The name ofWilliam Sturgeon, so honorably connected with the science of electricity and magnetism, has a fair claim to be entered on this list. Sturgeon was a Lancashire man, born at Wittington in that county in 1783. All his youth was spent at the shoemaker’s stall. On arriving at manhood he abandoned this quiet, peaceful occupation for the life of a soldier. After two years’ service in the militia he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. Like William Cobbett, he found it possible to read in the midst of the distractions of the barrack-room. His chief attention was given to the study of electricity and magnetism, which at that time were attracting a great deal of attention on the part of men of science.[178]The first proof Sturgeon gave of special and extensive knowledge on the subject was in the papers which he contributed to thePhilosophical Magazinein 1823-24. In 1825 he published an accountof certain magneto-electric appliances, for which the Society of Arts awarded him their silver medal and a purse containing £30. About this time, that is, soon after leaving the army, he was appointed to the chair of experimental philosophy in the East India Company’s Military Academy at Addiscombe. His pamphlet, published in 1830, on “Experimental Researches in Electro-Magnetism and Galvanism,” described his own experiments, which issued in an improved method of preparing plates for the galvanic battery; a method still found, in many respects, to be the best. He invented the electro-magnetic-coil machine, now used very frequently by medical men in giving a succession of shocks to the patient, and still preferred by the faculty to other instruments for this purpose. This industrious and original investigator was also the inventor of a method of driving machinery by electro-magnetism; but he little dreamt, it may be, of the extent to which electricity would be employed in these days as a motive power and for lighting purposes. He edited the “Annals of Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry,” and published his own works in one volume a few years before his death. Like many inventors, he never made a fortune, but died poor. A Government pension of £50 per annum came to relieve him of his cares only the year before his death, which occurred in 1850.
The “gentlecraft.” 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 thatfour of its leading members were brought to trial on a charge of treason and sedition. It is a remarkable fact that of these four men—Hardy, Horne-Tooke, Thelwall, and Holcroft—the first and last belonged to the class of shoemakers.[179]
Thomas Hardywas the secretary of the Association, and had to bear the brunt of the trial, in which he was defended by the Honorable Thomas Erskine. Speaking of these famous state trials, Henry Crabb Robinson, who was then living at Colchester, says, “I felt an intense interest in them. During the first trial I was in a state of agitation that rendered me unfit for business. I used to beset the post-office early, and one morning at six I obtained the London paper withnot guiltyprinted 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.
It has been remarked above, that shoemakers, whether “illustrious” or not, have played a prominent part in connection with religious and political reform. In proof of this we have only to ask the reader to recall what has been said of Henry Michael Buch, Hans Sachs, George Fox, Drs. Carey and Morrison, and John Pounds, among moral and religious reformers; and such men as Hardy, Holcroft, and Thomas Cooper, in the sphere of politics. The name ofGeorge Odgerdeserves a place also in this list of reformers and improvers of the world, for although his field of labor was a very humble one, it was sufficient for the display of fine qualities of mind and heart. Odger was one of the best specimens this country has produced of a powerful class in modern society, called “working-men politicians.” His influence as a working-man among the working-men of London was unrivalled in his day, and was always of a wholesome and ennobling character. Professor Fawcett said “he was as good and true a man as ever lived,“ paid a warm tribute to his ”rare intelligence and power and eloquence,” and added, moreover, that if the poor shoemaker “had been born in circumstances in which he could have had the advantages of education, there would have been for him a career as distinguished as any Englishman had achieved.” John Stuart Mill also held similar opinions in regard to Odger’s excellent character and remarkable abilities. Other members of Parliament have done honor to Odger’s worth, and recognized his unselfishness and patriotism as a leader of the people. He was no vulgar demagogue, pandering to popular passion, and seeking fame and power at any cost. His appeals were always made to the intelligence of his hearers, and his demands for reform were based on what he conscientiously regarded as principles of justice. Throughout the American war, 1861-65, he sought to direct public opinion against the slave-holding interest.
