Day to publick View, the same Shoe-maker came that Way again, and seeing his Judgment was taken Notice of, thought himself well qualified for a Censor, and found Fault with something about the Leg; which threw Apelles into a Passion; and putting his Head from behind the Picture, where he had hid himself, Sirrah!' said he, remember thou art but a Shoe-maker, and therefore meddle no higher, but keep to the Sandals."*

I must here observe, that the shoe (as well as the hose) has added to the nomenclature of man. The ancestor of the celebrated Sculptor, Scheemaker, was, doubtlessly, a German Shoemaker; and Henry, in his " History of Britain," (Vol. 10, p. 73,) quotes the ancient Chronicler, William of Wyrcestre, for the fact, that "one Cornelius Shoemaker being seized at Queenborough A.D. 1468, and letters found upon him from Queen Margaret, then in France, he was tortured by fire to make him discover the names of the noblemen, and gentlemen, who corresponded with the exiled Queen."

I beg leave to quote, from a popular work,† the following notices of the Patron Saints of the Shoemakers:

66

Crispin alone stands marked in our almanac for remembrance on this day, though his brother Crispianus appears to have an equal claim to that respect. Their history is only imperfectly known, and affords nothing parti

"The Entertaining Correspondent," 1739. Vol. II. p. 24. + Brady's "Clavis Calendaria," Vol. II. p. 212.

↑ October 25.

cularly interesting; but the immortal Shakspeare has given a speech to our gallant Henry, the Fifth, before the celebrated battle of Agincourt, that will mark the day of celebration of St. Crispin to the latest posterity:

This day is call'd-the feast of Crispian :

He, that out-lives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe, when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He, that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his friends,
And say- - to-morrow is Saint Crispian :'
Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars,
And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's day.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember, with advantages,

What feats he did that day: Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouths as household words,-
Harry, the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Glo'ster—
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
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;
For he, to-day that sheds his blood with me,
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition :

And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,

Shall think themselves accurs'd, they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks,

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.'

“Our two Saints appear to have been born at Rome, from whence, A.D. 303, they travelled to Soissons, in France, to preach the doctrine of Christianity; though their efforts were but of short duration, Rictionarius, the governor of

that place, having caused them to be beheaded immediately upon discovering the object of their pious endeavours.

"It is difficult to account for the origin of the Kentish tradition, that they were buried near Lydd, which is, however, the popular belief of that place; and a heap of stones on the beach near a spot called Stones End is to this day shown as the place of their interment.

"These holy men, while at Soissons, exercised the trade of Shoemakers, to avoid being chargeable to others for their maintainance; and from such cause, probably, they have been selected as the tutelar saints, or patrons, of that Craft. In an old romance, a prince of the name of Crispin is represented as having exercised the profession of a Shoemaker, and thence is supposed to be derived the expression of the Gentle Craft, as applied to that art; while the vulgar application of the term Crispin to a Shoemaker is unquestionably referable to the tutelar Saint, or patron, of that profession.

"However cruelly our brethren saints were used, succeeding generations were not forgetful of their meritorious endeavours, and lamented fates. At Soissons, in particular, the site of their sufferings, many churches and religious houses were dedicated to them; and it is worthy of notice, that in France, as well as in this country, they were not only considered as the Patrons of the Shoemakers, but that two societies were established bearing the titles of Frères Cordonniers, Brother Shoemakers, the one under the protection of St. Crispin, the other of St.

Crispianus; the produce of whose labours was paid into a common stock to furnish necessaries for the support of the monks of each society, and the surplus appropriated to the benefit of the poor."

The Cordwainers, or Shoemakers were incorporated as a Trading Company of London in the 11th of Henry IV., 1410. They bear the following arms: azure-a chevron or, between three goats erased argent-attired of the second. Crest on a wreath a goat's head erased argent, attired or.

Their Hall is in Distaff Lane.

To close this dull, and tiresome, history of the shoe, I have now only to tell you, gentle reader, that, with our fore-fathers, he was esteemed to be in a fair way to obtain good luck, who was saluted with the throw of the old shoe. Whence the origin, and wherein the charm, of this ancient custom, is more than I can say, or think. It is alluded to by Ben Jonson, Heywood, Beaumont and Fletcher, and other dramatic writers of the past ages; and mention is made of it in Brand's "Popular Antiquities," Vol. 2, p. 490. display of rural pleasantry is not yet wholly extinct, as it is within my knowledge, that the happy candidates for matrimonial bliss have, to their joy, received the salutation of the old shoe on their way, either, to, or from, the parochial Church.

This

Having thus given an anecdote of an old shoe, I must now consider my humble Dissertation on the revolving fashions, and on the dress of John Halle, as finally closed. I

have travelled from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and have thus arrived at the-ne plus ultra. I have ended, alas! with the tale of an old shoe!

Here, however, in sober seriousness, let me explain myself. I have been anxious alone to develope the dress of John Halle; and to briefly show the origin, and the successive changes in the fashion, of each article of that dress; but yet I do not present these remarks as complete histories. I have, necessarily, omitted much; and they must be regarded as merely historic outlines, hastily, and briefly, sketched; and for their imperfections I must humbly crave the indulgence of my readers.