profane language to one
above him. When summoned before the Superintendent, the
manner in which he said " I never swear" convinced the officer
that there was a mistake, and the charge was dropped.
He had his eyes and ears open to acquire knowledge of his
business. He soon mastered the locomotive, inside and out,
and understood it. He loved his work and became an enthu-
siast. Asa fireman he would do his best to keep the engine
up to time, and as an engineer he was prompt and attentive to
business. As engineer he went first upon a switching engine
and moved freight for some time in the railroad yard.
From there he went on to the night freight, and was after-
ward placed as engineer on the Grand Junction, running from
Cottage Farm to East Boston, and connecting with the Fitch-
o ~
burg, Lowell, Boston and Maine and Eastern Railroads. He
was economical. lie saved his earnings, and husbanded not
O '
for himself but for others. His father and brother both were
helped by him, and their farms are to-day more secure to them
because of the diligence, economy and forethought of this
SAM'S LOVE FOH THE YOUXG. 209
busy engineer. He loved. This was his chief characteristic.
His friends were to him all the world. Those who befriended
him were never forgotten, and by industry and calculation he
sought to deserre the confidence and regard of those with
whom he labored as well as those by whom he was employed.
As a result, his promotion was rapid. The position he held
when lie died was one of great responsibility, and he filled it to
the satisfaction of all. He never grumbled or complained.
When a conductor had been all night battling with sleet and
snow and tempest, in the morning when they came off con-
queror he said, " that engineer did his work in a superb man-
ner. He never found fault or got excited during the entire
night y but met difficulties and mastered them and brought us
through." It was a splendid compliment and faHy and bravely
won. Judging from what he had accomplished, there is hardly
anything he could not have been.
He was converted in his youth, but had wandered. The
gospel as preached in the Temple touched his heart, and he re-
turned to his first love. His coming into the light of Christ's
love was a wonderful joy to him and to those who loved him.
In the house of his brother-in-law they felt like " killing the
fatted calf." At this time we became acquainted. Well do I
remember his clearness of statement, his unqualified determina-
tion to do his duty. He was convinced that the gospel com-
manded him not only to believe but to be baptized. He had
believed but had not obeyed this command. He came to do
so. His experience was noteworthy, and attracted the atten-
tion of the Committee and Church. He believed the gospel.
He saw himself lost, undone, without Christ and without
hope. He repented of his misspent life. He confessed his
sins. He had no faith in good works. He believed that Jesus
Christ was the way, the truth and the life ; and as he knew that
he could not drive his locomotive to Worcester from Boston
without the track, so he felt that though he might seek to be
good and moral and exemplary, he could not go to heaven
without Jesus, who is the way. Jesus was therefore to him his
SAM HOBAKT.
all and in all. He accepted the gospel as authority and gladly
submitted himself to its commands.
Having made Christ master, he sought to become a faithful
servant. He was enthusiastic in this service. His face shone,
his eye sparkled, his words gleamed with love, as he stood
before us and asked baptism at our hands. On Sabbath, March
5th, 1871, he followed Christ in His ordinance. Well do I
remember his appearance as he descended into the baptismal
grave. Around him was a vast multitude. I spoke of him as
a railroad engineer, and of the talk I had held with his
brother-in-law as I rode beside him on his locomotive, and
how he had led the way and was permitted to rejoice to-day in
seeing his youthful companion gathering beneath the banner of
the cross, and giving himself up to the service of Christ.
In the few intervening months he has kept step with the
Church, and on the Tuesday night previous to his injury was in
his accustomed place in the house of God.
On Friday noon, June 30th, he had lain down to rest, as
was his custom, on a board placed against the track in the
engine-house. Unexpectedly to him, if not to others, an
engine backed in upon him. The place seemed secure.
Around him were friends. The bell of the engine was
sounded, yet he slept ; and the first that was known of his
peril came to them and to him, when the board on which he
lay was crushed under the iron tread of the locomotive, and he
and they awoke to see him wounded in both feet and his life
imperilled. He died July 4th, and was buried July 6th,
1871, from his place of baptism and love. The facts con-
nected with his life and death deserve consideration. He
became a power by being faithful in little things. He never
did any one thing calculated to acquire special fame, and yet
Sam treasured the memory of his little acts, so full of thought-
fulness and love, like leaping to help him on with his coat, car-
rying his pail home from the Round House, being always
prompt at the meetings, being devotedly fond of sister and of
friends, and so living with engineers, firemen and workingrnen,
SAM'S LOVE FOR THE YOITNTG. 211
that they declared themselves impoverished by the withdrawal
of his quiet and undemonstrative piety. Though unknown to
the world, he was well known to Christ and to Christians ; and
so died in the ripeness of his strength, and went as a shock of
corn in its season.
In this fact there lies a lesson which ought not to be over-
looked.
It proves that the key to success lies close beside us and
within reach of all, and is obtained by patient continuance in
well-doing. There is in every nature a prophet for the future.
In other words, each individual has a talent for doing certain
work which must be observed if he would exert his highest
and best powers. Do well what you are required to do, and
your success is sure to be commensurate with your talent and
diligence. Duty is ours, not consequences ; and, as is inti-
mated in the words of Christ, there is One who keeps watch
and ward over us, who sees to it that faithfulness is rewarded,
that skill and culture and character are commodities in the
world sure to produce advancement.
Study the history of the successful everywhere, and we per-
ceive that success is an outgrowth and an accumulation. Eep-
utation is but an aggregation of particles. The pearl which
glistens in the sunlight resembles the material lying hidden in
the shadow. It is because of this truth that the sure awards of
the future supply a healthy stimulus to action. They call out
with a voice that is unmistakable, saying : " Discipline, culture
and the faithful discharge of present obligation furnish the
mainspring of power and the earnest of success."
We have what we earn and are to a large extent what we
have endeavored to become, not what we have dreamed we
should become. Hence the What am I ? not in appearance
but in fact is the determining question for every man. The
victory of an hour is not won in an hour. Into it there enter
long years of patient toil and waiting. Its value is the greater
in the world's esteem because of the cost of the production.
This truth might be abundantly illustrated by a reference to the
vM;J SAM HOIiAjii,
lives of the worthies of the past, or by those who are gathered
with us at this hour and have attained to distinction, because
they were faithful to the trusts reposed in them, and in being
faithful in little things earned a right to be trusted with great
responsibilities.
This habit of being temperate, formed in his youth, proved
to be of value when the waves of temptation which sweep
across city life struck against him. Right within, he was
right without. Sound at heart, he was true in life. Tempta-
tion is only powerful when inclination meets the tempter on the
threshold of the heart and gives it welcome. It is what a man
is within that weakens or strengthens him. This truth should
be remembered and pondered.
The character brought from the green hills of Vermont
helped him and held him in Boston life. Ah, it is not what
men meet in the city that imperils them, but what they
brought from the country that threatens them with destruction.
This young man came here and was tempted to drink and smoke
and wander in forbidden paths, but his resolution was formed,
and the waves that beat against the rocks of Cohasset have no
more promise of entrance within, than had the seductiveness of
sin, of conquering Bar/illai Snow.
Are there those who have fallen, and who resemble broken
and dismantled wrecks, tossed on the shore and pinioned on
the rock through which waves come and go at pleasure ? The
reason is found within and not without. As a man thinketh
so is he. Character tells. You are to the world at last what
you are to God in fact. If pure and trustworthy, and temper-
ate and conscientious, you need not declare it. The world will
know it in good time. A friend writes of him : " In his
home-life he was always correct and moral, never desecrated
the Sabbath by going on excursions, never visited the theatre
nor other places of forbidden amusement, never swore, never
used intoxicating drinks was ever kind, pleasant and oblig-
ing, so that those who knew him best loved him most. M Into
HAM'S LOVE FUR TIIK YOI:XG. 213
these sentences, facts are crowded, which explain the tnan and
reveal his grand and distinguishing traits, so that his loss to the
railroad corporation, to society and the church, is a public
calamity.
His education acquired in his youth was a help to him as an
engineer. Here we reach a truth upon which all may dwell .
with profit. Many suppose that they need not study geology,
or chemistry, or higher mathematics^ or the languages, unless
the pursuit in life chosen requires it. In this regard they make
their life mistake. No young man or woman can afford to
grow up ignorant of any truth which, by any possibility he cati
acquire.
The studious or reflective youth is cheered by the radiance of
hope which never illumines the sky of the indolent and the
thoughtless. Culture pays. It gives momentum and solidity
to thought and expression. It supplies solitude with society,
and makes periods of rest seasons of intellectual refinement. It
is said that at the battle of Gettysburg, there was a moment
when it seemed as though the column, some hundred yards in
breadth, sweeping down upon our forces, must crush and
master them. But the Pennsylvania Reserves, which breasted
this battle wave, had among them a largo number of the grad-
uates of colleges, and were in moral and mental standing the
superiors of the foe. To this fact, more than to all others, we
are indebted for that lifting up of prowess, and that flash of
patriotism, which appalled the rebel host and caused them to
praise in their apparently resistless march. It is not surpris-
ing. As the eye of a man can awe the beast, it is not surpris-
ing that the look of an intellectual man influences his inferiors.
It is known and felt everywhere that culture and education tell.
Men are stronger, broader and healthier because of it. In the
studies of geology which have characterized our morning ser-
mons, Barzillai Snow was among the most attentive of listeners,
and well do I remember how eagerly he drank in the lessons of
science as they were used to illustrate and explain the teachings
SAM HOB ART.
of Scripture. He understood the joy experienced when a new
thought kindles its immortal flame in the mind, and so he
could sing,
" Climb, O my soul, toward God's high things,
And He will take thy part,
Yea, though thou slumber in His hand,
He'll lift thee to His heart.
11 Dare to aspire to lofty heights,
Look up with eagle eyes,
For high as thou dost dare to gaze,
So high 'tis thine to rise."
A hope in Christ, which is like an anchor to the soul, ap-
pears in its true light at such a time. When told of his injury,
at once the thought came rushing into the mind, " Thank God,
let come what will, he is prepared. " That thought came to
him in like manner when first injured, and he said, " If it is
God's will that I go home from such a cause, I am ready."
When on Saturday morning I stood beside him, I felt sure he
was not long for this world, but there was no trepidation or
alarm. He was ready. That work of preparation was
finished. His name was written on the palms of Christ's
hands. He thanked God, and was content with his hope. As
I quoted those words, " Let not your heart be troubled, ye
believe in God, believe also in me ; in my Father's house are
many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you/' I felt and saw that they dropped
into a prepared place in his heart, and fitted in perfectly with
his thought and hope.
It is impossible to describe the pleasure that comes to a
minister at such a moment. Tears were exchanged for smiles
as the dying Christian said, " Yes, it is all right." " If it be
God's will, I am ready." Whenl asked, " Does religion seem
all it claims to be, and all you hoped it would be ?" he replied,
" Yes, more than I thought it possible." He was on the
rock cleft for him, and was sheltered from the storm. He
could sing,
SAM'S LOVE FOR THE YOUNG. 215
" Affliction is a stormy deep,
Where wave resounds to wave ;
Though o'er our heads the billows roll,
We know the Lord can save.
" Here will we rest, here build our hopes,
Nor murmur at His rod ;
He's more to us than all the world
Our health, our life, our God."
There is in the circumstancfes of his death a lesson. He was
Killed because he was asleep. Men were about him who loved
him, the bell rang to warn him, but he was killed because he
was asleep. How suggestive this fact. How impressive the
thought. Is there not a lesson for each one ? Will men heed
it? Do we not hear the admonition, " Awake, thou that
sleepest !" Are not men all about us asleep, spiritually, who
are in great peril 1 They are trusting to friends, to good
and exemplary lives, but the danger is upon them, because they
are asleep. Brother, out of Christ, give me your ear for a
moment. That sleeping engineer, that approaching danger,
the calamity and the result, are full of meaning. Who dare
refuse to heed the lesson ?
The very genius of the gospel is set forth in the light of this
mysterious Providence. God's proclamation is based on the
supposition that men have eyes to see and see not, ears to hear
and hear not, because their spiritual natures are asleep. They
are conscious of their danger. Hence the command, " Run,
speak to that young man." " Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature."
The gospel must be given to individuals by individuals, as
particles of leaven act upon particles of flour. The engineers
who are in earnest in seeking the salvation of souls of those
near them, are right. Barzillai Snow was crushed beneath the
iron wheel because no one spoke to him. A word addressed
to him as an individual would have roused him. The slightest
touch would have caused him to rise. Christians, forget it
not. Men on every side of us are asleep. Sin benumbs their
216 SAM HOBART.
faculties. Death is on their track. To-morrow may find
them in eternity. Speak to them now. Speak to the ones
next to you.
Let us do more than give advice to others. Let us say to all
who shall read these words, This is God's time. Brother out
of Christ, you are in peril. Let me rouse you. You need
Christ. Death may not come to you as it came to our brother.
Never do I see one of those flying engines, and think of the
man who holds life and property in his skilled hand, and of the
dangers that environ him on every side, but I think such a
man needs Christ. How many go into eternity on a bound.
The approaching train is seen, coming with lightning speed.
There is no escape ; the coming and the going train are on the
same track. Meet they must. Hark ! there is a crash an
explosion death ; and another soul stands before God. Are
you not thus confronting God ? How can you escape if you
neglect so great a salvation ? Now, my brother, in your heart
you feel that you need Christ. You need Him for what He
does for you, and for what He helps you to do for others.
Think of jour opportunity to serve Christ. First with those
next to you, and so on. Is it not an encouraging fact, worthy
of notice, that for months a company of railroad men have
been praying for officers and men on railways ? Think of it,
ye who are without a hope in Jesus Christ. Your names are
mentioned before the Mercy-Seat every day. What excuse
will you have if you go to God unprepared ? Think of the
readiness to die a hope of Christ secures. When young Snow
beheld his situation, and he was being carried to the hospital,
he talked of Christ, of his preparation and of his readiness to
die. When his brother-in-law and pastor visited him, he de-
clared himself ready. The friends all felt a Christian is on
his way home to meet his God, and those gone before. What
would you not give, impenitent man, to be able to pronounce
those three words, " / am ready " ? What makes one ready ?
Simply the assurance that through Christ you have been recon-
ciled to God ; that your sins have been washed away in the
SAM'S LOVE FOR THE YOUNG. 217
blood of Christ. How can this be secured ? Nothing is more
simple. Ask, and it shall be given ; seek, and ye shall find.
" Behold," says Christ, " I stand at the door a.nd knock. "
The bloody hand of the slain Christ is now on the handle of
the bell. He rings. Answer it, and bid Him welcome. Make
Him your Guest. Let Him in. Give Him room. Serve
Him. Confess Him with your mouth, and believe in your
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, and thou shalt
be saved.
When I think what religion has done for the faithful engi-
neer, how it lifted the workingman out of his garb, clothed him
with the sgotless robe of Christ's righteousness, made him an
heir of God and a joint heir with Christ, lifted him to a place
above that occupied by kings or millionnaires if they know not
Christ, and on a level with them if they do, saved him from
hell and made him an inhabitant of heaven when I think of
it, I am led to wonder that any one will forego this boon or
deny themselves this blessing.
Finally, he was faithful to his promises. His marriage shows
it. He was true to her he loved. His life in the church
shows it, as does his life in his closet and with his comrades.
It is said of one of the old masters at work upon a statue
for the niche of a temple close against the sky, that when
asked why he was so particular about the back part of the head,
which must forever remain hidden from view, replied, God can
see it.
The man that thus acts, conscious that he is under the eye
of God, illustrates this gospel and permits its truths deep in
the heart to blossom into action, will never slight the task as-
signed him, but will walk in the shadow as in the light, remem-
bering that God stands for those who stand for Him, and that
the radiant crown is in reserve for those whose life record is
they did what they could, and so secured the welcome utter-
ance, " #000? and faithful ones, well done."
How proud Sam was that when his leg was spouting blood
and they thought he would die, a friend uncorked a flask of
218 SAM HOBAKT.
brandy and asked him to drink from it. He pushed it away,
saying, " No I don't need it. I may die. If I do I want to
go up to God with a clear brain as well as with a believing
heart." He died with a clear brain. Railroad men printed
this record of him, and made lamentation over him.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART, AND OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS
AS A CLASS JOSEPH A. . SEEDS, OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
CENTRAL J JOHN MARROT, OF ENGLAND, AND OTHERS.
" How near could you drive to that precipice ?" asked a
Scotchman of three men, one of whom he thought of hiring as
a driver of the family carriage.
One said, " Within a foot." The other, " Within a foot
and a half." The third one said, l< Well, sir, I should keep
as far away as I could."
4i Well, my man, I will take you."
Sam Hobart was courageous. No man can climb to the
o
position he attained as the safest and the most skilful engineer
of the road without courage. But he kept away as far as pos-
sible from the brink of the precipice all his life. Not that he
never ran risks. Every engineer runs them. Not that he
never escaped peril by almost superhuman exertion and by a
quickness of thought and steadiness of nerve that excited
applause at the time and the bare recital of which now thrills the
soul with inexpressible emotions. Time would fail to recount
how on one occasion a collision was avoided that seemed immi-
nent. How on another day he kept out of the way of an
engineer excited with passion who tried to place him at a dis-
advantage. We could follow him into a storm that blocks the
path of the locomotive. On one such night the New York
train was three hours late at Worcester. A driving gale full
of snow and sleet was coming in from the ocean. Sam had to
face it. He draws out his locomotive after spending some
'ime with God in prayer.
220 SAM HOBART.
" A bad night, Sam," shouts the switchman.
" Can't well be worse, my boy ; but we must go through if
we can," said Sam, as cheerily as if he were on his way to his
home.
They start. It is pitch dark. Out into the night rolls the
thundering train. Every one wonders if they will get through.
The conductor is besieged by questions.
" Who is on the locomotive, conductor 1" asks a merchant
prince, belated and very anxious to get through.
" Sam Hobart," was the reply.
" Then we'll go through if it is possible."
" Yes, if it is possible ; but it is a wild night."
And a wild night it was. I was on the train. We had gone
but a few miles when the whistle sounded and all knew that
dangers were about us. The train stopped. Soon we learned
that there had been a smash-up. The train before us was
broken up by a train that followed, and we were in the midst
of the debris. Out into the night many went. Beyond was
Sain with his lantern, giving advice and breathing good cheer
into the ears of those not as wise or brave as himself. In due
time the track was cleared, and we went on. The man at the
throttle-valve, wet through to the skin, his eye at the look-out,
and we, way on in the night, rode into the depot at Boston
sleepy and disappointed, while Sam was tired and faint. Bid-
ding him good-night, never can I forget the expression of grat-
itude to the great Giver of every blessing for the deliverance.
With Sam it was not luck or chance that brought him through,
but God. It may be that such courage as was that night dis-
played may not parallel the act of Garfield when he grasped
the wheel of the steamer and gave orders to cut loose that she
might defy the terrific current of the Tennessee in carrying
food to the beleaguered garrison, but the same kind of metal
was necessary in the engineer and the general.
4 ' It may be a weakness, ' ' said President Tuttle, of Wabash
College, " yet I confess to a high admiration of a class of men
to whom a vast burden of responsibility in the matter of
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 221
human life is constantly intrusted ; I refer to our railroad
engineers. The locomotive in itself is a marvel of ingenuity
and power. Compact, perfect in form and adaptation, indis-
pensable to the wants of civilization, it is one of the finest in-
struments. The man who controls these thirty tons of organ-
ized iron, which we call a locomotive, must secure both self-
respect and self-confidence. I have sometimes stood beside
the track when a train has come flying along and have observed
with boundless admiration the man on whose vigilance, skill
and pluck the safety of that train so largely depended. His
left hand on the lever, his right on the reversing lever if that
fce its name his body bent forward eagerly, and his eye
keenly scrutinizing the track ahead lest the tremendous mo-
mentum of his train, meeting with some obstacle, should dash
itself in an instant into a horrible wreck. How, now, can a
man be weighed down with such a responsibility and not be a
stronger and more self-reliant man ?
" Some of the most remarkable exhibitions of courage have
been made by men of this class. A few years ago, Osborne,
an engineer on the Morris and Essex Railroad for twenty years
at least, was once delayed by snow on the track for several
hours ; but received explicit orders from the superintendent
' to go ahead,' for the road was clear, no other train was on
the track. After satisfying himself that he had not misunder-
stood the order, he left the summit on a steep down grade, and
in rounding a sharp curve came on a train that was ascending
the same grade under full head of steam. In an instant he
whistled down the brakes and reversed his engine. The noble
thing under such a tremendous strain as if fully aware of the
danger, obeyed and threw itself back to avert the catastrophe.
Meanwhile the other engineer had done the same thing with his
locomotive ; but it was possible only to modify the shock.
Together rushed those two panting and reluctant giants, their
joint weight not less than sixty tons, with the gathered mo-
mentum of their following trains. They rose like two furious
animals in fight, standing on end and in a trice the two splen-
222 SAM HOBART.
did machines were in ruins. The cars behind them were also
badly crushed. Osborne did not leap from his engine ; but
never moving his hands from the lever which controlled it, he
stood as resolute as a rock at his post until the shock came and
then quick as thought adjusted his valves to allow the steam to
escape without explosion. Man can furnish no clearer proof
of the finest courage. Daring the war an incident occurred on
the Pennsylvania Central. A regiment of soldiers was on a
train, stopped by a freight-train off the track. It was in the
night, and most of the thousand men were asleep. Four
heavily loaded coal cars belonging to a train ahead had by acci-
dent become detached and had begun the descent from the sum -
in it toward Johnstown. The engineer heard the roar of the de-
scending cars and, surmising what was the matter, put on steam
to meet the approaching line, if possible, to break its force and
save the train. His locomotive was a large freight, and he had
moved several rods ahead when the cars struck him like a
thunderbolt and crushed his engine back on the train ; but his
heroic courage had saved many lives. The man's name was
Strong, and his grateful beneficiaries presented him some ele-
gant silver plate, with the deed itself and their names engraved
on the pieces. When asked why he did not abandon his train,
he replied, " Quick as lightning I thought I had better die than
to have those runaway cars cut clean through the train destroy-
ing hundreds. ' ' It was an heroic answer.
On the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad formerly were a
number of trestle bridges. The funds were low. The men
were not paid. A train with the directors on board was going
over it. A miscreant determined to throw it off and kill them
all. The engineer discovered the obstruction. He seemed to
know instinctively that the momentum was too great to save the
whole train, and he signalled the brakes down and reversed the
engine to stop, if possible, the cars before reaching the chasm.
Then opening the throttle-valve his engine sprang forward so
violently as to break the connection with the train, and dashed
to the awful leap. The bold man as this was going on ran
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 223
out of his window on the engine and opened the escape-valve.
While standing there the engine went over with him and, mar-
vellous to relate, he, falling under the huge weight, was pre-
served from being crushed by the engine-bell at his side. The
train for the rescue of which he had exhibited such incredible
pluck, stopped just soon enough to escape the horrible leap
after the engine.
That the roll-call of heroes is constantly filling up was proved
on Sunday, October 22d, 1882, as a train composed of ten pas-
senger cars containing over six hundred persons passed through
Bergen Cut on the Pennsylvania Central at the rate of thirty
miles an hour, "ffirel FIRE !" was shouted by conductor
and passengers as a volume of smoke and fire suddenly burst
through the open door of the smoking-car next to the tender.
Great consternation instantly prevailed among the passengers of
the crowded car. Their alarm became a panic when the fire-
man came clambering over, the tender into the car and it was
found that the train was dashing wildly on with the engine
pouring forth flames which, if not promptly checked, must
speedily involve all the cars in destruction. The speed of the
train made it hopeless to think of escape by leaping off, and
the passengers began to contemplate the possibility of death in
one of the most horrible forms which the imagination could
possibly conceive.
