Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers Part 13

No testimony to his merit could be higher than that of Goethe, the prince of German critics in literature. It may be of value, however, in addition to this, to give the opinion of two very different men respecting Sachs. Dr. Hagenbach in his "History of the Reformation"

says: "A happy union of wholesome humor and moral purity meets us in Hans Sachs of Nuremberg;" and Thomas Carlyle, in his own style, which happily is "inimitable," speaks of him as a "gay, childlike, devout, solid character--a man neither to be despised nor patronized, but left standing on his own basis as a singular product, and legible symbol, and clear mirror of the time and country where he lived."

He died on the 25th of January, 1576, at the age of eighty-two, in full mental vigor. He was busy writing verses and tales almost to the last days of his life. His grave is still shown in the churchyard of St.

John's, Nuremberg.

JACOB BOEHMEN, THE MYSTIC.

Jacob Boehmen, or Boehme, was born at the village of Altseidenberg, near Gorlitz, in Prussian Silesia, about a year before the death of Hans Sachs. A shoemaker for the greater part of his life, Boehmen devoted the powers of a remarkable mind to philosophical and religious speculation, and produced works which, notwithstanding their mystical and well-nigh unintelligible character, are declared by some of the best authorities in Germany and England to have laid the foundation of metaphysics and philosophy. It is impossible to give a true idea of the writings of this extraordinary man except by a complete review of his philosophy and its influence on German philosophical writers. The most contradictory opinions have been expressed in regard to the value of his productions.

By some critics he is set down as a rhapsodist who wrote nothing but mystical jargon, and by others as a profound philosopher whose thoughts and dreams are full of inspiration. Mosheim, _e.g._, says: "It is impossible to find greater obscurity than there is in these pitiable writings, which exhibit an incongruous mixture of chemical terms, mystical jargon, and absurd visions." On the other hand, it is curious to read the opinions expressed by our own King Charles I., who of all the Stuarts, not excepting his own father, James I., that "so learned and judicious a prince," was most capable of being a judge in such matters. Charles is reported to have said of the writings of the shoemaker of Gorlitz: "Had they been the productions of a scholar and a man of learning, they would have been truly wonderful; but if, as he heard, they were the productions of a poor shoemaker, they furnished a proof that the Holy Ghost had still a habitation in the souls of men."

Sir Isaac Newton was a student of Boehmen, whose dissertation on "The Three Principles" is said to have furnished hints to the philosopher which put him on the track of some of his great discoveries; and Blake, the half-mad, half-inspired poet, painter, and engraver, frequently spoke of him as a divinely inspired man. Before Blake's day the writings of Boehmen had been translated by William Law, author of "The Serious Call," and published by Ward & Co. in two quarto volumes (1762-84).

Law's writings had immense influence over the minds of John and Charles Wesley, and their followers, the Methodists. Law, who was no mean judge of the worth of Boehmen's writings, held them in high esteem.

But of more value than these opinions is the estimate formed by philosophers themselves as to the works of this great mystic. Spinoza frequently studied them, and acknowledged their influence on his own mind. Sch.e.l.ling, the idealist philosopher, bears testimony to Boehmen's great merits as a thinker. Hegel speaks of him as the "Teutonic philosopher," and adds, "In reality, through him, for the first time, did philosophy in Germany come forward with a characteristic stamp." S.

T. Coleridge in his "Literary Remains"[93] says: "I have often thought of writing a book to be ent.i.tled 'A Vindication of Great Men Unjustly Branded,' and at such times the names prominent to my mind's eye have been Giordano Bruno, Jacob Boehmen, Benedict Spinoza, and Emanuel Swedenborg." In the library of Manchester New College, London, is a copy of the works of Spinoza with marginal notes written by Coleridge,[94]

and among them is the following note to Epistle x.x.xvi.: "The truth is, Spinoza, in common with all metaphysicians before him (Boehme perhaps excepted), began at the wrong end," etc., etc. Coleridge frequently spoke of Boehmen in the warmest terms of admiration.

