186 THE DOVER ROAD 



been rebuilt, and only the grey old Church of Samt 

 Nicholas remains. Modern pilgrims, too, may pass 

 without the attentions at one time bestowed on all 

 who passed this way ; attentions which disgusted the 

 stern and matter-of-fact Colet, and amused his some- 

 what cynically-humorous companion. When they 

 came to the gateway of the Hospital, there tottered 

 down the steps an aged bedesman, and, sprinkling 

 plentifully with holy water both themselves and their 

 liorses, he stepped forward, presenting the upper- 

 leather of an old shoe, bound in brass and ornamented 

 with a great crj^stal, to be kissed. This was the 

 remnant of the Holy Shoe of Thomas a Becket, one 

 of the most revered and valued possessions of the 

 Hospital, kissed reverently by many thousands of 

 pilgrims of every degree, and a great aid to the flow 

 of alms. But Colet, who had already seen too much 

 of this combined hero- and relic-worship, could no 

 longer restrain the wrath which had been rising ever 

 since he had left the shrine down below, with its old 

 bones and dirty rags. He was covered, too, with the 

 holy water which the old man had so recklessly 

 showered on them. " What ! "he shouted to Erasmus, 

 " Do these asses expect us to kiss the shoes of all 

 good men that have ever lived ? Why, they might 

 as well bring us their spittle to be kissed, or other 

 bodily excrements ! " The ancient bedesman was hurt, 

 and possibly, had he been a younger man, he would 

 have hurt this scoffer in return. However, he said 

 nothing, and the cynical Erasmus (for cynicism ahvayfi 

 goes with a really kind heart) gave him a small coin, 

 less from piety, you may be sure, than as a salve to 

 his wounded feelings. And then they went away. 



The shoe has vanished, but the crystal is still a 

 valued, if not valuable, possession of the institution, 

 and may be handled by the curious who can reflect 

 upon its having also been touched by those two 

 pilgrims, Erasmus the learned writer, and Colet the 

 founder of Saint Paul's School. 