16 Shut the door ! Shut the door !" was shouted. The
door was closed, but almost immediately it flew open again,
and the engineer and the fireman emerged from the fire and
smoke and stumbled into the car. The train dashed on with
no one to govern the engine. Men rushed to the rear platform
and there met a frightened crowd from the next car. Others
raised windows only to realize at what speed the train was
going, and to know that to jump out would be death. " Get
to that closet," shouted Engineer Joseph A. Seeds to the fire-
man, pointing to the rear of the car, " and work the air
brakes." But the passage was blocked with passengers and
the fireman found it impossible to make headway.
224: SAM HOBART.
" What is going to be done ?" asked one, of the engineer.
Seeds made no reply. There was no time to talk. Action
was now the imperative necessity. See him. He is well. He
is in the prime of life. In face and form he has a comely ap-
pearance. All is forgotten. The lives of six hundred pas-
sengers are in his hands. He must dare death that they may
have life. He does not hesitate, but plunging into the seething
sea of fire he climbs upon the tender and disappears. The
flames originated from the " blow back " on the engine, forcing
the flames out of the furnace when the door was opened.
Seeds must go through the flames to reach the air-brake and
the throttle-valve. He went through. He reached the throttle-
valve and with burning hand pulled the " air-brake" and re-
versed the engine. He knew that, whatever came to him, the
train would stop and its precious load be saved. Nearly a
minute passed and then the train came to a stop on the bridge
over the Hackensack River, and all knew that the brave man had
put on the " air brake" and reversed the engine. This done,
he tried to save himself ; ran back to the tender, lifted the
lid off the water-tank, and leaped in.
In the mean time the peril was past. The passengers, wild
with delight, began to wonder what had befallen the engineer.
Rushing forward to the engine they found that the cab was still
enveloped in flames, while the head and shoulders of a man
appeared above the water-tank on the tender. Up they sprang
to drag him out. They found him weak and half unconscious.
His clothes were completely burned from him. His face was
disfigured and his hands were shockingly burned. His body
was .blistered so badly that some of the flesh stripped off in
moving him. Tenderly they cared for him. To the Jersey
City Hospital they bore him, and there he died four days after-
ward. No wonder that little children and mothers and friends
have united in contributing money to create a fund for his
family in Philadelphia. Such heroism deserves to be rewarded.
Seeds' s deed recalled another notable act.
It was in Scotland that this memorable achievement took
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 225
place. A drunken engineer started his engine on the wrong
track, and exposed hundreds of people to sudden death. An-
other engineer, Campbell, boarded a locomotive on the parallel
track in pursuit. Both throttles were wide open ; the fated
train flew to disaster at the rate of sixty miles an hour ; the
pursuing engine followed faster. Fifteen miles down the road
the engine caught up with the first one ; heedless men were
sitting in their carriages reading their papers as the engine
slowly gained on the object of its pursuit. Then, when
the two were abreast, Campbell leaped across tracks, from his
own to the other, staggered, held on, reversed the machinery,
flung the drowsy drunkard to the track ; and then the Scotch
express, coining the other way, struck his engine and nearly three
hundred lives were sacrificed. The drunken engineer was not
killed. Campbell was smashed to a jelly in the performance of
one of the most extraordinary feats in the history of the human
race.
Seeds's name deserves to be perpetually coupled with that of
the gallant Scot whose sacrifice was too late to save any other
life than that of the worthless cause of the accident. Reading
of such deeds of heroism performed by humble men, can one
for a moment beliove that the age of chivalry has gone by ?
And now that we are on this subject let us transfer a word-
picture of Ballantyne from " Life on the Rail," which was
equally daring and yet unattended by such terrible disasters.
In the book referred to,* the story is told of a lunatic leaping
on a locomotive all fired up and ready to be coupled to the
train. He felled the driver, who was outside the rail oiling
some of the machinery, seized the handle of the regulator, and
turned on full steam. The driving-wheels revolved at first
with such tremendous rapidity that they failed to '* bite, " and
merely slipped on the rails. The madman was engineer
enough to understand why, and at once cut off part of the
* " The Iron Horse ; or, Life on the Bail." By B. M. Ballantyne,
. 325.
226 SAM HOBAKT.
steam. Next moment he shot out of the station, and again
letting on full head of steam rushed along the line like an
arrow. It chanced that the passenger superintcTident was on
the platform at the time. That gentleman had everything con-
nected with the traffic by heart. He saw that the points had
been so set as to turn the runaway engine on to the down line,
and in his mind's eye saw a monster excursion train, which
had started just a few minutes before, laboring slowly forward,
which the light engine would soon overtake. A collision in a
few minutes would be certain. In peculiar circumstances men
are bound to break through all rules and regulations and act in
a peculiar way. Without a moment's hesitation he ran to
John Marrot and said, in an earnest, hurried voice, " Give
chase, John ! Cross over to the up line, but don't go too far."
" All right, sir," said John, laying his hand on the regu-
lator.
Even while the superintendent was speaking, Will Gar-
vie's swift mind had appreciated the idea. He had leaped
down and uncoupled ''''The Lightning" from its train. John
touched the whistle, let on steam, and off they went, crossed
to the up line (which was the wrong line of rails for any engine
to run in that direction), and away he went at forty fifty
seventy miles an hour ! John knew well that he was flying
toward a passenger train, which was running toward him at
probably thirty-five or forty miles an hour. He was aware of
its whereabouts at that time, for he consulted his watch and
had the time-table by heart. A collision with it would involve '
the accumulated momentum of more than a hundred miles an
hour. The time was short, but it was sufficient ; he therefore
urged Will to coal the furnace until it glowed with fervent heat,
and opened the steam-valve to the uttermost. Never since
John Marrot had driven it had the Lightning so nearly resem-
bled its namesake. The pace was increased to seventy-five and
eighty miles an hour. It was awful. Objects flew past with
flashing speed. The clatter of the engine was deafening. A
stern chase is proverbially a long one ; but in this case, at such
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 227
a speed, it was short. In less than fifteen minutes John came
in view of the fugitive, also going at full speed, but, not being
so powerful an engine, and not being properly managed as to
the fire, it did not go so fast ; its force might have been forty
or forty-five miles an hour.
" Will," shouted John, in the ear of his stalwart fireman,
" you'll have to be sharp about it. It won't do, lad, to jump
into the arms of a madman with a fire shovel in his hand.
When I takes a shot at 'im with a lump of coal, then's yer
chance go in an' win, lad and whatever you do, keep cool."
Will did not open his compressed lips, but nodded his head
in reply.
*' You'll have to do it all alone, Bill ; I can't leave the
engine," shouted John.
He looked anxiously into his mate's face, and felt relieved to
observe a little smile curl slightly the corners of his mouth.
Another moment and the Lightning was up with the
tender of the runaway, and John cut off steam for a brief
space to equalize the speed. The madman at that instant ob-
served for the first time that he was pursued. He looked back
with a horrible glare, and then, uttering a fierce cheer or yell,
tugged at the steam handle to increase the speed, but it was
open to the utmost. He attempted to heap coals on the fire,
but, being inexpert, failed to increase the heat. Another sec-
ond and they were abreast. John Marrot opened the whistle
and let it blow continuously, for he was by that time drawing
fearfully near to the train that he knew was approaching. See-
ing that escape was impossible, the madman would have thrown
the engine off the rails, if that had been possible ; but as it was
not, he brandished the fire shovel and stood at the opening be-
tween the engine and the tender with an expression of fiendish
rage on his countenance that words cannot describe.
" Now, Bill, look out !" said John.
Will stood like a tiger ready to spring. John beside him
with a huge mass of coal in one hand concealed behind his
back. There was a space of little more than two feet between
228. SAM HOB ART.
the engines. To leap that in the face of a madman seemed
impossible.
Suddenly John Marrot hurled the mass of coal with all his
might. His aim was to hit Thomson on the head, but it
struck low, hitting him on the chest and driving him down on
the foot-plate. At the same instant Will Game bounded
across and shut off the steam in an instant. He turned then to
the brake wheel, but before he could apply it the madman had
risen and grappled with him. Still, as the two strong men
swayed to and fro in a deadly conflict, Will's hand, that
chanced at the moment to be nearest the brake-wheel, was seen
ever and anon to give it a slight turn. This much John Marrot
observed when he saw a puff of white steam on the horizon far
ahead of him. To reverse the engine and turn full steam on
was the work of two seconds. Fire flew in showers from the
wheels, and the engine trembled with the violent friction.
Nevertheless, it still ran on for a considerable way, and the ap-
proaching train was within a comparatively short distance of
him, before he had got the Lightning to run backward. It
was not until he got up speed to nigh forty miles an hour that
he felt safe, looked back with a grim smile, and breathed
freely.
Of course the driver of the passenger train, seeing an engine
on the wrong line ahead had also reversed at full speed and
thus prevented a collision, which would inevitably have been
very disastrous.
John now ran back to the crossing, and getting once more
on the down line again reversed his engine and ran cautiously
back in the direction of the runaway locomotive. He soon
came in sight of it, and reversed again and went at such a pace
as allowed it to overtake him gradually. He saw that the
steam was still cut off and that it had advanced that length in
consequence of being on an incline, but was somewhat alarmed
to receive no signal from his mate. The moment the buffers
of the Lightning touched those of the other engine's tender,
he applied the brakes and brought both engines to a stand.
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 229
Then leaping off he ran to see how it had fared with Will
Garvie.
The scene that met his eyes was a very ghastly one. On
the floor-plate lay the two men, insensible and covered with
blood and coal dust. Each grasped the other by the throat,
but Will had gained an advantage from having no neckcloth on,
while his own strong hand was twisted into that of his adversary
so firmly that the madman's eyes were almost starting out of
their sockets. John Marrot at once cut the kerchief with his
clasp-knife ; and then feeling that there was urgent need for
haste left them lying there, ran back to his own engine,
coupled it to the other, turned on full steam, and in a short
space of time was back to his station. Here the men were
removed to the waiting-room and a doctor was called in. It
was found that although much bruised and cut, as well as ex-
hausted by their conflict, neither was seriously injured. After
a few restoratives had been applied one was conveyed to his
home and the other was lodged in an asylum.
The presence of mind of the superintendent, the alertness of
John Marrot, the bravery of Will Garvie, bring out into bold
relief the qualifications which fit men for the responsibilities of
the railway, and bring forcibly before us the perils that sleep
and may be wakened any moment on any road.
The story of the help found in God's Word is beautifully
illustrated by this incident.
Said a Bible-reading railroad engineer :
" I have never met with an accident that was attended with
serious results, thank God," he replied, not in the brawling
tone of an oath, but reverently, " and I think that one reason
of it comes from the fact that I always carry my Bible in the
cab. Do you see it up there ?" and he pointed up to the
prettily upholstered cab where, just in front of the engineer's
seat, between the steam-gauge and the lookout window, on a
bracket-like device, a small Bible was held open where the eyes
of this Christian engineer could fall upon its pages at any mo-
ment.
230 SAM HOBART.
" I have read the good book from back to back several
times at home, M continued he, " and by having it placed here
in this manner before me I have been able to commit many
passages to memory. Sometimes it has been a wonderful com-
fort to me ; one time in particular, the strength as well as
comfort I derived from one glance at a passage on the open
page was astonishing. "
" How was that ?" I asked, greatly interested.
il You see I was running on the lower end of the road at the
time, and my train was an ' express passenger/ which came
out of the city before nightfall, usually with a dozen or so
heavily laden coaches. Perhaps you remember, if you have
been over the road so much, where the track crosses the
River, which, you know, is the inlet to the harbor. Being a
port of considerable importance, of course provision has to be
made for the shipping to pass above.
" There was a man stationed at this post to signal to the ap-
proaching trains whether the bridge was open or not. Yes, it
was a dangerous place (the means to avert danger there are
better now), but after I had run over the bridge twice a day
for eighteen months or more, and had always found everything
all right, I came to look upon that point the same as I did
upon any other piece of the road.
" My express was a fast train always, and on the night of
which I am speaking I was a little behind time, and so running
even somewhat faster than usual in order to make up. As I
approached the bridge I looked for the signal, as it was second
nature for me to do. The flagman gave the customary all-right
signal, standing as usual on a rock at the point of a curve of
the track leading around to the river.
" I had no more time than barely to notice that the man was
a new hand, in place of * Lame Jim, 7 whom I had without a
single exception always found at that post, before we came in
full view of the bridge. To my horror it was wide open, and
a gulf of nearly fifty feet in depth was yawning before ine and
my ponderous train.
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 231
" I glanced up to my open Bible and my eyes fell upon the
word, i I will never leave thee, nor forsake tbee. ' The be-
numbing sense of utter helplessness that for the instant had
pervaded both soul and body, as it were, all vanished now,
and I became as calm as you see me at tbis moment.
" You know, madam, that the duties of a locomotive
engineer are such that oftentimes he has to decide (it may be
only on a mere movement of his hand, or the kind of a look
he gives his fireman) in such a terrible exigency, especially in
the shortest conceivable space of time. In this instance I had
no time to consider, and if I had, I suppose I should have
done exactly as I did, whistle for brakes (it was before air
brakes came into use) and reverse my engine.
" The fireman did not need to be told to do his best upon
the tender brakes, as he rapidly tightened them up with the
whole swinging force of his large body. It was a clean, dry
track, everything in good condition, and I think never a train,
with like facilities, was brought to a standstill on shorter
notice. For that first, almost bewildering instant to me, the
belief in the possibility of escaping that imminent, fearful
plunge, so possessed me with a cold feeling like the coils of a
snake down my back, that it was with an almost superhuman
effort that I mustered muscular force to raise my hand to the
whistle-valve cord, reach the regulator, or grasp the reversing
handle.
" But we came to a dead halt just as the point of the cow-
catcher overlapped the frightful chasm ! Had the impelling
force of that long passenger train carried us a few feet farther
on, there would .have been the worst railroad catastrophe that
ever happened in America, and my name would surely have
swelled the list of the drowned and mangled ones that would
have appeared in the newspapers.
44 As it was, the escape never got into the papers at all.
The bridge was swung into place so quickly, and we were
under way again so soon after the customary stop at the draw,
that I suppose that very few of the passengers ever knew of the
232 SAM HOBART.
threatened peril. We were miles away before the reaction
came to me as I sat trembling on my seat with the full, appre-
hending sense of our escape tiding through my brain.
" The flagman ? oh, yes, he was drunk. You see there had
been a new superintendent chosen, and he had commenced
business by turning off some of the old employes and putting
in new ones. Poor, faithful * Lame Jim ' had been discharged,
and this fellow installed in his place. He was celebrating his
appointment to this responsible post over a jug of rum which
was found afterward in the little signal house near by.
" Jirn was reinstated next day, but the company was so cha-
grined over the unwarrantable action on the part of the super-
intendent that the matter was kept as close as possible. I
went to the office the next morning and resigned my position ;
I couldn't bear to run over that end of the road again. They
would not let me off the road, but gave me this train on this
end of the route.
" No, I don't suppose I have quite got over the shock to my
nerves, for frequently, when I go to bed more tired than usual,
I wake with a start from a sort of far-off dream of that event-
ful nightfall trip, the uncertain light, the still shimmering water
and the white, scared face of my fireman. My hair was as
black as coal then ; in three months it became as gray as you
eee it."
We glorify our heroes of the battle-field and the sea, we stand
all agog if some foolish man or more foolish woman as-
cend Mont Blanc just for the name of the feat. We talk
about Alexander and Bucephalus, about Caesar in the boat when
the tempest threatened him ! Why may we not glorify the
heroes of the locomotive engine, who exhibit as noble and
praiseworthy a daring as any heroes in other fields ? And
they do this in the constant service of the thousands of fami-
lies who every hour of the twenty -four are represented on the
railways.
Somewhere there is a terrific storm raging at this moment.
Swollen streams endanger the safety of bridges and the lives of
THE COURAGE OF SAM HOBART. 233
passengers every hour of the twenty-four. At the front, in the
darkness and in the light, is the brave engineer doing his work
as best he may, glad of an appreciative word from employer or
of a recognition from those he has so bravely served. Such a
man was Sam Hobart. Such men now live and serve.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SAM'S LAST RIDE THE ENGINEER AT REST.
IN March, 1874, Sam Hobart took his last ride. It was a
fearful Saturday night. The storm of sleet and rain was on
the land. Sam came into the Boston Depot wet through. He
went home tired and almost sick. He rose on Sabbath morn-
ing and went to church. In the afternoon the pain in his
limbs increased. Monday morning he could not rise. He
had lost forever the use of one limb. " Well,' 7 in as cheerful
a tone as possible, he said, " let us thank God for the leg that
is left." Soon that was attacked. He thanked God for his
hands. Then he lost the use of them, and thanked God for a
clear brain. On Wednesday he was better. On Thursday
morning he had his breakfast brought to him for the last time.
It was placed in a chair before him. He folded his hands like
a little child, asked God's blessing on it, and prayed that he
might be kept from harm, from wandering thoughts ; and in
the love of God ate his food. The story of his sickness
had got abroad. The officials of the railroad, men who were
his comrades, members of the church, and people of every class
and grade heard with sympathy and sorrow of his sufferings.
Charles Sumner had just died in Washington. His remains
were to be brought to Boston, the city of his love, and a public
funeral was to be awarded to him. Notwithstanding this, thou-
sands talked and thought of the Christian engineer. The men
of the yard went up in a body to his house to tender him their
sympathy and offer their services. They were not permitted
to see him. He was too sick. Two were appointed to go in
and ask him " if the religion of Christ was all to him he
thought it would be ?" They wanted to know from him.
SAM'S LAST RIDE. 235
This roused the dying hero. He turned and said, " Tell the
boys once I was afraid of the cable, but I am afraid no more.
I have tried every link in the chain and she holds. The cable
and the anchor are alt right, and I am safe."
The men had hardly left him when the change came. He
fell back upon his bed. The film came over his eyes. His
legs stiffened. He cried, " Open the door," and before there
could be an answer Jesus spoke to him saying, " I know thy
works, behold I have set before thee an open door and no man
can shut it, for thou hast a little strength and hast kept my
word, and hast not denied my name." No man could shut
it. The physician came to his bedside, looked at him, and
said, " He is in better hands." He died March 12th, 1874.
When they came to dress him for his burial there fell out of
the Sabbath vest a piece of paper on which he had written
these words, " The Lord is my strength and my song, and He
is become my salvation." They seemed to those about him
and to all who knew him as his message from the eternal
world.
On the 15th of March, 1874, we buried him from the Har-
vard Street Baptist Church. The pastor, Rev. L. L. Wood,
assisted at the service. These resolutions were read. They
had been passed by the railroad engineers and other employes
of the Boston and Albany Railroad, presided over by Hon.
Ginery Twitchel :
WHEREAS, In the providence of Almighty God we have had
removed from our midst our friend and brother, Samuel B.
Hobart,
Resolved, That in Samuel B. Hobart we have long recog-
nized the 4t workman who needeth not to be ashamed of his
work," a cherished friend, and a man of large and ennobling
influence.
Resolved, That by his loss death has robbed us of one whom
we hold in the highest esteem and confidence, and whose
memory we shall ever cherish as one who lived to help and
save others ; that his daily life was such as would tend to ele-
236 SAM HOBART.
vate those around him, and stimulate them to throw off the
burden of sin and put upon them the armor of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Resolved, That while deeply lamenting our great loss, and
tenderly sympathizing with his afflicted widow and others
nearer than ourselves by ties of kindred, we would remember,
as he did, that death is not the end, but he that loves so faith-
fully continues hereafter.
Resolved, That we recognize it as a duty and a privilege to
express here and now our high sense of his long and successful
labors, in season and out of season, in behalf of the cause of
temperance ; and we bear willing testimony also to the fervor
with which he labored to have all share in his own love and
devotion to the Church of Christ.
On the last day before he died he spoke of his happiness in
having made his peace with God when he was well. Said he,
44 1 cannot think now. I mix things. I cannot pray. " This
faith took away the sting of death and robbed the grave of
victory. His untimely death filled all hearts with sorrow. He
was the friend of the poor, and they mourned him as a brother
gone. Freely he gave of love. Freely of love he received.
Women whose husbands were intemperate came to him for
sympathy and strength. How their tears rained on his white
face in the open coffin will always be a memory with some.
He was a model husband. As I think of his delicacy, of his
thoughtfulness, of his strength, and of his tenderness toward
those who leaned on him and trusted him, I find no words in
which to express my admiration. It was this which made men
love him. He was a genuine. There was not an ounce of
waste material in his nature. He was true all through. He
dare say what he thought. He had the feeling that God spoke
through him, and that he must live as seeing him who is invisi-
ble. Hence, to hundreds of stalwart men he was a companion
and a friend. He dare be plain with men above him in posi-
tion, as they dare be plain with him. He loved as a man loves,
with a great, strong, robust love.
SAM'S LAST RIDE. 237
His influence lives. It permeates New England, and it is
reaching thousands in the great world beyond. It shows that
it is possible to die and not suffer harm. It is possible to die
and gain by it. Death is not necessarily a calamity ; it may
be but the taking down the scaffolding which conceals the
building, so that the structure the master hath planned, built,
and beautified shall stand forth in perfected beauty, the glory
of humanity, and the grandest triumph of the handiwork of
God.
God draws by the cords of a man. Jehovah influences the
world by living men. They are his epistles known and read of
all men. They are sent forth to fulfil an individual mission
and to accomplish a specified work. When that mission is ful-
filled and that work is accomplished, is it strange that it should
be written of them as of Enoch, " They walked with God ; and
they were not, for God took them. ' ' They belonged to God
even while they toiled among men ; and as God loves his own
and delights in having his beloved ones near him, we are not
surprised that the promise is fulfilled and that such came to the
grave in a full age, " like as a shock of corn cometh in his
season."
The design of death is to complete the work assigned to
earth. Life has its seed, its plant, its growth, its blossom, its
fruit, and its harvest.
" There is a reaper whose name is Death.**
This work is not to be regarded with sorrow even. It is
necessary to our comfort. Heaven is the best place for a
rounded life and for a ripened fame. Old age, with its pains,
its weaknesses, its painful neglects, its being set aside and
written down as useless, its being ignored in the affairs of life,
is without much to relieve it. Death, which is to the Chris-
tian a release from care and anxiety, from depression and sor-
row, may be welcomed as a loving messenger from God,
Standing under the shadow of these truths, we feel that we
are enriched by them. AVe resemble pilgrims beneath the
238 SAM HOB ART.
palm trees of the desert, at whose feet run the waters of an un-
failing spring, and above whose heads is heard the sweet carols
of singing birds.
God takes marvellous care of his own. Believe it or not, it
is safe to trust God and to serve him. The reputation of a
true man, even in this world, is under the special protection of
Jehovah.
It will be all right at last with the true, was his faith. The
last time I saw him alive we rode together on the engine from
Boston to Worcester, and he told me of the trouble of a friend
who could not see clear into heaven. He comforted him in
this beautiful and suggestive way, saying : " When. wife and I
started for the White Mountains I gave her a good seat, sat by
her and talked many hours. I did not tell her at the outset to
look at the mountains, but at the sea, for we were by the sea
and were far away from the mountains. But when just at
sunset we reached the right place, I said, ' Look at the moun-
tains,' and she saw them. Don't try and see heaven until you
get there. " He lived for heaven every day, but did not try
and see it until the hour of release came. Our last ride was
our best ride. The whole talk was about Jesus, about the
littleness of earth and the glory of heaven ; about the fidelity
of Christ in loving, in keeping his promises and in giving joy
to his children, even when misunderstood and perhaps
maligned. The dear old face glowed with love for Christ and
men. It was grand to see him. Suddenly he said again, " I
am not going to last long. If anything comes to me you will
come ?"
" Yes."
