The eminent French antiquary, _Benoit Baudouin_, is by far the most learned man who has risen from the ranks of the shoemaker class in France. A native of Amiens, he was born somewhere about the middle of the sixteenth century. His father, who was also a _cordonnier_ in that city, taught him the art and mystery of the craft; but the clever youth soon rose above his lowly circumstances, and became first a theological student, and afterward the principal of the college in the old town of Troyes. Here the ancient and extensive library delighted him, and his studies as a historian and antiquary were determined to some extent by his former occupation as a shoemaker; for, besides a translation of certain ancient tragedies,[86] he is not known to have written any original work excepting his "Chaussures des Anciens," or "The Shoes of the Ancients." Baudouin never blushed to own his former vocation,[87] and in writing this remarkable work he was evidently moved by a desire to do it honor.[88] A strange book indeed it must be, full of the most curious and out-of-the-way learning and singular notions; for, not content with describing the various kinds of shoes worn by Roman and Greek and other ancient peoples who have flourished within the historic period, the enthusiastic and daring scholar pushes his inquiry back to the days "when Adam delved and Eve span," until, at length, he discovers the origin of the foot-covering in the communication of the secret by the Almighty Himself to "the first man, Adam!" Spite of its preposterous speculations, the work of the ex-shoemaker of Amiens is learned and valuable, contains a vast amount of curious lore in regard to a not unimportant subject, and helps to confirm his claim to the ambitious title of "the learned Baudouin." The first edition of this work seems to have been published in Paris, 1615.[89] It was afterward issued at Amsterdam, 1667, and at Leyden, 1711, and Leipsic, 1733, in Latin. A writer in the _Biographie Universelle_ says that Baudouin held at one time the office of director of the _Hotel Dieu_ at Troyes. This illustrious French shoemaker died and was buried in that town in 1632. [86] "Biographie Universelle." Paris, 1811. [87] Ibid. [88] "Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique," tom. ii. [89] "Nouvelle Biographie Generale." Paris, 1853, tom. iv. p. 786. HENRY MICHAEL BUCH--"GOOD HENRY."