Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers Part 20

THOMAS HARDY, OF "THE STATE TRIALS."

The "_gentle_ craft." has been as prolific of fiery politicians as of peaceful poets. We have to speak now of two men who were connected respectively with the political agitations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In the year 1794, when the events of the French Revolution had convulsed the whole of Europe, society in England was stirred to its depths, and grave fears were entertained by the King and his Parliament lest the spirit of revolution should break loose in this country. Such fears were not altogether unfounded. Societies sprang up whose object was reform, by legitimate means if possible, but if not, by violence and bloodshed.

One of the strongest of these societies existed in London, and had carried its proceedings to such a pitch that four of its leading members were brought to trial on a charge of treason and sedition. It is a remarkable fact that of these four men--Hardy, Horne-Tooke, Thelwall, and Holcroft--the first and last belonged to the cla.s.s of shoemakers.[179]

[179] A story is told of Sir Robert Peel which is worth repeating here. A deputation of working-men once waited on Sir Robert to lay the wants of the trades' societies before him. The two speakers selected by the deputation were shoemakers. On learning this interesting fact, the statesman turned to the sons of Crispin and said, half in earnest and half in jest, "How is it that you shoemakers are foremost in every movement? If there is a plot or conspiracy or insurrection or political movement, I always find that there is a shoemaker in the fray!"

It is a singular fact that the shorthand notes of Hardy's trial were taken down by another ill.u.s.trious shoemaker--Manoah Sibly (see above). There is a printed copy of these notes in the British Museum, published 1795.

_Thomas Hardy_ was the secretary of the a.s.sociation, and had to bear the brunt of the trial, in which he was defended by the Honorable Thomas Erskine. Speaking of these famous state trials, Henry Crabb Robinson, who was then living at Colchester, says, "I felt an intense interest in them. During the first trial I was in a state of agitation that rendered me unfit for business. I used to beset the post-office early, and one morning at six I obtained the London paper with NOT GUILTY printed in letters an inch in height, recording the issue of Hardy's trial. I ran about the town knocking at people's doors and screaming out the joyful words. Thomas Hardy, who was a shoemaker, made a sort of circuit, and obtained, of course, many an order in the way of his trade.... Hardy was a good-hearted, simple, and honest man. He had neither the talents nor the vices which might be supposed to belong to an acquitted traitor. He lived to an advanced age and died universally respected."[180] Hardy died in the year 1831, in his eighty-second year, having been born in 1751. At the close of his life he was connected with the Wesleyan Methodists. His monument may still be seen in the Bunhill Fields Burying Ground, opposite the City Road Chapel, London.

[180] H. C. Robinson's Diary, vol. i. pp. 26, 27.

GEORGE ODGER, POLITICAL ORATOR.

It has been remarked above, that shoemakers, whether "ill.u.s.trious" or not, have played a prominent part in connection with religious and political reform. In proof of this we have only to ask the reader to recall what has been said of Henry Michael Buch, Hans Sachs, George Fox, Drs. Carey and Morrison, and John Pounds, among moral and religious reformers; and such men as Hardy, Holcroft, and Thomas Cooper, in the sphere of politics. The name of _George Odger_ deserves a place also in this list of reformers and improvers of the world, for although his field of labor was a very humble one, it was sufficient for the display of fine qualities of mind and heart. Odger was one of the best specimens this country has produced of a powerful cla.s.s 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 enn.o.bling 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 circ.u.mstances in which he could have had the advantages of education, there would have been for him a career as distinguished as any Englishman had achieved." John Stuart Mill also held similar opinions in regard to Odger's excellent character and remarkable abilities. Other members of Parliament have done honor to Odger's worth, and recognized his unselfishness and patriotism as a leader of the people. He was no vulgar demagogue, pandering to popular pa.s.sion, and seeking fame and power at any cost. His appeals were always made to the intelligence of his hearers, and his demands for reform were based on what he conscientiously regarded as principles of justice.

Throughout the American war, 1861-65, he sought to direct public opinion against the slave-holding interest.

George Odger was born at Rogborough, near Plymouth, in 1813. His father was a Cornish miner, and so poor that he was obliged to send his boy out to earn his living at shoemaking as soon as he was able to work. It goes without saying that under such circ.u.mstances 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 cla.s.s, and was well known and respected both in London and the provinces as a safe leader and counsellor of the people, so that in the Liverpool and Kendal strikes he was accepted by both masters and men as a mediator. In 1868 he stood for a time as a candidate for the newly made borough of Chelsea, and in the following year he was accepted by a large party as a candidate for Stafford, but in each case he retired from the contest lest his candidature should damage the interests of his party. In 1870 and 1874 he contested Southwark as a working-man's candidate, but was not successful. In the former of these contests he polled only 300 fewer votes than the elected candidate.

