At the beginning of this century there were two young shoemakers in London who were spending their leisure time in hard reading and attempts at musical composition. One of them, Robert Bloomfield, a sketch of whom has already been given,[144] is known as widely as the English language itself. The other, _Joseph Blacket_, made but little stir in the world, and is now well-nigh forgotten. He took to writing poetry at a much earlier age than Bloomfield, who wrote nothing before his sixteenth year, while Blacket, if we may trust the notes in his "Specimens" and "Remains," began, very characteristically, with "The Sigh," written at _ten_ years of age. His unhappy life was brought to a close when he was but twenty-four years old. At this age Bloomfield had written very little poetry, and "The Farmer's Boy" was not begun. But if his genius ripened slowly, it produced fruits far more valuable than those presented to the world by the precocity of poor Blacket. There is nothing of Blacket's to compare with "The Farmer's Boy," or "Richard and Kate," or "The Fakenham Ghost." It is interesting to know that the two poetical sons of Crispin were acquainted, and cherished a high regard for each other. They seem to have met at the house of Mr. Pratt, Blacket's patron and editor, and afterward to have exchanged copies of each other's works, accompanied by friendly letters. What Bloomfield thought of his young friend may be gathered from the following portion of a letter: "The instant I received your volume I resolved to shake hands with you, by letter at least, and to thank you for a pleasure of no common sort. The 'Conflagration' is so truly full of fire that it almost burns one's fingers to read it. 'Saragossa' is a noble poem. Choose your own themes, and let the master-tints of your mind have full play." [144] It may be thought by some readers that Bloomfield's brothers, George and Nathaniel, ought to have a place in our list of illustrious shoemakers. _George_, in his correspondence with Mr. Capel Lofft, Robert's patron, showed himself a man of good sense and a fair writer. See preface to Bloomfield's Poems. But _Nathaniel_, the author of a little volume of poems, edited by Capel Lofft, 1803, entitled, "An Essay on War," in blank verse, and "Honington Green, a Ballad," was _not_ a shoemaker. He was a _tailor_, though not a few writers have made Byron's mistake of classing him with "ye tuneful cobblers." [Illustration: JOSEPH BLACKET]