He then kissed me, and Worcester coming in sight, we rode
into town, our eyes wet with tears.
He went on with his work on the road, in the daily prayer-
meeting at Worcester, in the church, until at last he was not,
for God took him.
My vow is kept. My task is done, Samuel Brooks Hobart,
SAM'S LAST RIDE. 239
the locomotive engineer, goes forth a benediction and a blessing
to all who shall feel the inspiration of his noble life, and be
. brought thereby into association with Him who saved him, who
loved him, and now keeps him as a star in the crown of His
rejoicing.
BEX.
A.
Adams, family, 24 ; John, statue ot,
34 ; John Quincy, 187.
Alexander, quoted, 34.
Arthur, President, chief of the Brother-
hood, 84 ; address to Brotherhood,
84.
Astor, John Jacob, words to working-
men, 121.
B.
Ballantyne, life on the rail, 225.
Beecher's, Henry Ward, estimate of
Hobart, 14 ; his description of Ho-
bart, 51, 52.
Bible, Reading of, on the rail, 229.
Books for R.R. men, 165. 167.
Boston, battle ground of Liberty, 43.
Bowdoin, Picture of, 47.
Braithwait, builder of the Novelty, 18.
Brotherhood, The, of locomotive en-
gineers, 83 ; address to the, 91 ; op-
posed by the B. & O. R. R., 103.
Butler, B. F., Speech of, 85 ; ordered to
New York, 207.
C.
Camden station, 115.
Capital and lat>or, Conflict between,
110.
Caus, Solomon de, first inventor, 16.
Columbus, Irving's story of, 142.
Chipman, Geo. W., 183.
Christianity as a police force, 147.
Communism, 111.
Commercial life, Representatives of,
126 : integrity, its value, 129.
Crystal Palace temperance meeting,
64.
D.
Davenport, M. R., quoted, 77 ; again,
147.
Despotism, 131.
Devereux, J. H., on the railway
strikes, 14(K
Different kinds of drunkards, 196, 120.
Disraeli, 24.
Dow, Neal, interview with a tobacco-
smoker, 71.
E.
Eldorado, 40.
Employes' Relief Association or-
ganized May 1st, 1880, 103 ; member-
ship, etc., 104.
Engineer, The, at rest, 834.
Erie, Pa,* 147.
Ericsson, 18.
Extracts from the third International
Conference R. R. Dept., 164
Evans, Oliver, 17.
P.
Faneuil Hall, 43.
Foote,Commodore, and General Grant*
190.
Fort Wayne strikes, 115.
Franklin, Picture of, 47.
Free libraries, 46.
Fulton's account of Hobart's conver-
sion, 54.
G.
George, Henry, 19.
Gilbert, 43.
Gladstone, 24.
Gough, how he was saved from intem-
perance, 193.
Grant. U. S., 90.
Guthrie, Thomas, D.D., 73.
H.
Hobart, Sam, his personal appearance,
13 ; as a boy, 21 ; his early history,
21 ; becomes a machinist, 28 ; be-
comes a locomotive engineer, 35 ; his
love for his calling, 36 ; becomes a
Free Mason, 42 ; his reverence for
his mother, 43 ; he takes a wife, 46 ;
becomes a widower, 48 ; becomes a
Christian, 57 ; marries again, 57 ; his
tact in preaching temperance, 64;
opposes the use of tobacco, 67; at
work for God, 75 ; how he treated
two communists, 112 ; Sam's faith,
or whom to trust, 136 ; instances of
his courage, 219 : his love for the
Bible. 231 ; his last ride, 234 ; account
of his funeral, 235.
I.
Idlers, No place for, 32.
Incident, A thrilling. 222.
Ingersoll, Edward D., 160 ; a busy man,
163.
Intellects. The mightiest, ruined by
liquor, 202.
Intemperance, a curse, 178 ; as a dis-
ease, 198.
J.
Jesse, 44.
Johnson's, o. T., words to the Brother-
hood, 00,
242
INDEX.
Kansas City, strike ended, lia
Key to prosperity, 132.
Kingsley, Charles, 41.
.
Library for R. R. men, when and where
established, 154.
Lincoln's, Abraham, faith, 143.
Loafers, Christian, 177.
Locomotives, an American invention,
17 ; trials of, 18 ; nature of, 29.
Low, Seth, 25.
Loyson's, J. P., Life of Stephenson, 16.
MacMaster, Hon. Wm., 159.
Magna Charta, 40.
Man, The great, 143.
Marston, Sarah Jane, 47.
Mistakes, Learning by, 175.
Moody, D. L., 146.
Morrissey, John, 42.
Mothers, their value, 26w
N.
Napoleon, 44.
New England women, 27.
New York Central begun, 96.
Newark, Ohio, strikes, 115.
Nihilists, 148.
Novelty, a favorite model, but failed,
19.
O.
Orange, William of, 41.
Orr, W. J., quoted, 169.
Osborne, Engineer, 221.
P.
Paris, under the Commune, 115.
Parker, Theodore, on chnrch-going, 81.
Peck. Rev. Dr., quoted, 15.
Pennsylvania Central. 33.
Peto, Sir Morton, on strikes, 115.
Pittsburgh in the hands of a mob, 115;
riot at, 117.
Poor, God cares for, 132.
Problem, A, hard to solve, 195.
Protestant Episcopal Church, General
convention of, 148.
Providence rights wrongs.
Q.
Questions of importance, 195.
Railroads, Baltimore & Ohio, 15; in
1860 and 1883, 96.
Railroads strikes commenced, 115.
Railroad men. The \v.ork among, 146 ;
the need of it, 147.
Resolutions concerning llooart, 235.
Richmond, A tribute to Deau, 88.
Rich, God cares for, 132.
Rocket, first successful locomotive, 18.
S.
Sabbath School a blessing. 24.
Simmons, Doc, his heroism, 162,
Smith, Frank W., quoted, 169.
Snow, Barzillai, dying like a hero, 214.
Stephenson, George, 15, 18, 96.
Stockwell, his experience, 168,
T.
Taylor, B. F M 57.
Temperance, an added force, 185.
Tremont Temple, 43.
Train, A, on fire, 227.
Trevethick, Richard, 17.
U.
Uniac, Edward H., the story of his fall.
Underbill, A. B., master mechanic, 20S.
V.
Vanderbitt, W. H.. his faith rewarded,
120 ; Cornelius, 25 ; W. H. distributing
$100,000, 162.
W.
Wasted Substances, 173.
Watt, patented locomotive, 17.
Webster, Daniel, 89, 06.
Whitefield, Picture of, 47.
Wild Oats, 186.
Williams, H. F., quoted, 169.
Wilson, Charles, speech of, 85.
Work among R. R. men, 146.
Woman, A drunken, 190.
Y.
Young, Sam's love for, 206.
Young men, where to look after them,
140.
Young Men's Christian Association,
Railwav department of, 154.
Young's Hotel, a scene, 187.
LIVES OF ILLUSTRIOUS
SHOEMAKERS.
BT
WILLIAM EDWARD WINKS.
NEW YORK:
FUNK & WAGNALLS, PUBLISHERS,
10 AND 12 DEY STREET.
PEEFAOE.
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 inter-
est 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 justifica-
tion 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
IV PREFACE.
and shoe making. The use of machinery has effected nothing
short of a revolution in the trade. The old-fashioned Shoe-
maker, 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 Lvnn
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 Linnasan Society. But for the Life of this
eminent Scotchman the reader must be referred to the interest-
ing 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 copy-
rights. To these the writer tenders his grateful acknowledg-
ments. To the widow of the Rev. T. W. Blanshard he is
PREFACE. V
indebted for permission to draw upon the pages of her late
husband's valuable biography of " The Wesleyan Demos-
thenes, " 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 pre-
paring 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.
PAGE
PREFACE iii
CHAPTER I.
Sir Cloudesley Shovel : The Cobbler's Boy who became an Admiral. . 17
CHAPTER II.
James Lackington : Shoemaker and Bookseller 29
CHAPTER III.
Samuel Bradburn : The Shoemaker who became President of the
Wesleyan Conference 53
CHAPTER IV.
William Gifford : From the Shoemaker's Stool to the Editor's Chair. . 75
CHAPTER V.
Robert Bloomfield : The Shoemaker who wrote "The Farmer's Boy," 93
CHAPTER VI.
Samuel Drew : The Metaphysical Shoemaker 109
CHAPTER VII.
William Carey : The Shoemaker who Translated the Bible into Ben-
gali and Hindostani ' 129
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
John Pounds : The Philanthropic Shoemaker 151
CHAPTER IX.
Thomas Cooper : The Self-educated Shoemaker who " Reared his own
Monument " 165
CHAPTER X.
A Constellation of Celebrated Cobblers 189
ANCIENT EXAMPLES.
The Cobbler and the Artist Apelles 191
The Shoemaker Bishops : Annianas, Bishop of Alexandria, and Alex-
ander, Bishop of Comana 1 92
The Pious Cobbler of Alexandria 193
"Rabbi Jochanan, The Shoemaker" 194
EUROPEAN EXAMPLES : France.
SS. Crispin and Crispianus: The Patron Saints of Shoemakers 197
" The Learned Baudouin " 200
Henry Michael Buch : "Good Henry " 201
Germany.
Hans Sachs : " The Nightingale of the Reformation " 203
Jacob Boehmen : The Mystic 205
Italy.
Gabriel Cappellini : " il Caligarino " 207
Francesco Brizzio : The Artist 208
Holland.
Ludolph de Jong : The Portrait-Painter 209
Sons of Shoemakers 209
GREAT BRITAIN.
"Ye Cocke of Westminster" 210
Timothy Bennett: The Hero of Hampton-Wick 212
CONTENTS. ix
Military and Naval Heroes.
PAGE
The Souters of Selkirk 213
Watt Tinlinn 214
Colonel Hewson : The " Cerdon " of Hudibras 215
Sir Christopher Myngs, Admiral 218
Astrologers and others.
Dr. Partridge ' 220
Dr. Ehenezer Sibly, F.R.C.P 222
Manoah Sibly, Short-hand Writer, Preacher, etc 224
Mackey, " the Learned Shoemaker" of Norwich, and two other Learned
Shoemakers 225
Anthony Purver, Bible Revisionist 226
The Poets of the Cobbler's Stall.
James Woodhouse, the Friend of Shenstone 228
John Bennet, Parish Clerk and Poet 229
Richard Savage, the Friend of Pope 230
Thomas Olivers, Hymn-Writer '. . 231
Thomas Holcroft, Dramatist, Novelist. . . 234
Joseph Blacket, " The Son of Sorrow " 236
David Service and other Songsters of the Shoemaker's Stall 242
John Struthers, Poet and Editor 243
John O'Neill, the Poet of Temperance 244
John Younger, Fly-Fisher and Corn-Law Rhymer 246
Charles Crocker, " The Poor Cobbler of Chichester " 247
Preachers and Theologians.
George Fox, Founder of the Society of Friends 249
Thomas Shillitoe, the Shoemaker who stood before Kings 251
John Thorp, Founder of the Independent Church at Masboro' 255
William Huntingdon, S.S 257
Robert Morrison, D.D., Chinese Scholar and Missionary 258
Rev. John Burnet, Preacher and Philanthropist 259
John Kitto, D.D., Biblical Scholar 261
X CONTENTS.
Science.
PAGE
William Sturgeon, the Electrician 264
Politicians.
Thomas Hardy, of " The State Trials " 265
George Odger, Political Orator 2G6
AMERICAN EXAMPLES.
Noah Worcester, D.D., " The Apostle of Peace " 271
Roger Sherman, the Patriot ; 274
Henry Wilson, the Natick Cobbler 276
John Greenleaf Whittier, " The Quaker Poet " 277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
SIK CLOUDSLEY SHOVEL, 13
JAMES LACKINGTON, 25
REV. S. BRADBURN, 49
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD, 89
SAMUEL DREW, M.A., 105
WILLIAM CAREY, 125
THOMAS COOPER, 161
JOSEPH BLACK ET, 237
J. G. WHITTIER, 269
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 flutters 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 com-
mander. 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 low-
est social status, and had been compelled to begin their nautical
career in the humblest fashion, accepting the most menial posi-
tion 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 contem-
porary, 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., Bear- Admiral of Great Britain,
Admiral and Command er-in-Chief of the Fleet : The just reward of
18 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
long and faithful services. He was deservedly beloved of his country,
and esteemed though dreaded by the enemy, who had often experi-
enced 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 en-
title him to a place in the category of Illustrious Shoe-
makers.
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 rela-
tive'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 flat-
ness and quietude of village life irksome to his active tempera-
ment and aspiring spirit, after a few years' work at shoemak-
ing, he made off to sea. His taste lying in the direction of the
SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL. 19
royal r.aval sendee, be 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 disposi-
tion and his own early experience, to favor any youth of prom-
ise 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 cour-
age ; 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 oif 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 admira-
tion mingled with something like pity, the admiral exclaimed,
" Why, what can you do, my fearless lad ?" " I can swim,
20 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 gal-
lant Sir John and his brave crew held on in the most deter-
mined manner until it seemed that no hope was left that the
brave lad had reached the friendly vessels in safety and de-
livered 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 lieu-
tenant 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 dep-
redations 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 Nar-
borough was therefore commissioned to bring them to terms or
effectually punish them. Arriving before Tripoli, their head-
quarters, in the spring of 1674, he found the enemy in great
strength under the shelter of their formidable forts, and de-
cided, 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 mes-
SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL. 21
sage 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 ac-
' count 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 con-
ducted 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 dis-
tress, 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 cour-
age 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
22 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
reign, Captain Shovel is said to have been in every naval en-
gagement 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 bat-
tle 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 de-
cided to promote Sir Cloudesley to the rank of " rear-admiral
of the blue." In conferring this reward upon the gallant com-
mander, 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 sur-
render was speedily negotiated, and the influential town of
Waterford fell into the hands of the English. Two years after
this the King declared him k< 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 ho 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 batttle 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,"* 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
* See Campbell's " Lives," etc., vol. iv. p. 247.
SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL. 23
His Majesty whenever maritime affairs were under considera-
tion. "
His first service in the reign of Queen Anne was performed
as t4 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 J703
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 ex-
tent, 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 impor-
tant 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 22 d 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 num-
ber 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 attempt-
ing to sell their booty, the miscreants found that the ring they
prized so much betrayed their guilty secret. They were com-
pelled 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
24 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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." *
* Sir Cloudesley Shovel sat for several years a member of Parlia-
ment for the city of Kochester. 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.
JAMES LACKINGTON
James ILacfcington,
SHOEMAKER AND BOOKSELLER.
Sutor Ultra Crepidam Feliciter Ausus.
Latin Motto, Quoted on Frontispiece to
' * Lackingtorfs Memoirs"
I. LACKIXGTON,
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 cal-
culate 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 Lackingtoii'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 sensa-
tional, " 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 im-
portant business. His name cannot be omitted from any com-
plete history of booksellers, and it is none the less deserving
of a place in the category of illustrious shoemakers ; for Lack-
ington 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 apprentice-
ship.
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 princi-
pal events in his life, under the form of " Letters to a
Friend." This book bears the title " Memoirs and Confes-
sions," and is certainly one of the most remarkable autobiog-
raphies ever presented to the world. What portion of its con-
tents may be referred to by the term " memoirs" as distin-
guished from " confessions" it is impossible to say, but cer-
tain 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
30 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
things in a different light, and made full and complete ac-
knowledgment 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 relig-
ious 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 consider-
able, 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 char-
acter, his good judgment as to the public taste and require-
ments, his capital method of assorting and classifying his stock
and strict keeping of accounts, his courageous yet prudent pur-
chases, and his strict adherence to a few sound maxims of
economy and thrift. None but a man of original and uncom-
mon powers of mind could have launched out on new specula-
tions 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 trne, but it is not the vanity of a man
who is vain and does not know it ; lie 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 car-
riage the plain English words which express the principle on
which his business had been made to bear such wonderful results.
" But,' 7 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 re-
mind 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
JAMES LACKINGTOST. 31
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 pre-
sented temptations that were too much for his weak disposi-
tion. 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 sup-
plied him with money to open shop for himself. But that
which was intended to be of very great sendee 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 cir-
cumstances 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 drunk-
enness, reduced to his old state of a journeyman shoemaker.
Yet so infatuated was he with the love of liquor, that the en-
dearing 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 pleas-
ure. ' '
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 two-
pence per week for his schooling. For several years his time
32 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
was divided between nursing his younger brothers and sister*
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. Hav-
ing noticed an old pieman in the streets whose method of sell-
ing pies struck the boy as very defective, the boy was con-
vinced 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 ex-
hibits 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, ' i but shame prevented
JAM US LACKIXGTOX. 13
them." Making a long file behind him, the order of proced-
ure 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" th'ese poor hawkers, who found their
occupation almost gone, should do the daring young interloper
some grievous bodily harm. 4< 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 Ref-
ormation. 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-estab-
lished, in that age of religious apathy in England. The boy
accompanied the family twice on the Sabbath to the " meet-
ing," and heard, yet not heard, sermons full of sound moral-
ity, but devoid of anything like vigorous, soul-searching, and
soul-converting gospel truth, and delivered, withal, in the flat-
test 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
34 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOKMAKKKS.
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 ac-
cess 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 masters bookshelves and finding
there a school-size Bible, 44 Watts 7 Psalms and Hymns," Foot's
44 Tract on Baptism," Culpepper's 4t Herbal," the " History
of the Gentle Craft," an old imperfect volume of receipts on
Physic, Surgery, etc., and the 44 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."
44 Thus," says Lackington, 4< 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 Lackingtori's employer, and set
the young apprentice on a train of thought and inquiry which
eventually led him also to cast in his Jot with the Methodists.
He was then about sixteen years of age, and had so little knowl-
edge 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
JAMES LACKIXGTOX. 35
master's widow, Mr. Bowden having died when Lackington
liad 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 dissi-
pation 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 book-
seller's shop because he did not know the name of any book to
%sk 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 re-
ligious 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,
36 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 ac-
counted handsome ; she was a devout Methodist, and an
amiable, industrious, thrifty woman. But they were wretch-
edly 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.
JAMES LACKINGTOtf.
' 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 six-
pence 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 tolera-
ble substitute for coffee ; and as to animal food, we made use
of but little, and that little we boiled and made broth of.' 7
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 ac-
customed. Her continued illness and his own hopeless state
of poverty drove him to make the venture. Accordingly, hav-
ing 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
38 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 pur-
chased 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 im-
mense 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 diffi-
culty 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 j we should have eaten it to-morrow, and the
pleasure would have been soon over ; but should we Jive 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 Lack-
ington might obtain work as a master-shoemaker. He at once
fell in with the proposal, and added that 4< he would sell books
also." He does not seem to have formed any intention of
bookselling previous to this interview, but the prospect of hav-
ing 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 naive manner : t4 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
JAMES LACKiNGTON. 3^
plenty of books to read, which was the greatest motive I could
conceive to induce me to make the attempt." His friend en-
gaged to procure the shop, and Lackirigton 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 peo-
ple had raised for the purpose of lending out on a short terra
to men of good character who were in need of help in business
or domestic difficulties. No interest appears to have been re-
quired, 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 <l consci-
entiously 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 saga-
cious 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 !" * He had not been long in
* " 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 niy catalogue
at 4 los.; 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."
40 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKEUS.
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 ir-
reverence 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, 71 he says, '* not only took care of my
shop, but also advanced money to pay such expenses as occur-
red ; 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. ' '
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 i
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 emphati-
cally 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 con-
sented. Both partners were employed in writing it, but the
JAMES LACKINGTCm. 41
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 Funt&, 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 fripndly terms a year before the term
of partnership had expired. Denis, to the end of his life, re-
mained 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 ] 780 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 ac-
counts of seven years' standing ; and some bills are never
paid " (!) After recounting the disadvantages of the credit sys-
tem, he says : " When I communicated my ideas on this sub-
ject 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 with-
out giving credit. " The offence given to some old customers
was very great, and for a time he lost them, but they soon re-
turned 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 il 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 an-
noyed 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."
42 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
This adoption of the u no credit" system was the first de-
cided step toward Lackington's wonderful success in business.
In five years his catalogues contained the names of thirty thou-
sand books, and these were generally of a much better descrip-
tion. ^"*
The most startling innovation he made in the trade of book-
selling, and the one which led to the largest amount of opposi-
tion on the part of his fellow-tradesmen, was in regard to the
way of dealing with what are called " remainders. 11 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." 44 When first invited to these
trade-sales," he says, 44 I was very much surprised to learn
that it was common for such as purchased remainders to de-
stroy 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 hun-
dreds 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 in-
jure 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 ;
44 W r est says he sat next to Lackington at a sale when he spent
upward of 12,000 in an afternoon." * 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 \Vatts' 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, 4t no one that
has not a quick sale can possibly succeed with large numbers."
14 So that I often look back," he remarks, t4 with astonish-
ment 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
*" History of Booksellers," by H. Curvven, p. 73. Chatto & Windus.
JAMES LACKINGTOK. 43
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 preces 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."
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 read-
ing, 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 Ad-
ventures ;' 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
44 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOF.MAKEKS.
the most rapid increase of the sale of books has been since the
termination of the late war.'* *
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 incon-
veniences attending a stage-coach were remedied by a chariot. 1 ''
This house was taken at Merton in Surrey. Referring to the
captious remarks of his neighbors, he says: "When by the
ndvice 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, 1
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 abomi-
nable 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, tjie Gazette would soon settle
that point." It appears that some of these wiseacres specu-
lated 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 lie must have found a number of "bank-
notes 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
* Articles of Peace with the United States were signed Nov. 30th,
1782 ; and the Peace of Versailles, between France, Spain, and Eng-
land, was made Jan. 20th, 1783. It is to this, no doubt, that Lacking-
ton refers.
JAMES LACKINGTON. 45
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 conceal-
ing 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 him-
self." * 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.
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 par-
don the simple vanity of the self-made and self-taught mer-
chant prince who writes about his recently acquired chariot
in the following strain : " And I assure you, sir, that reflect-
ing 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 m their carriages who cannot reflect on the means by
which they were acquired with an equal degree of satisfac-
tion." 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 arc
* "History of Booksellers, " see above, p. 74.
46 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
of the most quaint and out-of-the-way character. At New-
castle 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 consider-
able 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 Eng-
land, 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 con-
ceive 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 Well-
ington, 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 jears 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 4i good old mother" for many
JAMES LACKINGTON. 47
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 cir-
cumstances and stand in need of my assistance.' 7 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 Tiiornbury 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 em-
ployed 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 ac-
knowledges 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 book-
seller the right to the Latin motto with which he has adorned
the frontispiece to the first edition of " Memoirs and Confes-
sions," viz., Sator ultra crepidam feliciter ausus.*
r * The shoemaker happily abandoned his last." It may be interest-
ing 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.
REV. S. BRADBURN
Uratrfcurn,
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 sol-
dier'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
54 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 expedi-
ent 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 pre-
vented escape. It was vain also to appeal to the magistrates of
that day, for though they must have been perfectly well ac-
quainted 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 fiiends 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 * 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 conclu-
sion 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.
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
* Mrs. Bradburn was the daughter of Samuel Jones, of Wrexham.
SAMUEL BRADBURN. 55
already told of a life of singular devotedness and usefulness
which had no fair foundation of sound and thorough educa-
tion. 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 half-
pence 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 ser-
vice 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 ac-
counted, 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 thir-
teen 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 transgres-
sion, his consciousness of the evil of sin never left him, and he
had always sufficient moral sensibility left to make him pro-
foundly 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, anx-
iety about his soul's welfare and mad recklessness, reads won-
derfully like that of John Bunyan. How like the records of
56 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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. " lie. was then less than fourteen
years of age ; his companions at the work-room were of a god-
less 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 ac-
quainted with the vilest of the vile," and imbibed their spirit
and followed their example. To what depths he sank the fol-
lowing 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.* . . .