George Odger never followed any other trade than that of a shoemaker, and was always in very humble circ.u.mstances. Shortly before his death a subscription was raised by the Trade Union Congress at Newcastle to supply the wants of his declining years, and in consequence of the esteem in which he was held, "the result was liberal and prompt."[181]

After a long illness he died at his residence, Bloomsbury, London, 3d March, 1877.

[181] "The Oracle," vol. vi. pp. 154, 237. London: 155 Fleet Street.

The honor done him at his funeral was such as many a n.o.bleman 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 ill.u.s.trious 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: J. G. WHITTIER]

AMERICA.

NOAH WORCESTER, D.D., "THE APOSTLE OF PEACE."

America has her share of ill.u.s.trious 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 s.p.a.ce. These men show in their character and life-work the best features of the New England type of the American citizen. They are men of sterling moral and religious worth, intense haters of tyranny and slavery, and war and intemperance, "sound as gospel" in their political principles, "clear as Wenham ice" in their transparency of character.

We are fain to believe that every intelligent person in the United States knows the name of _Noah Worcester_, the "Apostle of Peace," as he has been very justly styled. Every intelligent person also on the British side of the Atlantic ought to know something of this good man.

He was one of the world's reformers, and commenced a movement which is destined to deepen and widen in its influence until it becomes universal, and changes for the better the entire condition of mankind.

We allude to the establishment of the Peace Society of Ma.s.sachusetts--the parent of numberless similar societies in America and Europe. "I well recollect," says Dr. Channing,[182] "the day of its formation in yonder house, then the parsonage of this parish; and if there was a happy man that day on earth it was the founder of this inst.i.tution. This Society gave birth to all the kindred ones in this country, and its influence was felt abroad. Dr. Worcester a.s.sumed the charge of its periodical, and devoted himself for years to this cause, with unabating faith and zeal; and it may be doubted whether any man who ever lived contributed more than he to spread just sentiment on the subject of war, and to hasten the era of universal peace. He began his efforts in the darkest day, when the whole civilized world was shaken by conflict and threatened with military despotism. He lived to see more than twenty years of general peace, and to see through these years the multiplication of national ties, an extension of commercial communications, an establishment of new connections between Christians and learned men throughout the world, and a growing reciprocity of friendly and beneficent influence among different States, all giving aid to the principles of peace, and encouraging hopes which a century ago would have been deemed insane."

[182] Sermon ent.i.tled "The Philanthropist, a Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D." Channing's Works, People's Edition, vol. ii. p. 251, etc. Belfast: Simms & M'Intyre, 1843.

Noah Worcester, born at Hollis, New Hampshire, November 25th, 1758, was the son of a farmer, and until the age of twenty-one worked on the farm.

His father's means were limited, and the education of the family was stinted in consequence. When hostilities commenced between the American Colonies and Great Britain, young Worcester, then only about eighteen years of age, became a soldier and fought at the battle of Bunker's Hill. It is said that his disgust with the vices of soldier life, and horror at the awful sights of the battle-field, drove him from the army and made him forever afterward a hater of war and an advocate of peace.

Returning to farm life, he divided his time between outdoor labor and shoemaking, which occupation he followed when the darkness of night time or the cold of winter prevented his working in the fields. He also betook himself earnestly to the work of self-education. Like many another shoemaker, he made his work-room his study. The materials for the improvement of his mind lay all round his bench--books, pens, ink, paper, etc. An early marriage increased the difficulties of his situation as a poor student, yet he managed by dint of extraordinary application to improve himself and become fit for the ministry before he had reached the age of thirty. His first church was small, and his salary amounted to only two hundred dollars (45.) Many of the members were poor, and the conscientious pastor could not allow them to pay their share to his support. On this account he often gave up as much as a quarter of his salary in the year, getting through as best he could by a little farming and a good deal of shoemaking. When times were bad he turned his "study" into a day-school and taught the children of his parishioners for nothing. "His first book was a series of letters to a Baptist minister, and in this he gave promise of the direction the efforts of his life were to a.s.sume." Its aim was to promote unity among men of different denominations. Later on he published a remarkable book, which made no small stir in its day, ent.i.tled "Bible News Relating to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;" and a second on the same subject, under the t.i.tle "Letters to Trinitarians." "These works," says Channing, "obtained such favor, that he was solicited to leave the obscure town in which he ministered, and to take charge in this place (Brighton, Ma.s.s.) of a periodical at first called the _Christian Disciple_, and now better known as the _Christian Examiner_."[183]

[183] Written in 1837.