[93] Vol. iv. p. 423.

[94] This book once belonged to Henry Crabb Robinson: see H. C. R.'s Diary, etc., vol. i. pp. 400, 401, for the above quotation.

At a very early age Jacob Boehmen showed a disposition to pious meditation and fancied himself inspired. He was poorly educated as a youth, and nearly all his knowledge was self-acquired. His first work was published when he was thirty-seven years of age, and was ent.i.tled "Aurora," or _the morning dawn_. He was severely attacked by the religious leaders of his day, but the court at Dresden patronized and protected him. His death took place November 27th, 1624. His works have been frequently published in Germany, Holland, and England, where they are much more warmly appreciated now than they were in his own lifetime.

ITALY.

GABRIEL CAPPELLINI, IL CALIGARINO, OR THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER.

If it be characteristic of Germany that one of her ill.u.s.trious shoemakers should be a _poet_ and another a _philosopher_, it is no less characteristic of Italy and Holland that several followers of the gentle craft in these countries should have distinguished themselves as _painters_. We take three examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Gabriel Cappellini of Ferrara in Italy was more generally known by the appellation _Il Caligarino_, or the _little shoemaker_, a name derived from his original occupation. He is said to have been led to throw down the awl and take to the brush in consequence of a compliment paid to him one day by one of the great family of painters called Dossi, who told the shoemaker that a pair of shoes he had just made were so elegant that they looked as if they had been painted. He became a scholar of Dossi, and made a fair name as an artist in the sixteenth century. He is praised by Barotti for "the boldness of his design and the sobriety of his color." Several of his paintings may now be seen in the city of Ferrara, the best of which is in the Church of St. Giovannino. This is an altar-piece representing the Virgin and Child with infant saints attending upon them. In the Church of St. Francesco is a painting of SS. John and James. There is also an altar-piece ascribed to him in the Church of St. Alesandro at Bergamo, representing the Last Supper. A small painting of the same subject is in the possession of Count Carrara.[95]

[95] Lanzi's "History of Painting." London: Bohn, vol.

iii. p. 200; and Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London: Bohn, p. 138.

FRANCEs...o...b..IZZIO, THE ARTIST.

Frances...o...b..izzio (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 Pa.s.serotti, 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 surpa.s.sed all his rivals." Guido speaks highly of the beauty of his cherubs. His extant paintings are an altar-piece ent.i.tled "The Coronation of the Virgin," which is very rich in coloring, and the "Table of Cebes," a grand painting executed for the Angellili family.

Numerous engravings of his are known to connoisseurs, and highly prized as the work of an artist "who often approaches Guido." "His pictures were not only admired for the truth of the perspective and the beauty of his coloring, but also for the grandeur of his ideas, the majestic style of the architecture, the elegance of the ornaments, and the n.o.ble taste of the landscapes which he introduced to set off his buildings." Brizzio died in 1623 at the age of forty-nine.[96]

[96] Lanzi's "History of Painting." London: Bohn, vol.

iii. p. 126; Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters." London: Bohn, p.

114; and Pilkington's "Dictionary of Painters," p. 95 (1770 ed.).

HOLLAND.

LUDOLPH DE JONG, THE DUTCH PORTRAIT-PAINTER.

Ludolph de Jong, was the son of a shoemaker at Oberschic, a village near Rotterdam, and was born in the year 1616. His father intended to bring his son up to his own humble trade, but having been treated with great severity, Ludolph ran away from home and bade good-by to the cobbler's stall, and became soon afterward a pupil of Sacht Coen. After two years spent with this master, he also studied under Palamedes at Delft and Baylaert at Utrecht. Seven years of his life were spent in France, where he gained renown as a portrait-painter, in which branch of art he showed his best hand. From France he returned to Holland and settled at Rotterdam, where his skill and fame gained him much patronage and a handsome fortune. His best work is at Rotterdam in the _Salle des Princes_, and consists of portraits of officers belonging to the Company of Burghers.