For a moment I felt a degree of compunction, but gave away
to despair and drowned the conviction." The reproof which
Banyan 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 pas-
sion 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
* 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 swear-
ing, 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."
SAMUEL BBADBUKN. 57
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 re-
proofs, 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 amuse-
ments drive even a youth of sensitive nature and generous dis-
position. 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 en-
joying 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 appear-
ance, there was but a step betwixt me and everlasting death."
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 sepa-
ration 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
44 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.
58 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
u One evening," he writes in liis 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 ad-
joining 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, particu-
larly 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, in-
telligent, Christian faith, bringing peace and rest to his miml.
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 whioh 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 re-
newed 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."* Alluding
* 2 Cor. 5 : 17.
SAMUEL BRADBURN. 59
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 melan-
choly 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 remem-
ber 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.* 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. "
Bradburn at once joined the Methodist Society at Chester.
His master's son, a boy of twelve, and many other young peo-
ple, 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 charac-
ter is a matter of growth and culture and can only be main-
* There was surely a Scriptural reason for this feeling. See Luke
15 : 7, 10, and Heb. 1 : 15.
00 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
tained by watchfulness and prayer, and the careful formation
of habits of piety. And as Thomas a Kempis finely says,
" Custom is overcome by custom," so Bradburn found it, and
in order to put a bar between his spirit aand possible tempta-
tions, 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 sac redness 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 direc-
tion of Divine providence. In this condition of mind he
passed the rest of the year 1772. At the beginning of the fol-
lowing year he found employment at Wrexham, and there took
np his abode in the congenial society of his relations and relig-
ious 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
SAMUEL BRADBURN. 61
course of his life, and the employment of liis 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 ex-
citement, and casting himself on divine aid, he mounts the pul-
pit stairs. The opening part of the service gives him confi-
dence, 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." *
Soon after the events just referred to, Bradburn resolved to
go and see the Rev. John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley in Shrop-
shire, 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 ac-
count of his saintly life, his evangelistic zeal, and his rare
catholicity of spirit. None worked more faithfully and dili-
gently than he at the College of Trevecca in Whales, of which
he was for several years the president. Yet he received no
emolument for his labors. " Fletcher was no pluralist, for he
* Acts 13 : 2.
62 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
did his work at Trevccca without fee or reward, from the sole
motive of being useful."* It is said of his apostolic work at
Madeley, that " the parish, containing a degiaded, ignorant,
and vicious population employed 111 mines and iron works,
became, under his diligent Christian culture, a thoroughly
different place. His public discourses, his pastoral conversa-
tions, 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 deep-
est 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. "f 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 Confer-
ence in London by which he would be permanently and offi-
cially appointed to labor among them. Although he had
become somewhat popular by this time, and was warmly wel-
comed 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
* See Benson's "Life of Fletcher."
f " Keligion in England under Qneen Anne and the Georges." By
John Stoughton, D.D., vol. ii. pp. 158, 159. Hodder & Stoughton.
SAMUEL BKADBURN. 63
visits, was so annoyed at the sight of " a mere lad" " travel-
lino- 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 Liver-
pool circuit." It was about this time he had his first inter-
view with John Wesley. The veteran evangelist's simple and
kindly manner affected the young preacher deeply, and his ad-
vice was wonderfully like him : '* Beware," said Wesley,
holding young Bradburn by the hand, <k beware of the fear of
man ; and be sure you speak flat and plain in preaching."
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 man-
ner 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 founda-
tions 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.*
* Bradburn's mother died during his first year's ministry. In con-
nection 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."
04 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
Bradburn felt his poverty in more ways than one. Wcsleyan
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 shil-
ling, and, but for this meeting with Wesley at Brecon, might
have found it an awkward matter to reach his destination.
44 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 circum-
stances. The following story is too good to be omitted.
In reply to Bradburn ? s appeal W r esley sent the following short
letter, inclosing several five-pound notes :
44 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 :
44 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 grate-
ful servant, S. BRADBURN. "
The year spent in South Wales was happy and prosperous,
and the churches at Pembroke, Ilaverfordwest, 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 44 mutual admiration" and 44 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 beauti-
ful 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, 44 But, Lord, let it be Betsey." His bedfellow
SAMUEL BRADBURY. 65
humorously responded, " Amen," and broke out into a hearty
laugh at poor Brad burn'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 her-
self, 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,* 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, ) " more than once took up
cudgels for his preachers when in difficulties of this kind, but
not in such a summary manner."
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 ser-
mons 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"
* Bradburn' s lodgings.
f "Life of Samuel Bradburn." By T. W. Blanshard. P. 68.
Elliot Stock, 1870. A most interesting biography of the famous Wes-
leyan preacher.
66 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 reg-
ularly gave away all the rest. " Thus literally having nothing,
he possessed all things ; and though poor, he made many
rich." * 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 appoint-
ment 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, li the pious and godly" Methodist to whom Robert
Baikes of Sunday-school fame had spoken about the poor chil-
dren 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 W^esley showed his appreciation of Brad-
burn'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
* Bradburn's Life, see above, pp. 85, 86.
SAMUEL BRADBURN. 67
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. Brad-
burn, now looked upon as one of the foremost men in the Con-
nection, 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 Brad-
burn 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.
Among Methodists Bradburn is regarded as one of the most
eloquent and powerful preachers the denomination has pro-
duced. He had all the natural gifts of a great orator, and
these, combined with fervent piety and a single and lofty pur-
pose 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."* 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 extem-
pore, after the fashion of the times, he nevertheless prepared
his discourses with great skill and labor. The following sen-
tences from his biography will sufficiently illustrate this point, f
" 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
* Bradburn's Life, pp. 177, 178. f Ibid., pp. 183, 184.
68 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
sermons untouched (not used in preaching in the circuit) at the
end of three years' ministrations. The result of such endow-
ments, 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 ; beau-
tifully 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 ter-
lible seems to have been habitually in his power." The Rev.
Richard Watson, author of the " Institutes," " walked
twenty milts 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 excep-
iion 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 unquestion-
ably, to SAMUEL BRADBURN."
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
fiom 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 u been driven off the field by a mob, headed by the
clergyman." Bradburn understood the state of affairs thor-
oughly, and resolved to go down to the parish &nd preach
in the open air. Notice of his coming was duly forwarded,
SAMUEL Bil AUBURN. 69
and the clergyman ordered constables and others to be in at-
tendance 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, ac-
costed 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 lie
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 extraor-
dinary powers of conversation, managed to refer to the open-air
service which was to be held, and the clergyman stated his in-
tention 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 re-
marked that it would be highly \mproper to neglect so favor-
able an opportunity of doing good, and urged him to preach
to them. He excused himself by saying that he had no ser-
mon 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 decep-
tion he had practised on him, and ever afterward, to the day of
his death, showed a friendly disposition toward Methodism." *
* Bradburn's Life, pp. 233-235.
70 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
The same readiness of resource and good humor wore 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 ;is the devil in a
whirlwind !" Shocked by such an indecorous speech, the vis-
itors threatened to report it to Mr. Bradbuin. 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 sufficient-
ly 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."*
Hating the false pride which leads *a man to forget his hum-
ble origin, and the canting way in which some men talk of
their sacrifices in entering the ministry, he once severely re-
buked two young men who made a parade in company of hav-
ing " 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 sacri-
fice, truly, to become an ambassador of God in the church, and
a gentleman in society !" His ready wit was sometimes dis-
* Bradburn 's Life, pp. 228, 229.
SAMUEL BRADBURN. 71
played like that of Hugh Latimer, Dean Swift, and Sydney
Smith, in the selections of texts for sermons on special occa-
sions. 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 : * " Alas, master, for it
was borrowed. " On a snowy winter's day, when the congre-
gation was very small, he selected the words which describe the
character of the virtuous woman, j " She is not afraid of the
snow."
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 Con-
ference, in the exercise of a rigorous discipline, saw fit to sus-
pend 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, Cit} r 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.
* 2 Kings 6:5. f Proverbs 31 : 21.
fflSiUltam iffortr,
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."
TheBaviad; William Gi/ord.
" It is on all hands conceded, that the success which attended the
4 Quarterly ' from the outset was due, in no small degree, to the ability and
tact with which Gifford discharged his editorial duties." Encyclopedia
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 tem-
porary. 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 will-
ingly 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 Quar-
terly Review. The high and influential position held by this
journal was mainly due in the first instance to Gilford's tal-
ent and excellent management. The London Quarterly was
started in opposition to tlie 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, tinder 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.*
His scathing satire succeeded in putting an end to their trash.
*The " Delia Cruscan school." See below.
70 ILLUSTKIOUS SIIOKMAKKIIS.
Gilford 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 Gilford'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 Gilford'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.
Having taken a glimpse of the work accomplished by
William Gilford as a critic, a scholar, and an editor in the latter
years of his life, let us turn to look at his circumstances in boy-
hood 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 mid 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 Gilford was born at the small town of Ashbuiton,
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 Gilford'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 appropri-
ated 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. Ills guar-
dian now tried to get the boy out of hand altogether, by send-
ing him off to Newfoundland as an errand-boy in a grocery
store. This unkind project, however, being doomed to fail-
ure, it was resolved that the troublesome charge should be got
rid cf bv making him a sailor.
WILLIAM GIFFORD. 7?
We give the account of what happened at this period in his
own words : ll 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 Tor bay fishing-boats. I ventured,
however, to remonstrate against this, and the matter was com-
promised 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 Jngh 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 Ash burton, 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 un-
likely 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
78 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 sullemn >>
and silence to my new master, to whom I was bound till 1
should attain the age of twenty-one. At this period I had read
nothing but a romance called ' Parismus,' a few loose maga-
zines the Bible, indeed, I was well acquainted with ; these,
with the 4 Imitation of Thomas a 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 appar-
ently 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 consid-
ered it a treasure ; but it was a treasure locked up, for it sup-
posed 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-mas-
tership. This t4 Introduction" gave Gilford just the informa-
tion 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 mas-
tered it. I could now enter upon my own, and that carried me
pretty far into the science. This was not done without diffi-
culty. 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 crotfn 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
WILLIAM GIFFORD. 79
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.' 7
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 inci-
dent 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 accord-
ingly 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 :
4< 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 inad-
vertently 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 pain-
ful incidents in the sad story of Gifford's early life. Referring
to these recitals of his poetical pieces he says : " These repeti-
tions 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 de-
grees 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 pre-
sumptuous 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 pro-
hibited 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
80 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 situa-
tion."
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, conse-
quently, made any progress in. What could be more miser-
able and disheartening ? But to the industrious and patient, as
*' to the upright, there ariseth light in the darJcinxx.*'
darker hour occurred in all Gilford'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. Jlis
obligations to this benefactor were always most readily and
warmly expressed ; for whatever faults GifTord 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 gentle-
man, Mr. Cooksley, w r as 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 sur-
geon's house, and, encouraged by the kindness he received,
told the story of his attempts at self-culture, and of the hard-
ships 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 situa-
tion. The first thing was to free him from the bonds of his ap-
prenticeship, and the next to give him the advantages of regu-
lar instruction. He was then twenty years of age, and he says,
44 My handwriting w r as bad, and my language very incorrect."
WILLIAM GIFFOHD. 81
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 Gilford, and
for enabling him to improve himself in writing and English
grammar. 1 ' 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 pre-
pared 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 man-
ner 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 Bel-
grave. The circumstance which led to Lord Grosvenor's pat-
ronage of Gifford was remarkable, and deserves to be recorded
as a* Illustration of the fact that an accident may lead to tho
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 pe-
rusal of one of his letters by a person for whom it was not in-
tended could not have helped his fortunes in the least. It ap-
pears 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 admira-
tion, 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 strug-
82 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOE. MAKERS.
gles 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 in-
terruption, from that hour to this, a period of twenty years/ 7
In 1794, his " Baviad " was published, in imitation of the
satires of Persius, and in the following year the " Ma3viad,"
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 Bavins or on Mcemus 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 Delia Cms-
can School* never smiled, or rather smirked, again after the
issue of the Baviad and Maeviad. 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 dan-
ger. 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."
His unhappy victims were hacked and hewed in pieces in a mer-
ciless 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 transla-
tions 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 Kernble, the most accomplished actor of his day, says,
* The name Cruscan was taken from the Florentine Academy, by
Robert Merry, the founder of this school of mawkish and affected
poetasters.
WILLIAM GIFFORD. 83
" 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 admira-
tion and esteem of the world.' 7
The celebrity thus obtained, along with the friendship of the
leading Tory politicians of the day, secured for Gifford the po-
sition 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 Mur-
ray, the famous publisher, and had received the hearty support
of Walter Scott, Robert Southey, Canning, Rose, Disraeli,
and Hookham Frere. The first number, containing three arti-
cles 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.' 7 * At John Murray's " draw-
ing-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." f It was in reference
to one of Murray's " publishers' dinners" Byron wrote the
lines in which occurs the following allusion to Gifford :
o
" 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.
* History of Booksellers." H. Curwen. Chatto & Windus. P. 175.
f "Ibid., pp. 180, 181.
84: ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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."
A writer in the Literary Gazette,* who had the pleasure of
Gilford's personal acquaintance, has made the following inter-
esting 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 !
lie 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 dis-
regard 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 writ-
ten on my coffin.'
" 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 mem-
ber, 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 mem-
bers 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 4 sneaf
(Anglice, snuff) bellowed in his ears. Gifford used to pro-
* Quoted in "The Lives of Eminent Englishmen." Fullarton &
Co., Glasgow, 1838. Vol. viii. pp. 317, 318.
WILLIAM GIFFORD. 85
nounce 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. 7 '
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 re-
ceive at least so much per sheet. On one occasion, a gentle-
man holding office under Government sent him an article, which,
after undergoing some serious mutilations at his hands prepara-
tory 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 in-
dependent 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 per-
sonal 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 con-
duct 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
86 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
probably be justified in assigning to Gilford'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 Iroin GifTord's poetical works,
as samples of his style and quality as a writer. The first is
from the 4t 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 '* Biffiviadj*' exhibits
him in the more genial light of a faithful friend, commemorat-
ing 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 iny rage,
And hiss preposterous fustian from the stage.
Lo, Delia Crusca ! In his. closet pent,
He toils to give the crude conception venfc.
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.'
80 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.'
WILLIAM GIFFORD. 87
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.
;S ( S ILLUSTRIOUS S1IOKM A K KUS.
Together, too, when Greece unlocked her stores,
We roved in thought o'er Troy's devoted shores,
Or followed, while he sought his imtive 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."
RORERT Rt.OOMFIEI-D
THE SHOEMAKER WHO WROTE "THE FARMER'S BOY." 11
" 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. 67.
" 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, Pref-
ace 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 ajithor 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 genu-
ine 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 ro-
mantic 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 con-
ditions, 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 irre-
sistible impulse. For him the words are quite as true as they
are of the greater poet who wrote them,*
" I do but sing because I must,
And pipe but as the linnets sing.'*
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 Graf-
* Tennyson, ' ' In Memoriam, ' ' stanza xxi.
94 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
ton estate. It is interesting to know that these two Suffolk
men were contemporary, t4 the first truly original English
painter/ 7 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 1760. 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, esti-
mable woman, who managed by lier 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 chil-
dren along with the rest. With the exception of a few
months' instruction in writing from a schoolmaster at Ix worth,
the future poet learned from his mother all he knew when lie
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 observa-
tions 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 con-
sider 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 Lon-
don, 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
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD.. 95
brothers at once agreed to take liim under their care, find him
in food and clothing, and teach him the <3raft 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 guar-
dianship 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, Coleinan 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, ' 4 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 bad 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 instruc-
tion 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 coun-
try, 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
96 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 i 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,"
44 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 4< 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 record-
ing, 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.
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. 97
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 " Sea-
sons" 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 Bloom-
field 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 " Fanner's Boy," saw the light. During this time
several important events in his history occurred. In his eigh-
teenth 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
98 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 appren-
tice for the remaining three years of his minority to a Mr.
Duddridge, brother to George's former landlord. At the n\i -.
of twenty he was left alone in London, George having rein
to Bury St. Edmund's in his own county, and Nathaniel having
married and gone into housekeeping. Robert now took to tho
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. Ills 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
4 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 con-
ditions. So hard pressed for time was the poor poet-shoe-
maker, 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 7 workroom, and still fewer, even
if the excitement of poetic thought had enabled them to com-
pose, could have treasured up their productions in the memory
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. 99
until they amounted to 600 lines. A friend of Bloomfield
named Swan, writing to Mr. Cape! 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 treacherous-
ness 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 won-
derful mode of composition, he studied and completed his
rmer's Boy,' in a garret, among six or seven of his fellow-
workmen, without their ever once suspecting or knowing any-
thing of the matter !" *
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 un-
known writer. At length, it was sent by George Bloomfield,
who always had full confidence in Robert's powers, to a gentle-
man 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.
non <fc Hood paid the poet 50 for his copy, and afterward,
when the poem proved a success, honorably advanced an addi-
tional 200, besides giving the author an interest in his copy-
right.
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
*" Lives of Eminent Englishmen," Fullarton & Co., 1838. Tol.
Tiii, p. 245. See also ' Views Ulustiative of Works of Robert Bloom-
field," by E. W. Brayley. London : 1806, p. 17.
lUU ILLt'STRK)i;,S SUOKMAKKIJS.
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. Be-
sides 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
I) like of Grafton, on whose estate he had been employed as a
boy, settled upon him a small annuity, and used his iiifluencc to
obtain for him a post at the seal-office at Is. 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, 4k 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 compo-
sitions. 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' * Sol-
dier'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
KOBEKT liLUUMFIELU. 101
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 disappoint-
ment and loss. His son, wiio 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 enter-
tained grave fears of his becoming insane. Death was prefera-
ble 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 cele-
brated poets of his own day, exhibited a fair and lovely type of
moral excellence. He was genuinely modest, affectionate, in-
dustrious, 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 be-
friended. We have noticed how much he owed in early life to
the loving care and good sense of an excellent mother. Bloom-
field 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
102 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 genins. '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 ;
ROBERT BLOOMFIELD. 103
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 ob-
scure 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."
SAMUEL DREW, M. A.
j&amuei
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 any-
thing. " 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 a& that of William Gifford,* 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 in-
difference 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."
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 Lon-
don. 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 diffus-
ing around him the influence of a good example and a benevo-
lent 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 lit-
* See Chapter IV., William Gifford.
110 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
tie known outside the Christian community to which he was at-
tached, 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. Austell, in Corn-
wall, 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 circum-
stances 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
buddies, 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 reck-
less, 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 4< new mother," made himself
SAMUEL DREW. Ill
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 remov-
ing soon after to Polpea, in Tywardreath, the poor lad's inter-
course 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 un-
profitable 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 pur-
suits. 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 hard-
ships. When, after having been in the fields all day, I came
home with cold feet, and damp and dirty stockings, I was per-
mitted, if the oven had been heated during the day, to throw
them into it, that they might dry against the following morn-
ing ; 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."
i4 During my apprenticeship," he continues, " many bicker-
ings and unpleasant occurrences took place. Some of these
preyed so much on my mind, that several times I had deter-
mined to run away and enlist on board a privateer or man-of-
war. ' ' He seems to have had little inclination for reading dur-
ing these unhappy days ; and if he had been disposed for study
there were but few books within his reach. Accident put into
112 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 in-
flamed 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 read-
ing, but almost the ability to read. The clamor of my com-
panions and others engrossed nearly the whole of my attention,
and, so far as my slender means would allow, carried me on-
ward 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 disap-
peared.
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 mis-
tress 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 Plym-
outh 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
SAMUEL DREW. 113
to his father's roof. He agreed on condition that he should
not be sent back to his old master. This being arranged, a sit-
uation was found for Drew at Millbrook and afterward at
Kingsand and Crafthole.
It was during his stay at the last place that the event occur-
red 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 nine-
teen years of ago, 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
4 more dead than alive,' and carried to a farm-house, whose oc-
cupants 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 cov-
ered 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. ' 4 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
114 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 king-
dom 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, u 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 mean-
ing 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 begin-
ning 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 indus-
try in the work of self-culture after this date. Practically his
education did not begin until he stood on the threshold of man-
hood, 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
SAMUEL DREW. 115
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 work-
ing 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 defini-
tion and reasoning.
Drew's capacity, and therefore his taste, lay in the direction
of metaphysics, and it is curious to notice how the future logi-
cian and theologian manages to make his most ungenial and un-
toward circumstances as a shoemaker in an obscure country
town serve his purpose and help him forward to the accomplish-
ment 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
41 seems to have what is best in him as a possession ;" and the
man who " seems to show that what is regarded as an inspira-
tion may come as the result of labor. " * This is but another
method of stating the old distinction between " genius and tal-
ent." If Samuel Drew must be classified at all, we should cer-
tainly place him in the former category. What was best in him
was indeed a possession, not an acquirement. Yefe, like all
men of mark, he owed much. to close study and hard work.
Without these his fine natural gifts would have been useless.
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 Cal-
vinist 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 exhibi-
tion 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
' 4 Essay on the Human Understanding, ' ' a copy of which was
brought to Drew's master's to be bound. The young shoe-
*Athenceum, No. 2770, Nov. 27, 1880. p. 719.
116 ILLL'STKLOt'S SHOKMAKKKS.
maker 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 in-
duced 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 con-
tinued working industriously at his trade, and rilling 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. At-
tracted by one science after another, and rinding, as most eager
minds do, a charm in each, he finally settled to metaphysics,
because, as he sometimes shrewdly observed, among other rec-
ommendations it has this, that it requires fewer books than
other branches of study, and may be followed at the least ex-
pense. * 4 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 there-
fore 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, u It is bet-
ter 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 busi
SAMUEL DREW. 117
ness, is highly creditable to him, and will he best told in his
own words : " Eighteen hours out of the twenty-four did I regu-
larly 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 vig-
orously 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 de-
vote 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 prod-
igal 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 mere 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 an-
other 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 mariner 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 busi-
ness 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 ex-
118 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
posed him, and how slight an incident saved him from the
snare. He had become enamoured of political matters, and dis-
cussed 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 re-
mark : " 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 inso-
lence ?" " 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 an-
noyance to profitable account " No, no. Had a pistol been
fired off at my ear I could not have been more dismayed or con-
founded. 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 phil-
osophical 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 ear-
liest attempts. Though he had fine poetic feeling and consid-
erable 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 influ-
ence 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
SAMUEL DREW. 119
book, in order that they might discuss its contents together.
The two disputants met night after night, the shoemaker attack-
ing and the surgeon defending the principles of the famous
intide! book. At length the discussion came to an end by
the surgeon giving up his faith in Voltaire, Kousseau, Gibbon,
Hume, and Tom Paine, and accepting the teaching and consola-
tion 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
tirst 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 asper-
sions 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 ho
had occupied his mind with the subject of the immortality of
the soul, having read every book he could procure on the sub-
ject. None of these books quite satisfied him. " He imag-
ined," 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
120 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
above Rev. John AVhittaker, of Ruan Lanyhorne, in Corn-
wall. 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 fam-
ilies" in the county giving their names as subscribers. The first
edition numbered 700 copies, of which subscriptions were en-
tered for 640. A few weeks after its publication, Drew re-
ceived 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 sus-
pect 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 ap-
peared in the Anti-Jacobin, which Drew afterward discovered
to have been written by no other than Mr. Polwhele, the cler-
gyman whose pamphlet anent the Wesleyans Drew had so reso-
lutely and successfully attacked. Such an act of grace was in-
finitely 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,* is full of interest :
" After passing through five editions in England and two in
America, and being translated and printed in France, the ' Es-
say on the Soul/ the copyright of which Mr. Drew had disposed
of on the terms just named, and which, before its first appear-
ance, 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 mat-
ter, and sold it a second time for 250."