At length he issued, in 1814, the famous pamphlet by which his name became known and honored among Christian men and lovers of peace throughout the world. It bore the t.i.tle "A Solemn Review of the Custom of War." No more effective tract was ever printed. It was translated into several of the languages of Europe. The impression it produced in America led to the formation of the "Peace Society of Ma.s.sachusetts."

Worcester's views on war were identical with those of the Society of Friends. "He interpreted literally the precept, 'Resist not evil,' and believed that nations as well as individuals would find safety as well as fulfil righteousness in yielding it literal obedience.... He believed that no mightier man ever trod the earth than William Penn when entering the wilderness unarmed, and stretching out to the savage a hand which refused all earthly weapons in token of peace and brotherhood." So absorbed was he in this great theme, that he declared, eight years after his famous pamphlet was issued, that "its subject had not been out of his mind when awake an hour at a time during the whole period." He died at Brighton, Ma.s.s., in his eightieth year, 31st October, 1838. It was his wish to have written on his tombstone the words, "He wrote the 'Friend of Peace.'" Dr. Channing's testimony to Dr. Worcester's character is the highest one man can bear to another. He says, "Two views of him particularly impressed me. The first was the unity, the harmony of his character. He had no jarring elements. His whole nature had been blended and melted into one strong, serene love. His mission was to preach peace, and he preached it, not on set occasions or by separate efforts, but in his whole life.... My acquaintance with him gave me clearer comprehension of the spirit of Christ and the dignity of man."

Worcester received his degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, and his diploma of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard.

ROGER SHERMAN, ONE OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

Another famous American citizen, contemporary during the early part of his life with Noah Worcester, was Roger Sherman, who was born at Newton, Ma.s.sachusetts, 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 a.s.sembly, 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 a.s.sistant in 1766, and held the office for nineteen years. The judgeship was not resigned until 1789, part of the time since his appointment having been spent on the bench of the Superior Court.

Roger Sherman's connection with the American Congress was long and highly honorable. He became a Congressman in 1774, and served his country faithfully in that capacity for nearly twenty years till the time of his death, at which time he held a seat in the Senate of the United States. He was appointed also as a member of the Council of Safety. During the last nine years of his life he was Mayor of New Haven. For many years he held the honorable office of treasurer of Yale College.

In the year 1766 Sherman was placed on the Commission appointed to draught the Declaration of Independence, and he was one of those who afterward signed the Declaration. Having been one of those who framed the old "Articles of Confederation," and a very useful member of the Const.i.tutional Convention of 1787, his services in obtaining the indors.e.m.e.nt or ratification of the Const.i.tution 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 Ma.s.sachusetts earned the n.o.ble name of Patriot. Few men in his day did more solid and lasting public work. Although he was a man of remarkably cool, deliberate judgment, he was none the less an enthusiast in the cause of political freedom and independence. During the War of Independence he urged his compatriots by every means in his power to resist the English claims to impose taxation upon the colonies. He never swerved for a moment from the view he first took on the crucial question of "taxation without representation," but always avowed his firm conviction that "no European Government would ever give its sanction to such unfair legislation." His rect.i.tude and integrity were unimpeachable, and his "rare good sense" made him a man of mark even among the noteworthy men of the first Federal Congress. Mr. Macon used to say of him, "Roger Sherman had more common-sense than any man I ever knew;" and Thomas Jefferson was wont to declare that Roger Sherman was "a man who never said a foolish thing in his life." To this opinion of his judgment and mental qualities may be added a valuable estimate of his moral and religious character. Goodrich[184] says that Sherman "having made a public profession of religion in early life, was never ashamed to advocate the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, which are often so unwelcome to men of worldly eminence. His sentiments were derived from the Word of G.o.d, and not from his own reason."

[184] In "American Biographical Dictionary." Boston: J. P. Jewett & Co.

The life of this man of "patriot fame"[185] came to an end July 23d, 1793. His good name is in no danger of being lost to posterity, for in addition to his own personal claim to immortality, he gave "hostages to fortune" in a family of fifteen children, one of whom, his namesake, died in 1856 at the patriarchal age of eighty-eight.

[185] See the allusion to Sherman in Whittier's lines, given below.

