The sign, which is very well painted, represents the patron saints of the shoe-making fraternity, the holy brothers, Crispin and Crispian, at work on their cobbler's bench. The legend runs that it was at Soissons, in the year 287, while they were so employed "labouring with their hands," that they were seized by the emissaries of the Emperor Maximinian, and led away to torture and to death. The sign is understood to have been faithfully copied from a well-known work preserved to this day, at the church of St. Pantaléon at Troyes.—Abstract of a note in the Rochester and Chatham Journal, October 5th, 1889.
[15] Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens will doubtless envy me the possession of some remarkable memorials of the great writer. My friend Mr. Ball is kind enough to present me with a very curious souvenir of the novelist: his old garden hat! Mr. Ball's father obtained it from the gardener at Gad's Hill Place, to whom it had been given after his master's death. The hat is a "grey-bowler," size 7¼, maker's name "Hillhouse," Bond Street, and is the same hat that he is seen to wear in the photograph of him leaning against the entrance-porch, an engraving of which appears on page 183. Many hats from Shakespeare and Gesler have become historical, and there is no reason why Dickens's should not in the future be an equally interesting personal relic. The gift was accompanied by a couple of collars belonging to the novelist, with the initials "C. D." very neatly marked in red cotton. The collar is technically known as a "Persigny," and its size is 16. Last, not least, a small bottle of "very rare old Madeira" from Gad's Hill, which calls to mind pleasant recollections of "the last bottle of the old Madeira," opened by dear old Sol. Gills in the final chapter of Dombey and Son. Needless to say, the consumption of the valued contents of Dickens's bottle is reserved for a very special and appropriate occasion.
[16] This was written soon after our first visit to Strood at the end of August, 1888. Within little more than two years afterwards, on Thursday, 7th August, 1890, I had the mournful pleasure of being present at the funeral of my friend, which took place at Frindsbury Church on that day, in the presence of the sorrowing relatives and of a large concourse of admirers, both local and from a distance. There were also present many representatives of distinguished scientific societies, including Dr. John Evans, F.R.S., Treasurer of the Royal Society, and President of the Society of Antiquaries.
The kindness which I received from Mr. Roach Smith, to whom I presented myself in the first instance as a perfect stranger, and which was extended during the period of two years that I was privileged to enjoy his friendship, and at times his hospitality, would be ill requited if I did not here place on record my humble tribute of appreciation. Born about the commencement of the present century at Landguard Manor House, near Shanklin, Isle of Wight, after a somewhat diversified education and experience, he finally settled in London as a wholesale druggist, from which business he retired in 1856, and came to live at Temple Place, Strood. The bent of his mind was, however, distinctly in favour of archæology, and in this science, which he commenced in the early years of his business, his work has been enormous. In the matter of the identification of Roman remains he was facile princeps, and for many years stood without a rival, his investigations and explorations extending over England and Europe. His principal works are Collectanea Antiqua, seven volumes; Illustrations of Roman London; Catalogue of London Antiquities; Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne, and numberless contributions scattered over the journal of the Society of Antiquaries, the Archæologia Cantiana, and other publications. He was an enthusiastic Shakespearean, the author of the Rural Life of Shakespeare, and of a little work on The Scarcity of Home-Grown Fruits. He also published two volumes of Retrospections: Social and Archæological, and was engaged at his death in completing the third volume. He contributed many articles to Dr. William Smith's Classical Dictionaries, and other similar works.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries so far back as 1836, and at the time of his death was an Honorary Member or Fellow of at least thirty learned societies of a kindred nature in Great Britain and on the continent, and had been honoured by his colleagues and admirers in having his medal struck on two occasions.
"He was," says one of the highest of living scientists and writers, "one of the chief representatives of the science of archæology as understood in its broadest and widest sense. He has never been a mere collector of remains of ancient art, regarded only as curiosities, but has always had in view their use as exponents of the great unwritten history—the history of the people—which is not to be obtained from other sources; his writings have tended to the same end. Hence he stands as one of the foremost amongst those few of the present day who understand the science in its best and widest sense, his works being referred to as the authority at home and abroad."
Speaking with his friend and companion for many years, Mr. George Payne, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. to the Kent Archæological Society, on my last visit, about several personal characteristics of our mutual friend, such as his persistent energy and his indomitable disposition to stoically resist the infirmities of approaching age, and decline any assistance in helplessness, and especially as to the quæstio vexata, "Bill Stumps, his mark," Mr. Payne expressed his opinion, that at the bottom of his heart Mr. Roach Smith may probably have had a feeling that Dickens in some way (however unintentionally) slighted the science of archæology, which he (Mr. Roach Smith) had all his life tried to elevate.
A most distinguished antiquarian, a thoroughly honourable man, a versatile and accomplished gentleman, and a kind-hearted and liberal friend, the town of Strood, to which he was for so many years endeared, will long and deservedly mourn his loss.
[17] It is interesting to place on record here, that the germ of Charles Dickens's "Readings," which afterwards developed so marvellously both in England and America, originated in Birmingham. On the 27th of December, 1853, he read his Christmas Carol in the Town Hall in aid of the funds of the Institute. On the 29th he read The Cricket on the Hearth, and on the 30th he repeated the Carol to an audience principally composed of working men. The success was overwhelming.
[18] Miss Hogarth informs me that her brother-in-law frequently dined out in the neighbourhood, accompanied by his daughter and herself.