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 de-
nominations, 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 bewil-
dered 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 auto-
* Samuel Drew, M.A., the self-taught Cornishman." By his Eldest
Son. P. 102. London : Ward & Co.
SAMUEL DREW. 121
*
biographical 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 res-
idence 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 shoe-
maker/ ' 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 abook."
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 at-
tended 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 pe-
culiar. 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 de-
spatched 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 4 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."
122 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
tf
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 Coruishman 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 him-
self, as a secretary and joint-editor, entirely to literary work.
He assisted Dr. Coke in preparing for the press his " Com-
mentary 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 4< Identity and Res-
urrection of the Human Body." A work bearing this title ap-
peared in 1809, having been submitted in manuscript to his old
friends the Revs. Mr. Whittaker and Mr. Gregor, and to Arch-
deacon 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 t4 friend and admirer," while an-
other spoke of feeling ' 4 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 solic-
itation 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
SAMUEL DREW. 123
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 com-
petitor 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 pam-
phlet on the Divinity of Christ, which had a large sale, and for
which, such was the value now set on his writings, his pub-
lisher, Mr. Edwards, paid as much as he had previously given
for the Essay on the Soul. Under the direction of F. Hitch-
ens, 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 His-
tory of Cornwall. It appeared in 1815-17, and consisted of
1500 quarto pages, all of which " was sent to the printer in
his/ 1 Drew's, " own manuscript." At the request of the ex-
ecutors of Dr. Coke, Drew published a memoir of his friend,
whic'h appeared in 1817. This task made a visit io 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 ap-
pearance," for he wore top-boots and light-colored breeches,
excited no small curiosity ; but his excellent preaching and de-
lightful simplicity and modesty of manner awoke universal re-
spect. 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
1X ; 4 ILLUSTRIOUS. SHOEMAKERS.
A.M. was conferred on him by the Marischal College, Aber-
deen. 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 clus-
tered 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, 1333, 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 sur-
rounded 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 Cor-
nish metaphysician. ' '
WILLIAM CAREY, D. D.
OTarcg,
THE SHOEMAKER WHO TRANSLATED THE BIBLE INTO
BENGALI AND HINDOSTANI.
"Xo, 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 in-
struction frorrAhe Rev. Thomas Smerdon, when Robert Bloom-
field, 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 com-
mittee 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 enthu-
siasm for his Christian enterprise, he toiled on at the work of
preaching the gospel and translating the Sacred Scriptures.
From 1801 to 1830, Ii3 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 trans-
lations of the Bible were made and edited by him, and passed
through the press at Serampore under his supervision. One
130 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 lan-
guages ;" and adds that " a great proportion of the actual liter-
ary 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. Wliat
monarch or ruler of a vast empire, what statesman or judge,
what scientific or literary worker, what man of genius in busi-
ness 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 Northampton-
shire, 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. Wil-
liam 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 re-
spectful 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 con-
tempt. 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 u 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 dan-
gerous weapon, and few men know how to use it as much as
WILLIAM CAREY. 131
*
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 North-
amptonshire that he was a poor workman, the neighbors declar-
ing that though he made boots, he " could never make a
pair." * 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 workman-
ship.' 7 He cautiously adds, " But the best workmen some-
times, from various causes, put bad work out of their hands,
and I have no doubt but I did so too." f 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."
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 ref-
erence 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 dis-
paraging remarks about Carey as a shoemaker. His biog-
rapher J says : " Some thirty years after this period, dining
one day with the Governor-General, Lord Hastings, at Barrak-
pore, a general officer made an impertinent inquiry of one of
* "Baptist Jubilee Memorial." London : Simpkin, Marshall, 1842,
p. 83.
f" Memoir of Dr. Carey," by the Rev. Eustace Carey. London :
Jackson & Walford, 2d edition, 1837, p. 16.
J 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
Eev. John Dyer ; London, Fisher & Co., 1837 ; and " The Life of Dr.
Carey," by the Rev. Eustace Carey ; London, 1837.
132 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
4
the aides-de-camp whether Dr. Carey had not once been a shoe-
maker. He happened to overhear the conversation, and im-
mediately stepped forward and said, " No, sir ; only a cob-
bler !"
In the brief story we have to tell of the life of this remarka-
ble 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 grand-
father 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 rudi-
mentary ; 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 natuial 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. lie 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 quick-
ness 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
WILLIAM CAREY. 133
giving him a classical training. But that was out of the ques-
tion ; 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 use-
fulness 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 hoine, 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 ap-
prenticed 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, sad-
dening 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 climb-
ing 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
134 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 shoe-
maker'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 rudi-
ments 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 can-
celled 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, llis own career was
very remarkable. From the position of a laboring man he had
risen to oocupy good rank as a clergyman, and with very mea-
gre advantages in early life he had become, or was rapidly be-
coming, one of the best sacred classics in the country. The
man who had laid aside the shepherd's smock for the clergy-
man's surplice, and who on one occasion doffed his clerical at-
tire, donned the shepherd's clothes again, and sheared eleven
large sheep on an afternoon, was not likely to neglect or over-
look 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 4 * no ordinary
character.' 7 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
WILLIAM CAREY. 135
was no moral purpose in his life, and as lie grew older he be-
came 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 u vicious" in de-
scribing his life at this time. He spoke of himself, no doubt,
after the religious fashion of the age, and judged his early con-
duct by the severe moral standard adopted by his co-religion-
i<ts. 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 vari-
ety 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, ki 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 reg-
ularly 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 nine-
teen years of age, was delivered in one of their assemblies.
For three and a half years he was on the preachers' plan, and
regularly li supplied the pulpits" in this village and Earl's Bar-
ton as a kind of pastor. " It was during these ministerial en-
gagements," says his biographer, " that his views on the sub-
ject of baptism were altered, and he embraced the opinion that
baptism by immersion, after a confession of faith, was in ac-
cordance with the injunctions of Divine Writ and the practice
of the apostolic age. He was accordingly baptized by Dr. John
Kyland, his future associate in the cause of missions, who subse-
quently 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." *
* " The Story of Carey, Marshman, and Ward," p. 4.
j;36 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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." Notwith-
standing 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 pro-
vide 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 ob-
tain fresh orders. Nothing but the assistance of his relatives
saved him at this time from destitution.
And here we are bound to pause arid notice the greatest mis-
take Carey made in all his life. We refer to his marriage at
the age of twenty to the sister of his former employer.
44 This imprudent union," it is said, 44 proved a severe clog on
his exertions for more than twenty-five }ears. " 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 hus-
band'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 Fronde the histo-
rian has well said, some men are apparently " destined to be un-
fortunate 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 Hhe bargain, as he sat
writing the works that were destined to make his name illustri-
ous for all time. Moliere, 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.
WILLIAM CAREY. 137
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 mis-
take in their choice, they one and all acted with good sense and
feeling in their treatment of their ill-matched partners. Noth-
ing could be better than the common -sense of stern John Wes-
ley 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 kind-
ness 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.*
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 alld to his other labors the task of
teaching a school. For this task he was utterly unfit. How-
ever 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 borne 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 min-
isterial 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 l i 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 dur-
ing these years he adopted the plan of allotting his time, a
plan to which he rigidly adhered all through his life, and by
* It ought to be said that in 1808, about a year after the death of
his first wife, Carey married Miss Bhumohr, 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.
138 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 As-
sociation. It was at one of the meetings of this association
that Fuller first met with Carey and heard him preach. So de-
lighted 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 bless-
ings 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 shoe-
maker, 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 ignor-
ance of the true God, and of the Saviour of mankind. In or-
der 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 cir-
cumstance 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 Hin-
doos the Bible in their own language."
With this purpose in mind, Carey went to the meetings of
WILLIAM CAREY. 139
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 Chris-
tian 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 " enthu-
siast " 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 inspjred 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 * had begun the work of
Sabbath-schools in that city ; or John Howard, whose great
work, published within a year orjtwo of this time,} on the con-
dition 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 ac-
cess to one, led him to take steps which resulted in the forma-
tion 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 How-
ard, or cobblers and Nonconformist village pastors like Carey.
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 cer-
tainly to have known that nothing could be done before
another Pentecost, when an effusion of miraculous gifts, in-
cluding the gift of tongues, would give effect to the commis-
sion 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 Hmdostani, 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
* The first Sunday-school was opened in Gloucester in 1780.
f Viz., 1789.
140 ILLL'STKiOl'S SHOKMAKKKS.
would subsequently hold the office of Professor of Oriental Lan-
guages at Fort William for twenty years, become one of the
greatest proficients the world has known in two of the very lan-
guages he had named, and not only preach in them but trans-
late 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 valua-
ble 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 some-
what 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 sub-
ject, entitled " Thoughts on Christian Missions." When he
showed this pamphlet to his friends Fuller, Suttcljffe, and Ry-
land, they were amazed at the amount of knowledge it dis-
played, 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 star-
vation, 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 North-
amptonshire, Carey again read his pamphlet, and was requested
to publish it. This was a decided step in advance, and pre-
pared the way for the events of the following year, when the
desire of his- heart was accomplished in the formation of a mis-
\TILLt Ati 'CAREY. 141
sionary society. In May, 1*792, he preached the famous sermon
which is said to have done more than anything else to consum-
mate this missionary enterprise.* 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 with-
out a distinct resolution to form a society. He seized Andrew
Fuller's hand " in an agony of distress,' 7 and tearfully pleaded
that some steps should at once' be taken. Overcome at last by
his entreaties, they solemnly resolved on the holy enterprise.
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 treas-
uries 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 for-
mally 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 re-
turned from Bengal, and was endeavoring to establish a fund in
London for a mission to that country." f He was a Baptist,
* 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 lef fc ; and thy seed shrill in-
herit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."
f 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 ai}d 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.
142 ILLUSTKIWS SHOEMAKERS.
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 lit-
tle band of preachers who set sail seventeen centuries before
from the port of Alexandria Troas for the shores of Europe.
The story of Carey's life and work in India cannot be fol-
lowed 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 hisfiiepds had to en-
dure much hardship, and their proceedings weie 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. t4 Heie
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/'* 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."! 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
* Quarterly Review, Feb. 1809, p. 197. f Ibid.
WILLIAM CAKKY, 143
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 thankfdly 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 illus-
tration of his self -sacrificing spirit from the beginning to the
end of his missionary life. To the work of translating and cir-
culating the Scriptures in the languages of India he devoted not
only all his time and his vast mental powers, but whatever pri-
vate funds might be at his command. As the work proceeded,
and he became known and employed by the government in va-
rious professorships, these funds were often very considerable.
In 1807, when Carey held the Professorship of Oriental Lan-
guages 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 4 ' were contributing 2400 a year,"
and receiving from the mission fund " only their food and a
trifle of pocket-money for apparel."
In 1800 the missionary establishment, now strengthened by
the two worthy colleagues just named, was removed to Seram-
pore, a Danish settlement about fifteen miles from Calcutta. A
printing press aud type were purchased, and the work of print-
ing 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 gratifica-
tion 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 grati-
144 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
tude 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 near-
ly 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 in-
volved 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 re-
vision of his translations. A letter written in 1807, when the
degree of D.D. was conferred on Mr. Carey by the Brown Uni-
versity, United States, gives a graphic sketch of the ordinary
day's work performed by him at this period : " He rises a Jit-
tie 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 Per-
sian with a moonshee who is in attendance. As soon as break-
fast 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. ' 7 *
Strangely enough, about this time a controversy was going on
*" Carey, Maishman, and Ward," by J. C. Marshman. London ;
J. Heaton & Son. 1864.
WILLIAM CAREY. 145
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 mis-
sionaries, we are generally considered to have rendered a useful
service to the cause of rational religion." Such articles con^.
demncd 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.*
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 denomina-
tions. Robert South ey the poet came forward with generous
enthusiasm in their defence, and in a carefully-written article in
the Quarterly^ Review \ vindicated their character and labors.
Among oth ir remarkable statements in their behalf, he was able
to say : 4 ' 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 San-
skrit, 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 tune these missionaiies have acquired
the gift of tongues. In fourteen years these 4 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.
*"' Carey, Marshman, and Ward," p. 137.
f Quarterly Review, Feb. 1809, pp. 221, 225.
146 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
The first convert was baptized in December, 1800,* 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 knowl-
edge. 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 en-
tered 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 piudent
and unexceptionable, and there is as little fear of their provok-
ing martyrdom as there would be of their shrinking from it if
the cause of God and man require the sacrifice."
Having lived to see his desire accomplished in the establish-
ment of many other missionary societies besides his own ; hav-
ing 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 Cal-
cutta 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. M He
instructed his executors to place no memorial over his tomb but
the following simple inscription :
WILLIAM CAREY,
BOEN 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
* 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.
WILLIAM (JAREY. 147
and his work,* 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 char-
acter. He never took credit for anything but plodding, but it
was the plodding of genius/' In all his work, however suc-
cessful, 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 Northamptonshiie
will be remembered till the end of the wofld as the Christian
Apostle of Northern India.
*John Clark Marshman was the son of Dr. Marshinan, Carey's
colleague at Serarapore.
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, ' 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 nota-
ble shoemakers. The Landport man combined with his daily
task as a shoemaker the delightful occupation of sketching and
patinting, and obtained a local fame as an artist. The Ports-
mouth ma-i found in the work of teaching poor ragged chil-
dren to read and write and cipher his great^t relaxation from
the drudgery of daily toil and his purest enjoyment, and lias
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 instruc-
tion. 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. Charpenticr of Portsmouth, and it is to a copy of the
engraving the renowned Dr. Guthrie of Edinburgh refers in the
following story :
4 ' 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 Rag-
ged 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
152 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 de-
termination of character, and below his bushy eyebrows benev-
olence gleamed out on a number of poor ragged boys and girls
who stood at their lessons around the busy cobbler. My curi-
osity 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 mis-
ery, and saved to society, not less than five hundred of these
children.' 7 *
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." f In the New Testament there is another of a sim-
ilar character in the brief sentence, " There was a certain man
in Cajsarea 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. "J The life-story of John Pounds is told in the
last sentence of Dr. Guthrie's narrative ; yet a few farther de-
tails 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.
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 appren-
tice as a shipwright in the same yard. He was then a strong
active boy, and worked with his father in the yard until an ac-
* " Anecdotes and Stories," by Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D. Lon-
don : Houlston & Wright, pp. 156, 157.
f Gen. 5 : 24.
% Acts, 10 : 1, 2.
JOHN POUNDS. 153
cident maimed him for life, and made him incapable of work-
ing 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 in-
struction, John Pounds, at the age of fifteen, became a shoe-
maker. 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 cr^ft, and would in
all probability have preferred to be set down as " only a cob-
bler." 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 earn-
ings, though small, were more than enough to meet the require-
ments 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 ac-
cordingly 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 grati-
fication of seeing the little fellow entirely cured of his defect.
15-4 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 him-
self ; 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 pud-
dings, 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." * 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 educa-
tion 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 reform-
ing and teaching them, Pounds could not rest content with hav-
ing 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 en-
tirely gratuitous, and because he knew that if these poor chil-
dren 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.
The editor of the " Memoir of John Pounds" thus desciibes
the cobbler in the midst of his scholars : 4t His humble work-
shop 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 woik 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, or showing up their sums ;
* " A Memoir of JoliD 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.
JOHN POUNDS. 155
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/ 7 *
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. " f On fine warm days
the school " ran over" into the street, the children who be-
haved best being allowed to sit near the door, or on a bench
outside.
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 Pesta-
lozzian 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,
11 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 mak-
ing 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 con-
dition 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
* "Memoir of John Pounds," p. 10. f Ibid, p. 10.
156 ILLUSTRIOUS SIIOKMAKKKS.
him to the house of God. The garments took the place of
worse ones ; for John took pride in the decent, clean appear-
ance 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 heait !" * lie 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, stand-
ing slill with a troubled look, searching in all his pockets for a
fow more coppers in order to secure yet one more loaf to add
to his store.
When he was in need of books for his pupils, lie did not hes-
itate 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 fiom chuilish
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 \vord 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. 4t 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 use-
ful arts of shoe-mending and tailoring, so that when they grew
up they found their little knowledge of great practical utility,
lie 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 com-
fortable, 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
* Rev. T. Timmins, Portsmouth, in a letter to the writer.
JOHN POUNDS. 157
tea and cake, and had them assembled in a neighboring school-
room 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, " Inas-
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ray breth-
ren, ye have done it unto Me."
It was no uncommon thing during the last years of John
Pound's 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 fiom 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 ven-
erated teacher and friend. They have told me in touching lan-
guage, 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, 1889. 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 kind-
ness 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,
158 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 com-
mence 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 find-
ing 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 grave-
yard 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 ihe 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 FfiD,
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
JOHN POUNDS. 159
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 phil-
anthropic 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."
THOMAS COOPER
!r TBE SELF-EDUCATED SHOEMAKER' 1 WHO "BEARED HIS
OWX MONUMENT. 1 '*
" I consuming fire
Felt daily in ray veins to see my race
Emerge from out the foul defiling mire
O&aniiual enjoyments that debase
Their nature, and well-nigh its Lineaments efface.
I burned to see ray species proudly count
Themselves /or 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!"
Enipedvdes. 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 Autobi-
ography is a remarkable book, well worth reading." Editor of " Charle*
Kingsleifs Life and Letter*?
*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 tliee
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 li 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 ap-
prenticed 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 sub-
jected ; 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, get-
ting 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
160 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS*
old. After this his mother at once went back to old Gains-
borough, where she would be near her relatives. Here she
remained for the rest of her life, and here the fiist 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, arid dated from a period
which must be regarded as exceptionally eaily. 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 44 chucked him under the chin, and said,
How did you like it ? How did you fall in ? \Yhere have you
been to ?" Writing in 1871 he says, 44 The circumstances are
as vivid to my mind as if they only occurred yesterday."
Heading 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 yEsop's fables. On their
removal to Gainsborough lie was seized with small-pox, which
fearful complaint marred his visage for life. This was followed
by other complaints which kept him an imalid for a year. On
his recovery he had to bear the annoyance, so bitterly painful
to a child, of being cither scouted or pitied for his altered
looks. But the kindness he failed to lind out of-doors was
more than doubled at home. The heait 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.
44 Within doors there was no longer a handsome room, the
cheerful look of my father, and his little songs and stories.
\Ve 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 4< framing," iron-
THOMAS COOPER. 167
ing, 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. ' ' *
Returning to school again, he was, at five years of age, his
teacher's favorite pupil, for he could t; 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." Wander-
ing through the woods with ,his mother, or going with her on
her country business rounds when the weather was fine ; poring
over Baskervilla's quarto Bible with its fine engravings from
the old masters, when compelled on wet Sundays to stop in-
doors, 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 admit-
ted 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 be-
ginning, and laid a fair basis v 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 " Pil-
grim's Progress," or Baines's " History of the War," " Pa-
mela/' 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
* " The Life of Thomas Cooper, Written by Himself." Hodder &
Stoughton, 1872 ; p. 7.
108 1LLUST1UOUS fcilOKMAKKKS.
provide the barest subsistence for herself and child. ** At one
time," he says, t4 wheaten flour rose to six shillings per fit one,
and we tried to live on barley -cakes, which brought on a burn-
ing, 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 yeais the little Bluecoat boy had
grown weary of the monotonous lound 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 ; 4< En-
field's Speaker' 7 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 ! How-
ever, 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.
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 :
44 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 lli.ui 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 WaikingLaine, part of Bonnycastle, and got a lit-
tle 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 " cii dilating 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
acquuintance of the classic English poets, had lead " Cook's
THOMAS COOPER. 169
Voyages, " the " Arabian Nights/ 7 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 Har-
old " 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 direc-
tions, 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 neigh-
boring brush manufactory, and the loan of " Hone's Carica-
tures" and " The News," set him off in the direction of poli-
tics, 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 abili-
ties, 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 shoe-
making. ' '
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
170 ILLUSTKIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 Auto-
biography, 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.*
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 compan-
ions, learned before the age of nineteen to make " a really
good woman's shoe." j During this period he seems to have
* See above, p. 96.
f This seems to be a test of proficiency in the trade. Bloomfield's
brother says, ' 4 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.
THOMAS COOPER. 171
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 Robert-
son'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 discus-
sions held on all imaginably 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 Eng-
land." 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 illit-
erate poor of the town, for by the end of the following year,
when this branch was admitted into u 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 Gains-
borough. Once known to the ardent young shoemaker, it was
not neglected nor forgotten, at all events as far as he was con-
cerned. 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
11'J ILLUST1UOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 Der-
ham, and a score of other philosophers and divines, mingled
with Stanley's 'History of Philosophers, 7 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 curi-
osities and valuables."
Cooper now settled to reading in desperate earnest, and with
something like a fixed purpose to become a scholar, and per-
haps 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 4< 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 occa-
sion," and all these bars to self -culture only acted as a stimulus
to more resolute toil. Strange to say, one of his greatest in-
centives to study at this time was an account of the life of Dr.
Samuel Lee, Professor of Hebrew in the University of Cam-
THOMAS COOPER. 173
bridge, which the young student had read in the Imperial
Magazine, then edited by another of our illustrious shoe-
makers, 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 Caesar 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 Ruddirnan's book an/d 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 val-
ued friend, John Hough, he fortified his mind against the scep-
tical 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
"Horse Paulime," " Natural Theology,'' and "Evidences,"
Bishop Watson's " Apologies,'.' Soame Jenyns' " Internal Evi-
dences," Lord Lyttleton's "Conversion of St. Paul," Sher-
lock'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," Stilling-
fleet's " Origines Sacrae," 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.* The labors of this period, from 1824 to
1828, were tremendous, or, as one of Sir Walter Scott's char-
acters 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 over-
* 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.
174 ILLUSTWOUS SHOKMAKERS.
done. No one can live as Cooper lived from the age of nine-
teen 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 at-
tempted 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." * In this way Latin was so far mastered that
Caesar'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 histori-
cal and miscellaneous reading done at this time. It was surely
no small feat for a shoemaker, working hard for twelve or thir-
teen hours in the day, to go in a few years through Gibbon's
44 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 John-
son" and Lander's " Imaginary Conversations," Southey's
" Book of the Church," and Lingard's " Anglo-Saxon Antiqui-
ties," besides a host of books of travel, and quarterly and
monthly magazines innumerable.
* " Life of Thomas Cooper," pp. 60, 61.
THOMAS COOPER. 175
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. 77 *
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 cer-
tainly 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
* "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 67.
176 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKKKS.
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 Testa-
ment, and found delight in the Latin authors, such as Ca3sar,
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.
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 nge, had a marvel-
lous 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 pos-
sible 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 cathe-
dral 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 imme-
diate fear of death had passed away. The earnest conversations
THOMAS COOPER. 17?
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 sev-
eral days together I felt close to the Almighty felt I was His
own and His entirely. I felt no wandering of the will and in-
clination to yield to sin ; and when temptation came, my
whole soul wrestled for victory till the temptation fled. En-
tered 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 elo-
quent 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 Wesley an 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 pub-
lication 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. ' ' * Montgomery was then over sixty years of age, and
had published all the poems by which his name is known to fame.
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
* These lines stand first among the minor pieces in "Cooper's
Poetical Works." London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1877.
178 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 Limself in French pronuncia-
tion, 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 Eng-
land 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 meet-
ings 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 him-
self 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 munici-
pal and political matters, that the paper rapidly rose in circula-
tion, 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.