HENRY WILSON, "THE NATICK COBBLER."

Among the political leaders of modern times _Henry Wilson_ long held a conspicuous place in the United States. His early connection with the gentle craft procured for him the familiar and not unfriendly sobriquet "The Natick Cobbler." Wilson was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, February 16th, 1812. From his schoolboy days until he entered on political life he seems to have been connected both with shoemaking and farming, but chiefly with the former occupation. Part of his time, viz., from 1832 to 1837, he was a thorough-going son of Crispin, working on the stool from daylight till dusk. From 1837 to 1840 he was still connected with the trade, but in the more ambitious position of a "shoe manufacturer." In the year 1840 he devoted himself to the life of a politician. The office of President of the Ma.s.sachusetts Senate was held by him in 1851 and 1852. Three years after this he became a senator as a representative of the same State. This honor he held for seventeen years, that is, till 1872. In 1861 he was made Colonel of the Twenty-second Ma.s.sachusetts Volunteers. The highest office to which he attained was that of Vice-President of the United States, which post he held from 1872 to 1875, the year of his death. Henry Wilson was held at the time of his death in general and hearty esteem for the valuable services which he had rendered for thirty-five years to his country.

Like many another famous son of St. Crispin, _The Natick Cobbler_ was a friend of freedom and a sworn foe to all kinds of tyranny. For many years he stood side by side with the best men in the Northern States, fighting the battle of liberation for the slaves, and at last was permitted to rejoice with them in the triumph of the good cause.

One is very much tempted to multiply instances of men like Wilson, who, having begun life as shoemakers, found their way into the Congress of the United States. _Seven_ such men at least have sat in Congress during the present century.[186] It may also be mentioned here that Franklin in his Autobiography speaks of a member of the _Junto_, a "William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but loving reading, who acquired a considerable share of mathematics," and "became surveyor-general;" and that Philip Kirtland, a shoemaker from Sherrington, Buckinghamshire, who settled at Lynn, Ma.s.s., in 1635, was the founder of the immense trade in boots and shoes for which that city has obtained an unrivalled name throughout the States.

[186] These are Roger Sherman and Henry Wilson, already noticed, and Daniel Sheffey, Gideon Lee, William Claflin, John B. Alley, and H. P. Baldwin. In answer to the question, "What shoemaker has risen to political or literary eminence in the United States?" a writer in the Philadelphia _Dispatch_, besides speaking of the four remarkable men we have selected as examples, says, "There are other famous names of graduates from that profession. _Daniel Sheffey_ of Virginia learned the trade, and worked at it many years, and from 1809 to 1817 represented his district in the Congress of the United States. His retort to John Randolph of Roanoke, who taunted him on the floor of Congress with his former occupation, was, 'The difference, sir, between my colleague and myself is this, that if his lot had been cast like mine in early life, instead of rising, by industry, enterprise, and study, above his calling, and occupying a seat on this floor, he would at this time be engaged in making shoes on the bench.' ... _Gideon Lee_, a mayor of New York City, and a member of Congress from about 1840 to 1844, was a working shoemaker, and afterward a leather dealer. _William Claflin_, an ex-governor of Ma.s.sachusetts and a member of Congress, worked at the shoemaker's trade when young, and is now at the head of a very large shoe-manufacturing firm. _John B. Attey_, an ex-member of Congress from Ma.s.sachusetts, was in the shoe trade, as was also _H. P. Baldwin_, ex-governor of Michigan, and ex-member of Congress from that State."

J. G. WHITTIER, "THE QUAKER POET."

The last name we have to give in this long, but still incomplete, list of ill.u.s.trious shoemakers is that of _John Greenleaf Whittier_, who happily is still living to charm and educate the English-speaking people on both sides of the Atlantic with his simple, spirit-stirring poetry.

Whittier is frequently spoken of in the States as _the Quaker Poet_.

This designation is sufficiently distinctive, for poets are not very numerous in the Society of Friends. Preachers, patriots, philanthropists, orators, and writers of prose are numerous enough, but poets are very hard to find in this intensely earnest and practical religious community.

Like his coreligionists in every generation since the days of George Fox and William Penn, Whittier is "right on all points" relating to social and religious reform. The a.s.sistance his vigorous, thrilling lines have given to every philanthropic movement in the United States is beyond calculation. For many years he was the _Hans Sachs_ or _Ebenezer Elliott_ of the Liberation cause, giving similar help by his songs to the work of emanc.i.p.ation 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, Ma.s.sachusetts, 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"