George Odger was born at Rogborough, near Plymouth, in 1813. His father was a Cornish miner, and so poor that he was obliged to send his boy out to earn his living at shoemaking as soon as he was able to work. It goes without saying that under such circumstances he had no advantages of education, and that he was indebted to his own efforts for any measure of culture displayed in later life. In his youthful days he made diligent use of every moment of leisure for the purpose of study, and acquired an amount of general information which was of immense service to him as a public speaker. His first attempts at speaking were made in connection with the Reform movement. He rapidly acquired influence among the workingclass, and was well known and respected both in London and the provinces as a safe leader and counsellor of the people, so that in the Liverpool and Kendal strikes he was accepted by both masters and men as a mediator. In 1868 he stood for a time as a candidate for the newly made borough of Chelsea, and in the following year he was accepted by a large party as a candidate for Stafford, but in each case he retired from the contest lest his candidature should damage the interests of his party. In 1870 and 1874 he contested Southwark as a working-man’s candidate, but was not successful. In the former of these contests he polled only 300 fewer votes than the elected candidate.
George Odger never followed any other trade than that of a shoemaker, and was always in very humble circumstances. Shortly before his death a subscription was raised by the Trade Union Congress at Newcastle to supply the wants of his declining years, and in consequence of the esteem in which he was held, “the result was liberal and prompt.”[181]After a long illness he died at his residence, Bloomsbury, London, 3d March, 1877.
The honor done him at his funeral was such as many a nobleman might envy. TheTimes’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.
J. G. WHITTIER
J. G. WHITTIER
America has her share of illustrious shoemakers. The United States can boast of men worthy to stand on a level with the best examples of merit the gentle craft can produce in the Old World. We select four “representative men” from the long list that might be named, to whom we shall chiefly devote our remaining space. These men show in their character and life-work the best features of the New England type of the American citizen. They are men of sterling moral and religious worth, intense haters of tyranny and slavery, and war and intemperance, “sound as gospel“ in their political principles, ”clear as Wenham ice” in their transparency of character.
We are fain to believe that every intelligent person in the United States knows the name ofNoah Worcester, the “Apostle of Peace,” as he has been very justly styled. Every intelligent person also on the British side of the Atlantic ought to know something of this good man. He was one of the world’s reformers, and commenced a movement which is destined to deepen and widen in its influence until it becomes universal, and changes for the better the entire condition of mankind. We allude to the establishment of the Peace Society of Massachusetts—the parent of numberless similar societies in America and Europe. “I well recollect,” says Dr. Channing,[182]“the day of its formation in yonder house, then the parsonage of this parish; and if there was a happy man that day on earth it was the founder of this institution. This Society gave birth to all the kindred ones in this country, and its influence was felt abroad. Dr. Worcester assumed the charge of its periodical, and devoted himself for years to this cause, with unabating faith andzeal; 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.”
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 ofletters to a Baptist minister, and in this he gave promise of the direction the efforts of his life were to assume.” Its aim was to promote unity among men of different denominations. Later on he published a remarkable book, which made no small stir in its day, entitled “Bible News Relating to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;” and a second on the same subject, under the title “Letters to Trinitarians.” “These works,” says Channing, “obtained such favor, that he was solicited to leave the obscure town in which he ministered, and to take charge in this place (Brighton, Mass.) of a periodical at first called theChristian Disciple, and now better known as theChristian Examiner.”[183]
At length he issued, in 1814, the famous pamphlet by which his name became known and honored among Christian men and lovers of peace throughout the world. It bore the title “A Solemn Review of the Custom of War.” No more effective tract was ever printed. It was translated into several of the languages of Europe. The impression it produced in America led to the formation of the “Peace Society of Massachusetts.” Worcester’s views on war were identical with those of the Society of Friends. “He interpreted literally the precept, ‘Resist not evil,’ and believed that nations as well as individuals would find safety as well as fulfil righteousness in yielding it literal obedience.... He believed that no mightier man ever trod the earth than William Penn when entering the wilderness unarmed, and stretching out to the savage a hand which refused all earthly weapons in token of peace and brotherhood.” So absorbed was he in this great theme, that he declared, eight years after his famous pamphlet was issued, that “its subject had not been out of his mind when awake an hour at a time during the whole period.” He died at Brighton, Mass., in his eightieth year, 31st October, 1838. It was his wish to have written on his tombstone the words, “He wrote the ‘Friend of Peace.’” Dr. Channing’s testimony to Dr. Worcester’s character is the highest one man can bear to another. He says, “Two views of him particularly impressed me. The first was the unity, the harmony of his character. He had no jarring elements. His whole nature had been blended and melted into one strong, serene love. His mission was to preach peace, and he preached it, not on set occasions or by separate efforts, but in his whole life....My acquaintance with him gave me clearer comprehension of the spirit of Christ and the dignity of man.”