THOMAS COOPER. 179
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. Newcoinb, and finding to his
chagrin that the old editor gave no sign of keeping to his agree-
ment, 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 col-
lected 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 read-
ing 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 at-
tempts to find employment, and when all his stock of five hun-
dred 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 Green-
wick Gazette, of which Mr. William Dougal Christie was the
proprietor. He had held this office but a short time when dis-
agreement 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,
180 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
he exclaimed to his wife, u 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 77 was
very different from what he had ever anticipated. Answering
the inquiry in person, he agreed with the manager of the Lei-
cestershire Mercury to accept a reporter's place at a small remu-
neration, and in November, 1840, he went to reside in his
native town and prepare himself for his *' destiny." In Lon-
don he had met with his old friend Thomas Miller, who was
then writing " Lady Jane Grey ;" and here at Leicester he dis-
covered 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 periodi-
cals." *
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 move-
ment. 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," pay-
ment for " standing," for u 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 spo-
ken eloquently and generously in behalf of these suffering op-
eratives 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
"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.
THOMAS COOPER. 181
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 sever-
ance 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. Ti^, the midst of the dispute
between Whigs and Tories, Cooper was " nominated " by the
Chartists as their candidate, hot 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." En-
deavoring to turn his leadership of the Chartists to some ac-
count apart from politics, he added to the task of regular ad-
dresses 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 sup-
plying bread on sale or lortn, to meet the wants of the poor
starving creatures, and ran into debt by so doing. The poor-
house, 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 any-
thing to do. In August of the same year he was appointed by
this body as a delegate to the Chartists' Convention at Manches-
ter. On the way thither he lectured or spoke in the open air
at Birmingham, Wednesbury, Bilston, \Volverhampton, and at
length came to Hanley, where he addressed a vast crowd of
men at " the Crown Bank." His subject was the sixth com-
mandment, li 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 rcsponsi-
182 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
blc, but had, on the other hand, distinctly endeavored to dis-
suade them from. lie 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. ' 4 I do not think," he rcmaiks, " 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 T 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.' 7
The case being removed by a " writ of cvrtinruri 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 in-
terest 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 Fins-
bury. All that he could reasonably expect was now granted
in answer to his appeal, and the remainder of his time was tilled
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 Testa-
ment ; and read two thirds of the Hebrew Bible, copying out
THOMAS COOPER. 183
verbs and nouns as he went along. One day he was visited by
Lord Sandon, afterward Earl of Harrowby, who fell into con-
versation 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 inde-
pendent 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 oc-
curred to him ten years before, when he was sitting as a report-
er 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 aqd 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 mat-
ter of the petition t:> 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 DISRAELI, I send you Mr. Cooper, a Chartist,
red-hot from Stafford jail. But don't be frightened ; he wont'
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 4C red-hot
radical." 4t 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 Jerroldthe 44 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,
184 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKKKS.
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 talcs called
" Wise Saws," etc., and a short poem, " The Baron's Yule
Feast," were issued about the same time. The tk 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 Ti-
tanic energy struggling there, for which we hope there will be
clearer daylight by and by ;" and along with tiie letter came a
copy of 4t 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 ot" com-
missioner, and writing articles on the 4t Condition of the Peo-
ple 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 amaze-
ment 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 en-
gaged 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 sum-
mer by lecturing tours throughout the kingdom. He had now
become a sceptic, i.e. doubter, and confined himself in his lec-
tures 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 lie was never an atheist, nor
ever " proclaimed blank atheism in his public teaching. " * Y^et
it must be confessed he went far in this direction. The worst
* "Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 262, also pp. 356 367.
THOMAS COOPER. 185
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. " * But for the
most part his addresses were on purely literary or historical
subjects, and marvellous indeed was tte 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, dis-
coverers, 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
1 Triumph of Perseverance" appeared in 1849, " Alderman
Ralph" and "The Family Feud," two novels, in 1853 and
1855 respectively.
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 re-
commence his work at the City Hall in January, 1856, he found
it impossible to go on along the old lines. On a certain mem-
orable 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 teach-
ings, that he had " neglected to teach the right foundation for
morals the existence of a Divine moral Governor." j In the
* " Life of Thomas Cooper," p. 316. f Ibid., p. 335.
ISO ILLUSTRIOUS SHoKM A K KKS.
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 main-
tained his ground against Robert Cooper * and others in the
City Hall and the John Street Institute.
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 Kingslcy, f and
his old friend and relative, Dr. Jobson. Through the kind in-
terest of the Rev. F. I). Maurice, W. E. Foster, M.P., and
W. F. Cowper, President of the Board of Health, Cooper ob-
tained employment for two years under Government as a copy-
ist of letters. Returning to the City Hall, he now began a se-
ries 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, Evi-
dences of Christianity, Atonement, Faith, Repentance, etc.
But his return to the truth of Christ and Christianity was grad-
ual, 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 ser-
vice ; let me never more leave it, but live only to spread Thy
truth !"
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 gener-
ously offered him an appointment as head of a band of Scrip-
*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.
f See letters to Thomas Cooper in " Kingsley's Life and Letters."
London : Henry King & Co., 1877, pp. 183 and 221, etc.
THOMAS COOPER. 187
tiire-readers, with freedom to go out on his own mission as a
speaker when he pleased. This offer he declined, with grate-
ful 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 Whitsun-
day, 1859, my old and dear friend, Joseph Foulkes Winks, im-
mersed 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 de-
scribe 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 de-
livered 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 logi-
cal 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 evidence^ 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
4 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.
188 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
We have spoken, in the title of this chapter, of Thomas
Cooper as " The self-educated shoemaker who reared his own
monument. 7 ' 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 Khyme (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).
(ftottstellatton nf (Kelefcratefc (Eoftfclers.
" This day is called Ihe 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 Fifths 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 undoubted-
ly 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 ?" * 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 remark -
* Among others, Coleridge observed that shoemakers had given
to the world a larger number of eminent men than any handicraft.
The philosophic 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 shoeinaking.
190 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
able 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 illustri-
ous 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 arc
now. Almost to a man they had some credit for thoughtful-
ness, 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, Method-
ist *' class-leaders," and Sunday-school teachers, were drafted
in larger numbers from the fraternity of shoemakers than from
any other craft.
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. 11
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 prov-
erb, "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 ob-
servant 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 rea-
son, 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 per-
son standing by, passed on. As soon as the man was out of
sight Apelles came from his hiding-place, examined the paint-
ing, 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
192 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 * has expressed the
common feeling, that critics would do well not to venture be-
yond their legitimate province.
TWO SHOEMAKER-BISHOPS ANNIANUS OF ALEX.
ANDRIA, 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 his-
tory 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 in-
stances 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, 4 ' He (Annianus)
was a man distinguished for piety, and admirable in every
respect.' 7 f He died in the fourth year of Domitian, 86 A.D.
He was the firstBishop of Alexandria, and filled the office twen-
ty-two years. J' 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 tradi-
tion added the account of the miracle wrought upon him by
St. Mark. One account tells us that the Evangelist, on pass-
ing along the street, burst his shoe and turned in to get it
repaired, and so became acquainted with Annianus. Another
*It is used by Pliny, who died A.D. 79.
fEccles. Hist., "Book ii. cap. xxiv.
\ Ibid., Book iii. cap. xiv.
THE PIOUS COBBLER. 193
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 trae and living God
whose name he had taken in vain. Annianus is commemorat-
ed in the Roman Marty rology with St. Mark on the 25th April.*
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 Xco-Ca3sarca in Asia Minor, and when a
vacancy occurred in the bishopric of Com an a 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." f He was chosen in preference to
scholars and men of good social status on account of his extraor-
dinary 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 llth. J
THE PIOUS COBBLER OF ALEXANDRIA.
Quite as good a man, no doubt, if not as fit to fill the epis-
copal 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, 4t 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 accom-
panied by a similar message from heaven, as he deemed it.
Accordingly he took his star!, 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
* 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.
f Pressense's "Early Years of Christianity." London : Hodder &
Stoughton, 1879, vol. ii. p. 355.
t Dr. Smith's " Diet. Christian Biog.," art. "Gregory Thaumatur-
gus." In this article Gregory is called a charcoal-burner. Probably,
like many other shoemakers, he followed more than one vocation.
194 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
sat at work, Antony asked him for an account of himself and
his mode of living. 4 * Sir," answered the cobbler, " as for
me, good works I have none. My life is but simple, seeing I
arn 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 rne, to fear and
dread God ; and this is the sum of my simple life."
RABBI JOCIIANAN THE SHOEMAKER.
Speaking of Alexandria reminds us of another worthy of that
city, the famous Jewish Rabbi Joehanan Sandalarius, or the
shoemaker. Learned Rabbins were common enough in Alex-
andria from the time of its foundation by Alexander the
Great, 332 B.C., down to its capture by the Arabs in the sev-
enth 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,*
tells us that " in the grand basilica synagogue of Alexandria,
separate portions of the building were assigned to the silver-
smiths, 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 Joehanan the shoemaker."
This illustrious Rabbi came from Alexandria to Palestine, at-
tracted 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
* December, 1881.
RABBI JOCHANAN THE SHOEMAKER. 195
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 Sevcms. During his imprisonment
Jochanan managed to get access to his cell, and receive in-
structions from him on questions which had not been settled.
Through Jochanan and Mei.r, 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 Mishria
and Gamara, where his opinions are frequently quoted. In
the Mishna Aboth * " Rabbi Jochanan the shoemaker" is re-
ported to have made the following sensible remark, which re-
minds one of the counsel of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrim at
Jerusalem : f " An association established for a praiseworthy
object must ultimately succeed ; but an association established
without such an object cannot succeed. "
EUROPEAN EXAMPLES.
FRANCE.
SS. CRISPIN AND CRISPIANTJS, 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 safnts, 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 arc
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 k< chargeable to no man/' Very little more can be told of
108 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
the life of theso 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 dis-
trict 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 Sois-
sons. 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 fur-
nished 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.* Such tales are worthless, ex-
cept as indicating the wide extent of popularity the shoemakers
of Soissons secured by virtue of their piety and benevolence, f
* On the beach at Lidde, near Stonend, " there is yet to be scene,"
says Weever, in his "Funeral Monuments," "an heap of great stones
which the neighbour inhabitants call St. Crispin' sand St. Crisp inian'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 Oc-
tober), which day is kept holy to this day by all our shoemakers in
London and elsewhere." Quoted in " Crispin Anecdotes," Sheffield,
1827, p. 18.
( For the legends of these saints, and much curious information
respecting the craft and its guilds in early times, the reader may con-
sult Lacroix, "Manners, Customs, and Dress in the Middle Ages ;"
" Histoire de la Chaussure," etc. That quaint old book, "The De-
lightful, 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
. CRISPIN AXI) ( IlLSPlAXrS. 100
Mr-. Jameson, in her interesting work on " Legendary
Art," *says, " The devotional figures which are common in old
:<:h 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 work-
ing at their trade, or making shoes for the poor the usual sub-
- 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. Cris-
pin presenting to her his brether, 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
proceed intr 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
rapi
Probably many of these curious prints may still be seen in
the library of the cathedral at Soissons, famous for its rare MSB.
and books. But a better memoiial of these patron saints than
anv of the absurd representations of legendary art was the
church erected in their honor in the sixth century, and the re-
ligious house which stood on the traditionary site of their
n. This house was afterward transformed into a mon-
astery dedicated to St. Crispin, and in the year 1142 received
tiiL- sanction of Pope Innocent ILf
lore. This story, Deloney tells us, accounts for the term " gentle
craft " as applied to shoemaking, and explains the saying ' ' a shoe-
maker' 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
Maxim inus, 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.,
A most interesting and valuable little book on shoes
and shoemakers in ancient and modern times.
* Vol. ii. pp. 3< London, Longmans, 1848.
f Another memorial of the saints, of a very different character, was
the semi-sacred play entitled " The Mystery of St. Crispin an 1
Crispinian/' which used to be performed on St. Crispin's Day by the
Guilds or Brotherhoods of Shoemakers in Paris and elsewhere.
200 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
THE LEARNED BAUDOUIN.
The eminent French antiquary, Benoit Baudouin, is by far
the most learned man who has risen from the ranks of the shoe-
maker class in France. A native of Amiens, he was born some-
where 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 studert, and
afterward the principal of the college in the old town of
Troves. 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, be-
sides a translation of certain ancient tragedies,* 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, f and in writing this
remarkable work he was evidently moved by a desire to do it
honor. J 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 flour-
ished 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 tc 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 curi-
ous lore in regard to a not unimportant subject, and helps to
confirm his claim to the ambitious title of '* the learned Bau-
douin." The first edition of this work seems to have been pub-
lished in Paris, 1615. It was afterward issued at Amster-
dam, 1667, and at Leyden, 1711, and Leipsic, 1733, in Latin.
A writer in the Biographic 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
own in 1632.
*"Biographie Universelle." Paris, 1811.
f Ibid.
t "Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique," torn. ii.
"Nouvelle Biographic Generale." Paris, 1853, torn. iv. p. 786.
HENRY MICHAEL BUCH. 201
HENRY MICHAEL BUCH " GOOD HENRY. "
Whether the story of the shoemaker- saints of Soissons be re-
garded as apocryphal or not, it has undoubtedly had considera-
ble 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 jnan 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 shoe-
makers 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
rrater, 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, intel-
ligence, and missionary zeal, that he persuaded Buch to estab-
lish in that city a confraternity among the members of his own
202 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
humble craft for the purpose of instructing them in the princi-
ples 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." *
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, f
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 th
rules, and started a similar society in 1047.
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, prayeis
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 u the divine oftice ;" the visitation of the
poor and sick, of hospitals and prisons ; self-examination, fol-
lowed 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 mak-
ing 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 so-
cial 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
* Butler's "Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Saints,"
1799, p. 532.
f This society nourished until the outbreak of the French Revolu-
tion, 1789, when it was suppressed.
HANS SACHS. 203
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. *
GERMANY.
HANS SACHS, THE NIGHTINGALE OF THE
REFORMATION.
BEFORE Good Henry's day two famous shoemakers had ap-
peared in Germany, whose names are now much better known
than his : Hans Sachs, the shoemaker-poet of the Refoimation,
and Jacob Boehmen, the mystic.
Hans Sachs was the son of a tailor at Nuremberg, and was
born November 5th, ] 494. 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 through-
out 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 shoernaking, for
* If this were a history of the craft and trade of shoemaking, atten-
tion 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 suc-
ceeded 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.
204 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
lie 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 meister singers.
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 com
peers 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 support-
ers in his work than the shoemaker of Nuremberg, whose sim-
ple, 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 pub-
lish 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 col-
lected works were published by Wilier, 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 Sacks Erklarung eines alien 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
JACOB BOEHMEN. 205
of his works. In the libraries of Zwickau, Dresden, and Leip-
sic 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 Alt-
seidenberg, near Gorlitz, in Prussian Silesia, about a year be-
fore 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 authori-
ties 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 com-
plete 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. Mosheirn,
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 vis-
ions." On the other hand, it is curious to read the opinions
expressed by our own King Charles I., who of all the Stuarts,
206 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
not excepting his own father, Jarnes L, 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 won-
derful ; 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 Boehmcn, whose disserta-
tion 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 in-
spired man. Before Blake's day the writings of Boehrnen 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
Boehinen'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 influ-
ence on his own mind. Schelling, the idealist philosopher,
bears testimony to Boehinen's great merits as a thinker. Hegel
speaks of him as the 4i Teutonic philosopher," and adds, " In
reality, through him, for the first time, did philosophy in Ger-
many come forward with a characteristic stamp." S. T. Cole-
ridge in his " Literary Remains"* says: " I have often
thought of writing a book to be entitled 4 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 Cole-
ridge, f and among them is the following note to Epistle
xxxvi. : " The truth is, Spinoza, in common with all metaphy-
sicians before him (Boehrne perhaps excepted), began at the
wrong end," etc., etc. Coleridge frequently spoke of Boeh-
men in the warmest terms of admiration.
* Vol. iv. p. 423.
j- This book once belonged to Henry Crabb Robinson : see H. C.
B. B Diary, etc., vol. i. pp. 400, 401, for the above quotation.
GABRIEL CAPPELLiKI. 207
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 CAPPELLTNT, IL CALIGARINO, OR THE
LITTLE SHOEMAKER.
IF it be characteristic of Germany that one of her illustrious
shoemakers should be a poet and another & philosopher, it is no
less characteristic of Itafy and Holland that several followers of
the gentle craft in these countries should have distinguished
themselves as painters. We take three examples from the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries.
Gabriel Cappellini of Ferrara in Italy was more generally
known by the ^appellation // Caligarino, or the little shoe-
maker, 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 ele-
gant 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 <c the bold-
ness of his design and the sobriety of his color. M 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
208 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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.*
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 4t The Corona-
tion of the Virgin, 77 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 connois-
seurs, 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 color-
ing, 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. 77 Brizzio died in 1623 at the age of forty-nine. f
* Lanzi's " History of Painting." London : Bohn, vol. iii. p. 200 ,
and Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London : Bohn, p. 138.
f Lanzi's "History of Painting." London : Bohn, vol. iii. p. 126 ;
Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London : Bohn, p. 114 ; and
PilkiDgton'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 Oberschie,
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.*
SONS OF SHOEMAKERS.
Before leaving the continent of Europe to corne 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 Bapiiste Rousseau (1670-1741), the French poet, author of " Le
Cafe," " 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 heart-
less 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
* Sons of shoemakers have often become famous. See the list given
below, which might be greatly extended.
210 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
his father off. The poor fellow retired in bitter grief and uncontrol-
lable anger.
Johan Joachim Wincklemann, the eminent art critic and writer, was
the sou 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 Col-
lege of Seehausen he passed on to that of librarian to Count Bunan,
and finally to the curatorship of the Vatican Museum at Home, 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 re-
Eort, " making the father of Isaac Watts a shoemaker. Johnson says
e "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. Jphicrates
(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
; * YE COCKE OR WESTMINSTER." *11
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, how-
ever, 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 wortli
his while to chronicle the good deed of a benevolent old shoe-
maker who lived in Westminster in the reign of Edward VL
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 Cockeof 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 gener-
osity 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, resolv-
ed 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.*
*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.
212 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
TIMOTHY BENNETT, THE HERO OF HAMPTON-
WICK.
It would be hard to find a name more worthy of being enroll-
ed in our Jist than that of the public-spirited and courageous
shoemaker of Hampton- Wick in Surrey named Timothy
Bennett,* who, early rn 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 inconven-
ience to thousands of his neighbors. He determined, there-
fore, 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 prob-
able chances of success in his project, and as to the cost, sav-
ing, " I have seven hundred pounds which I would be willing
to bestow upon this attempt. It is all 1 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 Ben-
nett's intentions, sent for him. 4k Who are you, sir," de-
manded my lord, " that have the assurance to meddle in this
affair?" "My name, my lord, is Timothy Bennett, shoe-
maker, of Hampton- Wick. I remember, an't please your Lord-
ship, 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 arc 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 repre-
sent, is the reason of my conduct." " Be gone ! You are an
impertinent fellow 1" 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
* Born 1676 ; died 1756. Bennett is placed out of his chronological
order because it seeins most fitting that he should follow the benevo-
lent Castell.
"THE SORTERS OF SELKIRK." 213
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.
MILITARY AND NAVAL HEROES.
" THE SOUTEKS OF 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, *
And down wi 1 the Merse | to the deil,"
* Selkirkshire, otherwise called Ettrick Forest
f Berwickshire, otherwise, called the Merse.
214: ILLUSTIUOUS SHOEMAKERS.
has made the * ' Souters of Selkirk' ' famous throughout Scotland.
The origin of the song seems to be lost. 'Whether it has refer-
ence, 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,* or to " a bet between the Philiphaugh and
Home families" on a match of football 4t between the souters
u>r 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 point to the
historical event or not, the event itself is beyond dispute. Sel-
kirk 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 in-
habitants 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 at-
tached 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.j-
WATT TINLINN.
That the souters of that time knew how to fight and win re-
nown 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 Tinliim from the Liddelside
Comes wading through the flood.
* See "Border Minstrelsy."
(Scott's "Border Minstrelsy," foot-note.
COLONEL HEWSON. 215
'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,* " the theme of
pmany 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." f " 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." J
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 cir-
cumstances 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 colonejs was John Hewson.
" This man," Grainger says, " once wore a leather apron,
*Note IV. to Canto IV., "Lay of the Last Minstrel."
\ Risp and rive, creak and tear.
jf. To twitch the thread as shoemakers do in securing the stitches.
g " Biographical History of England," vol. hi.
216 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
and from a mender of old shoes became a reformer of govern-
ment 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 Bare-
bones'* 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 4A 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 lampoon-
ing on the part of the Royalists. Pepys, in his " Diary,"
25th January, 1659-60, has an interesting memorandum in re-
gard to the notoriety of the cobbler-colonel : li 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." f One of these squibs bore tho
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" J
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.
* The author of "Crispin Anecdotes," p. 127, says, "Praise-God
Barebones was a shoemaker, but from all the writer can learn he was
si 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.
f Pepys' Diary, note, January 25th, 1659-60.
{Part I. Canto II., 409-430, etc.
COLONEL HEWSON.
He rais'd the low. and fortify' d
The weak against the strongest side :
111 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 cut 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,
j And would make three to cure one flaw.
Learned he was, and could take note,
Transcribe, collect, translate, and quote." *
Later on,f 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 Puri-
tans, but as for the fat colonel
" Quarter he scorns, he is so stout,
And therefore cannot long hold out."
One of the squibs alluded to above was entitled " A Hymn
to the Gentle Craft; or, Hewson's Lamentation." J The
reader will observe that Hewson's one eye " does not escape the
notice of his enemies.' 7 This piece was sung as a ballad IE 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 !
*Part I. Canto II., 409-430, etc.
fPart I. Canto III., 118, 119.
\ Quoted in Chambers's " Book of Days, " August loth. W. & R.
Chambers, Edinburgh,
VIS ILLCSTKlors Mlnl.M AKKItS.
11 ( HivtT made him a laiiuuis Lord,
Thai lie I'ore.ol his euttituvboard,
llul fio\\ his thread's t \\ isicd to a cord,
(!ood people, pity (he blind !
" Snii^ hi, ho, llewsoii ! tlu> slate ne'er went upright,
Since eohhlers eould pray, preach govern, and lit'Jit ;
\\'e shall see what they'll do now \oifre out, of si-dit.
(iood people, pity tile blind ! '
Ila\ini;- been one <d % the men who sat in judgment on I\in^
< 'harles I., the Colonel was with other regicides condemned to
be ImiiLj October l-lth, llJtiO ;* but he is said to have escaped
; 1 ly Hi^'ht, ami to have d'u-il at, Ainsterdain " in his
ohsi-urity," HJiiiM
SIR OHBIBTOPHEB MYNGS, ADMIIIAL OF Tin: KNCUSII
PLBET,
(liristophei- M viii^s (or Minns), " the son of an honest shoe
maker in London, from \shom hi' inherited nothing luit a n'ood
constitution, " | is said to have worn the leathern apron for ;i
short- time before he went to sea. Speaking of the men of
humble origin who, toward the end of the se\ eiiteent h century,
made their way to hi^h otliee hy their skill and hravery, Lord
Maea;i!av says: "One of the most eminent, of these oilieers
was Sir Christopher Min^s, who entered the sen ice as a. cahin-
boy, who fell ti^htin^ l>ravelv against the Putch, and whom
his crew, weeping and voxvini;- ven^i-anee, carried to tin 1 jjrave.
From him sprang, lv a singular kind of descent, a line of valiant
and expert sailors. Mis cal>in-l>oy was Sir John NarbofOUgh,
and the cahin-hov of Sir John Narhorou^h was Sir ( 1 lotnlesle\'
Shovel. To the. strong natural sense ami dauntless courage of
this class of men Mn^laml owes a debt never to he forgotten. ' 'g
Myn;;-s knew how to l>e familiar and friendly with his men, and
yet to keep his position and authority. Seamen learn to love
hraverv, 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 pri/es. It was in the great four
* Kvelyn's " hiary " of this date.
