178 ON TIGHT SHOES, 



motion : shoes at best are a vast incumbrance 

 to them ; but when it happens that shoes are 

 what is called a bad fit, then all goes wrong 

 indeed, and corns and blisters soon oblige the 

 wearer of them to wend his way 



" With faltering step and slow." 



When I see a man thus hobbling on, I con- 

 demn both his fortitude and folly : his forti- 

 tude, in undergoing a pedal martyrdom without 

 necessity ; and his folly, in wearing, for fashion's 

 sake, a pair of shoes so ill adapted to his feet 

 in size and shape. Corns are the undoubted 

 offspring of tight shoes ; and tight shoes the 

 proper punishers of human vanity. If the 

 rules of society require that I should imprison 

 my toes, it does not follow that I should volun- 

 tarily force them on to the treadmill. The 

 foot of man does not end in a point ; its ter- 

 mination is nearly circular. Hence it is plain 

 and obvious that a pointed shoe will have the 

 effect of forcing the toes into so small a space 

 that one will lie over the other for want of 

 room. By having always worn shoes suited to 

 the form of my foot, I have now at sixty-two 

 the full use of my toes ; and this is invaluable 

 to me in ascending trees. 