Worcester received his degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, and his diploma of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard.
Another famous American citizen, contemporary during the early part of his life with Noah Worcester, was Roger Sherman, who was born at Newton, Massachusetts, 19th April, 1721. Until the age of twenty-two he was a shoemaker, and from the age of twenty supported his widowed mother and the younger members of the family, and found the means to enable two brothers to enter the ministry. At this time he devoted his leisure to the study of mathematics and astronomy. In 1743 he laid aside the awl, and left his native place to settle at New Milford, Connecticut, where he joined his elder brother in keeping a small store. His accomplishments very soon led to his appointment as surveyor of roads. While holding this office he began the study of law, and made such progress that in 1745, at the age of twenty-four, he was admitted to the bar. In 1748 he began to supply the astronomical calculations for a New York almanac. His life as a legislator commenced with his membership of the Connecticut Assembly, where he held a seat during several sessions. The appointment of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas was given him in 1759, and again in 1765, at New Haven, whither he had removed four years previously. He was made an assistant in 1766, and held the office for nineteen years. The judgeship was not resigned until 1789, part of the time since his appointment having been spent on the bench of the Superior Court.
Roger Sherman’s connection with the American Congress was long and highly honorable. He became a Congressman in 1774, and served his country faithfully in that capacity for nearly twenty years till the time of his death, at which time he held a seat in the Senate of the United States. He was appointed also as a member of the Council of Safety. During the last nine years of his life he was Mayor of New Haven. For many years he held the honorable office of treasurer of Yale College.
In the year 1766 Sherman was placed on the Commission appointed to draught the Declaration of Independence, and he was one of those who afterward signed the Declaration. Having been one of those who framed the old “Articles of Confederation,” and a very useful member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, his services in obtaining the indorsement or ratification of the Constitution by his own State Convention (i.e., of Connecticut) were of the utmost value.
The foregoing statements will sufficiently show how well the quondam shoemaker of Massachusetts earned the noble name of Patriot. Few men in his day did more solid and lasting public work. Although he was a man of remarkably cool, deliberate judgment, he was none the less an enthusiast in the cause of political freedom and independence. During the War of Independence he urged his compatriots by every means in his power to resist the English claims to impose taxation upon the colonies. He never swerved for a moment from the view he first took on the crucial question of “taxation without representation,” but always avowed his firm conviction that “no European Government would ever give its sanction to such unfair legislation.” His rectitude and integrity were unimpeachable, and his “rare good sense” made him a man of mark even among the noteworthy men of the first Federal Congress. Mr. Macon used to say of him, “Roger Sherman had more common-sense than any man I ever knew;” and Thomas Jefferson was wont to declare that Roger Sherman was “a man who never said a foolish thing in his life.” To this opinion of his judgment and mental qualities may be added a valuable estimate of his moral and religious character. Goodrich[184]says that Sherman “having made a public profession of religion in early life, was never ashamed to advocate the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, which are often so unwelcome to men of worldly eminence. His sentiments were derived from the Word of God, and not from his own reason.”
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.
Among the political leaders of modern timesHenry Wilsonlong held a conspicuous place in the United States. His early connection with the gentle craft procured for him the familiar and not unfriendly sobriquet “The Natick Cobbler.” Wilson was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, February 16th, 1812. From his schoolboy days until he entered on political life he seems to have been connected both with shoemaking and farming, but chiefly with the former occupation. Part of his time, viz., from 1832 to 1837, he was a thorough-going son of Crispin, working on the stool from daylight till dusk. From 1837 to 1840 he was still connected with the trade, but in the more ambitious position of a “shoe manufacturer.” In the year 1840 he devoted himself to the life of a politician. The office of President of the Massachusetts Senate was held by him in 1851 and 1852. Three years after this he became a senator as a representative of the same State. This honor he held for seventeen years, that is, till 1872. In 1861 he was made Colonel of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Volunteers. The highest office to which he attained was that of Vice-President of the United States, which post he held from 1872 to 1875, the year of his death. Henry Wilson was held at the time of his death in general and hearty esteem for the valuable services which he had rendered for thirty-five years to his country. Like many another famous son of St. Crispin,The Natick Cobblerwas 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.Sevensuch men at least have sat in Congress during the present century.[186]Itmay also be mentioned here that Franklin in his Autobiography speaks of a member of theJunto, a “William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but loving reading, who acquired a considerable share of mathematics,“ and ”became surveyor-general;” and that Philip Kirtland, a shoemaker from Sherrington, Buckinghamshire, who settled at Lynn, Mass., in 1635, was the founder of the immense trade in boots and shoes for which that city has obtained an unrivalled name throughout the States.