} IVpvs. see above.
{ (i rammer's Itio^rnphii-al History of Kiu;land," vol. iii.
i< History of I'.n-laiid. ' vol. i. p. ;">!('. ^People's Kdition).
SIR <:i!UisToi'iii;i; MY M;S. ^1!)
days' ji.-dit olT the l']n<dish coast,, June 1st 1th, 1 (',<;<;, bet ween
the Knidish and Dutch Herts, that, this brave man met, with his
death. The Kn<dish ileet, was commanded by the Dnke of
Albemarlc and Prince Rupert, and the Dutch by he liuyter
and Van Tnmip the younger. The battle was one of the tn<. I
memorable on record, both for its length and the valor dis-
played on both sides. 44 <>n the fourth day <>f the famous
battle that bc^an on the 1st of .lime, he received a shot, in the
neck ; after which, though he was in exquisite pain, he con-
tinued 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." *
The portrait, of Sir < 'hristopher Mynj^s is now in the I'ainted
Hal) Of Greenwich Hospital. It is a half length by Sir 1'eter
Lely, and came from Windsor ('astle, haxin^ been |
by (ieor^e IV. in IHiM.f
* (Jranc-ei' ; " liioj'raphieal HP lory "1 Kir-land," \<.l. in. < HUH
llHK an intenslin;' linl c concernili;', M \ lies, \\hicll\\ecainiol forl.iar
cop\ in;', : " I ;im rr<-dilly inlnniied lh;it when hr had lakrii a Spam h
niaii-ol -war and ; '.<'!' iiiinsiiider on I M. a I'd his :-hip, h< roiinnil
ted tin- can- ol him to ;i li< ul. -11:111!, \\ho \\jisdin-eted tool.. i\. In
Ix-liavior. Sliorlly al't r \\rd U;LS hroui'lil I.. M \ 114-;; 1 hal 1 In- Spaniard
was deploi Ing !n a|.tivity and woiidenii;'. \\ hat KT( at captain it could
be who had niiule Doll , w il h a Ion;' and 1 cd i >ic; ;.| i i n;- o! na UK .
and tit.lcH, his prisoner. The lieutenant \sas onh n-d lo ret inn )
chur^<', and if the |)on peisist(d in Ins CIIIH.,I!\, to tell him that ' Kit
Minns 'had taken him. This dmnim! i\ < name ul t< rl v coniounded
the tili'ltidn, Ihrew him into an a IK I, and j-axelnm mon
acute pan;';: than all the rest of Ins milfoil in
| See the " I )escri pt l ve ('ataloj'iu- of the Portraits of Na\al OOBQ
inanderfs," ( tc., in the " Tainted Hall, (ireenuich Hospital," Her
Majesty's Stationery <Hlice, London, iHKl, j>. HI. The < ditor ol 1 h< <;,!
ulo^ue stales that. " I his portrait and tho- n um I .< i < d V, S. 1 7 !'., 102,
K). r >, 107, 110 1 P2 form li -f \al liable picl uies im nt i-'iied in
Pepys' ' Diary,' as follows : 'To Mr. Ldl\ s 1 In- painter's, and I
KUW the heads som<- tin i shed and all he j'ini el the lla;-;' m< n in the
l<ai iijdil \\ llh t he |)uke <>l Y' I he hutch. The I >u ke < .1
York hath them doin; to hanj; in Ins Hiainl.er, and \< r\ (im l\ th.
done indeed. Here are the Prince's ( Kllpert ... :
Sir Thomas Ted di man's, Sir Christ opher Myiij's', Sir Joseph .lord,
Sir William P.erkeli-y's, Sir Thomas Alhn's, and Captain Ham,,
as also the DukeoJ Alhemarles; and will be. jny Lord Sandwich's,
VSir W. J'(inis, and Sir ,1. r< my Sinilh'H.' "
ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
ASTROLOGERS AND OTHERS.
BE. PARTRIDGE, ASTROLOGER, PHYSICIAN TO HIS
MAJESTY, ETC.
IN the same age lived another noteworthy man, whose connec-
tion 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 yeais 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 li casting
the nativity" of a notable person, brought the li 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 practi-
tioner'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 pur-
pose, and who might very well have taken James Lackington's
motto for his own.* 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, lie
betook himself to the study of Greek and Hebrew. Then
came physic, with the grand result of royal patronage. Pai-
tndge was a considerable author or editor, and the list of Ins
works shows the strong bent of his mind toward the occult
science. He published a " Hebrew Calendar" for 1678 ;
44 Vade Mecum," 1679 ; <l Ecclesile^ia, an Almanac," 1679 ;
the same for 1680 ; tk The King of France's Nativity ;" "A
Discourse of Two Moons ;" 4t Mercurius Coelestis," being an
* Sutor ultra crepidam feliciter ausus. See Lackington's Life, p. 45.
DR. PARTRIDGE. 221
almanac for 1681 ; tl Prodomus, a Discourse on the Conjunc-
tion of Saturn and Mars;" "The Black Life of John Gad-
bury, 77 in which a brother astrologer is roundly abused, and
shown to be, as a matter of course, a rogue and impostor ; and
a' 4 Translation of Hadrianus a Mynsicht's Treasury of Physic,"
1682.
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 tfce great destroyer has dealt gently
with the record how
JOHANNES PARTRIDGE, ASTROLOGUS
ET MEDICINE 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, Reginceque Marice ; and how the Dutch Uni-
versity of Leyden conferred on him the diploma Medicince
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.*
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."
11 What sacrifices," says the author of " The Book of
Days/ 7 " would many a sage or poet have made to be con-
nected 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. 77 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
* 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.
222 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 : 4t 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 af-
fairs 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 thru
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 ac-
quaintance." * Not content with this, Swift wrote an il Elegy
on the supposed Death of Partridge, the Almanac-maker," and
wound up the painful business by writing his epitaph too.
THE EPITAPH.
" Here, five foot deep, lies, on his back,
A cobbler, star monger, 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 BHOTHERS SIBLY. EBENEZER SIBLY, M.D., F.K.C.P.,
ASTKOLOGER, ETC.
Here also may be mentioned the once famous Dr. Ebenezer
Sibly, the physician and astrologer, and his brother Manoah,
* 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 Tinib's " Anecdote Biog." vol. i. pp. 24 and 154.
DR. PARTRIDGE. 223
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
encyclopaedia, biographical dictionary, or magazine * 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. f The first edition of Ebenezer Sibly's " Astro-
logical Astronomy'' was published in 1789, in three vols. 8vo,
and was entitled " Astronomy and Elemental y 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. J Of course the astrologer sees in
the horoscope of Chatterton sure signs of remarkable genius.
Sibly was frequently consulted both for astrological and medi-
cal purposes, the two professions, astrology and medicine, be-
ing regarded as having a certain necessary i elation. At all
events, it answered the purposes of men like Sibly and Par-
tridge to associate them in their practice. Human credulity
dies hard, the race of fools sesms to be endowed with wondrous
vitality ; even as late as 182G Sibly's " Celestial Science of As-
trology," 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 on the 4t Occult Sciences, comprehending the
Art of Foretelling Future Events and Contingencies by the As-
pect 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 Anec-
dotes," u 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 work", and his edition of '* Culpepper's Her-
bal," Sibly signs himself " M.D.," " Fellow of the Royal Har-
monic 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.
* In regard to Manoah Sibly, see below.
f "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.
\ His birth is set down as occurring 20th November, p.m., 1752.
They were published at two guineas.
224 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
1 Upper Tichfield Street, Cavendish Square, London. \Vc
have no record of the death of this illustrious son of Crispin,
who, perhaps, had better have stuck to his last. lie is called
" the late E. Sibly, M.D.," in the 1817 edition of his " Ce-
Ic-slial Science."
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 ; M but it may well be doubted if he made as much cap-
ital out of them. He was born August 20th, 1757.* 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 lie 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 com-
munity. For fifty-three years, from the time of his ordina-
tion 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, Ebe-
nezer. At any rate, a translation of Placidus de Titus is set
down in certain lists as having been published in his name in
1789 ; f 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
* 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.
f 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. 225
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 coun-
try. 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 writ-
ing 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 per-
petuated among his coreligionists by the hymns that bear his
name. His first published work was a critical essay on Jere-
miah 38 : 16, issued in 1777 ; and his last, a discourse on
44 Jesus Christ, the only Divine object of Praise," delivered on
the forty-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the 44 heavenly
doctrines," appeared fifty-six years after, viz., in 1833. Ma-
noah Sibly's long life of fourscore and three years came to an
end December 16th, 1840.
MACKEY, THE LEAENED 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 inter-
esting 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 ap-
pears 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 sur-
rounded by the tools of his former trade and a variety of astro-
nomical instruments and apparatus, and he instantly was ready
for conversation upon the mysteries of astronomical and myth-
ological lore, the 44 Asiatic Researches oi Captain Wilford, "
and the mythological speculations of Jacob Bryant and Mau-
rice, 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 difficul-
ties, as is shown by his published works on mythological as-
tronomy and on 44 The Age of Mental Emancipation. " To this
notice of Mackey the writer in the Leisure Hour adds an amus-
%2t\ ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
ing 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 rec-
titude). 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
44 time was out," he betook himself to the leisurely and healthy
employment of keeping sheep, and began to study. His spe-
cial 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,* '* 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, shep-
herd, 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 com-
pleted the Herculean task single-handed ; and if his translation
was not of any general and practical utility, it none the less de-
serves mention as a monument of self-acquired learning and
honorable industry. Purver died in 1777, at the age of sev-
enty-five.
* " Maunder 's Biographical Treasury." London : Longmans.
POETS OF THE COBBLER'S STALL. 227
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 shoe-
makers, it is said, " has produced more ihymers than any
other of the handicrafts." *
' ' Crispin's sons
Have from uncounted time with ale and buns
Cherisk'cl 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. ' ' f
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 De-
loney's " Delightful, Princely, and Entertaining History of the
Gentle Craft." J 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 shoe-
makers of old, to the honor of the ancient trade," also de-
serves to be mentioned. This song, beginning
" I sing in praise of shoemakers,
Whose honor no person can stain, "
is no mean performance ; its historic allusions may not be unim-
peachable, 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 six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries, or found their way into odd
corners of our literature, where they are buried almost beyond
hope of resurrection.
Speaking of men who have aspired to be poets and have pub-
lished 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
* Quarterly Review, January, 1831, p. 76.
f Charles Lamb, "Album Verses," 1830, p. 57.
t London, 1675 and 1725.
See Campion's " Delightful History," p. 51.
22S ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
poetical shoemakers the Elizabethan dramatist Thomas Dck-
ker, who wrote " one of the most light-hearted of merry come-
dies,' 7 The Shoomaker'' s Holyday. One of the most prom-
inent characters in the play is Sir Simon Eyre, the reputed
builder of Leadenhall Market, London, and Lord Mayor of the
city.* 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."
It is hard to think that the writer of The Shooinuker's
Holyday, in which the ways of shoemakers and the details of
the craft are described with all the ease and exactitude of fa-
miliarity, was not a brother of the craft.f When the famous
quarrel arose between the quondam friends and coworkers,
Ben Jonson and Dekkcr, Jonson in his Poetaxtcr satirized
the author of The Shooinuker's Holyday under the name of
Crispinus. This epithet may be simply an allusion to the sub-
ject of Dekker's well-known comedy ; but may it not also be
regarded as a veritable " cut at a cobbler ?"
JAMES WOODHOUSE, THE FKIEND 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/ 7 Shenstone lived at Leasowes, seven
miles from Birmingham, in a charming country-house sur-
* 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 Anec-
dotes," p. 127.
f 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 rub-
bing 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."
JOHN BENNET. 229
rounded 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 4< excluded from the prohibi-
tion." In reply Shenstone admitted him not only to wander
through his grounds, but to ^rnake 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 mnch 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 furrowed 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 Oc-
casions." 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
230 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 Bonnet, 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 Wood-
stock shoemaker was chiefly indebted for the patronage which
he received to Thomas Warton's good-nature, for my predeces-
sor was the best-natured man that ever wore a great wig."*
The shoemaker's poetry was " published by subscription" in
1774, and the long list of notable names speaks well for the in-
dustry and influence of the patron to whose efforts the splen-
did 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 for-
get 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 4 ' to enable the author to rear an in-
fant offspring, and to drive away all anxious solicitude from the
breast of a most amiable wife." Later in life he published an-
other volume, having for its chief piece a poem entitled " Re-
demption ;" 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.
RICHARD SAVAGE, THE FRIEND OF POPE.
A far better poet but a far less worthy man than Bennet of
W r oodstock or W r oodhouse of Rowley was Richard Savage, the
friend of Pope. From beginning to end the story of His life,
* See Southey's preface to "Attempts in Verse, by John Jones,"
London, 1830 ; and article thereon in Quarterly Keview, January,
1831, p. 81.
THOMAS OLIVERS. 231
as told by Dr. Johnson in his " Lives of the Poets, M is one of
the most romantic and melancholy biographies in existence. It
only concerns us here to say that Richard Savage, the reputed *
son of Earl Rivers and the Countess of Macclesfield, was, on
leaving school, apprenticed to a shoemaker, and. remained in
this humble position 4t longer than he was willing to confess ;
nor was it, perhaps, any great advantage to him that an unex-
pected discovery determined him to quit his occupation." Dr.
Johnson thus speaks of this discovery and its immediate re-
sults : " 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 theretore 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. Dis-
satisfied with his employment, but unable to obtain either pity
or help from his mother, to whom he made many tender ap-
peals, he resolved to devote himself to literature. His first at-
tempt in this line was a short poem called * The Battle of .the
Pamphlets,' written anent the Bangorian Conlroversy ; and his
second a comedy under the title 4 "Woman's Riddle.' Two
years after appeared another comedy, 4 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, i The Wanderer,' in which are somo
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 debt-
ors' prison, Bristol, August 1st, 1743.
THOMAS OLIVERS, HYMN-WRITER, FRIEND AND COWORKEK
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
* For an able discussion of the question, " Was Richard Savage an
Impostor?" to which the writer, Mr. Moy Thomas, says, "Yes," see
Notes and Qiwries, 2d Series, vol. vi.
332 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKKKS.
another shoemaker played in the Methodist revival ;* but
Olivers is perhaps better known to the general public than Sam-
uel 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. Oli-
vers' 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."
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
44 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 f tells us that lie was
born at Tregonon in Montgomeryshire in 1725. After the
death of his father and uncle, Thomas was left in charge of an-
other relative named Tudor, who sent him to school and after-
ward 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
* See Life of Samuel Bradburn, President of the Wesleyan Con-
ference.
f See a book of unusual interest, "Lives of the Early Methodist
Preachers," ed. by Rev. I. Jackson. Wesleyan Book-Boom, London,
3 vols. 1865.
THOMAS OLIVERS. 233
Shrewsbury and Wrexham, he carne to Bristol. This city was
his spiritual birthplace ; for, under a sermon by George Whit-
field, 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 ob-
tain a sum of money left him by his uncle, and then to go
round to all his creditors an'd pay his debts. This most Chris-
tian conduct won him golden opinions and formed a capital in-
troduction 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 travel-
ling preacher. After preaching in many parts of England and
enduring the usual amount of hardship and risk to life and
lirnb 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.
In the controversy between Wesley and Toplady on Pre-
destination, etc., a controversy marked by the worst features of
the time, the fiery Welshman was put forward to take the lead-
ing 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 adorn-
ed 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 'sZanckius,
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 * speaks of Olivers as a man of high intellectual
power ; but "laments that the fiery Welshman undertook to
* " Life of Wesley," vol. iii. p. 108. London : Hodder & Stoughton,
1870.
234 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
meet the furious Predestinarian with the not too respectable
weapons of his own choosing.' 7 What this means may l>c
imagined by the following sample of Toplndy's personalities in
this strife of tongues. He says, " Mr. Wesley skulks for shel-
ter under a cobbler's apron ;" and again, " Has Tom the Cob-
bler 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 * and the zealous Arminian are
both alike sung with devout emotion wherever the Saviour's
name is known and adored.
Besides several controversial tracts, Olivers wrote a number
of hymns, and is known as the composer of a number of Psalm-
tunes, f 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.
THOMAS HOLCROFT, DRAMATIST, NOVELIST, ETC.f
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 de-
picted in his novels. He was born in London in 1745. Dur-
*Toplady wrote the fine hymn "Rock of Ages," etc.
f " Helmsley" has been set down to Olivers ; but Mr. Benham says
it was composed by Martin Madan, Cowper's uncle, author of
" Thelyphthwa." See Cowper's "Poems," Globe Ed., Intro., p. 34.
J "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. 235
ing the first six years of the boy's life, his father was a shoe-
maker. Giving up this occupation in 1751, Holcroft, senior,
44 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 sor-
row. 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 com-
edies 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 fall 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, 'lie
was led to draw on his imagination for tales to answer his pur-
pose. 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 com-
fortable bed to sleep on, decent or rather smart clothes, of
which he was not a little proud ; and, added to all this, a cer-
tain 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.
230 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 him-
self to the stage. For seven years he led the life of a strolling
player, 4< and sounded all the depths and shoals" of misery in-
cident 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, Ger-
man, and Italian in which he afterward became a ready trans-
lator, 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, k4 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 dra-
matic 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. II is
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. Her
spent much of his time in Germany and France, and his inter-
esting work, 4C 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 event-
ful life as most of the leading men of his time.
JOSEPH BLACKET, POET, "THE SON OF SORKOW."
At the beginning of this century there were two young shoe-
makers in London who were spending their leisure time in hard
reading and attempts at musical composition. One of them,
JOSEPH BLACKET
JOSEPH BLACKET. 239
Robert Bloomfield, a sketch of whom has already been given,*
is known as widely as the English language itself. The other,
Joseph Blacket, made but little stir in the world, and is now
Avell-nigh forgotten. He took to writing poetry at a much ear-
lier age than Bloomfield, who wrote nothing before his six-
teenth year, while Blacket, if we may trust the notes in his
44 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
44 The Farmer's Boy" was not begun. But if his genius ripen-
ed slowly, it produced fruits far more valuable than those pre-
sented to the world by the precocity of poor Blacket. There
is nothing of Blacket's to compare with 44 The Fanner's Boy,"
or 4 ' Richard and Kate," or 44 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 Bloom-
field thought of his young friend may be gathered from the fol-
lowing portion of a letter : 44 The instant I received your vol-
ume I resolved to shake hands with you, by letter at least, and
to thank you for a pleasure of no common sort. The ' Con-
flagration ' is so truly full of fire that it almost burns one's fin-
gers to read it. 4 Saragossa ' is a noble poem. Choose your
own themes, and let the master-tints of your mind have full
play."
In a letter to his friend Mr. Pratt, Blacket says that he was
born in 1786 at Tunstill, five miles from Richmond, in York-
shire. His father was a day-laborer, who had eight children to
provide for at the time Joseph was old enough for school. \ It
was therefore fortunate for him that the village schoolmistress
took a fancy for him, and taught him for nothing. He stayed
* 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."
f Blacket s "Remains," preface, vol. i. pp. 62, 63. London, 1811.
240 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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.* 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/ 7 all of which were read through by
the time Joseph was fifteen years of age, " At that time," he
says, t4 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 sur-
prised the fond brother, that he at once " gave him leave tog<>,
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, Thomp-
son, but especially, and for a time almost exclusively, to Shake-
speare. As a young poet it is said of him that " His anxiety
to produce something that should be thought worthy of the pub-
lic in the form of a drama appears to have surpassed all his
other cares. . . . Something of the dramatic kind pervades
the whole ma?s of his papers. I have traced it on hills, re-
ceipts, backs of letters, shoe patterns, slips of paper hangings,
grocery wrappers, magazine covers, battalion orders for the vol-
unteer corps of St. Pancras, in which he served, and on vari-
ous 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." f
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, lie married very young, and had the
misfortune to lose his wife when he was only twenty-one years
of age. A sister who carne to nurse her was taken ill of brain
. * Blacket's "Remains," preface, vol. i. pp. 27.
f Editor of Blacket's "Remains," Letters, pp. 9, 10.
JOSEPH BLACKET. 241
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 ; cred-
itors clamorous, friends cold or absent. I found, like the mel-
ancholy Jaques, that i 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 judg-
ment in literary affairs. This friend had the most exalted
notions of the " genius" of his protege, 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 bar-
onet 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 con-
stantly, and interested others in his behalf ; among them the
Duchess of Leeds, who procured a large number of subscribers
to his volume of " Specimens." * No effort was spared by
either doctors or friends to save his life and to ensure his repu-
tation 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
* 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.
ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
selected the spot for his grave, and caused a suitable monu-
ment 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,
Keceive the tributes of the great.
" Let me, when bade with life to part
And in my narrow mansion sleep,
Keceive a tribute from the heart,
Nor bribe one sordid eye to weep."
DAVID SEKVICE, AND OTHER SONGSTERS OF THE COB-
BLER'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 Scotch-
man, 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." Gavin
Wilson, of Edinburgh, who, MI 1788, published " A Collection
of Masonic Songs," of whom Campbell says : ** I knew Gavin
Wilson ; he wa^ an honest, merry fellow, and a good boot,
leather-leg, arm, and hand maker, but as sorry a poetaster as
ever tried a couplet." f James JJwlin, a man of versatile gifts
and most irregular habits, who by turns wrote poetry, corre-
sponded for the Daily News, and contributed to the Spectator,
Builder, and Notes and Queries, and died about twenty years
ago in poverty and obscurity. J 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 asasutor 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
* "Crispin Anecdotes," pp. 87, 88.
f Ibid.
J "Campion's Delightful History, " p. 81.
JOHN STRUTHERS. 243
encouraged by his friends to issue " The Wild Harp's Mur-
murs" 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 per-
ished with him.
JOHN STKUTHEKS, POET, EDITOK, 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.* His success in this first venture led to the publica-
tion 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 contribu-
tions." He wrote a history of Scotland from the Union,
17.07 to 1827, by which his reputation was greatly enhanced.
* 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 sub-
ject with the nearly contemporary one of the late amiable James
Graham e, would probably have attracted a considerable share of favor,
even in these hypercritical days."
11.! LKKRS.
^nsiderable number of the 1
of Illustrious Scotchmen" I ;i> pen.
he held the position of |
Oo., of Glasgow. In made librarian in S
Library, which office he held until within a few years of his
death in 1853. His poetical :.nd pub-
lished by himself in 1850. J lent
specimen of a shrewd, inte - minded Scotchman.*
JOHN O'NEILL, THE POET OF T
The name of John O'Neill is in: with that
of George Crniekshank in the work of temperance reform ;
>nly did <
shoemaker and poet by illustrating his lit:
Blessings of Temperance," but it is wit I
that these illustrations and the scenes depicted in the poem if
1 to the artist the \ i nit in
of plates entitled i4 Tbe Bottle." Some of these ski-:
for example, k< The Upas Tree" an-: :iia.' and
the Drivelling Fool," derive their titles from O'Neill's lam:
in the poem itself. So closely, indeed, do the grapi.
the artist and the poet correspond, t ill in the later edi-
tions of his li Cruiek-
shank's * Bottle.' " f On its ti: ance the poem was en-
titled 4t The Drunkard," and recei\ -able notice in the
pages of the Athenatum and the Spectator. ther journals
and papers of less literary merit. " The Drunkard" w.i> n->t his
first work, but it was his best, and the inch his name
came known and honored aiiMm; teetotallers. A- 321
lie had published a drama entitled ** Alva." '* The Sorro
Memory*' and a number of Irish melod Cer-
ent periods in his life ntle later. His friend the
Rev. Isaac Doxscy, in < of
Temperance/ >f O'Neill as the author
matic pieces, a collection of poems, and a novel called " Mary
of Avonmore, or the Foundling of the 1> nd of numer-
ous contributions to various periodicals.