De Jong the younger, the clever etcher of battle-scenes, who signs himself IMDI (Jan Martss de Jong), is generally thought to be the son of the well-known painter.[97]

[97] Sons of shoemakers have often become famous. See the list given below, which might be greatly extended.

SONS OF SHOEMAKERS.

Before leaving the continent of Europe to come to Great Britain for examples, we may here mention one or two instances in which boys who have been brought up amid the humble surroundings of the shoemaker's home have become ill.u.s.trious in the field of literature, or science, or theology.

_Pope John XXII._ (1316-1334), whose popedom was distinguished by the existence of an _anti-pope_, was the son of a shoemaker living at Cahors in France.

_Jean Baptiste Rousseau_ (1670-1741), the French poet, author of "Le 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 heartless manner because he stepped forward at the conclusion of the first performance of a play to offer his warm congratulations to his clever and popular son. "I know you not," said the proud poet, waving his father off. The poor fellow retired in bitter grief and uncontrollable anger.

_Johan Joachim Wincklemann_, the eminent art-critic and writer, was the son of a humble member of the craft, who lived at Stendal in Prussia.

His father gave him as good an education as lay within his reach, and was rewarded by the progress his son made in the study of languages.

From the position of teacher of languages in the College of Seehausen he pa.s.sed on to that of librarian to Count Bunan, and finally to the curatorship of the Vatican Museum at Rome, where he published his famous works, "Ancient Statues," "Taste of the Greek Artists," "History of Art," and "Antique Monuments." He died by the hand of an a.s.sa.s.sin at Trieste, 1768, aged fifty-two.

_Hans Christian Andersen_ was born in 1805, at Adense in Denmark, where his father worked as a shoemaker. While a mere boy he went to Copenhagen in the hope of getting his living as a singer and writer of plays, and eventually became known as the writer of incomparable fairy tales, the joy and wonder of children, young and old, all over the world.

The name of Dr. Isaac Watts, the hymnist, has sometimes been set down in this category, on the authority of a line in Dr. Johnson's "Lives of the Poets." But Johnson speaks only of "common report," making the father of Isaac Watts a shoemaker. Johnson says he "kept a boarding-school for young gentlemen." He may have done so and followed the gentle craft as well; there is no knowing to what occupation the shoemaker may aspire!

If we go far enough back, we may find a very striking example of ability displayed by a shoemaker's son in military affairs. _Iphicrates_ (4th cent. B.C.), one of the most capable and trusted Athenian generals, rose from this humble position to the highest offices of command and trust in the armies of Greece. His reforms in the arms, dress, and tactics of the soldiers, formed an "epoch in the Grecian art of war." He distinguished himself in battles fought against the Thracians and Spartans, and in the service of the King of Persia in his Egyptian campaign.

GREAT BRITAIN.

"YE c.o.c.kE OF WESTMINSTER."