The last name we have to give in this long, but still incomplete, list of illustrious shoemakers is that ofJohn 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 asthe Quaker Poet. This designation is sufficiently distinctive, for poets are not very numerous in the Society of Friends. Preachers, patriots, philanthropists, orators, and writers of prose are numerous enough, but poets are very hard to find in this intensely earnest and practical religious community.
Like his coreligionists in every generation since the days of George Fox and William Penn, Whittier is “right on all points” relating to social and religious reform. The assistance his vigorous, thrilling lines have given to every philanthropicmovement in the United States is beyond calculation. For many years he was theHans SachsorEbenezer Elliottof 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 ofThe American Manufacturer, which office he held for only twelve months, and then resigned in order to take the management of theNew England Weekly Review. In 1832 he went back to the old home, worked on the farm, and editedThe 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 thePennsylvania Freeman, an ardent anti-slavery paper. It required no small amount of courage to advocate freedom for the slave in those days. On one occasion Whittier’s office was surrounded by a mob, who plundered and set fire to the building. His published works in prose and verse are very numerous, beginning with the “Legends of New England” in 1831, and coming down to volumes of verse like “The King’s Missive, Mabel Martin, and Later Poems,” etc.,[187]published within the last few years. Through all his writings there runs a healthy moral tone, and his poetry is no less distinguished for purity of sentiment thanfor sweetness of numbers and true poetic fire. No man in New England, nor, indeed, in the States, has earned a better title to the thanks and esteem of his fellow-countrymen than the “Quaker Poet,” who began the hard work of life by blending the duties of the farm with the occupation of a shoemaker. Whittier College at Salem, Iowa, was established and named in his honor.
Whittier has never forgotten his connection with the gentle craft in early life; nor has he been ashamed to own fellowship with its humble but worthy members. What he thinks of the craft itself, and of the spirit of the men who have followed it, may be learned from his lines addressed to shoemakers in the “Songs of Labor,” published in 1850:
TO SHOEMAKERS.Ho! workers of the old time, styledThe 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 stoneHow falls the polished hammer!Rap, rap! the measured sound has grownA quick and merry clamor.Now shape the sole! now deftly curlThe glossy vamp around it,And bless the while the bright-eyed girlWhose gentle fingers bound it!For you, along the Spanish mainA hundred keels are ploughing;For you, the Indian on the plainHis lasso-coil is throwing;For you, deep glens with hemlock darkThe woodman’s fire is lighting;For you, upon the oak’s gray barkThe woodman’s axe is smiting.For you, from Carolina’s pineThe rosin-gum is stealing;For you, the dark-eyed FlorentineHer silken skein is reeling;For you, the dizzy goatherd roamsHis rugged Alpine ledges;For you, round all her shepherd homesBloom England’s thorny hedges.The foremost still, by day or night,On moated mound or heather,Where’er the need of trampled rightBrought toiling men together;Where the free burghers from the wallDefied 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 nameWhich glorifies your annals.Thy songs, Hans Sachs, are living yet,In strong and hearty German;And Bloomfield’s lay, and Gifford’s wit,And patriot fame of Sherman;Still from his book, a mystic seer,The soul of Behmen teaches,And England’s priestcraft shakes to hearOf 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 foundOf matron grace or vestal’s,As Hebe’s foot bore nectar roundAmong the old celestials!Rap, rap! your stout and bluff brogan,With footsteps slow and weary,May wander where the sky’s blue spanShuts down upon the prairie.On beauty’s foot, your slippers glanceBy Saratoga’s fountains,Or twinkle down the summer danceBeneath 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 maidBeheld the crown upon her,So all shall see your toil repaidWith heart and home and honor.Then let the toast be freely quaffed,In water cool and brimming—“All honor to the good old CraftIts 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.