* "Imperial Dictionary of Biography." Glasgow: Blackio
f "The Blessings of Temperance. II :i the Lift
ormation of the Drunkard : a Poem by Jolm O'NVill. etc., forming a
Companion to Cru: :u his pen
London : "W. Tweedie. 1851. Fourth edition.
JOHN O XEILL. 240
Jolin 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 for-
tune. As a boy he was very slow to learn, and gave no indica-
tion 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 boy?. O'Neill's mind was first awak-
ened 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 mas-
ter he became an apprentice to his brother, but soon quarrelled
and the indentures Were thrown into the fire. During the Re-
bellion 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, li 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 res-
ident 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 il enforced leisure," oc-
casioned by an accident which made work with the awl impos-
246 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
sible, 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 sug-
gested 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 Liter-
ary 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,
44 John O'Neill and his aged partner dwell in a miserable gar-
ret in St. Giles's." In his poor earthly estate he had one com-
fort, at all events he did not 44 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 4< River Angling for Sal-
mon and Trout " * was added to our extensive angling litera-
ture 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" oc-
cupations 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 des-
perate 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." f But the public, like the shy fish of some of his own
Scottish rivers, would not " rise" to his bait, for the work fell
* Kelso : Rutherford. Edinburgh : Blackwood & Sons,
f Glasgow, 1834.
CHARLES CROCKER. 247
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. BoswelPs 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. Young-
er, 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. BoswelPs in June, 1860. As' we
are writing we observe that his autobiography * has just been
published, concerning which a writer in the Athenceum re-
marks, j- 4t 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 suffi-
cient 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 re-
markable 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. BoswelPs 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.
CHAELES 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 arrange-
ment," he says in the brief sketch of his life which is given in
* " Autobiography of John Younger, Shoemaker, of St. BoswelTs."
Kelso : J. & J. H. Rutherford, 1881.
f 6th May, 1882, p. 564.
'.MS ILLI'STKIOLS SHOEMAKERS.
the preface to his poems,* " was perhaps rather favorable than
otherwise to the improvement of iny 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 amuse-
ment in intellectual or imaginative pursuits." His youthful
days were spent in hard work and study. Spite of his school-
ing, grammar presented a great difficulty when he began to
apply himself seriously to literary work. lie 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 Thelwail as
having given him much help in trying to understand the struct-
ure 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 styl<>.
The first volume of his poems was published in 1830, and the
third in 1841. He also wrote u A Visit to Chichester Cathe-
dral," which passed through several editions. Crocker died in
1861. f
* " The Vale of Obscurity, and Other Poems," by Charles Crocker,
3d edition. Chichester : W. H. Mason, 1841.
f 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 tin- state-
ment 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,oi}.e 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 185G). London craftsmen know and honor the names of
J. B. Howe, 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 : Tay-
lor & 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.
GEORGE FOX. 249
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 bt>rn 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.*
George Fox's early life was spent near his native place,*
Drayton, in Leicestershire, with a man who combined the occu-
pations 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. < 4 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 wan-
dering preacher for a few years, he was induced to return home
for a short time, but the voice from heaven forbade his resist-
ing, and summoned him again into the Lord's vineyard. In
1648, when only twenty -four years of age, he began to preach
* All the writings of George Fox were published after his death.
See below.
250 ILLUSTKIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 meek-
ness, 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
THOMAS SHILLITOE. 251
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, l 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, Hol-
land, Denmark, and Prussia, this apostle of the seventeenth cen-
tury 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 propor-
tion 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 Itf94.
His " Epistles 7 ' 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, f 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 min-
istry in which men regard their daily avocation as a veritable
" calling." This, however, was the case with Thomas Shil-
litoe, 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
* See answer to the question, ' ' What is thy duty toward thy
neighbor ?"
252 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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.
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 ap-
prentice 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 there-
fore 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 Midi an, 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
THOMAS SHILL1TOE. 253
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 appear-
ance, 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 return-
ing 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
254 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
demeanor. When at Clonrnel 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." * 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.
From the lowest and humblest members of society he some-
times 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 Majestv 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." f It was certainly a more
difficult thing to pay such a visit to the Prince Regent ; but
*" Select Miscellanies." London: Charles Gilpin, 1854, vol. iv.
p. 135.
f "Journal of Thomas Shillitoe," vol. i. p. 21.
JOHN THORP. 255
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.
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 lot-
teries. 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
hwn " 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" * gives the following account : " A party of men
were amusing themselves one day in an ale-house at Rotherham,f
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 speci-
men from each. A Bible was produced, and three of the
* " Bohn's Standard Library," p. 305.
f Rotherham and Masbro' are one town, only separated by the
River Rother.
256 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
rivals, each in tarn, 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, 4 I shall beat you all ! '
He opened the book for a text, and his eyes rested on tl
words, ' Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ! ' Th<-M-
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 anyone,
went home in a state of great agitation, and resigned himseJf
to the impulse which had thus strangely been produced. In con-
sequence 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 Anninian AYeslcv,
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 (\\<-
missed 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.* 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 tirst
members, Mr. Walker, an iron-founder, was a leading patron of
the school, which afterward developed into Rotherhani Colh-u'e
under the presidency of the learned Dr. E. Williams, j- " Tim*
to the pious zeal of an obscure shoemaker the Dissenters are
indirectly indebted for their valuable academical institution.''
* " Masbro' Chapel Manual" for 1881, whence many of these i
ticulars are taken. See also Miall's * ' Congregationalism in York-
shire.*'
I Dr. Edward Williams became president in 1795. He edited the
Works of Jonathan Edwards, and was the author of a once famous con-
troversial treatise on "Divine Equity and Sovereignty."
J " Crispin Anecdotes," p. 18.
WILLIAM HUXTIXGDOX, S.6. ^57
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, 8lh November, 1V76. He was a friend
of the pious and eccentric John Berridge,* 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.
WILLIAM HUNTINGDON, S.S., CALVINISTIC METHODIST
PREACHEK.
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 sepn 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, f
Lie 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.
In his diary, 22d October, 1812, H. C. Robinson J says,
*" Crispin Anecdotes," p. 18.
f" Imperial Dictionary of Biography," vol. iv. Edinburgh:
Blackie & Son.
\ Vol. i. p. 402.
258 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
" 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 chap-
ter and verse, he never opened the little book he had in his lumd.
He is said to resemble Robert Robinson of Cambridge." *
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. Saunder-
son, once Lord Mayor of London. His death occurred in
1813, at'Tunbridge Wells. f 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.
KEV. EGBERT MORRISON, D.D. , CHINESE SCHOLAR AND
MISSIONARY.
A maker of wooden clogs and shoe-lasts is hardly a shoe-
maker, 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,
* The eminent Baptist minister of St. Andrew's Chapel, 1761-1790,
predecessor of Robert Hall.
f Huntingdon wrote his own epitaph, part of which reads "Be-
loved 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. JOHN BURtfET. 259
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 connec-
tion 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 w r ere 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 Amherstin his em-
bassy 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 re-
turned 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 KEV. 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.* He was of Highland
* See Campion's " Delightful History," p. 83.
ILLUSTRIOUS SHOK.MAKJ-:i:<
descent, and was born in Perth, 13th April, 1789. Hiscaily
education at the High School of Perth must have given him
great advantage over most youths of the tsouter fraternity.
How long he plied the awl we cannot say. Soon after his
union with a Christian Church in IVrth 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 re-
moved from Perth to Dublin, and soon afterward became an
agent of the Irish Evangelical Society. Hi* 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 h-d to the
building of a handsome new chapel for his ministry in (It--
Street. But his labors were not confined to these localities
(Cork and Mallow). His biographer states that "he COB*
tinually 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 bad usually a free pass by the mails and
coaches, but he travelled a good deal on horseback. 99 *
It would have been an easy matter for Mr. Burnet to enter
Parliament, if he could have been persuaded to quit the min-
istry and devote himself entirely to political life ; for he was
popular with the Liberals of his dav, had rare gifts as a
speaker, and was thoroughly acquainted with politics. But the
best efforts of his friend Joseph Sturgc, and the offer of ample
means to maintain the position of a member of Parliament,
failed to induce him to accept the flattering offer. lie 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
* "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.
T)f;. KITTO. 261
lield several meetings during the week for the instruction of
his people. In 1845 his brethren of the Independent Con-
nection showed their esteem by electing him to fill the chair of
the Congregational Union.
In 1825 Mr. Burnet was summoned to give evidence before 1
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 Ire-
land. His visit to London brought him again into the com-
pany of his old friend Mr. Orme, who introduced him to the
congregation, of which Mr. Orme was the pastor, at the Man-
sion 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.' 7
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 friend-
ship, 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 judg-
ment were not seldom needed in the conduct of this great
movement. He went frequently on deputations to the Govern-
ment, 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 lead-
ing 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
JLLrsTlilOl'3 -XHOKMAKI'HS.
December, 1804.* Added to poverty, the want of proper
food and clothing, he had to endure in early life the depriva-
tion 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, i 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 appar-
ent. 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."
* "Memoirs of John Kitto, D.D.," by R. E. Ryland, M.A. Edin-
burgh : William Oliphant & Sons, 1856.
I) K. KITTO. 263
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 indescrib-
able." 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 admit-
ted on Hele's and Lanyon's charities. Young Kitto was kindly
treated by the guardians, j even being allowed to go out every
day, and for a longtime 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 ic 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 dili-
gent 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
264 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
which " th ieaf traveller" obtained the vast stores of informa-
tion of which he made such good use in the various works
written on h : "eturn to England. In 1833 he was engaged by
Mr. Charles 1 light, 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 Cyclopaedia. His best known works
are " The Pictorial Bible," " The Pictorial Sunday Book,"
44 Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature," "The Lost Senses,"
" Journal of Sacred Literature," and * 4 Daily Bible Illustra-
tions," 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 hi* 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 Cann-
statt, 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 pos-
sible 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.* The first proof
Sturgeon gave of special and extensive knowledge on the sub-
ject was in the papers which he contributed to the Philosophi-
cal Magazine in 1823-24. In 1825 he published an account
* Magneto-electricity was discovered by Oersted in 1820.
THOMAS HARDY. 265
of certain magneto -electric appliances, for which t] -v Society
of Arts awarded him their silver medal and a purse containing
30. About this time, that is, soon after leavin^ the army,
he was appointed to the chair of experimental pulosophy 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 ex-
periments, 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.
POLITICIANS.
THOMAS HAKDY, 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 blood-
shed. One of the strongest of these societies existed in
London, and had carried its proceedings to such a pitch that
266 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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.*
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, 4 4 1 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." f 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.
GEORGE ODGER, POLITICAL ORATOR.
It has been remarked above, that shoemakers, whether
" illustrious" or not, have played a prominent part in connec-
* 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 fore-
most in every movement ? If there is a plot or conspiracy or insur-
rection 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.
f H. C. Robinson's Diary, vol. i. pp. 26, 27.
GEORGE ODGEK. 267
tion 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 re-
gard to Odger' s excellent character and remarkable abilities.
Other members of Parliament have done honor to Odgcr'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 maxle 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, 186165, 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 shoe-
making 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
268 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 H
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 work-
ing-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 declin-
ing years, and in consequence of the esteem in which he was
held, " the result was liberal and prompt." * After a long
illness he died at his residence, Bloomsbury, London, 3d
March, 1877.
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.
* " The Oracle," vol. vi. pp. 154, 237. London : 155 Fleet Street.
J. G. WHITTIER
AMERICA.
NOAH WORCESTER, D.D., " THE APOSTLE OF
PEACE. 77
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' 7 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 reform-
ers, 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 Massachu-
setts the parent of numberless similar societies in America and
Europe. " I well recollect," says Dr. Channing,* u 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 de-
voted himself for years to this cause, with unabating faith and
* Sermon entitled " The Philanthropist, a Tribute to the Memory
of the Eev. Noah Worcester, D.D." Channing's Works, People's Edi-
tion, vol. ii. p. 251, etc. Belfast : Simms & M'Intyre, 1843.
272 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
zeal ; and it may be doubted whether any man who ever Jived
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 through-
out 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."
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 conse-
quence. 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 shoe-
making, 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 applica-
tion 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. u His first book was a series of
XOAH WORCESTER, D.D. 273
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 be published a remarkable book, which made no small
stir in its day, entitled <4 Bible News Relating to the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit ;" and a second on the same subject,
under the title " Letters to Trinitarians/' u 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. ' ' *
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 pro-
duced 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 liter-
ally the precept, ' Resist not evil,' and believed that nations as
well as individuals would find safety as well as fulfil righteous-
ness 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 l Friend of Peace.' ' Dr. Channing's testi-
mony 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. . . .
* Written in 1837.
274 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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.
BOGEK SHERMAN. 275
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 repre-
sentation," but always avowed his firm conviction that " no
European Government would ever give its sanction to such
unfair legislation/' His rectitude and integrity were un-
impeachable, 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 * says that Sherman * ' having made a public prof es-
sionof 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."
The life of this man of " patriot fame" f 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.
*In "American Biographical Dictionary." Boston : J. P. Jewett
& Co.
f See the allusion to Sherman in Whittier's lines, given below.
276 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 farm-
ing, 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
] 851 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.* It
* These are Roger Sherman and Henry Wilson, already noticed, and
Daniel Shelf ey, 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
J. G. WHITTIER. 277
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, Bucking-
hamshire, 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.
J. G. WHITTIER, "THE QUAKER POET."
The last name we have to give in this long, but still in-
complete, 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 suffi-
ciently distinctive, for poets are not very numerous in the So-
ciety 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, W T hittier is " right on all
points" relating to social and religious reform. The assistance
his vigorous, thrilling lines have given to every philanthropic
learned the trade, and worked at it many years, andfrom 1809 to 1817
represented his district in the Congress of the United States. His
retort to John Randolph of Roanoke, who taunted him onthe floor of
Congress with his former occupation, was, ' The difference, sir, be-
tween 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. WUliam Clqflin, an ex-governor of Massachusetts and a mem-
ber 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.
Alley, 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."
278 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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., * 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
* In a review of this last volume of Whittier's poems (Macmillan &
Co.), a writer in the AtJienaum (February 18th, 1882) gives the fol-
lowing just estimate of Whittier's character and merits as a man and a
poet : " The poems in this collection . . . show that delicate appre-
hension 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. Whit-
tier, 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.
J. G. WHITTIER. 279
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 shoe-
maker. Whittier College at Salem, Iowa, was established and
named in his honor.
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/ 7 published in 1850 :
TO SHOEMAKEES.
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 !
Kap, 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.
280 ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEMAKERS.
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 Gilford'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 !
J. G. WHITTIER. 281
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
44 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 Coniaiia, 193
Alexandria, the pious cobbler of, 19S
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
Athenaeum, 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 Mseviad, 75, 82, 86-7
Benbow and nautical songs, 17
Bennet, John, poet, 229
Bennett, Timothy,pf Harnpton-Wick,212
Bentinck, Lady, visits Carey when dy-
ing, 146
Bemdge, John, and John Thorp, 257
Blacket, Joseph, 236, 242
Blanshard's Life of Bradburn, 65, 66, 67,
70
Bloomfleld and Blacket, 239
Bloomfleld, George, 94, 95, 96, 238
Bloomfield, Nathaniel, 94, 96, 98, 239
Bloomfielcl, 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 Far-
mer'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 Tannton, 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 th-earmy, 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, nte, 63
his wit and hamor, anecdotes of,
70,71
offered the pastorate of an Indepen-
dent Church, 66
overtaken in a fault, 71
President of Wesleyan Conference,
67
Brizzio, Francesco, 208
Bnice's " Elegy written m Spring," 322
Buch, Henry Michael, "Good Henry,' 1
201-203 '
Banyan and Bradbum 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, 199,542,259
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 Ryiand, 131, 138
an enthusiast, 131, 132
apprenticed to a siioeniaker, 133
baptized by Rev. J. Ryiand, 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
284
INDEX.
Carey, William his famous sermon at
Nottingham, 141
hi self-sacrificing spirit, 143
life briefly ricetcBtd, 129, 130
lifi; in India. 142, 146
lives at iMoulton, 137, 139
" Only a Cobbler," 133
pamphlet on Missions, 140
parentage and birth and childhood,
131, 132
Professor of Oriental Languages,
Calcutta, 129, 143
removes to Leicester, 140
Carlisle, Qifford's guardian, 205
Carlyle on Hans Sacks, 76, 77, 205
Thomas, and Thomas Cooper, 184
Carter, Edward, Esq., friend to John
Pounds, 151, 157
Cartel!, Richard, "Ye Cocke of West-
minster," 210
Caxton Printing Establishment and S.
Drew, 121
Chambers " Book of Days," 217
Channingon Noah Worcester, 271. 273
Charley Rev. Thomas, of Bala, I'.D
Chartists and Thomas Cooper, 170, 182
Chiirtiet Newspapers edited by Thomas
Cooper, 181
Christ's Hospital and Richard Cnstell,
121
Claflin, Wiiliam, Governor of Massachu-
se'ts, 277
Clarke, Dr. Adam, and Samuel Drew,
114, 122
Coke, Dr., and S. Drew, 122, 153
Coleridge, S. T., and Boehmen, 208
and shoemakers, 189
Cooksley, Dr., Gilford's friend, 80, 81
William, son of Dr. Cooksley, Gif-
ford'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 Mer-
cury," 178
a sceptic, his lectures as, 185 ; foot-
note, 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
Cooper, Thomas, editorship and author-
ship 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, 17^
in Stafford jail, 182-3
lecmres 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. 1C9
i-eis up t school, 110
the railway accident, 186
Trial at fctallord and in London,
182-3
Crag^s, Secretary, 216
Crispin andCrispianus, 197-199
Crispin anecdotes, 198-216, 223, 228, 242
Crocker, Charles, 247, 248
Cromwell and Fox, 249-51
Cruickshank and O'Neill, 244-6
Cnrwen's 4l History of Booksellers," 87,
45,83
D'ALBRIONE, Si<rnor, 178
Davies, Ann. Gifford's lines on, 68, 87
Dekker, Thomas, 228
Delia Cruscan School. 75, 82
Deloney's '-History of Gentle Craft,' 1
199.228
Dennis, friend of Lackington, 40
Devlin, Janies, 242
Di-y of Tripoli and Lieutenant Shovel,
2021
Disraeli, Mr., and Thomas Cooper, 183
"Dramatist^, Early English," cuiteu by
Gifford, 75, 82 "
Drew, Samuel, as a preacher, 122, 123
as editor and author, list of works,
130-141
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 Wesley ans.
114
Defence of the Methodists, 119
his generosity, 117
his method of writing books wh'.le
a shoemaker, 121
his works on immortality of tho
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,
22*
FLETCHER, vicar of Madely and Brad-
burn, 02
INDEX.
285
Foster, John, 242
Fox, George, 249
Fullarton's "Lives of Eminent English-
men," 84
Fuller, Rev. Andrew, the friend of Carey,
138, 141
GAINSBOROUGH the painter, 93
Gentle Craft, etc., origin of the terms,
note, 193
George III. and Shillitoe, 254
Gifford, William, and Lord Grosvenor,
81,82
childhood and youth, 76, 79
editorship of London " Quarterly, 1 '
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
translauons of Persius and Juve-
nal, 82
works his sums on pieces of leather,
73
Goethe's opinion of Hans Sacks, 204
Grat't.ou, the duke of, and Bloomfield,
100
Grainger's " Biographical History," 215,
218, 219
Gray's Elegy, 232
Gregory Thaumaturgns, 143
Grosveiior, Lord, a friend to Giflord, 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, Thoma-s 265, 206
" Helmsley," the tune, who composed
it? 234 "
Hewson, Colonel, the Cerdon of Hudi-
bras, 21.5-217
Holeroft, Thomas, 234
Hook, Dr., of Leeds,, and Thomas Coop-
er, 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 Preach-
ers, 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
Kri^hnu, Carey's first convert in India,
note, 146
LAW, William, and Boehtnen, 206
Lackington, James, and bargain-hunt-
ers, 39
apprenticeship. 33. 34
benefactions to Wesleyan denomi,
nation, 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 shoelnakiug for book>
selling, 38
goes to London, 1774, 37
helped by the Week-yaii 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 oruthe Wesleyans, 29
' Temple of the Mnses," 29, 45
tour through England and Scot-
land, 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 shoemak-
ers, 211
Leao, 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 shoe-
makers, 248
Llandaif, Earl of, and O'Neill, 245
Lofft, Capel, 99, 239, 243
MACKAY. of Norwich, 225
Macon, Mr., on Roger Sherman, 275
286
INDEX.
Madati, Martin, and " Helmsley," 234
Marriage, remarks on, 136, 137
Marshman's " Carey, Marshinan, and
Ward," 131, 144, 145
John Clarke, author of "Carey,
Marshman, and Ward, 11 145
Mr., Dr. Carey's friend and col-
league, 143, 145
Meistersingers of Germany, 204
Men's and \V omen's conscia recti, 225-6
Milbanke, Miss (Lady Byron) and Black-
et, 241
Miller, Thomas, and Thomas Cooper,
173, 180 *
Montgomery. Jae., and Thomas Cooper,
177
Morrison, Rev. Robert, D.D., 258, 25?
Mutual Improvement Society at Gains-
borough and T. Cooper, 171
Murray, John, and Giflord'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
Polwhrle, 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 poox chil-
dren, 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 found-
er of, 151, 152
Raikes, Robert and Sophia Cookjp start
first Sunday-school, 66
Reading, growth of about 1790 ; Lack-
ington's remarks on, 43
Rigby, Richard, ballad-writer, 227, 228
Robinson, lienry Crabb, Diary, 206, 257,
266
Rousseau, Jean Baptiste, 209
Rowe, J. B., 228
Russell, Admiral, 22
SACHS, Hans, the Nightingale of the Ref-
ormation, 203-205
Sandon, Lord, and Thomas Cooper,
188
Savage, Richard, 230
Scott, Rev. Thomas, the Commentator,
and Carey, 113, 114
Service, David. 2-12
Sheaf, Mr., Shoemaker and artist, and
John Pounds, 151, 157
Sheffey, Daniel, of Virginia, 276
Shenstone and Woodhouse, 228
Sherman, Koger, 274. 275
Shillitoe, Thomas, 251, 255
Shoemakers and literature, 75
Shoemaker's holiday, the, 227
Shoemakers, largo proportion of emi-
nent men, 181), 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 \Vateribi d, 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, 23
Sibly, Dr. Ebenezer, 222, 223
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, 142, 145
Strut hers, John, 243
Sturgeon, William, electrician, 264, 265
Sunday-school, the first, 66, 139
Sutclitfe, Rev. John, the friend of Ca-
rey, 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
INDEX.
287
Ticlibotirne, Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor
oi' 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, 68. 71
and Olivers, 231-34
and Thorpe, 255
Weever's " Funeral Monuments," note,
Whately, Archbishop, 189
White, Henry Kirke, lines on Bloom-
field, 103
Whitefield, George, and Olivers, 232
Whittaker, Rev. John, and S. Drew
120, 122
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 227, 2*29
- lines to "Shoemakers, 1 ' 27S-281
Wilberibrce, William, remarks on Ca-
rey, 138
Williams, Dr. Edward. 256
Wilson, Jjishop, friendship with Carey,
Wilson, Gavin, 242
Wilson, Henry, the Natick cobbler,
Wilson, Professor, his opinion of Bloom-
field's poetry, 100
Wincklemann, J. J., 209
Winnifred, Saint, 227
Winks, Joseph, Foulkes, and Thomas
Cooper, 171, 180, 186
Wo'fe'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 Ca*.
Younger, John, 246-7
THE END.
288
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