Coming now to Great Britain, we are able to select from the records of history and biography ill.u.s.trations for our purpose which represent pretty nearly all the varieties of English life. Practical philanthropy all men will allow to be one of the most prominent and honorable features of the national character, and to this shoemakers have contributed a good share. Our readers will remember the good work done by Drs. Carey and Morrison, the pioneer missionaries to India and China, and n.o.ble old John Pounds, one of the founders of ragged schools in this country. Two examples, in a different field, may be given here. One can easily understand how shoemaking would pay better before the invention of machinery than it does now, yet it appears strange to us to read of men making anything like a fortune by so humble a craft. So it was, however, after a certain modest fashion; and shoemakers, like men whose fortune has been made on a larger scale, have shown themselves veritable philanthropists in the use they have made of their money. The two instances we refer to are wide apart as to time, but closely related as regards the benevolent spirit they exhibit. Holinshed has very properly thought it worth his while to chronicle the good deed of a benevolent old shoemaker who lived in Westminster in the reign of Edward VI. This true son and follower of Crispin bore the name of _Richard Castell_, but was still better known, in his own day, by the sobriquet, _Ye c.o.c.ke of Westminster_, not only "because he was so famous with the faculty of his hands," but on account of his early rising; for every morning, all the year round, saw him sitting down to his work "at four of the clock." His skill and diligence in the craft brought him in a considerable sum of money, which he invested in lands and tenements in the neighborhood of Westminster, yielding a yearly rental of 42--not at all a poor living for a retired shoemaker three hundred years ago. It appears that Castell greatly admired the generosity of his monarch, Edward VI., who had recently endowed Christ's Hospital, and the shoemaker having no family to whom he could bequeath his property, and being blessed, moreover, with a wife as generously disposed as himself, resolved to leave his property to the endowment fund of this public charity. It is much more than probable that the fame of the kingly founder of the hospital has totally eclipsed that of his humble subject, and for this reason it seems right for us to find a place in our list of ill.u.s.trious 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 c.o.c.ke of Westminster_.[98]

[98] For this and one or two other examples of noted shoemakers the writer is indebted to a series of most interesting articles ent.i.tled "Concerning Shoes and Shoemakers," in the _Leisure Hour_, 1876.

TIMOTHY BENNETT, THE HERO OF HAMPTON-WICK.

It would be hard to find a name more worthy of being enrolled in our list than that of the public-spirited and courageous shoemaker of Hampton-Wick in Surrey named _Timothy Bennett_,[99] who, early in the last century, undertook, at his own cost, to rescue a right of road from loss to the public. This road ran from Hampton-Wick to Kingston-upon-Thames through the well-known Bushy Park, belonging to the Crown. Bennett was grieved to see the right of way infringed by the Crown authorities, and to observe the consequent inconvenience to thousands of his neighbors. He determined, therefore, to go to law about the matter, and, if possible, put a stop to the high-handed and unjust proceedings of the "Ranger of the Park." He went to a lawyer and inquired as to the probable chances of success in his project, and as to the cost, saying, "I have _seven hundred pounds_ which I would be willing to bestow upon this attempt. It is all I have, and has been saved through a long course of honest industry." Satisfied on both points, he resolved to carry out his plan. Lord Halifax was then Ranger of Bushy Park, and having heard of Bennett's intentions, sent for him.

"Who are you, sir," demanded my lord, "that have the a.s.surance to meddle in this affair?" "My name, my lord, is Timothy Bennett, shoemaker, of Hampton-Wick. I remember, an't please your Lordship, when I was a young man, of seeing, while sitting at my work, the people cheerfully pa.s.s by to Kensington market; but now, my lord, they are forced to go round about, through a hot sandy road, ready to faint beneath their burdens, and I am unwilling" (using a phrase he was very fond of) "to leave the world worse than I found it. This, my lord, I humbly represent, is the reason of my conduct." "Be gone! You are an impertinent fellow!" said the Ranger of Bushy Park. After thinking the matter over in a calmer mood, Lord Halifax saw the equity of the shoemaker's claim, and the certainty of his own failure to justify his conduct, and gave up his opposition. The road was opened, and remains open to this day, and is used not only by those who pa.s.s on business between Hampton and Kingston, but by thousands of pleasure-seekers from the busy and smoke-laden metropolis, who run down by rail in the spring and summer to enjoy the sight of one of the finest avenues of chestnut-trees in the world, or to breathe the sweet country air, and rest beneath the refreshing shade of the trees of the park. The good people who make constant use of the road, which the worthy shoemaker has secured to them and their descendants forever, can hardly be ignorant of the story of LORD HALIFAX THE n.o.bLEMAN nonsuited by TIMOTHY BENNETT THE SHOEMAKER; yet the stranger who goes down to the Park in May to see