ing into the snow, in their progress from place to place. It causes great pain to the wearer until after considerable practice in the use of it.

The Indian moccasin was the boot or shoe worn by the aborigines of America, before and after the settlement of this country by Europeans. It was made of deerskin, tanned by a mode peculiar to the Indians, and smoked; ornamented with beads or porcupines' quills or feathers, and worn without soles.

CHAPTER VIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT SHOEMAKERS.

ROM the numerous instances on record, of in

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dividuals who have belonged to the "gentle craft" (by which name those who have learned the art of shoemaking are designated), and who by their talents have acquired distinction and eminence among their fellow-men, as statesmen, patriots, scholars, poets, or professional men, we select the following as interesting, and appropriate to this work.

ROGER SHERMAN.

"The self-taught Sherman urged his reasons clear."

Humphrey's Poems.

AMONG the illustrious characters whose names are inscribed upon the brightest record that adorns the annals of America, few possessed more solid attainments than Roger Sherman. He belonged to that class of statesmen who seek rather to convince the reason, than to triumph over the passions of

men. The vigor of his mind appeared more conspicuous in the plain and simple manner in which it was elicited, than if it had been ornamented with all the beauties of elocution. But the energy of his address was not diminished by the absence of fanciful diction, nor the solidity of his views less admired because his feelings were partially suppressed. Without indulging in those brilliant bursts of oratory which please and sparkle for a moment, his impressive manner displayed ideas founded upon calm deliberation, and a clear perception of the justice of his cause. By a uniform and dispassionate course, he attained extensive influence in the councils of his country, and attracted the admiration and esteem of his compatriots. It has been said of him that he seldom failed to procure the adoption of any measure which he advocated, and which he considered essential to the public good.

Captain John Sherman, the ancestor of the subject of this sketch, emigrated to Massachusetts from Dedham, in England, about the year 1635.

William, the father of Roger Sherman, was a farmer in moderate circumstances, and resided at Newton, Massachusetts, where the latter was born, April 19, 1721. The family removed to Stoughton, in the same state, in 1723.

There is a striking analogy between the early lives and self-promotion of Mr. Sherman and of Doctor Franklin. Surmounting difficulties which to common minds would have been insuperable, they gradually ascended from the humbler walks of life, to a prominent station among men. Of the childhood and early youth of Sherman, little is known. He received no other education than the ordinary country schools in Massachusetts at that period afforded. He was neither assisted by a public education, nor private tuition. All the valuable attainments which he exhibited in his future career, were the result of his own vigorous efforts. By his ardent thirst for knowledge, and his indefatigable industry, he attained a very commendable acquaintance with general science, the system of logic, geography, mathematics; the general principles of philosophy, history, theology; and particularly law and politics. He was early apprenticed to a shoemaker, and pursued that occupation until he was twenty-two years of age. He was accustomed to sit at his work with a book before him, devoting every moment that his eyes could be spared from the occupation in which he was engaged.

Mr. Sherman was not one of those to whom the retrospect of past life was unpleasant. During the revolutionary war, he was placed on a commit

tee of Congress, to examine certain army accounts, among which was a contract for the supply of shoes. He informed the committee that the public had been defrauded, and that the charges were exorbitant, which he proved by specifying the cost of the leather and other materials, and of the workmanship. The minuteness with which this was done, exciting some surprise, he informed the committee that he was by trade a shoemaker, and knew the value of every article.

The care of a numerous family of brothers and sisters, devolved on Mr. Sherman at the age of nineteen, on the death of his father, in 1741. He kindly provided for his mother, and assisted two brothers, afterward clergymen, to obtain an education.

He removed in 1743 to New Milford, Connecticut, travelling on foot, and carrying his shoemaker's tools upon his back. Soon after this, he relinquished his trade, and became the partner of an elder brother, a country merchant at New Milford, which connexion he continued until his admission to the bar in 1754. He was appointed surveyor of lands for the county where he resided in 1745. Astronomical calculations of as early date as 1748, have been found among his papers. They were made by him for an almanac, then published in