TO SHOEMAKERS.Ho! workers of the old time, styledThe 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!
TO SHOEMAKERS.
Ho! workers of the old time, styled
The Gentle Craft of Leather!
Young brothers of the ancient guild,
Stand forth once more together!
Call out again your long array,
In the olden merry manner!
Once more, on gay St. Crispin’s Day,
Fling out your blazoned banner!
Rap, rap! upon the well-worn stoneHow falls the polished hammer!Rap, rap! the measured sound has grownA quick and merry clamor.Now shape the sole! now deftly curlThe glossy vamp around it,And bless the while the bright-eyed girlWhose gentle fingers bound it!
Rap, rap! upon the well-worn stone
How falls the polished hammer!
Rap, rap! the measured sound has grown
A quick and merry clamor.
Now shape the sole! now deftly curl
The glossy vamp around it,
And bless the while the bright-eyed girl
Whose gentle fingers bound it!
For you, along the Spanish mainA hundred keels are ploughing;For you, the Indian on the plainHis lasso-coil is throwing;For you, deep glens with hemlock darkThe woodman’s fire is lighting;For you, upon the oak’s gray barkThe woodman’s axe is smiting.
For you, along the Spanish main
A hundred keels are ploughing;
For you, the Indian on the plain
His lasso-coil is throwing;
For you, deep glens with hemlock dark
The woodman’s fire is lighting;
For you, upon the oak’s gray bark
The woodman’s axe is smiting.
For you, from Carolina’s pineThe rosin-gum is stealing;For you, the dark-eyed FlorentineHer silken skein is reeling;For you, the dizzy goatherd roamsHis rugged Alpine ledges;For you, round all her shepherd homesBloom England’s thorny hedges.
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 rightBrought toiling men together;Where the free burghers from the wallDefied the mail-clad master,Than yours, at Freedom’s trumpet-call,No craftsmen rallied faster.
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 nameWhich glorifies your annals.
Let foplings sneer, let fools deride—
Ye heed no idle scorner;
Free hands and hearts are still your pride,
And duty done your honor.
Ye dare to trust, for honest fame,
The jury Time empanels,
And leave to truth each noble name
Which glorifies your annals.
Thy songs, Hans Sachs, are living yet,In strong and hearty German;And Bloomfield’s lay, and Gifford’s wit,And patriot fame of Sherman;Still from his book, a mystic seer,The soul of Behmen teaches,And England’s priestcraft shakes to hearOf Fox’s leathern breeches.
Thy songs, Hans Sachs, are living yet,
In strong and hearty German;
And Bloomfield’s lay, and Gifford’s wit,
And patriot fame of Sherman;
Still from his book, a mystic seer,
The soul of Behmen teaches,
And England’s priestcraft shakes to hear
Of Fox’s leathern breeches.
The foot is yours; where’er it falls,It treads your well-wrought leather,On earthen floor, in marble halls,On carpet, or on heather.Still there the sweetest charm is foundOf matron grace or vestal’s,As Hebe’s foot bore nectar roundAmong the old celestials!
The foot is yours; where’er it falls,
It treads your well-wrought leather,
On earthen floor, in marble halls,
On carpet, or on heather.
Still there the sweetest charm is found
Of matron grace or vestal’s,
As Hebe’s foot bore nectar round
Among the old celestials!
Rap, rap! your stout and bluff brogan,With footsteps slow and weary,May wander where the sky’s blue spanShuts down upon the prairie.On beauty’s foot, your slippers glanceBy Saratoga’s fountains,Or twinkle down the summer danceBeneath the crystal mountains!
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 maidBeheld the crown upon her,So all shall see your toil repaidWith heart and home and honor.
The red brick to the mason’s hand,
The brown earth to the tiller’s,
The shoe in yours shall wealth command,
Like fairy Cinderella’s!
As they who shunned the household maid
Beheld the crown upon her,
So all shall see your toil repaid
With heart and home and honor.
Then let the toast be freely quaffed,In water cool and brimming—“All honor to the good old CraftIts 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.
Then let the toast be freely quaffed,
In water cool and brimming—
“All honor to the good old Craft
Its merry men and women!”
Call out again your long array,
In the old time’s pleasant manner:
Once more, on gay St. Crispin’s Day,
Fling out his blazoned banner.