[72] Among others, Coleridge observed that shoemakers had given to the world a larger number of eminent men than any handicraft. The philosopher 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 shoemaking. 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." 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 proverb, "_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 observant 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 reason, 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 person standing by, passed on. As soon as the man was out of sight Apelles came from his hiding-place, examined the painting, 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.